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.

Is Sarah Palin quitting her bus tour, too?

Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics writes in "Palin Bus Tour Takes Extended Pit Stop:"

Less than a month after she appeared poised to shake up the Republican presidential campaign, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has once again receded from the 2012 limelight. ...

... Palin's openness with reporters about her intentions to visit Iowa and South Carolina -- in addition to her highly scrutinized stop in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire -- lent credence to her repeated assertions that she was indeed seriously considering a White House bid.

Though Palin and her staff never announced a timeline for the remaining legs of her trip, aides had drafted preliminary itineraries that would have taken her through the Midwest and Southeast at some point this month. But those travel blueprints are now in limbo, RCP has learned, as Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska, where the skies are currently alight for over 19 hours a day and the Bristol Bay salmon fishing season is nearing its peak. ...

Conroy's story goes on to tell of Palin's failure to re-connect with the governors of Iowa and South Carolina, Palin's fans expressing their frustration on the internet, and rumors that Palin has offered Texas governor Rick Perry her support.

The only real news from SarahPac has been the incredible offer of a DVD of Palin's bad movie, "The Undefeated," which they've placed on sale for $100 a copy. The movie was summed-up very nicely by Tina Dupuy in The Atlantic's "Sarah Palin Movie Maker Wants You to Love Her Like He Does."

There are some more stories: TPM has "Sarah Palin Reportedly Quits Bus Tour Halfway Through;" Mediaite has "No Joke: Sarah Palin Reportedly Quits One Nation Bus Tour Halfway Through;" and The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart wrote "Sarah Palin parks ‘One Nation’ bus tour."

Update: Gryphen has posted Miss Always-Right's response to the news that she quit her bus tour, and he has updated with news that Palin has also quit her planned tour of Sudan -- before it started!

The case continues: She quit because she has jury duty? Miss Always-Blame-Government strikes again.

Sarah Palin's 'Movie'

There are several stories about Sarah Palin's new movie. The first from Real Clear Politics,"Palin's Secret Weapon: New Film to Premiere in June," revealed that the film-maker is paying, and that Palin doesn't have any editorial control, and, interestingly, that the film-maker obtained the audio rights to Going Rogue (Palin reading the book). So far, the only winner is Palin, who must have received something for the audio rights, right? But will the film turn Palin's poor reputation around?

I don't think any of this means that she is going to run, and, today, The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart doesn't think so either. In "Palin movie: ‘The Undefeated’ or ‘Hangover 3’?" Capehart writes:

Y’all are well acquainted with my view that Sarah Palin will not run for president, despite doing little things here and there to make the political press corps think otherwise. The latest example is the news broken by Real Clear Politics that a feature-length flick on Palin’s life and career will premiere next month in Iowa. “The Undefeated” is the stirring title. “Hangover 3”might be more apt. ...

As usual, Capehart has stuffed his column with a lot of links in support of his view, and concludes with a chart showing that Palin's unfavorable/favorable is in a long-term trend that doesn't bode well for Palin. People have made up their minds about her, politically. When would she quit as President?

The movie is titled, "The Undefeated." Undefeated champion of whining?

Update: The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza writes, in "Sarah Palin, celebritician:"

... The reality is that Palin is as much celebrity as she is politician — call her a “celebritician” — and only by evaluating everything she does in that light is there a possibility of properly understanding the motivations and goals of her actions.

Viewed that way, the Palin movie is not a radical departure but rather entirely consistent with her transformation from small-state politician to worldwide celebrity.

Dating all the way back to her decision to resign from the governorship in 2009 with 18 months left on her first term, Palin’s life choices seem to be dictated far more by a desire to build a personal brand in the culture at large than to carve out space for herself in the political world. ...

Update: The New York Times' "Signs Grow That Palin May Run" mentions the movie and offers some starting points for speculation about what may be motivating Palin.

Palin's Cat Toy

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart tells us, again:

... The real signal that Palin isn’t running — and, thus, playing with the political press like a cat toy — was highlighted during a rhetorical victory lap by Lawrence O’Donnell on May 16, the day Donald Trump bowed out of running for president.

According to O’Donnell, the March 2 announcement by Fox News that the contributor contracts of Newt Gingrich and former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) had been suspended because of their plans to run for president should have been the tip off. Palin and former governor Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) were rumored then to be considering a campaign. Yet, their names were noticeably absent [from the list of suspended Fox News contributors]. ...

