Palin says tour is “not about me”
Is Sarah Palin running for president or isn’t she?
If the former Alaska governor and Republican superstar knows the answer to that question, she’s not saying.
And her silence has speculation running rampant over the meaning of her family’s East Cost bus tour of historic sites.
Is it a dry-run for the 2012 campaign or just a brilliant burnishing of the Sarah Palin brand?
“It’s not about me. It’s not a publicity-seeking tour. It’s about highlighting the great things about America,” Palin said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren aboard the bus on Tuesday.
Wherever the tour lands, Palin has been swamped by media even though her exact schedule has been something of a mystery.
The press has been scrambling to keep up since she kicked off her tour Sunday arriving at the Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally in Washington on the back of a Harley. And that’s by design, Palin told Fox.
Sarah Palin’s next move: television pundit
What’s left to do after running Alaska, running for Vice President, and authoring a bestselling book?
For Sarah Palin, it’s turning into a television pundit for FOX News.
Since losing the 2008 election for the White House, Palin has not quietly faded into the obscurity from which John McCain plucked her.
Instead, she has firmly stayed in the public eye, waving her conservative ideals and gathering a following. People lined up for hours on her “Going Rogue” book tour to catch a glimpse of the former Republican candidate.
On Monday, FOX News announced that Palin had signed a multi-year deal to provide political commentary and analysis. (Hmmm wonder if that means she’s going to be talking about the 2012 election rather than running in it???)
“Governor Palin has captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum and we are excited to add her dynamic voice to the FOX News lineup,” Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, said in a statement.
Palin will also host episodes of “Real American Stories,” which will debut this year and is described as a series “exploring inspirational real-life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape.”
Fox is sitting on the next blockbuster reality TV show and they don’t even know it. The photogenic family, with snowmobile dad, empty-headed politician mom, son-in-Iraq, single-mom-sis, and the usual cast of younger siblings to provide the punchlines. Then there is the ex-boyfriend, the elite Washington insiders, the evil liberal bloggers, and the occaisional guest appearance by the evangelical former pageant girl who gives “come to Jesus” a whole new meaning. The comedy writes itself.
Republican northern light sparks up Southern town
Sarah Palin remains the hottest Republican ticket if the crowds and enthusiasm at her book signings are anything to go by.
On Friday she brought her “Going Rogue” book tour to Plano, an affluent town just north of Dallas that is in deeply red Republican country. About 1,500 people lined up for hours in the winter cold to wait for Palin’s bus. A lucky 1,000 among them had advance tickets to get their copy of her new autobiography signed.
The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee clearly remains the northern light of the Republican Party that can spark up its Southern and conservative base. She now reigns almost unchallenged with this base after the apparent downfall of former Arkansas governor and Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee.
His political future was dealt a blow this week by the revelation that he had once pardoned the man who killed four police officers in Washington state on Sunday.
“I hope she makes a run for president, I wouldn’t hesitate to vote for her,” said Steve Yurasits, a 59-year-old school bus driver, expressing a sentiment shared by many in the crowd.
The whole event had a campaign kind of feel to it — the music, the bus, the crowd, the waving of Palin banners. And the book has reportedly sold 1 million copies already.
Sounds like the magazines people subscribe to are a stroke of genius on the part of the magazine marketers. They still aren’t free because the magazines buy the books and use them as a way to “increase” new subscribers. It’s a win win for everyone. Palin and the publisher get millions and the magazines get a huge increase in subscribers. And all because Sarah Palin has a blockbuster bestseller people want to read and to know more about her. BTW, polls show Palin and Obama are virtually tied in approval (within one point). Yeah, try to spin that one.
If this wasn’t true, then the magazines wouldn’t offer it to new subscribers.
So, your point is really not relevant and is just sour grapes at someone who is successful. Her book is a huge bestseller and everyone wants in on the action.
BTW, at our local Costco, I remember Hillary Clinton’s book sitting there with no one interested in it. However, Sarah Palin’s book is hard to keep on the table as shoppers put copies in their carts.
The progressive authors aren’t anywhere to be seen on any bestseller list. Guess no one wants to lose money, so they aren’t added as an incentive to purchase magazines. Ask Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy and even Barak Obama how many copies they sold. You can probably add them all together and still not equal Palin’s book sales in one week alone.
On book tour, it’s Palin unplugged
Like one of those grizzly bears way up yonder in Alaska, Sarah Palin was in hibernation for months while she wrote her book. And now that the book is out, she’s become unplugged.
