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.

Can Sarah Palin Be Trusted With Nuclear Weapons?

Christiane Amanpour led a round-table discussion about the 2012 Republican candidate for President. The discussion on "This Week," yesterday, began with talk of Sarah Palin:





George Will said that there is no "undecided" vote for Palin to pursue. People have already made up their minds about her. Will also said that people would answer a "Should Palin's finger be on the nuclear trigger?" question negatively.

Mediaite's "George Will: Everyone Knows Sarah Palin Should Not Be Trusted With Nuclear Weapons" has a story and a shorter video.

Palin's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" tour may be the height of her role as America's number one celebritician.

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!

Palin Family Circus News - Friday, August 13, 2010

Watch these Jimmy Kimmel videos for some insight into Sarah Palin's family life. Levi is done buying rings. Levi and Bristol are taking a break. Ma & Pa Palin found out about the engagement from a magazine, and that was Bristol's idea! Aren't they just like the rest of us?

Levi's run for Mayor of Wasilla should make a mockery of Sarah Palin's experience as mayor. People are going to say that Levi can do just as good a job, possibly a better job than Sarah.


Breaking: TMZ (Palin family news outlet) is reporting a child custody deal.

Alaskan teacher reminds Sarah Palin that she quit on Alaska.

Sarah Palin's Homer Moment-D'Oh!



The video originally appeared in Shannyn Moore's article at The Huffington Post. It has also appeared in stories at New York magazine, mediaite, and Media Matters. The video is interesting, because it provides a glimpse of Sarah Palin in a rare, unscripted moment.

A lot is at stake here. Some insist that the girl with Palin is Willow, rather than Bristol, and there is a golden opportunity for people to project their own feelings onto Palin as they speculate about her state of mind and body language while the camera is running. Mediaite may have the most informative story, which ends with "Watch [the video]. Or you can probably just wait until the cablers track down [Kathleen] Gustafson and she pops up on a slew of shows in the next few days."

It would be interesting to see an interview, although Gustafson said something like, "I'm a stills person, rather than video person," when Palin asked her to turn toward the camera. She might have more insight into whether Palin rolled her eyes when she told her she was a teacher. Whether the girl is Willow or Bristol matters to some heavily invested in a rumor that Bristol is pregnant. The girl in the video does not appear to be pregnant.


Update: Wonkette has a story: "'Worst Governor Ever' Ruins Sarah Palin's TeeVee Show, Results In Weird YouTube Conversation"


Update: Newsweek has a story: "Sarah Palin Gets Snarky on a Schoolteacher:"

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's carefully crafted image as a regular hockey mom has taken a few hits since her unsuccessful vice presidential bid. Starting with her bizarre decision to quit the governorship in the middle of her term, which New York's Gabriel Sherman later compellingly argued was a move to freely cash in on her celebrity, there's also been the ruckus caused by her massive speaking fees at events such as the Tea Party convention in Nashville and at nonprofit institutions such as universities. ...

... But all those who wonder whether revelations of her personal prima donna qualities will damage her image are proceeding from an assumption that she does, in fact, disguise her self-centered side well in managed environments. I've long disagreed with that assessment, because her famous Facebook postings often have the tone of a nasty, snotty, slightly dense but popular high-school girl. ...

... Well, Palin's dark side came out in full effect this weekend, and this time the victim was not President Obama but a schoolteacher in small-town Alaska. ...

Update: Sarah Palin has weighed-in, inveighing against — what else? — wait for it! — lamestream media. She does, however, have a little snark to offer:

The LSM has now decided to use this brief encounter for another one of their spin operations. They claim I – wait for it – “appear to roll my eyes” when the lady tells me she’s a teacher. Yes, it’s come to this: the media is now trying to turn my eyebrow movements into story lines. (Maybe that’s why Botox is all the rage – if you can’t move your eyebrows, your “eye rolling” can’t be misinterpreted!)

Palingates Under Siege

A "just askin'" post at Palingates is creating quite a stir. The post hinted that Sarah Palin had committed perjury during her testimony at David Kernell's trial in Knoxville.

Palingates' post was brought up last night on Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" and pooh-poohed by Olbermann's guest, David Weigel of The Washington Post, who wrote about the controversy, yesterday.

Here is the "Countdown" video:

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This morning, in response, mediaite's Tommy Christopher posted what some might consider a humorous story, "Keith Olbermann Gets Bad News on Sarah Palin Perjury Allegation."

As has been said, "Any publicity is good publicity." Isn't it?

Update: David Weigel has written about the Palingates controversy, "I, Sarah Palin Defender."

Update: The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan trusts David Weigel's view on the matter.

Update: The Atlantic's Jake Simpson weighs-in.