November 18, 2009

Palin Talks Policy

Sad to report that I am not, overall, impressed. Her heart’s in the right place, but her understanding still seems shallow, especially when it comes to Israel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgizfYZFPC8[/youtube]

Also, here’s more of her interview with Rush Limbaugh, where she talks about taxes, NY-23, and more…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoQYdaFfNLc&annotation_id=annotation_764167&feature=iv[/youtube]

by @ 7:40 pm. Filed under Sarah Palin
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115 Responses to “Palin Talks Policy”

  1. JA Pruce Says:

    Governor Palin is showing her Presidential timber here…

    A robust increase in Israeli settlements.

    Support of an extended mission and surge strategy in Afghanistan with NO timetables. A strategy for victory not cut and run.

    Cutting taxes.

    Straight talker.

    Significant foreign policy experience with regards to Russia as Comander in Cheif of the Alaskan National Guard.

    Against dithering on foreign policy.

    …very strong performance and something all primary voters can rally around.

  2. jerseyrepublican Says:

    Alex, do you disagree with the same reason Netanyahu gave as to why existing settlement should be allowed to expand? I thought she was very solid, it was all generalized but it seemed to be a lightning round…what more can you expect?

  3. WSU Says:

    I don’t know about expanding the settlements – but I think we’re about at the end of the line for a two-state solution. I think its time to ditch the option that hasn’t, and won’t, work – and look to either a one-state or three-state solution instead.

  4. Win M. Says:

    I don’t think her Barbara Walters is substantively much different than her responses to Katie Couric. Her job-creation response evinced no substantive understanding of economics. It still seems she has only the most topical grasp of what she’s talking about. The depth with which Romney can talk about health care, for instance, is apples and oranges compared to this.

  5. Aron Goldman Says:

    Here’s the link to the full transcript of Rush Limbaugh’s interview with Sarah Palin:

    http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_111709/content/01125120.guest.html

  6. MWS Says:

    On the Walters’ interview:

    Low point: Seemed to be expending great effort to speak in trite platitudes. Also, we can’t afford tax cuts. Deficits are reaching critical mass.

    High point: “back-asswards.” Never heard a Pres or VP candidate say that before.

    Weird point: For some reason, the head shots during the first half of the interview made it look like she was wearing a “bump it”, but not the last half.

  7. MWS Says:

    Pruce,

    “Governor Palin is showing her Presidential timber here…”

    Uh, yeah, and honestly it ain’t all that impressive. I really, really, really loved Palin when McCain picked her. But after a while, it became too hard to ignore, rationalize, or explain away her clear lack of depth.

  8. jerseyrepublican Says:

    The notion of tax cuts were brought out based on a question on job creation. She is absolutely right. We need to lower taxes and provide a job growth playing field. Not only will lower taxes encourage corporate and small business growth it will also spur a little bit of consumer confidence. Sure I agree it was basic and generalized but I don’t think the lightning round warranted any further comments on any of the issues.

  9. jerseyrepublican Says:

    MWS, I’m just not sure what you are looking for? Prior to this week she was criticized for not making herself available to answer policy questions. Now she has started to do just that and you criticize her on the depth of her answers to an interview that is based around human interest as opposed to policy. She has endless posts on FACEBOOK that displays a deep understanding of the issues and she has pretty much been on the right side of almost every argument facing this session of Congress and the last. What more do you want from the woman?

  10. MWS Says:

    jersey,

    Normally, I’d agree on the tax cut thing, if our debt wasn’t 80% of GDP and our deficit 50% of expenditures.

  11. MWS Says:

    jersey,

    Well, maybe it’s because I’ve never been on her Facebook page, but I can’t recall Palin giving a really deep or insightful analysis to anything.

    Honestly. I like her. I (mostly) agree with her. But most college Republicans would give answers like that.

  12. bob Says:

    In any interview there is a time constraint. Sarah did fine with the time alloted. That is all you can expect from anybody being interviewed.

    In the 21st c long-windedness does not sell very well.

  13. MPC Says:

    Palin does platitudes too much. That was one of my big disappointments with her last year as the campaign went on. It weakened McCain, who is easily one of the most substantive Republicans out there.

    Now, if she took the helm on a major issue or two, something the party has neglected, and made a good case with a focus on a workable solution, it would do her miles of good.

  14. Doug Forrester Says:

    Perhaps Palin can have a talk radio show for the next few years. With all her fans she could probably do well.

    I don’t know if that would be too time consuming for her.

    Perhaps in 2014 she could run for Alaska Senator.

  15. jerseyrepublican Says:

    10 – do you agree with letting the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010?

  16. MPC Says:

    There’s a good conservative case to be made for letting them expire, as the deficit needs to be closed or it’ll import a whole host of issue. But it would probably be best to postpone that for one year to review in better economic circumstances. The negative impact it could have on the economy at a bad time like this shouldn’t be overlooked.

  17. asparagus Says:

    she needs to slow down so people can understand. funny watching barbara struggle to keep up.

  18. MWS Says:

    jersey,

    “do you agree with letting the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010?”

    Yes. Is government too big? Yes. Should we be taxed less? Yes. Does it suck to raise taxes in the middle of a recession? Double yes.

    But here’s the deal, the tax cuts are simply paid for by future taxes, since the government is simply borrowing the money. We pay for it with interest. And quite honestly, I think the deficit poses a greater risk to our economy- near term and long term- than letting taxes go back up to 2000 rates. Skyrocketing interest rates, inflation, and a crashing dollar would all be just like “tax increases,” in effect.

  19. MWS Says:

    And for those who doubt we are reaching some kind of critical mass with the debt, I ask:

    Why did the Fed pledge to buy Treasuries this year, effectively printing money for the government to borrow?

  20. Martha Says:

    This was almost as uncomfortable as the Couric and Gibson interviews. Just a hair better, but not much.

    6. This thing was all cut up. Palin’s hair is the giveaway. It was one way, then another, and then back to the first way.

    That’s about as much lip gloss as I’ve ever seen on any lips. Whew.

    Palin just isn’t good off the cuff, and it doesn’t look like she’s ever going to be.

    Back-asswards, that was painful.

  21. Aron Goldman Says:

    Sarah Palin trashes ‘lamestream media’
    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29693.html

    Speaking on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Palin said that “some on the left, that lamestream media, they’re contradicting what I wrote in the book.”

    Hannity jumped in to ask, “did you say lamestream media?”

    “Yeah, lamestream,” Palin responded. “They are contradicting those facts that I laid out regarding what Reagan had to say.”

    “Anyways, it’s been nonsense to hear some of the criticism of that principle there, and that is what history shows us is what Ronald Reagan did was put American back on the right path,” she continued. “We need to emulate that.”

    “We need to repeat that instead of going back to the 1930s and think that some growth of government, New Deal spending is going to get us out of a recession,” she said. “It is, of course, going to cause greater problems.”

    Palin did not specify who she was accusing of distorting her view of Reagan’s policies during her interview with Hannity.

    Sarah Palin Tells Sean Hannity What Newspapers She Reads
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/18/sarah-palin-tells-sean-ha_n_362718.html

    Over a year after she infamously stalled on Katie Couric’s question about what news sources she reads, Sarah Palin has told Sean Hannity what’s in her media diet.

    “She asked about what I read, and I read,” Palin told Hannity in an interview to air Wednesday night on Fox News. “I read Newsmax and the Frontiersman and Wall Street Journal and everything online. I absorb the news via many, many sources.”

