Politico: First stops on 'America by Heart' book tour revealed

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With Gov. Palin's second book offical release date of Nov. 23 less than two weeks away, many of the governor's supporters have been waiting for news of a new book tour. Wait no longer. According to Politico, the America by Heart book signing tour will kick off in Phoenix on the 23rd, and stop in 16 cities over a nine-day stretch:

Among the destinations sure to get buzz: Des Moines and Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Palin’s strategic schedule includes a stop in Tulsa, Okla., on “Black Friday” — the day after Thanksgiving — and then four more stops during that big shopping weekend.

The tour has more of a heartland concentration than the 35-city tour for her memoir “Going Rogue” (the best-selling nonfiction book of 2009) and adds such markets as Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The venues include the giant book chains — Borders, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. But the former Alaska governor will also sign books at all-American locations like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco and Kroger.

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Here’s the list of stops:

Nov. 23: Phoenix, AZ
Nov. 26: Tulsa, OK
Nov. 27: Norfolk, NE.
Nov. 27: Des Moines, IA
Nov. 28: Andover, KS
Nov. 28: Dallas, TX
Nov. 29: Houston, TX
Nov. 29: New Orleans, LA
Nov. 30: Baton Rouge, LA
Nov. 30: Little Rock, AR
Dec. 1: Brentwood, TN
Dec. 1: Lexington, KY
Dec. 2: Spirit Lake, IA
Dec. 2. Carmel, IN
Dec. 3: Cincinnati, OH
Dec. 3: Columbia, SC

This is probably just the first leg of what will be an extended tour, and we expect other cities and dates to be announced later, if this tour will be anything like the first one. Also, we see some of the same cities from the '09 tour on the list, but some new ones as well.

A few may seem unfamiliar to those in other parts of the country. Brentwood, TN, for example, is an affluent suburb of Nashville. Carmel, IN is just up the road from Indianapolis. But Spirit Lake, IA is an intriguing location for a stop on the tour. The city of 5,000 is not a suburb of, nor located very near, any major population center. It's up at the top of the state in Iowa's Great Lakes region, just south of the Pawlenty Minnesota state line.

Heartland, baby, heartland.

h/t: Andrew Malcolm

- JP