Sunday, February 27, 2011

Palin Running for Money, says Ann Coulter and Montana's Governor -- Updated!

Politico has a report about its interview of Montana governor Brian Schweitzer:
... "Sarah's not running. ...

... "Because everything she's done since the last presidential election has decreased her job approval all over the country. Did she write any books before she ran for vice president? Did Fakes News have her employed then?," he said, when pressed for his reasoning why the former Alaska governor won't pull the trigger. "Clearly she only stayed governor for two years, that doesn't pay much. What she's doing now pays a lot more." ...

And read what Ann Coulter had to say about a Palin candidacy:
The conservative commentator Ann Coulter made the claim on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News on Feb. 25 2011 that Sarah Palin is fueling speculation she may run for the 2012 Republican nomination for the U.S. Presidency because she wants higher fees at speaking engagements.

"I think she's saying that (she might run) because she also said Newt Gingrich told her you can get higher speaking fees if you pretend you are running for President," Coulter told Hannity.
There is another story about Coulter's appearance on Hannity at Mediaite, which includes video.

Now that Coulter has told Hannity what she knows, will he ask Palin to confirm or deny that she is pretending she might run in order to boost her speaking fee? Palin loves to appear on Hannity's show, so we shouldn't have to wait long for an answer, unless it takes them some time to decide how Hannity can couch the question so Palin can spin Coulter's comment.

The governor of Montana is a Democrat, and Ann Coulter is full of common sense. With their assessments, we do have a bi-partisan consensus: Sarah Palin isn't going to run. You know, it really wouldn't make sense for her to run: It seems as though everyone -- looking for a Republican candidate that might win -- everyone knows she's unqualified. And, she hated being governor of Alaska; most likely because she has no interest in government.


Update: Jennifer Rubin. writer of the Washinton Post's Right Turn column and someone with an ear to the ground of Republican politics, writes:
Nearly everything mainstream political reporters and conventional-wisdom-spouting pundits told us about the 2012 Republican presidential primary race is turning out to be wrong. Sarah Palin is the "frontrunner"! Wrong. The field will be huge! Wrong. The Republicans always choose the "next in line," so that's Mitt Romney! Uh, probably wrong.

What we do know is that Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) are not running. With each passing day it seems more and more likely that Palin will pass as well. Mike Huckabee keeps telling us he likes his current lifestyle (and income). So who is left? Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and, maybe, Newt Gingrich. ...

I'll bet that Sarah Palin likes her current lifestyle (and income), too.

Update: Here's how Sarah Palin may have been "told" by Newt Gingrich that it's a good idea to pretend to run (from NY Magazine):
Newt Gingrich is really thinking hard about running for president in 2012, he said today in Iowa, the perfect state for saying such things. "I've never been this serious," Gingrich claimed. "It's fair to say that by February the groundwork will have been laid to consider seriously whether or not to run." It's a good thing Newt is dragging out this decision process for so long — it will give the media an excuse to pay any attention to him despite all the insane things he says, which will help the sales of his book! It's the exact reason that Gingrich advised Indiana governor Mitch Daniels to be coy about running for president, according to a recent Weekly Standard article.
At dinner Daniels admits as much. “Newt [Gingrich] told me, look, quit saying you’re not going to do this. If you don’t run, you don’t run. But say you’re leaving the door open, and the national press will pay a lot more attention to your viewpoint.”

Call us when you're running, Newt.

Gingrich even told Daniels that it's a good idea to say, "you're leaving the door open." That's what Sarah Palin says, too!

3 comments:

Kevin said...

Common sense is not what I would say Ann Coulter is full of.

0>w/hole>1 said...

Ditto on Kevin's remark, although I assume the "commonsense" was just for the specific quote.

> I'll bet that Sarah Palin likes her current lifestyle (and income), too.

Yes on the income, but I'd vote no on the current lifestyle. I think she'll only be happy when she can start living off her interest and stop having to actually do what little she does.

Joie Vouet said...

Kevin & 0>w/hole>1 ... You have a point.

**

Claiming that Coulter is full of "common sense" and using what she said to support an argument that Palin's being coy about her intentions in order to boost her income may not be the best argument.

But now, if I were to rewrite this, knowing that Newt Gingrich actually said what Coulter claims he said -- although he said it to Daniels; it's uncertain that he said it to Palin -- I might drop the reference to what Schweitzer said, because, if this were rewritten, ithat would be something tangential to a much more interesting story.

Anyway, assuming that Gingrich never directly told Palin to pretend to run, she could weasel her way out of the problem by having Hannity ask her whether Newt Gingrich ever told her to pretend. It would be a half-truth, of course, if she answered, "No," if she had read what Gingrich said or had heard what he said from someone else.

Interestingly, Palin may have used the "leaving the door open" idea before Gingrich did. Did Palin "tell" Gingrich to "leave the door open?" I believe she first used it during an interview with Greta Van Susteren, in November 2008. See "Exclusive - Gov. Palin on 2012: 'Don't Let Me Miss an Open Door'."