    Newsmax is a conservative news website, while the Frontiersman is the local Wasilla, Alaska newspaper.

    Palin floats possibility of joining forces with Fox News firebrand Beck
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iXcn9wDoKSzwq796UWd460DRKKlQ

    Palin-Beck 2012?

    Sarah Palin has suggested Fox News firebrand Glenn Beck could be someone she’d consider as a running mate if she makes a bid for the White House in two years.

    “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told the conservative news agency Newsmax as she promoted her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.”

    “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he’s so bold – I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it, and he’s very, very, very effective.”

    Palin and Beck have long been admirers of one another, with the former Alaska governor often praising the Fox News host on her Facebook page. A Palin-Beck ticket would be a dream come true for the legion of so-called tea party protesters vehemently opposed to Barack Obama’s presidency.

    The pair shares a tendency to strike fear into the hearts of their supporters. Palin, for her part, has alleged Obama is aiming to do away with the elderly and infirm with the so-called death panels in his health-care reform overhaul, while Beck has accused the president of being a racist, a socialist and has also drawn parallels between his policies and those of Adolf Hitler.

    The Anti-Defamation League has cited Beck, who also has a syndicated radio show, as the “most important mainstream media figure who has repeatedly helped to stoke the fires of anti-government anger.”

    Needless to say, it’s a potential ticket that has some moderate Republicans squeamish.

    “It’s not going to happen; it’s not anybody’s dream,” Republican strategist Charles Black, who worked on John McCain’s presidential campaign last year, said Wednesday when reached at his D.C. office.

    “It’s way too early to be focused on it. We don’t even know who’s going to run.”

    Palin to Hannity: Alleged Fort Hood Shooter Should Have Been Profiled
    http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/11/18/palin-to-hannity-alleged-fort-hood-shooter-should-have-been-profiled.html

    Sarah Palin tells Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity that she thinks the Fort Hood slayings of 13 soldiers was an act of terrorism and that the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, should have been profiled. “I am going to use the word—profile this guy, profile in the sense of finding out what his radical believes were,” she tells the host in an interview airing tonight at 9 p.m.

    In the wide-ranging interview, highlighted below, Palin says she realizes that her support of profiling will lead liberals to bash her. “But I say profiling in the context of doing whatever we can to save innocent American lives. I’m all for it then.”

    ON WHERE SHE’LL BE IN 2012
    “I do not know. I wish that I could predict and — and prepare for what’s going to happen in four years.”

    ON HER WORST CAMPAIGN MOMENTS
    “[M]y personal e-mails being hacked and then being broadcast around the world.”

    ON THE NEWSWEEK COVER PHOTO OF HER
    “It was just — just another little shot.”

    “But in the grand scheme of things, of course, things like that really don’t amount to a hill of beans, when there are many things that are going wrong, something’s going right, but something’s going wrong in our country that people want to hear about and talk about.”

    “I think that the American people, they’re tiring of the tabloidization of some people, like me. And they want to get to the issues.”

    ON THE LETTERMAN ATTACK AND WHETHER SHE WILL GO ON HIS SHOW
    “[I]t’s sexist and it’s — it exploits an innocent child and — and I don’t think it’s cool. I don’t think it’s funny.”

    “I’m not out for vindication. But I’m thinking practically, economically, in — in terms of David Letterman is that I don’t want to boost his ratings. So, no, I have no desire to.”

    ON CAMPAIGNING WITH MCCAIN
    “And 95 percent, though, of the campaign was absolutely amazing, awesome, invigorating, energizing.”

    “And unfortunately, you know, not enough pages available in a book to get to describe all of that, but about the 5 percent of the conflict is in the book.”

    ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S “GIFTS”
    “As a person, I think he’s very charismatic, quite articulate. Very, very talented as a politician”

    “I’d like to see him put all of those God-given talents that he’s so full of to better use for America.”

    ON WHETHER SHE THINKS PRESIDENT OBAMA’S “RADICAL”
    “I will not hesitate to say that his associates have been extremely radical and we see that then in some of the appointments he has made.”

    ON WHETHER SHE THINKS PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS A PRE-9/11 MENTALITY
    “There are some actions that are being taken today that would make someone assume that that is what is that mentality is.”

    ON OBAMA’S POSITION ABOUT TALKING TO AHMADINEJAD
    “I do believe that [President Obama] has evolved from that position that he took as a candidate, and he realizes now you cannot make such a promise, not when you’re dealing with these mad men, who do want to destroy America and wipe like Israel off the face of the earth.”

    “[T]here are other countries that we need to start putting pressure on, like Russia, and make sure that Russia is recognizing too that we’re not going to put up with those threats of this Iranian regime that is so threatening and so controlling.”

    ON THE UNITED STATES’ RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA
    “Well, we have to start cleaning up our own house here in America and not so much — well, it’s going to be twofold — but we can’t just look at China and blame them for some kind of trade imbalance. It’s also our fault, because we had spent so much money.”

    ON THE KATIE COURIC QUESTIONS AND HOW SHE WOULD ANSWER THEM DIFFERENTLY
    “She asked about what I read, and I read — I read Newsmax and the Frontiersman and Wall Street Journal and everything online. I absorb the news via many, many sources.”

    ON HOW SHE WOULD REACH OUT TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE A TINA FEY-LIKE “CARICATURE IMAGE”OF HER
    “They need to start by reading my book and not believing the tabloidization or the mainstream media that wants to portray me as something that I am not.”

    “Read the book, my own words, and then judge me by that. Judge me by record. Judge me by my accomplishments as a mayor and a city manager and an oil regulator and a governor, and then if they still hate me, well, so be it.”

    ON THE BIGGEST FOREIGN POLICY CHALLENGE FACING THE COUNTRY
    “Fighting the war on terror, still.”

    ON WHETHER SHE WORRIES ABOUT HER SON IN THE MILITARY SERVING UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA
    “I want to make sure that my son and that every soldier, that every member of our military is equipped to the fullest, and has a commander in chief who is fully, fully committed to their mission.”

    Famous for Being Famous: The Sarah Palin Show Is On the Air
    I’m not sure what I have more contempt for. Sarah Palin’s pathological lying or the people who can say with a straight face that Sarah Palin is qualified for anything other than a reality show contestant or the the Edie McClurg role in a remake of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
    by Bob Cesca
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/famous-for-being-famous-t_b_362934.html

    Levi Johnston: He’s hot, he’s cute, he’s playing hardball
    by Meghan Daum
    http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum19-2009nov19,0,5280961.column

    The Audacity of Dopes
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-gurvitz/the-audacity-of-dopes_b_359454.html

    “Going Rogue”: The 18 Biggest Falsehoods In Palin’s Book
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/17/going-rogue-the-18-bigges_n_359837.html

    An Internal Struggle Over Palin at Fox News
    http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/internal-struggle-over-palin-fox-news-10339

    The age of Palintology
    By Howard Kurtz
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111800835_pf.html

  22. DanL Says:

    Alaska is the gatekeeper for the continent? Is she expecting the next 20 million illegals to pour over the Bering Strait? Or maybe she thinks that the Chinese will conquer Siberia then come through Alaska to take Canada?

