Bristol Palin on 'Good Morning America'

ABC News' Robin Roberts talked with Bristol Palin:



Yes, Bristol supports Sarah Palin for President! Is that surprising?
Whether Sarah will run has been discussed at the kitchen table, but Bristol isn't telling.

ABC News' story.

Sarah Palin Quits CPAC a Fourth Time

ABC's The Note is reporting that Sarah Palin has declined an invitation to give the keynote address at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference. From Sarah Palin Turns Down Coveted Keynote Speaking Slot At CPAC Conference:

After skipping the popular Conservative Political Action Conference for the past three years, Sarah Palin has once again turned down the invitation of CPAC officials to address the conference this year.

CPAC organizers invited Palin to deliver the closing-night keynote speech on Saturday Feb. 12, immediately following the announcement of the results of CPAC’s annual presidential straw poll, but after several days of negotiations, she declined. ...

Officially, a "scheduling issue" prevents Palin from attending this year's conference.

2011 will mark the fourth year that Palin hasn't appeared. Last year, Palin stayed away from the conference, citing what she considered inappropriate business dealings between the American Conservative Union (ACU) and David Keene. (CPAC is a project of the ACU's foundation (the American Conservative Union Foundation) and is its largest annual conference. David Keene is Chairman of the ACU.) In 2009, Palin accepted an invitation to speak, but dropped out. In 2008, Palin dropped out at "the last minute."

This year, the Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation are boycotting the conference, because GOProud, a gay conservative organization, is participating.

Why won't Sarah Palin go to CPAC? Perhaps there isn't a speaking fee. Or, perhaps she's not ready to face the fact that she's like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh in some respects; Beck delievered CPAC's keynote last year; Limbaugh delivered 2009's. Perhaps Palin's failure to appear is an expression of solidarity with the Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation. Whatever the reason, she's missing the party: Michele Bachmann, Haley Barbour, Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and John Thune, all of whom are being talked about as the Republican nominee in 2012, will be there.


Update: Politico's Ben Smith noted that SarahPAC will have a presence at the conference, so, he thinks, Palin isn't aligning herself with those boycotting because GOProud is participating; rather, Smith cites Palin's past feuding with David Keene.

Politico's Andy Barr wrote a story last year, about last year's CPAC, "Palin rebuffs CPAC, Keene," which may provide some more insight about the feud between Palin and Keene:

... Keene has criticized Palin in the conservative press, telling Newsmax in July that she was "whining" about her press coverage and was not yet ready for primetime.

"Conservatives like her, but you've got to have more than that," Keene told the outlet. "You've got to be more than a rock star. If in fact she's interested in the presidency, she has got to establish herself as someone you can envision in the Oval Office. And it's become more difficult to envision than it was at the time of the election." ...

Update: CNN's Political Ticker noted: "Palin declined similar invitations from the group in 2010 and 2009. But the decision to skip the event this year will be treated with fresh scrutiny in light of the fact she has expressed interest in running for president and nearly every other likely 2012 candidate will be there ... ."


Update: NY Times' The Caucus blog has a post, here.


Update: In "Why Palin snubbed CPAC," Politico's Andy Barr adds the boycott to Palin's feud with Keene to explain why Palin is a no-show.


Update: The Washington Post's Right Turn column is becoming skeptical about Palin.

Palin Family Circus News - December 7, 2010 - A.M. Edition

How could I have known? It was just an act of simple common sense when I started the Palin Family Circus News feature. Now, NBC New York's Jere Hester writes:

Welcome to the latest rings of the Palin Family Circus where Bristol’s still dancing – online – while her mom is playing the Mama Grizzly version of Annie Oakley on TV. Both are engaging with fading stars on Facebook, in exchanges that smack more of high school than serious political discourse.

Circus rings? Imagine that! I didn't know the Palins were so well organized.


Sarah Palin, bless her heart, is uncomfortable asking for money, so she's turned down the pleas of tea partiers' to run for chair of the Republican National Committee. In the gig she's got now, she only has to ask for money indirectly: Contribute to SarahPac! Buy my book! Watch my show! ...


Piper Palin's maniacal enthusiasm says it best:

The idea of watching Kate Gosselin and ex-governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin together is a little like drinking a can of Four Loko. You know it will be disgusting, but you can’t resist it — even if you will likely black out the whole traumatic experience anyway. (Or at least want to.) ...

