The 24-Hour Rule (Update: WSB Confirmed)

Dan Riehl assumes that the AP's Asia story is legit:

"Any would be prominent figure that allows a bogus story to fly across the AP and go not knocked down within 24 hrs doesn't have the people around them to be successful. So, I'm assuming this is legit at this point."

Sarah Palin signed with the Washington Speakers Bureau, as was reported Monday. The Bureau is the former governor's exclusive agent for all speaking engagements as of yesterday. One could now reasonably expect, if the Politico story is correct, that questions concerning Palin's reported Asian speech should be directed to the Bureau, given the silence from Meghan Stapleton.

Which is what we have done. A telephone call placed to the Washington Speakers Bureau Monday was not returned. We sent an e-mail inquiry to the Bureau Tuesday morning asking for  confirmation of both the Politico story and the AP report.  An update will be posted when we have confirmation or denial.

We have pontificated before on how important it is to a public figure to have control of his or her message. Dan's post just underscores that this is still an issue for Sarah Palin. If the Washington Speakers Bureau is now representing the former governor, we believe that will be an important step for her in gaining full control of her message.

Update: The Washington Speakers Bureau has revised its website to include the following banner headline:

"SARAH PALIN: Selects Washington Speakers Bureau for Exclusive Representation"

No copy yet, just the headline, but it confirms at least part of Mike Allen's Monday Politico report.

- JP