  23. Aron Goldman Says:

    Is There a Palin Doctrine?
    If the former would-be veep’s memoir is any indication, the answer is no.
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/18/is_there_a_palin_doctrine?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full

    The book, as one might have predicted, provides little evidence of any awareness of foreign policy, let alone serious thought about the world and America’s place in it. Take, for instance, Palin’s description of her first meeting with McCain, when he hoisted her onto his ticket and foisted her onto the unsuspecting world. Senior advisor Steve Schmidt — cast as one of the many villains conspiring to keep Palin down throughout the book — spends the initial vetting session grilling the governor on the subjects that might pose the greatest liabilities to the then-losing ticket. The McCain folks mention her daughter’s pregnancy. They ask about her firing of her brother-in-law. And Schmidt starts in on international affairs.

    “[He] wanted to know whether I understood the origin of the conflict [in Iraq], the history of the Middle East, and how thirteenth- and fourteenth-century differences had evolved into today’s murderous rivalry,” Palin writes. She tells us she did — but she shows us she did not, defensively pushing back on Schmidt for being undercutting and cranky (she later criticizes his diet and describes him, delightfully, as slumping like a “pile of laundry”). She provides no description of any answers she gave to his questions, which I doubt were always so historical in nature.

    So too with her assessment of her prep work for her vice presidential debate with Joe Biden, a lion of the senate and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A spate of McCain advisors prepared her for the televised event, with Scheunemann and others providing her with note cards, briefing books, and canned answers on the most important topics. They also overloaded her with — sigh! — too much time in wardrobe, leaving her little time to study up on, say, the United States’ two ongoing wars, or relations with friends like Europe and adversaries like Iran. Ultimately, the McCain advisors insisted that she not attempt to counter Biden or really debate him on substance at all, she writes.

    These two passages mark Going Rogue’s two real engagements with foreign policy, the sole prerogative of the executive and a responsibility of the vice president — though Palin dismisses the subject as “certainly foreign to most governors.” The book does delve into military and defense policy, though in a cursory and, at this point, shopworn manner. She mentions her son’s service overseas and her interaction with Alaska troops a few times, for instance, as well as meetings with world leaders, glossed over in a paragraph. She also includes a single, dry 261-word passage on the September 11 attacks, the most crucial foreign-policy event of the past 20 years, explaining what she did that day, how Alaskan forces reacted, and how her family later volunteered at the site. (For contrast, a letter she pens in the voice of her son Trig’s “creator” drags on for 623.)

    Rather than admitting her campaign mistakes and showing some newfound heft, Palin defends her old foreign-policy canards. While denying that she ever said “I can see Russia from my house” (that was Fey), she reiterates her zany commentary on Russia’s proximity to Alaska. She notes that some constituents “sent [her] photos of themselves standing on the Alaska shore with Russia visible over their shoulders” — and lauds the “hard-core” athlete Lynne Cox who swam from one to the other across the Bering Strait in 1987. (Isn’t that where they film The Deadliest Catch?)

    It is not clear what this has to do with anything. At another point, she writes of trying to describe “frequent Russian incursions by figuratively referring to Vladimir Putin entering our airspace.” Count me lost there. Since Alaska’s founding as a state, there has never been a Russian incursion onto its land or into its airspace, figurative or literal, according to the U.S. Armed Forces.

    Ultimately, Going Rogue goes rogue as a political memoir, demonstrating what can only be described as a persistent and guileless lack of knowledge of even basic foreign-policy or domestic political issues. It is what we might have expected from Palin. And it is much less than anyone should expect of a candidate for one of the most powerful offices on Earth.

  24. JayPe Says:

    I loved it at the end when she said that Obama had been guilty of “um, dithering and, ur, hesitation”. Classic!

  25. MWS Says:

    “Sarah Palin has suggested Fox News firebrand Glenn Beck could be someone she’d consider as a running mate if she makes a bid for the White House in two years.”

    Oh please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, tell me that was idle flattery……….

    please.

  26. Kristofer Lorelli Says:

    22 – read up on history. It will benefit your contributions to this site.

  27. MarkG Says:

    Bob is right in #12: The consideration of time is clearly significant. Also in the preparation. So either she didn’t figure she had enough time for a policy lecture (less likely, in my view) or she didn’t feel sufficiently prepared for policy specifics.

    It would have to have been a combination of the two factors. And you certainly can’t get by with “You know, I’ll have to think about that” as an honest response in a political context. Even if it’s the most earnest answer. So there’s a good share of time filler in the responses.

    What Aron and his surprisingly leftwing character witnesses — whom he would never consult when discussing Rudy Giuliani — completely miss is the fact that they are effectively lowering the bar for Palin at every turn. They constantly make her into a child-eating witch, and yety she regularly shows up without warts, lacking blood-stained teeth, and failing to ride a broom.

    This makes her most ardent critics — who are tireless in spending great proportions of their productive hours belaboring the “we hate Palin” theme — look like the ones who are totally off-the-wall, mind-quakingly, insanely off their rockers.

  28. JayPe Says:

    Kris, just checking, do you actually agree that Alaska’s position makes the governor a key foreign policy player?

  29. WSU Says:

    Its quickly becoming apparent to me that one of Palin’s biggest problems is going to be her inability to move forward. She has now been out of the election for more than a year – and she has spent almost every minute of it either defending the indefensible, making enemies in the media and Republican organization, and engaging in very public spats with a 19 year old who is either a kid who got the short end of the stick in life, or a porn-posing-punk.

    Her book and tour would have been a perfect opportunity to position herself as a new woman, learned from her mistakes and willing to move on.

    she’s failed at all of it.

  30. DanL Says:

    Kris, no crap. The Japanese invaded the Aleutians. Perhaps their least significant conquest in WWII. You’re as big of a joke as Palin.

  31. DanL Says:

    MWS I totally agree with you about the debt and not cutting taxes. The look of incredulity that Walters gave Palin when she started blathering about tax cuts was just priceless. I am sure Walters just couldn’t believe that Palin could be that dumb. McCain’s only idea for fixing the economy was tax cuts, and here Palin is saying the same asinine thing again.

  32. Martha Says:

    23. Didn’t Rush said this was one of the best books on policy he’s ever read?

  33. OHIO JOE Says:

    “22 – read up on history. It will benefit your contributions to this site.” Well said Kristofer, it is amazing how little some people know about Alaska.

  34. DanL Says:

    Beck in the Whitehouse? That is even more scary than another four years of Obama. Beck would make Nixon look like the Dalai Lama.

    But then again, I am sure that there would never be any chance a ticket with Beck on it could get more than about 5% of the vote.

  35. DanL Says:

    Oh please OJ, thou great fount of knowledge, please enlighten me on Alaska.

  36. OHIO JOE Says:

    “and here Palin is saying the same asinine thing again.” Yeah Conservatism is asinine, haha.

  37. Martha Says:

    This is turning into a a circus. I’m almost embarrassed for Palin, and actually starting to feel sorry for her. It’s like watching a slow-motion trainwreck.

    It’s not doing the GOP/conservatism any good, either.

  38. ConservativeRepublican Says:

    She did a decent job on Hannity tonight. She is getting where she can handle the softballs better now I think.

  39. OHIO JOE Says:

    I do not claim to be a fountain of knowledge, but it should not take rocket science to figure out the strategic importance of this great state. Some of us spend more time studying geography than listening to Ms. Fey on Saturday Night Live, that’s all.

  40. JayPe Says:

    I’d be interested in knowing why Alaska is so important to foreign policy. The fact she can’t move on from that statement is a worry for her supporters. She’d be smarter to do a Hillaryesque “misspoke” and refuse to answer more questions about it.

  41. DanL Says:

    OJ, if conservatism has fallen to the miserable depths of thoughtless platitudes and of the party of no, then heaven help us because the dems are more competent than such idealess conservatives.

