Leslie Sanchez: You've Come a Long Way, Maybe

When it was announced that the release of Sarah Palin's memoir Going Rogue, originally scheduled for Spring of 2010, was being moved up to November 17 of this year, the book publishing world suddenly became hyperactive. The publishers of Matthew Continetti's The Persecution of Sarah Palin decided to one-up Palin publisher HarperCollins and reset the release of their book to beat Going Rogue to market by a week. Leftist rag "The Nation" rushed an anti-Palin title, Going Rouge, into print (by gathering up a number of Palin-smearing pieces which had already appeared in their magazine) and gave it a cover deceptively similar to that of Palin's own volume. Some other leftists demonstrated their middle-school mentality by throwing a Palin-mocking coloring book into the mix.

Almost lost in this barrage of books and Bolshevist blarney about Sarah Palin is a thoughtful work by Leslie Sanchez, a marketing consultant and Republican strategist. Her book, You've Come a Long Way, Maybe: Sarah, Michelle, Hillary, and the Shaping of the New American Woman, takes a look at some of the women who rose to political prominence in the 2008 presidential campaign and how their success may serve to inspire women to seek higher political office.

Sanchez recently discussed the topic of her book with ABC News Political Director David Chalian and Senior Political Reporter Rick Klein on the network's political webcast "Top Line":

No discussion of Republican women in politics would be complete without mentioning former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska. Few figures of either party or either gender have a similar ability to focus attention on a candidate or an issue, Sanchez said.

"A lot of people would like to discount Sarah Palin -- you know, she doesn't have the substance, the credibility. What's fascinating, if you watch what she's been able to do after she stepped aside from governor -- she's been able to shed a light on conservative issues, conservative candidates. You saw that in New York-23 [the special election where Palin endorsed the Conservative Party candidate], you see that on the death panel issue, which, to her credit the president had to address that in his address to Congress."

Does that mean Palin for president in 2012? "I never discount the possibility of her saying she will," Sanchez said.

Video of the webcast after the jump.

- JP