So, needless to say, it will be tough to avoid watching the Kate Plus 8 star appear on this Sunday’s episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, in which the subjects of tabloid fodder go camping and attempt to out-do each other when it comes to high-decibel sentence delivery. (I’m with you, Kate.)


E!Online's Marc Malkin reported that Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba isn't too keen on seeing Todd Palin on next season's show:

Ratings shmatings!

Bristol Palin may have meant bigger numbers for Dancing With the Stars, but at least one judge says she's had enough of Alaska's former first family...

"I think one Palin was enough for awhile," Carrie Ann Inaba told me last night at the Trevor Project's Trevor Live benefit at the Hollywood Palladium. "I think we need to go on a Palin vacation for a minute."

A minute? Just one minute? Oh! That's what the commercials are for.


Finally, Abe Sauer of The Awl wrote of Sarah Palin's hunting prowess:

In this most recent episode [of Sarah Palin's Alaska], a woman who has blindly championed the NRA and legitimized her frontier-woman status by claiming to be a "lifelong hunter" comes across as anything but.


PSA: A lot of Blackberries have been piling in here. All at once. Is there a meeting I don't know about?

Anyway, just to let everyone know, the site uses StatCounter, which gives visitors a cookie in a vain attempt to count 'returning' visitors (it fails if visitors clear their browser cookies). If javascript is disabled, StatCounter won't be able to log any links you click.

At one time, the site used Google Analytics, but I'm told the code was disabled, because it doesn't provide that one bit of information that can answer that one burning question: "How many visitors followed the link to a particular site?" The answer to that question gives us a good idea of what's most interesting to people, so we can then continually improve our posts by linking to things that interest you.

You're welcome.

President Obama Does Not Think About Sarah Palin

In an upcoming interview, President Obama will be asked whether he could beat Sarah Palin in 2012 and will tell Barbara Walters:

"I don't think about Sarah Palin. Obviously Sarah Palin has a strong base of support in the Republican Party and I respect those skills, But I spend most of my time right now on how I can be the best possible president. And my attitude has always been, from the day I started this job that if I do a good job and if I'm delivering for the American people the politics will take care of itself."

"A Barbara Walters Special: A Thanksgiving Visit with President and Mrs. Obama" will air at 10:00 PM ET, Friday, and takes place in the White House.

During an interview to be aired at 10:00 PM, December 9, on "Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People," Sarah Palin will say, "I believe so," when asked by Walters, "If you ran for President, could you beat President Obama?"

The post's photo came from CBS' Political Hotsheet.

Palin Family Circus News - Friday, October 1, 2010

Check Please! Obama & Palin May Not Be Sharing That Milkshake After All:

If it seems too good to be true, maybe it is. Archie Comics gave the world a glimpse, albeit fictional, of President Obama and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin sharing a milkshake. Now, they may have traded in their matching sweater vests for boxing gloves. This week they're not sharing desserts, but rather dishing out just deserts. ...

... The issues are scheduled for release in December 2010 and January 2011, shortly after mid-term elections. The covers featuring the spirit of bipartisanship will be available alongside the new political battle variants for both the optimists and pessimists. Voters are left to wonder if that milkshake glass is half empty or half full.



A little damage control was in order after Bristol Palin on Underage Bar Visit: Nacho Problem! cropped up. What to do? Bristol Palin Stays Fit With McDonald's (PHOTOS):

Bristol Palin took a break from waltzing around the Dancing with the Stars rehearsal studio to grab a little McDonald's in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Before you balk, know that the budding ballroom star only had a salad! ...



Jake Tapper's "New Chief of Staff, With Alaskan Roots, Not Liked by Sarah Palin" has some background information about why Sarah Palin hates Pete Rouse, President Obama's new Chief of Staff. It's very conspirational stuff, according to Palin:

... After Rouse was mentioned as a potential replacement for Emanuel, Palin tweeted: “Alaska's Pete Rouse (@ least he claims to be ‘Alaska’)finally comes out of the shadows; Obama looks to appt him COS;strange doings in the WH.”

She added: “(Rahm's the smart one...bailing before Nov) Now, check out possible COS Pete Rouse. His background, voter reg in AK,etc. It's a small world.”

After Palin resigned her governorship, Palin adviser Meg Stapleton told TIME that attacks against the governor and her family were from the White House.