  42. OHIO JOE Says:

    “It’s not doing the GOP/conservatism any good, either.” Huh? Any better ideas to promote Conservatism? Oh that’s right support card check and high taxes.

  43. MWS Says:

    OJ,

    Conservatives should balance the budget first, then cut taxes, particularly when the size of our debt approaches the relative size of what it was in other countries (like Argentina) when they defaulted.

  44. Aron Goldman Says:

    NORAD: Sarah Palin has no role in guarding U.S. airspace despite claims in Katie Couric interview
    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/30/2008-09-30_norad_sarah_palin_has_no_role_in_guardin.html#ixzz0XGpsBAIs

    When Russian bombers approach American airspace and U.S. Air Force fighters are scrambled, Sarah Palin’s phone doesn’t ring.

    The Alaska governor has no command authority over the guardians of U.S. airspace despite her recent suggestion otherwise.

    “She doesn’t have any role in that process,” Air Force Maj. Allen Herritage, spokesman for the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Daily News.

    “The authority to launch and respond to a Russian incursion lies with the Alaska NORAD Region commander” – Air Force Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, he said.

    Palin said last week that her foreign policy experience includes facing the Russians.

    “It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia, as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America – where do they go? It’s Alaska,” Palin told CBS’ Katie Couric.

    “It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation,” she said.

    Moscow’s bombers have skirted Alaskan airspace 20 times, thugh they have not violated it, during Palin’s governorship, officials said.

    When F-15 and F-22 interceptors scrambled from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage in response, John McCain’s running mate was not speed-dialed with the news.

    “The commander does not call the governor,” Herritage said.

    The Alaska Air Guard, which Palin oversees, performs airspace-watching missions only under NORAD command, and does not fly interception sorties.

    Palin did get an annual Air Force briefing in February.

  45. OHIO JOE Says:

    Being the party of “No” certainly did not hurt the Dems in 2006 and 2008. Payback time is coming.

  46. JayPe Says:

    Yes, Aron, but if Russia actually invaded via Alaska then it would be Palin’s job as Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard to lead them to victory. She received daily briefings on that when she was Governor. That’s real foreign policy experience.

  47. OHIO JOE Says:

    Sorry MWS, but I guess they are just going to have to cut spending. Raising taxes is counter-productive during a serious recession.

  48. DanL Says:

    OJ, I never watch SNL. I detest the show. Palin herself in the Walters interview that was linked referred to Alaska as the gateway to the continent.

    We have 10-20 MILLION illegal aliens in the country that have come in from Mexico. The drug wars are spilling over into our border states. There are approximately one kidnapping per day in Phoenix. We nearly had a nuclear war over the USSR putting missiles in Cuba. Venezuela is posing the problem of being a likely staging ground for Russian imperialism in the Western Hemisphere. Alaska is the gateway to the continent? What a stupendously ridiculous statement. Might sell well in Alaska, but in the border states it should make her look like a complete idiot who knows nothing about the real threats that are not just facing our country but that are demonstrably and significantly damaging our country.

  49. MarkG Says:

    Oh, and here’s a sincere promise from avowed Palin-hater Megan McArdle:

    Y’all well know that I really don’t like Sarah Palin. In fact, more than one of you has yelled at me about this. And I find the whole schtick about how the media is just a bunch of elitist hooligans who are out to get her really grating.

    That’s why I really wish the media wouldn’t act like, well, a bunch of elitist hooligans who are out to get her. [...]

    The Newsweek cover was a sexist embarrassment. Hell, they wouldn’t have highlighted an article about Hillary Clinton with that stupid nutcracker, yet there’s apparently a photo of “Sarah Palin doll as slutty schoolgirl”. This is enormously disrepectful to someone who, like it or not, was a vice presidential candidate, and deserves to be treated the same way that her predecessors were. If you wouldn’t put a photo of Joe Biden in his running shorts on the cover, you should damn well extend the same courtesy to Palin, howe[v]er much you dislike her.

    Then there’s the Associated Press, putting 11 reporters on the task of “fact checking” her book. I put the words in quotes because the CJR notes that much of this herculean feat is not checking facts, but quibbling with interpretations or sentimental boilerplate about the hearts and minds of Alaskans. But the deeper question is how come Palin’s book gets a team of fact checkers, when books by other politicians get the standard gloss?

    There seems to be an unhealthy obsession with tearing her down. And really, guys, if you’ll just back off a little, she’ll do the job for you. Have you seen that resignation speech? How about we all act like she’s a former governor and vice presidential candidate, rather than Public Enemy #1?

    Don’t guess Aron frequents the more level-headed sections of The Atlantic Anti-Palin Monthly much any more…

  50. lkv Says:

    On Sean Hannity show Palin said that the Fort Hood shooter should have been profiled, but the killer was already under suspicion, there were signs that he was conversing with Islamic Fundamentalists among other things, they just didn’t follow up and investigate the guy. There was no profiling needed.

  51. MWS Says:

    Dan,

    I hope and pray that Republicans wake up and recognize that it’s not 1981, and that there are more pressing matters economically than tax cuts. I hope they find the courage to tell people that cutting taxes is not the magic elixir that cures all woes. I hope the party returns to its roots and recognizes that the conservative thing- the prudent thing- is to not buy more than we can afford. If this crisis has taught us anything, it should have taught us the peril of debt and the destructive power of leverage.

    An economy and a society as leveraged as ours- which teeters on the brink of financial catastrophe- is not conserving itself. It is putting its own existence at risk with the hope that it can grab something more. Bear Stearns is a microcosm of our economy. They were leveraged 34-1, and posted their first quarterly loss in 84 years three months before they effectively went under.

  52. DanL Says:

    42 OJ, you are full of crap. I have never advocated card check or raising taxes. I have not voiced support for candidates who do.

    I have voiced support for Pawlenty who is one of the very few republicans out there with real ideas that he has actually implemented.

  53. MWS Says:

    OJ,

    “Sorry MWS, but I guess they are just going to have to cut spending”

    Well, that would be nice. But we still have a problem.

    1. 80% of our budget goes to Social Security, Medicare, defense, and interest on the national debt.

    2. The government is only collecting enough taxes to cover about HALF of its expenditures.

    So which of the above are you going to make deep cuts in? Of course, you can’t cut interest payments, so between defense, Soc. Sec., and Medicare, which ones get the ax?

  54. MarkG Says:

    Rombots present in thread: Martha, DanL, WSU, JayPe, ConservativeRepublican.

    Biggest disagreement amongst them: Who hates Palin the most and the most effectively.

    Coincidence? You decide.

  55. DanL Says:

    NWS, you and I are on the exact same page with regards to the debt, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.

    OJ, the debt has been created by both parties. It is a joint effort by the big government spenders and the tax cutters. It is just as irresponsible to be advocating tax cuts now as it is to advocate for more government. Both positions are immature, irresponsible, and immoral.

  56. MWS Says:

    OJ,

    #53 already assumes that ALL non-defense discretionary spending is annihilated. That includes highways, parks, education, student loans, etc……

  57. MWS Says:

    “Both positions are immature, irresponsible, and immoral.”

    Absolutely. The debt is now not only an economic issue, but a moral imperative as well.

  58. lkv Says:

    #50*

    Under no circumstance should Profiling ever be okay…..