There is video of O'Donnell's "victory lap" at Capehart's column (link above).

Palin may be playing a very dangerous game with the political press, especially so when part of that press employs her. Is Palin stringing-along Fox?

Capehart's column also has a link to his Palin is not running for president column of April 13th.

Palin 2012 Hits Granite Wall

Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post has some good news:

One too many political tea-leaf readers say that Sarah Palin, with her rock-star personality, loyal following and outsized influence on the Republican Party, could jump into the 2012 presidential race at the last minute and run off with the GOP nomination for president. This is in defiance of consistent and plain evidence that Palin is going nowhere fast. ...

Now a new poll from the University of New Hampshire ...

Now, here's where the news is really bad for Palin. ...

Lots can change between now and when the New Hampshire primary actually happens early next year. ...

But this much is clear: At the rate she's going, Palin will get nowhere near the Oval Office, let alone the Republican nomination. She has had two years to show the American people that she is not only worthy of the office but also worthy to be considered for the nomination. Her actions during this time have showed us time and again that she is more interested in playing a leader on television than actually being one.

Capehart's link to the "new poll" is a bad link, so here is a link to the poll results at The LA Times.

And there is more good news. As I wrote here, the addition of a chief-of-staff at SarahPAC is an indication of management failure, not a presidential bid. New York magazine has the news of two new departures from the PAC. One step forward, two steps backward. Is anyone surprised?

Salon, too, has an article, today, about Palin's fading prospects, here.

What? No one wants to go Palin-free?

Responses to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank's idea for a Palin-free month of February continue to be written. The Post's Jonathan Capehart writes in "Sorry, Dana Milbank -- I won't quit Sarah Palin:"

Hi, I'm Jonathan, and I'm, um, a Pali-holic. But not in the way that Dana Milbank or Ross Douthat thinks. Sure, I've written at least 34 posts with "Sarah" or "Sarah Palin" in the headline. Yes, I'm fully aware of the crack-like impact her name has on the blogosphere. But I have tried to write about Palin not as a politician but as a small-screen star playing a politician, a figure with outsized influence on a very vocal wing of the Republican Party on TV (and Facebook and Twitter and Fox).

I thought Douthat nailed it with his column this month on the media's obsession with Palin. And this is where Douthat and I are in total agreement.

Cover Sarah Palin if you want, but stop acting as if she's the most important conservative politician in America. Stop pretending that she has a plausible path to the presidency in 2012. (She doesn't.) Stop suggesting that she's the front-runner for the Republican nomination. (She isn't.) And every time you're tempted to parse her tweets for some secret code or crucial dog whistle, stop and think, this woman has fewer Twitter followers than Ben Stiller, and then go write about something else instead. ...

Capehart's columns about Palin are always like a breath of fresh air, because his is one of the few reality-based views on Palin. He knows electability matters, and he has known for some time that Palin is unelectable.

The Week has some additional responses to Milbank's plan in its article, "Forgetting Sarah Palin: Should the press stop covering her?"

The conservative Frum Forum has a response, too. Their "Time for Palin Apologists to Let Go" considers what The NY Times' Ross Douthat and The WSJ's James Taranto have written about the media's coverage of Palin.

Douthat may have started the media's discussion of Palin coverage with his "Scenes From a Marriage," which castigates "palinistas" and "palinoiacs" alike. In "Scenes From a Marriage," Douthat expresses his belief that conservatives have actually damaged Palin by praising her (excessively). I think that's true, particularly when they compare Palin with former presidents. Palin isn't like any President. She suffers from the comparison, because she isn't presidential, at all.

(Capehart is quoting, above, from Douthat's "Scenes From a Marriage.")

Uncommon Sense - Friday, December 17, 2010

I've chosen the name "Uncommon Sense" for this, the blog's new feature. Like the "Circus News" feature, "Uncommon Sense" will run when it's warranted, as when "common sense" has run off the road, rolled over and burst into flames.

Now, I've read that Sarah Palin is "cautiously" courting what she calls the "lamestream media," because, "Everyone has just come to the conclusion that being silent while other people talk about you and try to define you hasn’t netted the results that we’d necessarily like,” according to Tim Crawford, a Palin aide, who is quoted in a story written by Politico writer Kenneth P. Vogel.