"A lot of this comes from Washington, D.C. The trail is pretty direct and pretty obvious to us," Stapleton told the magazine, alluding to The Thumpin' [The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution]. "It's the Sarah Palin playbook. It's how they operate.” The magazine wrote that “Palin and her Alaska circle find evidence for their suspicions about the White House in the person of Pete Rouse, who lived in Juneau for a time before he became chief of staff to a young U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. Rouse, they note, is a friend of former Alaska state senator Kim Elton, who pushed the first ethics investigation of Palin, examining her controversial firing of the state's public-safety commissioner. Both Rouse and Elton have joined the Obama Administration.”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told TIME that “the charge is ridiculous. Obviously there is no effort ... From my vantage point, a lot of the criticism she is getting from others seems to be generated from self-inflicted wounds."


Self-inflicted wounds, indeed.


Update: Here are twelve large photos of Bristol Palin looking very brainy, and a little like her mom in those glasses! Won't the hens be disappointed? She doesn't look pregnant.

Republican Party Puts Speedbumps, Roadblocks, Tollbooths and Detours Along Sarah Palin's Path To The Nomination

Walter Shapiro of Politics Daily attended Sarah Palin's recent address at the annual Ronald Reagan Dinner in Iowa, then wrote an interesting article about Palin's prospects for winning the Republican nomination should she decide to run. Shapiro wrote, in part:

... A little-noticed change in Republican Party rules for the 2012 presidential season may play a role in shaping Palin's ultimate decision [on whether to run].

Palin's most likely path to the nomination would depend on sweeping the Iowa caucuses (made-to-order for a high intensity candidate in a multi-candidate field), surviving a probable setback in New Hampshire (those pesky independent voters) and then roaring back to win the all-important South Carolina primary (the Kingmaker State whose likely next governor, Nikki Haley, was one of the first Mama Grizzlies). After that, Palin would have a serious shot at sweeping a series of major state (California, Texas, New York) winner-take-all primaries or winner-take-all by congressional district, even though she probably could never hit 50 percent in a contested race.

But that theory exploded when the Republican National Committee recently voted to switch to proportional representation (the system that was used by the Democrats during the protracted Obama-versus-Hillary Clinton battle) for all primaries held during the first two months of the 2012 season. What that means is that it will very difficult for a divisive candidate like Palin to sweep the table before the party establishment (buffeted though it may have been recently) can regroup. ...

Awarding delegates proportionately makes it much more difficult for Palin to get the nomination. The winner-take-all approach might have helped her to the nomination, like it helped her reach Alaska's governorship with less than fifty percent of the vote, with a plurality rather than a majority. Now, Palin will have to try to appeal to moderate Republican primary voters, which, if she does, is guaranteed to turn off her fans.

Shapiro came up with the three-state plan nearly a year ago, and since then that plan has become "common sense" among Palin's fans. It became so ingrained in their thinking that this Republican strategist still believes in it:



The Democratic strategist, Karen Finney, appears to be more realistic than her Republican counterpart. Finney doesn't think Palin is running for anything more than a payday.

Values Voters Do Not Want To Give Sarah Palin The Keys To The Car

Republican and Democratic strategists are talking about Palin/2012. Here are two of them. It's clear the Republican strategist doesn't know what he's talking about when he expresses the view that Sarah Palin could win the nomination, because, he says, three states, Iowa, New Hampshire and S. Carolina, decide the Republican nomination:





ABC News has a report about yesterday's Values Voter Summit, which was attended by Republican activists who will play a large part in deciding who will be the Republican nominee:

Conservatives came out in full force Saturday at the Values Voter Summit to hear the speeches of several rising Conservative stars and cast their ballots for who they think should head the 2012 Republican presidential ticket. The results of that straw vote might surprise you.

There has been a lot of speculation about Sarah Palin's prospective run. ...

... But while all the hype has been about Palin and the Tea Partiers, she came in fifth place in Saturday's straw poll, with just 7 percent of the vote.

Instead, the social conservatives at Saturday's event favored Rep. Mike Pence, a seemingly low-profile Congressman from Indiana who -- despite flying under the national radar -- struck a chord with those in attendance by speaking their language.

"I am a Christian, a Conservative and a Republican -- in that order," Pence promised the cheering crowd. ...

The article continues with a list of issues important to Values Voter attendees.

ABC News provided a video summary of their report:

Does the Value Voter poll tell us who the nominee will be? The LA Times noted:

Straw polls such as this one are hardly reliable predictors of a potential candidate's viability as a presidential hopeful. Other Republicans seen as potential candidates lagged in the field; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who did not attend, asked that his name be removed from the ballot.