  59. OHIO JOE Says:

    Just because Alaska does not have large numbers of illegal aliens and drugs to worry about, does not mean it is still a gateway. Does the following really sound like Alaska is just a sleepy insignificant place in the world?: Anchorage’s largest economic sectors include transportation, military, local and federal government, tourism, and resource extraction. Large portions of the local economy depend on Anchorage’s geographical location and surrounding natural resources. Anchorage’s economy traditionally has seen steady growth, while not quite as rapid as the rest of the country; it also does not experience as much pain during economic downturns. Widespread housing foreclosures seen around the country during 2007 and 2008 were generally nowhere near as severe.[citation needed]

    The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is the world’s third busiest airport by cargo traffic, surpassed only by Memphis and Hong Kong. This traffic is strongly linked to Anchorage’s location along “great circle” routes between Asia and the lower 48 states. In addition, the airport has an abundant supply of jet fuel which is refined at refineries in North Pole, Alaska, or Kenai, Alaska. This jet fuel is transported to the Port of Anchorage either by rail or by pipeline to the airport. Either through direct or indirect employment the airport employs around ten percent of the city’s workforce.[citation needed]

    The Port of Anchorage receives 95% of all goods entering the state. Ships from Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) and Horizon Lines arrive twice weekly from the Port of Tacoma in Washington. Along with handling these activities the port is a storage facility for jet fuel for Elmendorf Air Force Base as well as the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. In 2004 the Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project was initiated which, when completed in 2014, will approximately double the size of the port, stimulating the local construction economy as well as providing a more efficient means of moving freight for future economic activities.[citation needed]

    The United States Military has two main bases, Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson as well as the Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage. These three bases employ approximately 8500 people and military personnel and their families comprise ten percent of the local population. During the Cold War, Elmendorf became an increasingly important base due to its proximity to the Soviet Union. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Task Force 1–501 housed at Fort Richardson was upgraded into an airborne brigade to become the primary strategic response force in the Pacific Theater.[citation needed]

  60. OHIO JOE Says:

    “42 OJ, you are full of crap. I have never advocated card check or raising taxes. I have not voiced support for candidates who do.” I did not say that you personally supported these things. I was being sarcastic because I fail to see what is so un-conservative about low taxes.

  61. MarkG Says:

    Cuts to government spending along with reforming the regulatory system are most important now.

    The tax burden also has to be lowered, though, unless you’re okay with slow growth and high unemployment.

    Barack the O-Mighty is far more wrong by orders of magnitude compared to Palin.

    And if you want faster growth, tax cuts are the way to go. The higher the taxes, the greater the dead-weight loss, no matter how much government redistribution is given the “public investment” misnomer.

  62. MWS Says:

    OJ,

    Borrowing money from our children and risking financial ruin to cut taxes is not conservative.

  63. Texasconserv Says:

    I just got done watching the Hannity interview. I thought Palin did a good job. She must have been working with a speech coach as her cadence was much easier to understand than in previous interviews from last year.

    Palin’s goal was not to come out as a policy wonk. Her goal was to clear up the falsehoods from the campaign and to reintroduce herself to the public.

    Will she win over some of the independents and democrats who did not like her in 2008? Will she be able to bring the republicans together and be a leader? Only time will tell.

    I think her interview with O’Reilly will be more hardhitting and more focused on economic policy and national security issues. It won’t be as friendly as Hannity, but it will still be a positive interviewing environment.

  64. MWS Says:

    Mark,

    “unless you’re okay with slow growth and high unemployment.”

    Too late. I think we’re stuck with that regardless for quite a while. The question is if we will become insolvent and our economy collapse under skyrocketing interest rates, explosive inflation, and/or a government default.

  65. OHIO JOE Says:

    “1. 80% of our budget goes to Social Security, Medicare, defense, and interest on the national debt.” Mr. Bush tried to deal with Social Security, but Mr. Reid blocked it. So while the Republicans are not totally clean, the idea of both parties are to blame equally is non-sense. But to the point at hand, yes Social Security needs to be cut, it is a freaking bail-out pyramid scheme.

  66. DanL Says:

    59 OJ, I highly doubt that the Ted Stevens airport is the third busiest worldwide for cargo traffic. It’s telling that you didn’t include citations for those stats. Regardless, the amount of shipping that goes through Alaska would be dwarfed by many states on the East and West coasts via ships, or the border states via trucking.

    As to the military personnel, whoopty do. I am sure that there are quite a few states that are home to more military personel than Alaska. Also, please see Aron’s post at #44. Palin would have had next to nothing to say about military operations in Alaska.

    But overall, nice deflection in 59. Way to not address the actual threats that the US is facing from foreign powers in this hemisphere.

  67. AKReport Says:

    Sarah did awesome in the hannity interview. Romney does not stand a chance after watching that interview.

  68. OHIO JOE Says:

    “And if you want faster growth, tax cuts are the way to go. The higher the taxes, the greater the dead-weight loss, no matter how much government redistribution is given the “public investment” misnomer.” BINGO!

  69. DanL Says:

    Good night OJ, and may you have sweet dreams of your Alaskan Utopia.

  70. lkv Says:

    MarkG #5

    Watch out when people are branded as being hateful when they dare to question or criticize politicians…

  71. OHIO JOE Says:

    OK, take it up with wikipedia, they are not always right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska

    “please see Aron’s post at #44. Palin would have had next to nothing to say about military operations in Alaska.” Aron’s post is a joke, perhaps he might suggest somebody who does have more FP experience instead of just being the person of “no” as in no Palin.

  72. OHIO JOE Says:

    “Good night OJ, and may you have sweet dreams of your Alaskan Utopia.” Thank you, it is a little too cold up there for me (even with global warming,) but at least it is better run than most states.

  73. ConservativeRepublican Says:

    MarkG, I said something good about her…guess I won’t bother next time.

  74. MWS Says:

    Mark,

    “And if you want faster growth, tax cuts are the way to go.”

    Under most scenarios, I think that’s true. But in this case, I think the costs of the deficits make tax cuts more costly than the benefits- in interest, threat of inflation and rising interest rates, and the possibility of eventual default. Goodness the Fed is having to create money for the government to borrow because we can’t find the lenders!

  75. AKReport Says:

    Palin is clearly the frountrunner right now.

    1.Palin
    2.Huck
    3.Romney
    4. who cares

  76. MWS Says:

    AKReport,

    The report from the lower 48 suggests otherwise.

    http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/08/huckabee-continues-to-come-closest-for.html

  77. Texasconserv Says:

    AKReport, I think I agree with your statement. You are talking about frontrunner of book tours right? Palin definitely tops for booktour crowds. Huckabee second. Romney we don’t know yet because his book isn’t due out until spring.

    Honestly, no one is the front runner right now. But they are each making their plans, setting their stage, and expanding their base.

  78. OHIO JOE Says:

    “MarkG, I said something good about her…guess I won’t bother next time.” Yes you did and if I remember correctly, you also said something good about Tea Parties this afternoon, to your credit. However, it take more convincing to show that a new leaf is turned. Perhaps you understand now why I am finished saying good things about Mr. Romney.

  79. Texasconserv Says:

    Ohio Joe, I had noticed before that you seemed like you were on the Romney bandwagon. What happened that made you decide that you were finished saying nice things about him?

  80. Aron Goldman Says:

    Sarah Palin and the conservative descent
    by Steve Chapman
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped1119chapmannov19,0,4222240.column

    The 19th century American writer Henry Adams said the descent of American presidents from George Washington to Ulysses S. Grant was enough to discredit the theory of evolution. The same could be said of the pantheon of conservative political heroes, which in the last half-century has gone from Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan to Sarah Palin. That refutation may be agreeable to Palin, who doesn’t put much stock in Darwin anyway.