But saying more isn't going to help Sarah Palin. There is a reason why Republicans told her to "sit down and shut up." With every Tweet, interview and Facebook rant, voters' opinion of Sarah Palin solidifies into something perhaps best described by the Russian "nyet." American voters are "nyet" happy with Sarah Palin.

How unhappy? The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart has written -- as usual, with a lot of uncommon sense -- "Palin vs. Obama: No she can't," which links to some polls that tell of the dire straits Palin is in with respect to electability. Sure, Palin told ABC News that polls change, but she has so thoroughly surrounded herself with a cheap, tawdry, one-trick-too-many, white trash aura that she's got an insurmountable job ahead of her. Voters expect more of a President; they expect the President to be better than they are.

"Common sense" is going to hell in a handbasket, and it's being carried there by Sarah Palin. When Sarah Palin tells ABC's Robin Roberts that running for the presidency is a "prayerful consideration," then you must surely begin to doubt God's omnipotence. Why would He (She? (It?)) need Sarah Palin? Why can't It (Think about it! If God is immortal, then why would God need to reproduce?) effect It's will without her?

Here is an excerpt of Palin's interview with Robin Roberts:



Now, think about it. Do tax cuts create jobs? No. A business creates a new job when the cost of employing another person is less than the additional revenue the new employee will generate. Why? Because that spells p-r-o-f-i-t.

A tax cut may artificially boost a business' profit, or, more likely, reduce a business' losses. But tax cuts don't require innovation, increased productivity, increased sales, superior products or any of the other things businesses have traditionally relied upon to increase their profits. Tax cuts are corporate welfare; they foster government dependency. If Sarah Palin supports Free Markets, why would she want to artificially prop-up marginal businesses that would otherwise fail? In a Free Market, businesses dependent on tax cuts for their survival should fail.

Don't be bamboozled by Sarah Palin. She doesn't know what she's talking about.

P.S: ABC News has an article about the Washington Post/ABC News poll, here. The Atlantic Wire also considers the polls, here.

Conservatives Weigh In on Palin/2012

The Washington Post published this fun video:


Via The Plum Line's Happy Hour Roundup

Conservatives aren't very enthusiastic about her, are they?


And the paper's Jonathan Capehart wrote in his PostPartisan column:

... Sarah Palin's latest harangue on Facebook after she got pummeled for saying the U.S. needs to stand with "our North Korean allies" shows that the turkey skin I gobbled up Thursday night is thicker than the half-term governor's.

You can read Palin's characteristically sarcastic and dismissive lash-out here. But she can't possibly survive a run for president (which I'm certain she won't do) wearing her heart and all of her paranoias on her sleeve. People already think she's not fit for the Oval Office. Such petty rhetorical tantrums are more befitting a pampered star than a president.

Capehart's opinion about whether Palin will run is like mine: non-hysterical, rational, and reality-based; of course.

Sarah Palin Needs to 'man up' in order to run

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart has read Robert Draper's article from The New York Times Magazine and offers three reasons why Palin won't run:

After reading Robert Draper's profile of Sarah Palin that will run in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday -- the one in which she says "I am" thinking about running for president -- I remain convinced that she won't for three reasons.

First, the half-term governor is a whiner. ...

Second, to be blunt, if Palin is running for the nomination, she is half-assing it right now. ...

The third, and most important, reason why I think Palin won't run for president is because she is spectacular at being a star. ...

Capehart backs-up his reasoning very neatly, even devastatingly. See whether you don't agree by reading his post, Sarah Palin needs to 'man up' if she's going to run. Right now -- and probably up until the point of no return -- Palin is going to be "thinking" about running, because she is able to garner attention by being coy about her intentions.

Who's afraid of Mama Grizzly?

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart has offered up some more insight into Sarah Palin's future. He considers what several Republicans -- Maine's Senator Susan Collins, Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, and his own colleague, Kathleen Parker -- have been saying about Palin recently and concludes, "Palin won't run for president. As she learned after quitting the Alaska governorship two years, seven months and 23 days into a four-year term, the money, attention and adulation are much better when you're not encumbered by accountability."

Senator Collins was interviewed by Maine's Kennebec Journal. The paper's report of their conversation about Palin was:

As we [The Kennebec Journal and Senator Collins] discussed the election returns, Collins was critical of Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for backing Tea Party losers in Nevada and Delaware. By taking that action, “they cost us two seats we could have won,” she said.

