Fourteen reasons why Palin will run for president

Vanity Fair made-up seven reasons why Sarah Palin will run for President after Greta Van Susteren made-up gave seven reasons why Palin will run. So, we have fourteen reasons why she'll run. Aren't we lucky?

1. “she has never said no”

2. “she made a promise to Piper”

3. “she’s received an outpouring of Facebook and Twitter support”

4. “we have not heard much from her since her bus tour which makes me suspicious that she is gearing up”

5. “as the days go on, some of the declared Republican candidates are having a few troubles—whether it be a gaffe or troubles raising money”

6. “something something real Americans”

7. “I read in the Des Moines Register that there are Palin volunteers—not from a Palin organization—all over the ground in Iowa”

8. “the lease on the tour bus doesn’t expire until 2013 anyway”

9. “money”

10. “the reality show was a complete bust”

11. “there seems to be a media strategy”

12. “she has already gone through the media digging into her life”

13. “lost a bet”

14. “are there any signs she is not running other than that she is not physically in Iowa and has not declared a candidacy?”

It's good to see humor being used to swat down these "Sarah's running" stories.

If you're having any trouble distinguishing Van Susteren's reasons from Vanity Fair's, see Vanity Fair's "Seven Reasons Why Sarah Palin Is Running for President, According to Her Best Friend, Greta Van Susteren" to learn which are Van Susteren's reasons and which are Vanity Fair's.

Politico's "Van Susteren thinks Palin is in" has the reasons from Van Susteren's blog.

Do you like peas? - UPDATED

President Obama, speaking of the rapidly approaching expiration of the government's ability to borrow, said that it is time to act, "Pull off the bandage, eat our peas." Interestingly, he said all leaders -- presumably the members of congress involved in the negotiations -- agree that default on the debt is not an option. The President also talked about shared sacrifice, and said that he would not kick the can down the road by signing a short-term deal to raise the debt ceiling.

The ball is in the Republicans' court. Are they capable of leading? Or are they slaves to a failed idea?



Part of a long term solution to the debt crisis is to increase revenue. Personal and corporate tax rates are at historical lows, yet we have a floundering economy. To begin, revenues could be increased without raising taxes by simply eliminating the Bush tax cuts. And let's shore-up social security by raising the social security wage cap. Some people and some corporations aren't paying their fair share.

It's time, too, for Germany and Japan to start paying their fair share of their own defense costs. Our troops there are large, expensive vestiges of the occupation armies of a war that ended more than sixty years ago. South Korea, where a lot of troops are also stationed, is also capable of paying its fair share. Winding-down -- completely -- the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would also reduce the need to borrow.

Those are my ideas. Others may have areas of spending that they would prefer to see cut, or may know of other ways to increase revenues. But let's share the burden fairly by requiring those with the ability to pay to pay their fair share, and let's face facts: a deficit is caused by a shortfall in revenues and excessive spending, and any "plan" that ignores either of those sides of the equation is doomed to failure.

Update: There is an interesting Wall Street Journal article that looks at the President's strategy. The article sums up, "[Obama's] talking points practically write themselves: I offered three dollars in spending cuts for every dollar in tax increases, and Republicans turned me down. Because Republican leaders wouldn't accept any tax increases, everybody will pay more for Medicare and Social Security and get less in benefits down the road."

Sarah Palin does a photoshoot

Here, we see Sarah Palin playing hide-and-seek. I'm not sure whether she's hiding or seeking, but surely she's cheating.

Sarah Palin did a photoshoot -- eight pictures -- for Newsweek, but the pictures are at The Daily Beast. The photographer is Emily Shur.

The photoshoot was done for a Newsweek cover story by Peter J. Boyer: "Palin Plots Her Next Move."

In Newsweek's story, Palin says that she believes she can win national office. Apparently, the story's writer didn't ask her, "Which office?" Of course, that is a "gotcha" question. "Any of 'em -- all of 'em," is the standard answer to a question like that, so I suppose he didn't really need to ask.

Update: The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart has written "Sarah Palin as Newsweek cover girl — again."


Update: The Christian Science Monitor writes that Palin doesn't look presidential:

What’s striking about the Newsweek feature is the photographs – not just the cover, but the two-page inside shot of Palin standing in a field of flowers, hair down, wearing a pink hoodie, hands in the pockets of loose-fitting work pants. It’s the Garden of Sarah.

Maybe the photos are Palin’s way of saying, “I’m not running.” Time was when a politically ambitious woman would agree to be photographed only looking “dressed for success” – usually in a suit, à la Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Newsweek cover earlier this year. Or the way Palin usually dresses on Fox News. But in this latest iteration, the vibe is more “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” than “West Wing.”