    You can confirm all this by looking at what the three wrote. Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, made his reputation four years earlier with an eloquent and intellectually coherent volume, “The Conscience of a Conservative,” which laid out a blueprint for the policies he favored.

    Reagan likewise made the thinking person’s case for conservatism. Between 1975 and 1979, after he had finished two terms as governor of California, he did some 1,000 radio commentaries, most of which he wrote himself. They were later collected in “Reagan, In His Own Hand,” which provides the texts of his handwritten manuscripts and proves that, far from being the “amiable dunce” of liberal mythology, he thought hard and clearly about the issues of his time.

    Palin? Her new memoir, “Going Rogue,” fills up 413 pages, but it has less policy heft than a student council speech. Where Reagan dived into the murk of arms control and Goldwater fathomed federal farm programs, Palin skims over the surface of a puddle.

    Amid all the tales of savoring the aromas at the state fair and having her wardrobe vetted by snotty campaign staffers, she sets aside space to lay out her vision of what it means to be a “Commonsense Conservative.” It takes up all of 11 pages and leans heavily on prefabricated lines like “I am a conservative because I deal with the world as it is” and “If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes.”

    But the priorities of “Going Rogue” are striking poses and attitudes, not making actual arguments about the proper role of government. The book is meant to create an image, or maybe a brand — folksy but shrewd, tough but feminine, noble but beset by weaklings and traitors, ever-smiling unless you awaken her inner “Mama Grizzly Bear” by scrutinizing her loved ones. No one could be more pleased with her than she is with herself. Reading the book is like watching Palin preen in front of a mirror for hours as she tirelessly compliments herself for courage, gumption, devotion to family and maverick independence.

    Who needs policy? In her world — and the world of legions of conservatives who revere her — the persona is the policy. Palin is beloved because she’s (supposedly) just like ordinary people, which (supposedly) gives her a profound understanding of their needs.

    That attitude used to be associated with the left, which claimed to speak for the ordinary folks who get shafted by the system. Logic and evidence about policy, to many liberals, were less important than empathy and good intentions. Now it’s conservatives who think we should be guided by our guts, not our brains.

    Palin is the embodiment of this approach, never imagining that knowledge and reflection might be of more value than instinct. When Oprah asked if she had felt any doubts about her readiness to be vice president — which requires the readiness to be president — Palin replied breezily, “No, no — I didn’t blink. I felt quite confident in my abilities, in my executive experience, knowing that this is an executive administrative job.” (The audience tittered.)

    Contrast that with Reagan, who after learning of his victory on election night 1980 told his supporters, “There’s never been a more humbling moment in my life.” Palin doesn’t do humble.

    You could almost forget that for well over a year, Republicans have ridiculed Barack Obama as lighter than a souffle, an inexperienced upstart who owes everything to arrogant presumption and a carefully crafted image. But Obama wrote a 375-page book, “The Audacity of Hope,” that shows a solid, and occasionally tedious, grasp of issues.

    It is hard to imagine Palin (as opposed to a ghostwriter) producing anything comparable. Almost as hard as it is to imagine that modern conservatives would expect it.

    Leaders who can think? That’s so 20th century.

  81. OHIO JOE Says:

    “Ohio Joe, I had noticed before that you seemed like you were on the Romney bandwagon. What happened that made you decide that you were finished saying nice things about him?” He may have been my second choice for a brief time, but I was never on his bandwagon. NY-23 was the last straw because it was an insult to the people. One would think that a guy who screwed the people by promoting TARP would try to make up for it, but he blew that chance.

  82. Martha Says:

    OJ,

    You seem to have created your own reality about Romney to justify your support for Palin. You’re always coming up with wild assertions and not so subtle insinuations about Romney supporters. It’s all just so much BS.

  83. Martha Says:

    I can imagine that Aron is quite enjoying himself these past 2-3 days.

  84. Martha Says:

    49. MarkG,

    Maybe Palin should not have posed for those stupid Runner’s World pics in the first place. I just find it really hilarious that she’s now calling sexist to publish them. They were sexist from the start.

    The MSM is going to do what it’s going to do.

  85. AKReport Says:

    there is no way palin gets less then 35% of the iowa vote

    Iowa projection

    Palin: 35-38%
    Huck: 30-32%
    Romney: 22-25%

    New hampshire projection

    Romney 41-45%
    Palin 29-34%
    Huck 10-16%

    Bank on it.

  86. jerseyrepublican Says:

    66 – this old thing again. nobody ever said she had control over the military but it is proven that she had a very high security clearance due to the strategic location. we went through all of this months ago.

  87. voter Says:

    ON THE UNITED STATES’ RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA
    “Well, we have to start cleaning up our own house here in America and not so much — well, it’s going to be twofold — but we can’t just look at China and blame them for some kind of trade imbalance. It’s also our fault, because we had spent so much money.”

    WTF????? This is the worst answer of the bunch. It is totally incoherent. It is true infamous Palinspeakue. Firstly, what in heck is she talking about? — Debt? — trade restrictions? — Pollution? And how in the world does that respond to her thoughts “On the United States’ Relationship with China?”

    I understand that she laughed that she was going to be around all the time and probably giving lots of material to Tina Fey? Yeah, well — how did that turn out for her the last time?? I suggest her response on U.S.-Chinese Relations is the perfect place to start.

  88. Kristofer Lorelli Says:

    87 – why dont you post the rest of the answer and post the entire question?

    Palin basically said (in response to Hannity asking about Obama begging China to buy our bonds) that we needs to reduce our debt before we target China.

  89. Aron Goldman Says:

    Sean Hannity interviews Sarah Palin
    ‘Dangerous Path’: Sarah Palin says decisions President Obama is making are not right for America
    http://video.foxnews.com/11729698/dangerous-path

    Palin’s trek takes her to the friendly land of Fox
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803806_pf.html

  90. Art Telles Says:

    Emotion Opinion vs. Fact Opinion…

    Much of what has been said about Sarah Palin on radio, tv and online recently is mostly ‘emotion opinion’ that lacks depth, while the ‘fact opinion’ that is adduced is easily verifiable, such as corruption by come Alaska commission members.

    Emotion opinion…
    The way Sarah Palin talks is irritating (heard or radio from a well-known conservative talk show personality… no, not said by Rush or Sean or Laura or Mark).

    Emotion opinion…
    I like the way Palin talks, and her facial expressions, winks and hand gesticulations are endearing and memorable.

    Emotion opinion…
    Palin is not substantive when she speaks about any policy issues.

    Emotion opinion…
    Palin is definitely substantive when she speaks about all policy issues, from ‘drill here, drill now’ for oil and gas and energy independence [from future oil jihadists... my editorial opinion, not Palin's], and the reality of ‘death panel’ decisions by bureaucrats.

    Fact opinion…
    Sarah Palin speaks eloquently without ums and uhs (except for effect).

    Emotion opinion…
    The fact that Palin quit before her Governorship term ended is proof that she is a quitter.

    Fact opinion…
    Palin negotiated a multi-billion dollar energy deal in 2 years that has been hailed as substantive… before she quit… to protect Alaska’s interests and to protect her personal and family interests.

    Emotion opinion…
    Palin does not have the gravitas to be POTUS and handle herself in the big leagues.

    Emotion opinion…
    As Mayor, Commissioner, Governor, Palin had more ‘big league’ gravitas experience than Obama had as Senator or even has now 10 months as POTUS.