Palin did not attend, choosing instead to deliver the keynote speech Friday at the Iowa Republican Party's Reagan Dinner.

Palin Family Circus News - Monday, September 13, 2010

An Irish bookmaker, Paddy Power, gives 8-1 odds that President Obama will beat either Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney in 2012:

The odds seem to favor one of two former governors — Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin — being the next Republican nominee for president, according to the Irish bookmaking agency Paddy Power.

But either would lose to President Obama, the odds-on favorite at 8-1 to win a second term in the White House, according to the betting so far at Paddy Power, which has, at various times, been spot-on and awful as a predictor of American presidential elections. ...

"Bristol Palin Going Against the Odds on 'Dancing With the Stars,'" covers another bet:

When Bristol Palin premieres on "Dancing With the Stars" next Monday, she'll be fighting the odds, costume criticism and rumors of troubled practice sessions.

Sports bookies (really? really!) have put Bristol above "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson, who's picked to finish last. But that's not saying much. The teen mom, who was thrust into the spotlight two years ago when her own mom (you know, Sarah Palin) became John McCain's running mate, is predicted to finish 11th out of the 12 celebrity contestants by two different bookmakers. Her odds of winning: 20-1. ("Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey is the early fave.)

Meanwhile, there are reports that Bristol and professional partner Mark Ballas missed several practice sessions last week because of a variety of conflicts. ...


"Mark Ballas Fears Bristol Palin Will Be "Embarrassing" on Dancing With the Stars," includes a practice session photo.


PETA is confirming that Bristol won't be wearing any real fur on DWTS. (I don't think that writer likes her, at all.)


Shades of the Cold War: Sarah Palin says moles are sneaking into her speeches! But -- wait a minute! -- a Missoula Editor article describes how its reporter and photographer got into yesterday's event in Missoula, Montana.

Palin/Johnston agreement prohibits trash talking

ABC News has posted a summary of the agreement:

... Under the terms, Palin, 19, will have primary custody of the toddler, while Johnston, 20, will have just two days a week to visit his son. According to the agreement, his Saturday visits must be between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and his Wednesday visits can start at noon and go no later than 6 p.m.

Johnston will pay child custody calculated from his current salary, which is estimated at about $72,000 a year, according to court documents

"If Levi were to make substantially more [money], that would call for a larger amount of child support," said Toby Kleinman, attorney at the Center for Protection of Children.

The court documents also address a particularly contentious aspect of the Palin-Johnson relationship: trash talking.

According to the custody agreement "the parties agree that the child shall receive positive reinforcement about each party and that the child has the right to be free of negative comments by one parent about the other." That includes comments in the media. That may be easier said than done for Johnston, who has leveled harsh accusations about his former girlfriend's famous mother, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. ...

Kate Gosselin Being Considered As Palin's Running Mate

Here, we see Kate Gosselin arriving for a meeting with Sarah Palin. The planet's buzzing with rumors that Palin is about to give Gosselin the VP nod.

Officially, it's just a coincidence that Gosselin has been seen in Alaska while Palin is filming her own reality show there, and it's just a coincidence that they're both TLC properties, but no one is denying that Gosselin would bring a lot to the ticket.

As Palin's children age, they will become less effective with the press. It's thought that Gosselin's brood, being younger, could prolong a Palin administration's good relations with the press.

So far, the lamestream media hasn't caught on and is only reporting that Palin and Gosselin will appear on each other's show. They say that Gosselin's children are going to learn some science from Palin's father, Chuck Heath, when they appear on Palin's show. There is no word yet about what Palin, possibly accompanied by her children, will do on Gosselin's show.

Here are the lamestream media reports from: ABC News, NY Daily News, and The Washington Post. As usual, they don't have the full story.

Sarah Palin tries to hog the news, and - Oops! - more lies pop out.

USA Today has a concise summary of the endorsement news in Georgia's gubernatorial race:

Two leading GOP conservatives, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, back different horses in Georgia's crowded gubernatorial primary. In the Democratic contest, former president Bill Clinton dissed the front-runner.

In the Democratic primary, Clinton endorsed Attorney General Thurbert Baker for governor over the favorite (and former governor) Roy Barnes. Baker seeks to become Georgia's first black governor. The Associated Press notes that Baker endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president in 2008 while Barnes backed John Edwards.