What 'The Undefeated' left out

Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel writes movie reviews in a column titled, "Frankly my dear." He's seen Sarah Palin's "The Undefeated," and he noticed that the movie left out quite a lot:

... Conservative documentarian Stephen K. Bannon (“Generation Zero”) makes a persuasive case that Palin was a more accomplished governor than the national media has ever let on and that she’s more of a “maverick” than we’ve been allowed to see. He captures some of the media firestorm that surrounded her upon her arrival on the national scene and the creation of her “media narrative” — naive, greedy, possibly corrupt and appealing to the nuttier elements of the GOP’s far right base. The film is designed to make her appear less alarming and as such, it works — until you start noticing what was left out. ...

Moore's complete review can be read at "Movie Review: The Undefeated."

Tina Dupuy has also seen "The Undefeated," discussed it with Stephen Bannon, and wrote about it in "Sarah Palin Movie Maker Wants You to Love Her Like He Does."

Peter Vonder Haar attended a screening of "The Undefeated" and wrote "Sarah Palin Sneak Preview: The Agony of The Undefeated."

Can 'documentary' films about Sarah Palin succeed?

When I first read about the Sarah Palin film "The Undefeated," I didn't think it could be successful, because I thought, "Who goes to a theatre and pays to see a documentary?" Aren't they all so boring that they eventually end up on TV? This morning there is an article at New York magazine about the two -- two! including Nick Broomfield's new, untitled film, which is an alternative to "The Undefeated" -- Palin documentaries, and it hints at how they could be successful. The article is by Claude Brodesser-akner, who writes about film for the magazine. Everyone may find the article incendiary in some way, even Madonna's fans, no matter which part of the political spectrum they inhabit:

... In the media, Palin is under constant (self-encouraged) scrutiny, as a magnet for both adulation and vilification. But when these docs come out, will anyone who either loves or hates her pay for the privilege of having their preconceptions reconfirmed? ...

... To be fair, docs are always a notoriously tricky niche in which to seek success, regardless of subject, and only a dozen have ever even grossed more than $13 million. (Four in this group came from lefty firebrand Michael Moore. The rest mostly star animals like penguins, lions, and Madonna.) And when it opens on July 15, The Undefeated will face another handicap: The audiences for documentaries are generally liberal, says Rocky Mountain Pictures principal Ron Rodgers, who released the 2008 pro-intelligent design documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (with star Ben Stein). "It's hard to keep the attention of the faith-based audience," says Rodgers. "Even with a faith-based message, they don’t like documentaries. [Expelled] performed poorly throughout the whole southeast - the whole Bible Belt was quite soft with it.”

Interestingly enough, Expelled did go on to gross $7.7 million, but it was thanks to Democratic ticket-buyers who were driven by curiosity, either intellectual or perverse. (There are those on the left who enjoy the act of getting apoplectic listening to opposing viewpoints: by screaming at Rush Limbaugh on their car radios, for example.) When Rocky Mountain gave its film a wide release, it had great - and unexpected - success in such liberal hubs as San Francisco's Embarcadero theater. ...

... Those behind Broomfield's untitled film are just as confident that their doc won't cross party lines in the other direction. First, there's the previously cited opinion that docs don't play as well in red states; but more specifically, Broomfield's spokesman Bright says that the film will turn off right wingers “because it’s the truth.” Zing!

Ultimately, how it does depends on what kind of story Broomfield tells. “The films themselves have to work as movies,” insists John Lesher, the former head of Paramount Vantage, which distributed An Inconvenient Truth. “Al Gore’s story is as much a story of his personal redemption as it a story about the issue of the climate crisis.” Ninety minutes of people pointing out various ways that Sarah Palin is evil may be cathartic for haters, but not necessarily anything they want to pay for. With Expelled, there was a curiosity factor, because while intelligent design is a term that's thrown around quite a bit, it's not explored in great detail on the news every day. But Palin is stubbornly omnipresent, and those who despise her know exactly why they do. (And getting mad at Fox News is free.) As one distribution chief says, “I root for their success — I want every movie to do well - but I think any [Palin] documentary’s prospects are cold — not cool, cold.” ...

I suppose a Palin documentary can be successful, if its budget is small.

New York magazine's post is "Sarah Palin Documentaries, Whether Pro or Con, Face a Tough Future."

The Hollywood Reporter has a post, "New Sarah Palin Documentary Emerges (Video)," which has clips from both films.

The Guardian has "Nick Broomfield film casts critical eye on Sarah Palin."

Do people really listen to Rush Limbaugh to get their blood pressure up?

Palin too indecisive to be President

Jena McGregor, writing in The Washington Post, has this to say about Sarah Palin's feigned apparent indecision about running for President:

The bus tour has come and gone. Now, so has the movie premiere.