The conservative firebrand, who says she was all “bottled up” by the John McCain staff on the campaign trail last year, is chock full of opinions and letting lose on all manner of subjects.
Let’s go over several of them.
The shootings at Fort Hood were “an act of terrorism” and authorities missed “massive warning flags” about the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, she said.
“And I think it was quite unfortunate that, to me, it was a fear of being politically incorrect, to not — I’m going to use the word — profile this guy, profile in the sense of finding out what his radical beliefs were,” she told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity.
Over at ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Barbara Walters asked Palin what she would do about 10.2 percent unemployment if she were president.
“I’d start cutting taxes and allowing our small businesses to keep more of what they’re earning, more of what they’re producing, more of what they own and earn so that they can start reinvesting in their businesses and expand and hire more people,” Palin said.
brian lee. Those two are just a couple of knuckleheads who refuse to see what is happening in this nation. People are upset with the direction this bunch is taking this country. It is interesting how they trash FOX and take as gospel newspaper stories that say “hundreds” show up to Palin’s book signings. However, the photos (I know they have seen the photos) tell a different stories. There are even local news stories that show more than a few hundred or a thousand people in line just to get a wristband so they can have their books signed.They are being disingenuous and in their hearts they know you and I are right. It makes me smile they don’t even know they are on a sinking ship.Hang in there brian. It’s fun seeing them do everything possible to discredit and destroy rather than talk about the merits of their own liberal agenda…of which there are none…
Palin’s Exxon Valdez account draws guffaws
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sarah Palin’s new memoir, “Going Rogue,” already has been strongly criticized by John McCain’s aides for her account as a vice presidential candidate on the ticket with him in their unsuccessful 2008 race for the White House.
Now, add Alaskan experts who were involved in the case over the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster saying her account over her role in the litigation is distorted for a number of reasons.
In the book, Palin claims to have helped the fishermen, Alaska Natives and other individuals suing Exxon over spill damages prevail in their legal case.
“It took years for Alaska to achieve victory. As governor, I directed our attorney general to write an amicus brief in the case, and, thanks to Alaska’s able attorneys arguing in front of the highest court in the land, in 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the people,” she writes in her book. “Finally, Alaskans could recover some of their losses.”
But Palin’s claims of victory for the plaintiffs and of playing a role in achieving that victory are highly distorted, said the chief attorney for the approximately 32,000 plaintiffs that sued Exxon over damages from the worst oil-tanker spill in U.S. waters.
“That is the most cockamamie bullshit,” said Dave Oesting of Anchorage, lead plaintiff attorney in the private litigants’ civil case against Exxon and its successor, Exxon Mobil Corp. “She didn’t have a damn thing to do with it, and she didn’t know what it was about.”
While the Supreme Court in its June 25, 2008 decision did uphold the right of the plaintiffs to receive some punitive damages, it slashed the award dramatically. The Supreme Court ordered that punitive damages be no more than $507.5 million, down from the $2.5 billion ordered by a U.S. appeals court and the jury’s original verdict of $5 billion.
Brian Lee.
it is always amazing to me when you neo-cons (you’re not conservatives, you should learn the difference) quote Margaret Thatcher. During her term as prime minister of England unemployment in England skyrocketed and the pound took a drastic loss in value. Sound familiar???? Do you thing that we should follow the advice of failures?
It is also striking that when your misinformation was pointed out to you (Al Gore never claimed to invent the internet) it didn’t seem to register with you that you were repeating a great big LIE.
By the way dude you are illiterate. Educate yourself we need smart people in this country.
Peace
j
Next round in Covergirl Palin photo flap…
The flap over Sarah Palin’s photo on the cover of Newsweek magazine is turning into a fray…
To use the words of TV detective Monk, “here’s what happened…”
Newsweek put Palin on the cover ahead of the release of her book “Going Rogue.”
Usually magazine covers before a big book launch are prized, but the former Republican vice presidential candidate didn’t quite see it that way.
Palin criticized Newsweek for using the photo of her in athletic gear which was taken for an interview with a running magazine, and wrote on her Facebook page: “The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now.”
Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham responded with a statement of his own on the magazine’s Web site: “We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do,” he said. “We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard.”
Now Runner’s World has decided to join in and put an Editor’s Note on its Web site saying the Newsweek cover photo of Palin was shot exclusively for the August issue of the running magazine and those photos are “still under a one-year embargo.”
