Look out Washington, Sarah Palin is coming.

Palin will be the Republican speaker at the annual winter dinner of the Gridiron Club of journalists in Washington on Dec. 5.

“The governor is very excited and was honored to accept the invitation,” said her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton.

The former Alaska governor, who rose to fame as John McCain’s vice presidential nominee last year, is about to go on a book tour to promote her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin talks to well-wishers in Fairbanks in July)

Day-after chatter focused on how independent voters were pivotal in helping drive Republicans to victory in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races.

“The independent voter today is the keystone,” a very happy chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, said on CNN.

“And if you don’t have a message for them, if you don’t have something to say, they’ll let you know by going with the other team or staying out of it altogether. Last night they came home to the GOP,” he said. After repeated TV appearances since last night’s results, Steele is holding a press conference at 10 a.m.

Tim Kaine, the outgoing governor of Virginia and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, made the TV rounds on behalf of his party — his main message was that Creigh Deeds, the Democrat who lost  the race to replace him in the Virginia statehouse, had been an “underdog” all along.

Kaine also focused on (surprise, surprise) the Democrat win for a House of Representatives seat in New York over the Conservative Party candidate that Sarah Palin had endorsed.

Palin had something to say about that on her Facebook page in a note titled “A Victory for Common Sense and Fiscal Sanity.”

“I commend Doug Hoffman and all the other under-dog candidates who have the courage to put themselves out there and run against the odds,” the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate wrote.

(Notice both Kaine and Palin describe their losing candidates as underdogs).

Palin, whose book “Going Rogue” is due out mid-month, ended her note by saying: “The cause goes on.”

President Barack Obama is off to Wisconsin today, a year after he won the presidential election. We’ll be on the lookout for any comment on this week’s election outcome.

What impact do you think the Republican wins in New Jersey and Virginia will have going forward?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson (Leo who plays title role in film “Underdog” held by actor Jason Lee)

Iowa Republicans have differences over the propriety of a conservative group’s effort to raise a $100,000 fee for former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to speak at a banquet next month,  according to Politico.com.

Whether Palin requested a fee (and there’s no indication that she did says Politico) or whether she should be paid may be a moot point — but, more about that later.

First — It’s not the amount of the fee that has some Iowans bothered — it’s that a fee is even being considered at all.

Iowa is sacred ground for presidential aspirants (is she or isn’t she?) and folks there tend to feel that people with presidential ambitions should be grateful for any opportunity to visit the state.

According to Politico.com, some Republicans see the Iowa Family Policy Center’s effort to cobble together the speaking fee for Palin as a striking departure from customary practice of White House hopefuls paying their own way in that state to advance political ambitions.

Other Iowa-based political advocacy groups say they would never consider paying for what many politicians see as a privilege, Politico said. “I found it really, really odd,” one influential Iowa Republican insider was quoted as saying.

Palin’s spokeswoman Meg Stapleton says the Nov. 21 event in Iowa is just one in 1,000 requests for Palin’s presence and the former Republican vice presidential candidate may not be able to work it into her schedule.

“This particular invitation arrived late last week. It is under consideration, as so many are, but will be incredibly difficult to attend with her tightly-scheduled book tour underway at that point,” Stapleton said.   Palin’s memoir, “Going Rogue,” is scheduled to be released on Nov. 17th.

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Photo credit:Reuters/John Gress (Palin campaigning in Missiouri in August 2008)

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is striking back hard at her daughter’s ex-fiance, Levi Johnston, for what she called “mean-spirited, malicious and untrue attacks.”

Palin, and Johnston, who had a child out of wedlock with Palin’s daughter, Bristol, have been in a war of words since Levi and Bristol broke off plans to marry early this year.

Johnston appeared on CBS’ “Early Show” and repeated a charge he made in a recent Vanity Fair interview that Sarah Palin would often refer to her son with Down Syndrome, Trig Palin, as being “retarded.”

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Johnston also talked about his plans to appear nude in Playgirl magazine, saying it will be done tastefully.

“I’m not gonna just go out there and get naked,” he said.

All this comes as Palin prepares to issue her memoir next month, “Going Rogue, An American Life.” She resigned as Alaska governor last summer and remains popular with conservative voters after running as John McCain’s vice presidential candidate last year.

In a statement issued by her spokeswoman, Palin said she had tried to ignore the “mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family.”

“We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our ‘blessed little angel’ who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad,” she said.

She also criticized CBS for giving Johnston publicity.

“CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies — those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention,” she said.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Matt Sullivan (Sarah Palin waves in front of daughter Bristol and son Trig in August 2008)

The following is reported by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage, Alaska.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin got a $1.25 million advance from HarperCollins for her soon-to-be-released memoir “Going Rogue.”

Palin listed the advance, which she received while still governor, in the 2009 financial disclosure form filed Monday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. See the form on The Anchorage Daily News Web site.

“The Governor has complied with Alaska disclosure law by her filing yesterday. Now, as a private citizen, her business dealings, including her publishing agreement, are confidential,” Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said in an email.

The report covers Palin’s last seven months as governor. She announced her resignation on July 3 and left her post on July 26. During that time, she received a state salary of $73,000 and perdiem payments of $6,370.80, according to her financial disclosure report.

Palin also reported taking out an unspecified home loan from Wells Fargo Bank to pay for “legal fees to fight false allegations while governor,” according to her handwritten explanation.

And she reported that she has set up a marketing business, called Pie Spy LLC, with headquarters at the office of her Anchorage attorney.

Palin’s husband Todd was paid $34,086.14 during that period by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. in wages for his job as a North Slope oil-production manager. He resigned that position effective Sept. 18, according to BP.

Todd Palin also earned $32,260.35 during the period from his commercial fishing operation in Bristol Bay, according to the report.

The report also lists numerous valuable gifts received by Palin and members of her family during her last seven months in office, including out-of-state trips. She reported receiving $6,885 from her political action committee, SarahPAC, to travel with her husband to Indiana to appear at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner and attend associated events. She, Todd and daughter Willow received Yankees tickets worth $4,250 from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, part of her June trip to New York that produced a now-famous feud with television host David Letterman.

Other gifts included a $2,666 “Nu Skin skincare” package, $1,664.70 for air transportation to a pair of remote Alaska villages, courtesy of evangelist Franklin Graham and his Samaritan’s Purse organization, $1,000 from Republican patron Fred Malek to attend the Alfalfa Dinner in Washington in January and $2,000 from the Candie’s Foundation for Todd to travel to New York to attend an abstinence-promotion event with daughter Bristol.

UPDATE: The $1.25 million book advance reported in her financial disclosure form is likely only a portion of the full advance she received for the book, with some media reports estimating the total advance could be as much as $7 million.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin shares a laugh at governor’s picnic in Alaska in July)

Sarah Palin on Thursday endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Party choice Dede Scozzafava in a special congressional election in upstate New York that has the GOP divided.

“I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win,” Palin said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches!” she added.

Some political observers view the election to fill the only open House seat this year — with no big names in the running — as an important fight in a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.

Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, made it clear she thinks her party made the wrong choice this time.

“Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate that more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party’s ticket,” she said.

“Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.”

Palin lists what she says are his best Republican and conservative attributes and best of all, she says, Hoffman “has not been anointed by any political machine.”

Moderate Scozzafava has been plagued throughout her campaign by grassroots conservative activists who have questioned her credentials, reports Politico.com. Critics call her a RINO — Republican in name only.

The Democrat in the three-way race, Bill Owens, got a show of support from the head of his party on Tuesday at one of two Democratic fund raisers President Barack Obama attended in New York City.

The winner would succeed former Republican Represenative John McHugh, a nine-term House member who resigned in September after Obama tapped him to be  secretary of the Army.
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Photo credit:Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin at Governor’s Picnic in Fairbanks in July )

The Financial Times, the salmon-colored authoritative newspaper that is closely read by traders and other financial types around the world, had an eye-opener for readers this morning.

It wasn’t the front-page, four-column wide headline, “Obama’s critics pounce on falling dollar as fears grow over currency.”

It wasn’t the graphic showing a red downward line over a dollar bill.

The jolt comes at the start of the second paragraph in the top story of the day on the dollar, “Sarah Palin….”

The newspaper, whose articles can move markets, quoted the former Republican vice presidential candidate and ex-Alaska governor from her Facebook post on the need for energy independence. Palin links the dependence on foreign oil and large U.S. deficits to declines in the dollar .

“We can see the effect of this in the price of gold, which hit a record high today in response to fears about the weakened dollar,” Palin wrote.

Palin’s power for using her Facebook page to affect public opinion is not to be taken lightly. Remember “death panels” which turned the healthcare debate into rabid townhall meetings this summer — that phrase emerged from Palin’s Facebook page.

Others quoted in the same Financial Times article offered an opinion about Palin’s opinion.

Norm Ornstein, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, was quoted as saying there may be a legitimate debate over the dollar’s reserve status, “but Sarah Palin is not qualified to participate in it.”