    Emotion opinion…
    Romney’s ‘big league’ experience is ‘more substantive’ than Huckabee’s or Jindal’s or Palin’s.

    Emotion opinion…
    I LIKE Mitt Romney.
    I LIKE Mike Huckabee.
    I LIKE Tim Pawlenty.
    I LIKE Bobby Jindal.
    I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LIKE Sarah Palin.

    Fact opinion…
    Sarah Palin is the only LADY that has the GENTLEMEN scrambling for positions. (Why is that?)

    Emotion opinion…
    Sarah Palin has revealed herself as having a ‘Servant’s Heart’ that appeals to us “common folk”.

    Emotion opinion…
    Sarah Palin’s Influence In Perspective…

    When she speaks, people listen
    When she doesn’t speak, people wait for her to do so
    No other political leader has this power

    Emotion opinion based on Fact opinion…
    No other political leader has this power…
    Not Romney or Huckabee or Jindall or Pawlenty or whoever.

    Emotion opinion…
    I LIKE Sarah Palin.

    I’m sure you get the picture…
    What is your Emotion opinion?
    What is your Fact opinion?

  91. voter Says:

    “87 – why dont you post the rest of the answer and post the entire question?

    Palin basically said (in response to Hannity asking about Obama begging China to buy our bonds) that we needs to reduce our debt before we target China.”

    I thought I had posted the whole answer based on what was printed.

    Honestly, though, taking it from your perspective, responding to Obama begging China to buy our bonds — and she says: Well, we have to start cleaning up our own house here in America and not so much — well it’s going to be twofold — but we can’t just look at China and blame them for some kind of trade imbalance. It’s also our fault, because we had spent so much money.”

    Okay, so now that’s the real question == what the heck??? “Obama is begging China to buy our bonds — please respond” and the response is: we have to start cleaning up our own house??? It’s our fault??? We spent so much money??? These may all be satisfactory answers to certain specific questions but they most certainly do not answer the question about Obama begging China to buy our bonds. Come on??? I try always to be fair, but this answer is symptomatic of when she doesn’t know what to say — she gets nervous — and starts talkings in disconnects.

  92. voter Says:

    Fact Opinion: Palin abruptly left the office as Governor of the State of Alaska in her first term after 2.5 years.

    Emotion Opinion: Her disconnected response to why she left the office leaves too many of us with dizziness

    Fact Opinion: Palin presents herself for less government

    Emotion Option: Until the funds dried up, most Alaskan citizens were receiving extremely healthy subsidies from the Alaskan State Government under her term

    Fact Opinion: Palin did pose in running costume some would consider somewhat racy but for a running magazine

    Emotion Opinion: Palin does not object to the publication of the picture, only to its placement in Newsweek

    Fact Opinion: Palin constantly decries that her childeren are always in the limelight and played out by the media

    Emotion Opinion: She keeps dragging her children everywhere that she would expect the media to be: to Opra’s taping (specifically pointing them out so that cameras rested on them multiple times; she brings her son Trig to the book signing; and she interrupts Bristol’s piece with Greata “On the Record”

    Emotion Opinion: Palin is not a very good interviewee.

  93. Martha Says:

    80. “No one could be more pleased with her than she is with herself. Reading the book is like watching Palin preen in front of a mirror for hours as she tirelessly compliments herself for courage, gumption, devotion to family and maverick independence.”

    That is the heart of the book right there.

  94. Aron Goldman Says:

    Dems hope Palin disrupts GOP’s game plan
    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/18/MNER1AMKDS.DTL&type=printable

    As GOP former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin kicks off a national book tour this week, there are some unlikely voices cheering “You go, girl!” – hard-core Democrats and progressives who hope Palin’s 15 minutes of fame lasts all the way to 2012.

    “She’s a legend in her own mind, the dream candidate, the dream opponent,” said satirist Joey Green of Los Angeles, author of the tongue-in-cheek “Sarah Palin’s Secret Diary,” which hit the shelves just as Palin herself is hitting 20 cities to push her memoir, “Going Rogue.”

    Green, a former National Lampoon contributing editor who describes himself as “so far left, I’m right,” offers possible 2012 Palin campaign slogans (“The Barracuda is Back!) in his book. Palin-palooza, he said, is a goldmine for Democrats, thanks to a hockey mom who is “like a sitcom” in politics.

    Democratic strategist Garry South says Palin has won the undying support of many of his party’s faithful, who are doing all they can to keep her in the spotlight of the national stage.

    “I see Democrats at bookstores buying her books by the dozens and trying to keep the book tour going,” he said. “She’s a magnet for controversy – and that’s not what the Republicans need right now.”

    Even President Obama’s adviser David Plouffe told The Chronicle that he hopes Palin will command the airwaves for months to come. “I think she’ll be most helpful to the Democratic Party with a high profile,” said Plouffe. “I hope her book tour lasts two years.”

    As Palin’s fans queued up by the hundreds Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Mich., for the start of her “Going Rogue” tour, her stunning success selling books – her book is No. 1 on Amazon’s best-sellers’ list – and as a magnet for the GOP grass roots – is causing many Democrats to rejoice.

    The reason: Rock star Palin is effectively sucking up the Republicans’ spotlight, message and momentum on issues like health care and the economy, political insiders said.

    Polls show that just 9 percent of Americans think she could be a good president. No matter, Palin told Newsmax.com Tuesday that she’s not dismissing the idea of sharing the ticket with another controversial, grassroots favorite, talk-show host Glenn Beck.

    Moreover, the hysteria generated by her book tour is all but drowning out Republicans who may aim for the 2012 nomination, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who both ran in the presidential primaries in the last election cycle, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, political observers said.

    Republicans caution that Democrats should be careful what they wish for: Palin’s folksy appeal, political instincts and ability to command the stage continue to make her a formidable figure, they argue.

    Still, some Republicans appear to be carefully keeping their distance.

    “Sarah Palin is clearly selling a lot of books and really looks busy on a book tour,” California U.S. Senate candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina told reporters in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. “I haven’t read it and I’m focused on 2010 and Barbara Boxer, frankly.”

    California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, asked recently on a radio show whether she would support a Palin candidacy, repeatedly sidestepped the question – noting she respected McCain and he had the right to make his own pick for a running mate.

    South said many Republican leaders recognize the writing on the wall – that Palin’s liabilities are becoming painfully evident with the current tour.

    “Her trailer-trash family drama has gotten old for most people – except for the more rabid members of the Republican base,” he said. “She needs to go back and sit on the porch and look at Russia and count her proceeds and watch President Medvedev fly over her airspace.”

    Still, satirist Green hopes Palin will continue to command the national stage – if only for his own creative purposes.

    “Making fun of Dick Cheney and even Bush and Clinton, that was one dimensional,” the comic author says. “The beauty of Sarah Palin is she keeps changing her story.”

  95. Art Telles Says:

    Clarity…

    92…

    Emotion words such as “disconnected” response and “dragging” her children contain more heat than light.

    It’s a good start though for sorting out pet peeve opinion from substantive fact opinion.

    Fact opinion that leads to satisfying substantive emotion opinion is what needs clarity.

    Less heat and more light… I think this is what Palin supporters are trying to convey.

    An emotion opinion that is based on a substantive fact is the best way to move the conversation forward… and win America back in 2010 and 2012 from the Obama agenda of “… fundamentally changing the United States of America.”