On her Facebook page yesterday, Palin announced her support for "underdog candidate" Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of State. Gingrich today endorsed former House colleague Nathan Deal, who left the House just before a potential Ethics Committee investigation. Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate, and Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, touted their candidates as the truest to conservative values. ...

Interestingly, Palin has endorsed a candidate who, according to her opponent, John Oxedine, the state's insurance commissioner and front-runner on the Republican side, "... gave almost a half-million dollars to an abortion provider. And supported tax-payer benefits for gay couples. Sounds like a liberal Democrat. It's the Karen Handel you didn't know" (CNN's Political Ticker via IM).

The Georgia primary will be held on July 20th, and a runoff is scheduled for August 10 if none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the votes.


Salon has a short, excellent article which contains several interesting links: "Michele Bachman outraises Sarah Palin: Is the Minnesota congresswoman more popular than the queen of the Tea Parties?"


Esquire's Politics blog addresses the hoopla over SarahPAC's recent quarterly report, noting:

Winning the GOP candidacy in 2012 will take more than stardom, and more than money. It'll take strategy, alliances, and one heckuva lot of shoe leather. Especially in Iowa and New Hampshire. I won't hazard a guess as to who will emerge victorious. I will predict it won't be be Palin or Romeny [sic], the presumptive frontrunners today. They've both tried and failed on the national stage before. Neither is a new face. And for Palin specifically, the same idiosyncratic tactics she uses to woo the far-right make her, I and others think, uniquely unlikely to be able to mount a successful party-wide candidacy. As for Mitt, Charlie Pierce has some new thoughts. Meantime, money talks.

ABC News has reported that Sarah Palin has assailed a resolution passed by the NAACP at its annual convention:

The NAACP's resolution condemning what it calls racist elements within the Tea Party is drawing fire from top Tea Party supporters, including Sarah Palin, as the civil rights group's president insists the party needs to "expel racists from the ranks."

"For more than a year we've watched as Tea Party members have called congressmen the N-word, have called congressmen the F-word. We see them carry racist signs and whenever it happens, the membership tries to shirk responsibility," NAACP President Ben Jealous said in an interview with ABC News. "If the Tea Party wants to be respected and wants to be part of the mainstream in this country, they have to take responsibility."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People this evening passed a resolution that calls on Tea Party members to repudiate what Jealous says are "ultra-nationalist and racist factions within the organization." ...

... Former Alaska Gov. Palin, a vocal advocate of the Tea Party movement, jumped into the heated race debate Monday night, assailing the NAACP resolution as an example of "typical divisive politics that is so absolutely unnecessary."

"The Tea Party movement is a beautiful movement, full of diverse people, diverse backgrounds," Palin said on Fox News' "Hannity." "It's very unfortunate that they are taking this tactic because it's a false accusation that Tea Party Americans are racist. Any good American hates racism. We don't stand for it. It is unacceptable."

Palin in turn called on President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama to "repudiate" the resolution and "set the record straight." ...

Michelle Obama delivered the keynote address at the NAACP's annual convention. She appeared before the resolution, which was widely expected to be approved, was voted upon.

Kansas City's ABC affilliate, KMBC, reported about the NAACP's resolution, which condemned racist elements within the tea party:

KMBC's Marcus Moore reported that Benjamin Jealous' speech on the third day of the national convention told members that the country's top priority should be creating new jobs.

"Getting our priorities back right-side up means putting America back to work," said Jealous.

Moore reported that Jealous then turned his attention to the national tea party movement and called out its leaders.

"Expel the bigots and racists in your ranks or take the responsibility for them and their actions," Jealous said.

Moore reported that Jealous spoke to tea party members and said some have taken things too far.

"We will no longer allow you to hide like cowards and hide behind signs that say 'Lynch Our President' or anyone else," Jealous said.

Jealous even mentioned the tea party's most well-known figure, Sarah Palin.

"Sarah Palin says, 'Let's party like it's 1776.' My white daddy would say be careful what you wish for because the 18th century, Sarah, wasn't good for anybody, even folks like you," Jealous said.

Isn't Sarah Palin lying about the Tea Party? Is it "a beautiful movement, full of diverse people, diverse backgrounds?" A CBS/NY Times poll found that it isn't so diverse, when compared with Real America:

Finally, something that cannot go without mentioning: David Weigel has a guest post at Andrew Sullivans' place. It's about Trig Palin's birth. I may address Weigel's post in the comments.