What do you think of Palin’s financial comments? Is she qualified or not? Is her Facebook platform an effective political tool?

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Photo credit: Reuters/KTUU-TV (Palin announcing her resignation as governor in July, video frame grab)

Why is former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin passing on the summit of self-styled conservative Christian “Values Voters” this weekend?

It’s a question worth asking because the annual meeting of “Religious Right” activists has become a “must attend” on the political calendar of any Republican who is serious about running for the party’s presidential nomination in the next election cycle.

Former governors Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney  – frequently mentioned as 2012 heavyweight Republican contenders — will be there.  So will Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who many pundits see as another possible candidate for a White House run in 2012.

But the moose-hunting hockey mom who makes liberals see red remains the favorite with this crowd. A recent Bliss Institute and Public Religion Research survey found she was ranked highest among conservative leaders by conservative Christian activists with 86 percent viewing her in a favorable light.

Does her no-show suggest something about her political intentions or lack of them for 2012?

((PHOTO: Sarah Palin delivers her final address as Alaska governor in Fairbanks, Alaska, July 26, 2009. REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder))

Matt Latimer, who used to make a living writing speeches for former President George W. Bush, has decided to let loose in a book under his own name that describes the White House as more like the TV show “The Office” and less like “The West Wing.”

In excerpts of his book “Speech-Less” appearing in the October issue of GQ magazine, out on newsstands Sept. 22, Latimer says Bush had something unflattering to say about the leaders of the pack running to win the White House in last year’s election.

(We obtained, and more importantly, read all the excerpts to be published in GQ. There is some discussion about the plan to boost the economy which we leave you to read in the magazine or book).

According to Latimer, Bush believed Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee in the 2008 presidential election and quotes the former president as saying “Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk,” although the speechwriter-turned-book-writer says Bush didn’t say “keister” (guess he’s urging us to use our imagination).

“He didn’t think much of Barack Obama,” Latimer writes. He recalls an occasion when Bush was fuming that it was a dangerous world, and quotes the president as saying, “and this cat isn’t remotely qualified to handle it. This guy has no clue, I promise you.”

On Joe Biden, according to Latimer, Bush had a one-liner he liked to tell: “If bull—- was currency (pause), Joe Biden would be a billionaire.”

Of the Republicans running for president, Latimer opines that Bush liked Mitt Romney best and was uneasy about John McCain.

The writer recounts an incident in which Bush was to attend a McCain campaign event that suddenly was closed to the press.

“If he doesn’t want me to go, fine,” Bush is quoted as saying. “I’ve got better things to do.”

(McCain kept the unpopular Bush at arms-length during last year’s campaign).

When McCain surprised everyone with his vice presidential pick of then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Latimer says Bush called the choice “interesting” and then quotes the president as saying with eyes twinkling that he was trying to remember if he’d met her before, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”

Bush’s current spokesman had no comment on Latimer’s book.

But Bush’s former spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told Reuters that while she hadn’t read the book, “I think that most people who worked in the White House would be hard pressed to pick this guy out of a line-up.”

She adds: “He wasn’t around the president much, and some of what he says the president said doesn’t ring true to me. For example, I was there outside the Oval when Sarah Palin was announced as the VP candidate and the president said to me, ’so, the Governor of Alaska was the pick? I just saw her a few weeks ago when we were on our way to China’.”

Perino also said she doesn’t recall Bush saying anything about anyone’s keister. “I’m not sure how people who write these books really feel about themselves. Oh well,” she says.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Pool (Obama and Bush at the Capitol on inauguration day), Reuters/Brian Snyder (Bush and McCain at Kennedy’s funeral)

Ever wanted to ask Sarah Palin over dinner what she really thinks? Now’s your chance. But it’s going to cost you — more than $25,000.

Dinner for five with the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate is up for grabs on ebay. The last bid was more than $38,000 (yes that’s three zeroes) for a dinner whose value is being promoted as “priceless.”

It looks like this time ebay may work for her (remember the campaign trail stories of her unsuccessful effort to sell the Alaska governor’s plane on ebay).

Palin is donating her presence for a charity auction with all proceeds to benefit Ride 2 Recovery, which supports cycling programs for injured veterans.

But the winner will have to agree to some restrictions for the experience of breaking bread with Palin.

A background check is mandatory, respect for Palin and her guests “is expected at all times,” and dinner won’t be more than four hours but she can cut it short.

Palin also has the right to refuse dinner with the winner if the bidder is considered unsuitable “based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors.”

Basically if she doesn’t want to have dinner with you, too bad. But you do get a refund.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin serves hot dogs at picnic in Alaska in July)