    Barack Obama’s statement 5 days before his inauguration -
    ‘… we are 5 days away away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America’

    ( 8 seconds on YouTuge – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvJJP9AYgqU )

    Emotion opinion based on Fact opinion…
    Palin’s success as Mayor, Commissioner and Governor is historical proof that Palin has the gravitas necessary and knows, she KNOWS by experience, how to deal with bureaucrats, corruption and unconstitutional conduct by elected officials who proceeded her in office.

    If there is an emotion opinion response to these fact opinions re: Palin’s past experience, it will move the conversation forward if the emotion opinion is first based on fact opinion.

  96. ConservativeRepublican Says:

    “She asked about what I read, and I read,” Palin told Hannity in an interview to air Wednesday night on Fox News. “I read Newsmax and the Frontiersman and Wall Street Journal and everything online. I absorb the news via many, many sources.”

    My followup question would have been to tell me a couple things she gleaned from each of those publications today…since she absorbs it so well and all….should be easy.

  97. ConservativeRepublican Says:

    “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told the conservative news agency Newsmax as she promoted her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.”

    “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he’s so bold – I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it, and he’s very, very, very effective.”

    OH MY GOODNESS!! That should help her campaign big time! lol…can’t believe this lady.

  98. Heath Says:

    I honestly think this week is turning into a disaster for SP.

    I knew she never had a chance but I think we will look back at this week as the week where 99% of the country realised she has no chance of ever being President.

    I mean compare her interviews to President Obama’s Garret interview. Ok we didn’t like what he had to say but at least he was thoughful and coherent! Can anyone imagine Sarah Palin in the oval office sending our children to war, or being told that LA had been the subject of a nuclear attack? NO!

  99. Heath Says:

    The people I really hate (sorry) on here are Kris and OJ as they actually used to be sane about Romney before they got besotted by sexy Sarah.

  100. ConservativeRepublican Says:

    Yeah, it is disappointing….seems once they go Palin, they loose their abiity to think rationally….it’s all about….who knows.

    I will say after the Hannity interview that I do think she would have a decent chance of winning our local small town PTA presidency if she ran. She is getting better as long as they are soft balls.

  101. OHIO JOE Says:

    “The people I really hate (sorry) on here are Kris and OJ” While most people do not like to be hated;, in this case I take it as a compliment!

  102. jerseyrepublican Says:

    101 – what they do not seem to understand is this – they feel they can say anything they want, no matter how divisive or offensive, about any other candidate and/or supporter of that candidate and expect it to be okay. If somebody says anything, remotely, bad about, or even questions, Romney then they are Public Enemy #1.

    There’s an old saying that says – if you lie with dogs you get fleas. Is Romney the dog or the flea in this scenario? I’m not sure yet but his supporters are definitely not doing him any favors. IMO.

  103. jerseyrepublican Says:

    85 – I think she may be able to take NH as well…not by a large margin.

  104. OHIO JOE Says:

    Interesting point Jersey, as much as I have soured on Romneyism, I believe that Mr. Romney himself is a decent guy. I have not figured out why he attracts some of the characters he does because in real life, I have actually met some very decent Romneyites.

  105. jerseyrepublican Says:

    104 – don’t worry Ohio…Romneyism is an ever evolving philosophy.

  106. DanL Says:

    jersey maybe you should be checking yourself for fleas. Yes I know that I am very inflammatory at times and I know that you and others don’t like me. Martha has many enemies. MWS can also be quite offensive, as can Alex Knepper. But, hands down, the most offensive and hateful people on Race, now that Flip and Knickers are gone, are Dotan, Kristofer “Race Pimp” Lorelli, and OJ.

  107. jerseyrepublican Says:

    DanL – first off, I don’t know you, so I reserve my hatred for people I know. I don’t think you guys understand the ramifications of the jokes that are made at Palin’s and her supporters expense. Little comments get made daily and hourly about the stupidity and lunacy of Palin and her supporters…I’m sure some are meant in jest but if you beat a dog long enough…it’ll eventually bite you and I think that is what you are experiencing.

    I was actually excited about this week and I thought there could be honest, interesting discussions about Palin but all we get is intellectual dishonesty and name calling. It’s just frustrating and it’s getting pointless to spend my time here.

    I’m a Republican in New Jersey…I cannot have a political discussion with friends without them looking at me, or thinking, like I am some kind of stupid Conservative…why would I want to come onto, a supposed Republican friendly site and be looked at the same way? Why should I waste my time and give ad click revenue to a site where I get ridiculed for believing in a candidate? It’s stupid…that’s my fault.

  108. jerseyrepublican Says:

    106 – DanL says – “jersey maybe you should be checking yourself for fleas.”

    DanL maybe you should fleas yourself for checking…you…fleas.

  109. DanL Says:

    jersey, keep fighting the good fight in New Jersey. I have respect for you for that. I have felt the same way you do when I was in law school.

    Yes there has been name calling, as usual this week. But there has also been a great deal of honest criticism of Palin. I’m sure that it must drive you nuts that Aron links all those negative articles, but have you bothered to read them? Yes there are snarky articles, like the stuff from KOS, but there are also well thought out and honest articles, like one from Daniel Larison, and another from the Wall Street Journal.

    Why do so many of us spend so much time attacking Palin. Because so many of you will never acknowledge any of the many and varied and vast flaws that she has. She can do nothing wrong. She has no fault for anything. It is all those evil people attacking her who are at fault for her failings.

    I have acknowledged failings of Romney and Pawlenty, why can’t your camp ever acknowledge Palin’s failings? I would suggest that it is because if you start to, then the dam bursts because she has so very many failings.

  110. Kristofer Lorelli Says:

    Heath,

    I was a McCain supporter for 8 years….I was never a Romney supporter.

  111. jerseyrepublican Says:

    109 – Dan, I have said time and time again she has major obstacles to overcome just to get nominated, I cannot even imagine the height of the hurdles she would have to jump to become President elect. I just wrote this long explanation as to why we might be seeing Palin in a different light. As I was rereading what I wrote, for typos, I could hear your reply and I thought to myself…it’s not worth it. We just have to agree to disagree. I will try my hardest to be civil to as many people on this board and their chosen candidate and I can only ask that I get the same respect in return.

  112. Doug Forrester Says:

    Given the aggression coming from the inhabitants of Planet Romney, I guess they either fear or loath Palin.

    I’m not too concerned about her as she’s more likely to be a radio talk show host than a 2012 candidate.

  113. Martha Says:

    111. Jersey, you are pretty much the only regular alin supporter who admits she has flaws, and yes, you have always done so. I’ve said lots of things about Palin, but the only thing I usually say about her supporters is that they will love her no matter what she does. I think that it’s true.

    106. Dan, I have many enemies? ;-)

  114. jerseyrepublican Says:

    113 – I guess it really depends on what she does. I am a fan of her persona, I am a fan of her speeches, ie. vp announcement and the convention. I can live with her colloquilosims(sp) I am really a fan of her record in Alaska, I know you aren’t as impressed…this is where we have to agree to disagree. I am tired of getting into arguments over candidates. I think she’s doing a great job this week at reintroducing herself to the nation She has plenty of time to go in depth about policy. Like she does on her FACEBOOK page. Right now it’s about fixing her image to average Americans. Will it work…I hope so. BUT the damage may already be done. I always say it’s about perception and people’s perception can be really hard to change. If you ask me…so far so good.

  115. race42008.com » Blog Archive » Palin Criticism, Fair and Unfair Says:

    [...] has picked up on it, as well. It’s not a good answer. Watch for yourself in my “Palin On Policy” [...]

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