A flattering “documentary” (from the looks of these clips, it appears more like an infomercial) about Sarah Palin, the former Alaskan governor and one-time vice presidential nominee, had its first showing in the tiny town of Pella, Iowa on Tuesday. But despite plenty of speculation that it could “serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin's prospective presidential campaign,” the event went off with little fanfare. Palin attended a post-premiere barbeque and had lunch at a Panera Bread restaurant with a GOP fundraiser, where politics reportedly wasn’t on the table.

Her apparent indecision whether to run or not, reports Politico, is starting to frustrate early state political players who are just ready for an answer already. (Palin told reporters Tuesday that she’s “still contemplating” the answer to “such a life-changing, relatively earth-shattering type of decision”; her daughter Bristol, meanwhile, told Fox News the same day her mother’s mind was made up.) But such perennial fence-sitting could do a lot worse than frustrate political operatives. Palin’s keep-them-guessing approach is in danger from turning what was a smart, masterful strategy for publicity into a liability of indecisiveness. ...

... Most politicians do the will-they-or-won’t-they-run dance with the press longer than they should, though Palin has turned it into a high art. This is what I don’t get—the willingness to look indecisive and, potentially, not fully committed to the job, in exchange for a little more time with your name in the news. Unless of course, getting more publicity is more of a concern to you than what voters might think of you. ...

McGregor's post is "Sarah Palin's campaign liability: From movie to bus tour to indecision?" Apparently, she reads Jonathan Capehart's columns, who has long been on to Sarah Palin's game.

Bristol Palin's statement -- On Fox! They report, we decide, right? -- that Sarah Palin has decided whether to run is newsworthy. If she had decided to run, her contract with Fox News would have already been suspended. Is she stringing Fox along? Hoping to keep that check coming a little while longer? That's not a good idea, because Fox' coverage of her candidacy could be devastating. Imagine the stories: "Sarah Palin, 2012's rodeo clown, said, '.'"

Sarah Palin is obviously not running -- of course, I may be assuming she's sane -- but if you want to keep a tiny, rapidly cooling ember of hope alive a bit longer, you may find some comfort in this post: "Sarah Palin 'will run for White House in 2012'." Peter Singleton is believed to be a volunteer, unassociated with Palin.

Palin fading in comparisons with Bachmann

Whatever people think about Michele Bachmann, she is being compared with Sarah Palin, and Palin is suffering in the comparison. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has mentioned several ways in which Bachmann excels Palin:

... After the 2008 election, Palin was the hottest commodity in Republican politics. She briefly sought to expand her decidedly narrow inner circle — hiring on the likes of GOP fundraiser Becki Donatelli — but those relationships quickly frayed, leaving Palin on a bit of a strategic island. (Palin’s closest political adviser, according to everyone familiar with her, is her husband Todd.) ...

... Palin has never squared off with other top Republicans in a debate format. Bachmann has — and she shined in the New Hampshire debate earlier this month. The ability to stand on a stage and look like you belong matters in a presidential race. Palin seems largely content to communicate with her supporters — and wade into political and policy fights — via Facebook and Twitter, two decidedly one-way conversations. ...

... Every candidate needs a state early in the nominating process where she (or he) can score a win. That’s Iowa for Bachmann. Not only is she already in a statistical dead heat with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in a new Des Moines Register poll but she was also born in the state — a fact she mentioned no fewer than 400 times in her announcement speech on Monday. (Ok, it was slightly less than 400 but not by much.) ...

... The confounding thing for many political strategists who have watched Palin over the past few years is her seeming refusal to reach beyond her core supporters. The result is that people who love Palin really love her but that is not a large enough group to win her a single state much less the GOP nomination. ...

... The simple fact is that every Republican knows Palin and a significant chunk of them don’t like her. In a March Washington Post/ABC News poll, just five percent of respondents said they had no opinion of Palin. Of those who did have an opinion, 58 percent felt favorably while 37 percent felt unfavorably. ...

I think that both Palin and Bachmann are rhetorical bomb throwers, but Bachmann may be able to calibrate her speech and sound somewhat presidential when she needs to. Another thing that could be happening with the Palin/Bachmann comparison is that it may make Bachmann appear to be a rational, organized person in comparison with Palin.

Palin's lack of organization -- Isn't she able to trust anyone other than Todd Palin? -- will doom her candidacy, should she decide to run. Facebook and Twitter, at best, can only augment a campaign that stresses on-the-ground meetings with voters and party officials. Palin may not be confident of her ability to mix it up with other Republicans, some of whom actually have an interest in government and want to discuss policy.

Some have said that Palin could gather momentum for the nomination by winning in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Bachmann has been campaigning in Iowa and is already campaigning in South Carolina. Where's Sarah? Selling books in Minnesota.