Collins said Palin will be weakened if Sen. Lisa Murkowski wins her write-in campaign for re-election in Alaska. Election officials say enough write-in votes were cast that Murkowski could be the winner.

Palin — who has a long family grudge against Murkowski — supported Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, who won the Republican primary.

Collins does not expect Palin to run for president.

“I think she likes being a celebrity commentator for Fox and a speaker and being able to provide for her family,” Collins said. “I think that life appeals to her. It’s a lot easier to charge people up than to actually govern.”

Senator Collins echoed Representative Bachus' recent comment about Sarah Palin's role in the recent midterm election:

“The Senate would be Republican today except for states (in which Palin endorsed candidates) like Christine O’Donnell in Delaware,” Bachus said. “Sarah Palin cost us control of the Senate.”

It looks as though Republican knives are out for Sarah Palin.

Palin Family Circus News - Friday, October 8, 2010

Delaware's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Christine O'Donnell, is the latest to evade a question of whether Sarah Palin is qualified to be President. The NY Daily News reports:

Sarah Palin's finding out the Tea Party is a tough crowd.

Palin's mini-me, Delaware Senate contender Christine O'Donnell, ducked a question over whether Palin is qualified to be President, joining fellow Tea Party Senate hopeful Joe Miller in declining to comment.

Palin, the face of the budding Tea Party movement, is widely seen as a contender for the GOP nomination in 2012.

O'Donnell broke her boycott of national media Thursday and chatted with CNN reporter Jim Acosta. In response to his question about whether Palin was qualified to be commander-in-chief, O'Donnell said:

"Is she running for President? Again, hypothetical."



New York's "Nobody Wants to Say That Sarah Palin Is Qualified to Be President," tells us, in part:

Sarah Palin sure has some fair-weather friends. ...

Guess what's going to happen now, besides Todd Palin sending a sassy e-mail to Christine O'Donnell. Reporters are going to start asking every prominent Republican with electoral ambitions whether they think Palin is qualified to be president, hoping for another awkward dodge. Any such dodges, along with those of Miller and O'Donnell, will be reported in the media and contribute to the erosion of whatever viability Pain has as a presidential candidate. Palin has her friends Joe Miller and Christine O'Donnell to thank for that.

About one year ago, Mississippi's Republican governor, Haley Barbour, damned Palin with faint praise by saying that she is constitutionally qualified to be President. Guess what? Millions of others are also, too.



Salon's "America Hates Sarah Palin" has:

According to a new CBS poll, America really doesn't care for Sarah Palin. She is viewed favorably by 22% of Americans, and unfavorably by 48%. Those are not great numbers for a potential 2012 candidate. ...

... The polls also serve as a reminder that the Fox/Tea Party bloc of enraged older white people, for all their bluster about taking "their" country back, represent a sliver of the population. ...

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart has the best palinsight around and wrote of a Palin candidacy:

Taking time out from bashing out-of-touch elites, Sarah Palin went to West Palm Beach on Wednesday to tape a webcast for newsmax.com and made a laughable pronouncement. According to Jose Lambiet's "Page 2 Live" blog at The Palm Beach Post, the former half-term governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee said that she would run in 2012 if "the American people" want her to.

Earth to Palin: they don't. ...

... Now, this might difficult for Palin or her legions of fans and admirers to accept, but "the American people" have consistently said they don't think she is qualified or should be president. You will recall that last month I said Sarah Palin is everywhere -- and going nowhere. A CBS News poll released on Oct. 6 shows nothing has changed. ...

... Palin told her Palm Beach audience that she wasn't sure if voters were ready for her "unconventional," "out-of-the-box" style. As the polls have shown since late 2008, they're not.

"Earth to Palin?" Let me go all palingates here and offer "proof" that the Palins are from another planet:

Palin Family On Their Home Planet

Click the photo to enlarge it

More photos from TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska" can be seen here.



Celebrity Cafe's "Bristol Palin Hasn't Noticed Weight Loss From Grueling 'Dancing with the Stars' Workouts," quotes Bristol: "I haven't really noticed a change in [my body] ... I think most people lose weight [on the show] because they're too stressed out to eat. I haven't had that problem!"



The NY Daily News has "Sarah Palin: 'Dancing with the Stars' asked my husband Todd to be on ABC show before Bristol joined."

Todd must have sloughed it off onto Bristol, because he can't dance, right?