I used to be a fan of Palin and McCain…but I don’t understand why so many people hate her? If anyone deserves scorn and ridicule it is Levi Johnston. He got a girl pregnant and they were not even married. Now I know we live in a time where liberals are preaching free love and free sex to anything that moves…but you guys have to admit that Levi’s “sexual” contact with Bristol’s younger sister is sick…even for liberal standards. I’m a big fan of the Governor of California and Minnesota and South Carolina…Not really sure who will represent the Democrats after Obama bows out of the 2012 race….Will Bill or Hilary be interested? I hear that John Kerry wants another shot…after all his daughter Alexandra got busted for DUI. Not a Kerry fan, but I love any woman who has the guts to wear a sheer blouse on the red carpet.
The First Draft: Crossing the Grey Line
President Barack Obama admits he has crossed the grey line.
In the well-worn tradition of those who entered the White House before him, the president’s hair has greyed. And it’s only his first year in office.
Perhaps not exactly the change he was hoping for.
“My hair has gotten a lot greyer because I was at the age where my hair was going to start getting grey. Having said all that, you know this has been an extraordinary year,” Obama said in an interview with NBC.
The economy, healthcare, Afghanistan war are all on his mind — “I would be lying if I said that those aren’t weighted questions that I carry around on my shoulders every day.”
As for questions about whether he is losing weight under the stress of the office, Obama says his weight is about the same.
“My weight fluctuates about five pounds – it has for the last 30 years, it’s unchanging, I still wear the same stuff when I got married 17 years ago,” the president told NBC.
Obama was graying along time ago didnt you notice at times his hair and eyebrows were MUCH darker than at other times?Its called dye
In the words of a football coach, philosopher, father…
At the start of Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue,” before the words begin, there’s a map: “The View from the Top of the World.”******It shows Alaska closer to the center of the top of the world than Washington, D.C. — deliberate perhaps?******Then wandering through the book, the quotes at the start of each chapter caught our eye. ******There’s the famous words from college football coach Lou Holtz: “I don’t believe that God put us on earth to be ordinary.”******Greek philosopher Aristotle: “Criticism is something we can avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, being nothing.”******That is followed by chapters that feature wise words from basketball coach John Wooden, Christian pastor Charles Swindoll, humor columnist Dave Barry and American author Mark Twain.******The lead in for Chapter 6 is a quote from Palin’s father, Chuck Heath Sr.: “Sarah’s not retreating; she’s reloading!”******What do these quotes say about Palin?******Click here for more Reuters political coverage******Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Segar (Rodin sculpture “The Thinker” outside Philosophy Department of Columbia University)
I think she was like a breath of fresh air. I wish we could elect someone who is going to put pride in our nation. I truelly believe she could have done this. I hate all of this pork spending and the people that work, have to pay for it. I think that is why she scared so many of the politicions. They want to line their pockets at the expence of the taxpayers.
Live blogging Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue”
Veteran Reuters political correspondent Steve Holland is reading Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue: An American Life” and sharing his thoughts on Twitter. He’s well-qualified as a reader — he broke the news of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy on the eve of the Republican National Convention.************Follow Steve on Twitter***
I still haven’t figured out Reuters fascination with Palin, she eats or drinks and they write about it.If I could get one blog about Ron Paul for every 50 they give Sarah Palin I’d be in heaven, cuz he certainly has at least as many supporters.Oh but that’s right, he’s not a status quo politician like all the other ones they constantly talk about.
The First Draft: Palin Phenomenon
We can think of no other losing vice presidential candidate who has captured so much media coverage a year AFTER losing the bid for the White House.
The Palin phenomenon perseveres (this week anyway).
The Washington Post has TWO columnists writing about her today — Eugene Robinson’s “Our Evita,” and Richard Cohen “Time for some Palintology.”
The front page of the Post showcases a quote from Sarah Palin’s book “Going Rogue” which is out in bookstores today: “I always remind people from outside our state that there’s plenty of room for all Alaska’s animals — right next to the mashed potatoes.”
The New York Times op-ed page carries a column from Michael Carey of the Anchorage Daily News in which he flips the viewpoint to why Alaskans are fascinated by Palin — “how a woman who takes pride in calling herself a homemaker from Wasilla brought celebrity culture to the Last Frontier.”
She’s been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. CNN’s Larry King had a whole discussion about Palin last night. And David Letterman has been having fun on his late-night show by coming up with things that are more fun than reading Palin’s memoir (number 61 – getting run over by a lawnmower).
james. It is fun watching the left get all in a fit over Governor Palin.
This tour is about nothing but Sarah. She inflicted herself on Rolling Thunder uninvited and just happened to be in Romney’s home state the day he announced his candidacy, putting down his healthcare plan – not that I’m a fan of either – but WHAT a media whore.