Palin Family Circus News -- Thursday, September 2, 2011

Dancing With The Stars contestants Bristol Palin and David Hasselhoff began rehearsals today as they geared up for the latest series of the show. Sarah Palin's teenage daughter was casually dressed in leggings, trainers and a sweatshirt while the former Baywatch star opted for tracksuit bottoms and a sleeveless T-Shirt. ...

Palin has said that her mother is glad she is appearing on the show.

'She's excited for me ... she knows this will be hard work,' the 19-year-old said.

However she was unsure whether the US politician would come to the studio to watch her. ... -- Bristol Palin and David Hasselhoff begin rehearsals as they prepare to fight it out on Dancing With The Stars


Popeater has "Photos: Bristol Palin Begins 'Dancing With The Stars' Rehearsals." Apparently, she is paired with Mark Ballas.


E!Online confirms that Bristol's partner is Mark Ballas in "Bristol Palin Puts Her Dancing Shoes On:"

Just days after hanging out with her fellow DWTS cast members, Bristol Palin is ready to get down.

The former first daughter of Alaska just joined her partner Mark Ballas at a studio to begin rehearsing for the upcoming battle in the ballroom.

What's more, the sight of Bristol happily hoofing it may just put to rest some of the speculation that the 19-year-old has been a bit difficult when it comes to preparing for the competition.

Either way, we can't wait to tune in!


Update: Bill Zwecker of The Chicago Sun-Times writes, in "Bristol has 'em bristling on 'Dancing With The Stars:'

Things keep getting interesting behind the scenes on ''Dancing With the Stars.'' A show insider says, ''Move over, Michael Bolton! Bristol Palin is now out-diva-ing you!''

The source said the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has become a constant pain in the rear for "DWTS" staffers. ''Clearly she didn't read the fine print on her contract -- and that's just a figure of speech. There's nothing hidden in the contracts,'' said the ''Dancing'' source.

'Otherwise, Bristol wouldn't be complaining about all the things contestants are required to do.'' ... (H/T Gryphen)

Mercede Johnston, Levi's sister, wrote about skyrocketing teen pregnancies in Wasilla since Bristol became famous.


The Washington Post's The Reliable Source column on yesterday's publication of "Sarah Palin's Sound and Fury" in Vanity Fair:

The article by Michael Joseph Gross contains few verifiable revelations -- Palin and people near her refused to talk, and those who did demanded anonymity -- and portrays the former Alaska governor as angry, manipulative and obsessed with money and fame. Plus: tensions in the Palin marriage, tensions with the McCain campaign, tensions with the RNC over the vice presidential candidate's infamous $150,000 designer wardrobe. ...

... The Christian Science Monitor summed it up best: "If you are trying to sell books or magazines or get clicks for your website, Republican Party star Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps giving."

This headline says it all: Alaskans prefer Romney to Palin among possible GOP presidential candidates.


Noam Scheiber, guest posting for Jonathan Chait at The New Republic, wrote "Sarah Palin is So... Predictable:"

Per this excellent Times story, it appears that Palin's opposition to just-defeated Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski stems not from ideological differences or even tactical disagreements but ... a personal slight: ...

... As it happens, this [...] fits a pattern that pretty much explains Palin's entire political career. If you dig hard enough, you almost always find some perceived slight--usually at the hands of some member of the establishment (or what passes for the establishment in Palin's mind)--behind every decision Palin has made to run for office or oppose another politician. There really isn't much more to it than that.

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart, as usual, has some of the best palin-sight around:

Sarah Palin has been everywhere since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made her his vice presidential nominee two years ago. But she has been in our faces even more lately. The Glenn Beck rally. The take-down of home-state nemesis Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Telling Dr. Laura Schlessinger to “reload.” Now comes word that Palin will speak at the Ronald Reagan Republican dinner in Iowa on Sept. 17. Of course, this has set off the usual will-she-won’t-she run for president in 2012 question. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: she won’t. ...

... For all of Palin’s popularity within the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement, poll after poll shows that the American people don’t think she’s ready to be president of the United States. This was the case last February. Also last April. And now this week in the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll, 59 percent of those surveyed said Palin would not “have the ability to be an effective president.” -- "Sarah Palin is everywhere -- and going nowhere"

Capehart included a most excellent graph of Sarah Palin's favorable/unfavorable ratings over time. I'll just say that the trend doesn't look good -- for Sarah Palin. The rest of us should cheer, lay in a lot of popcorn, ...