Jim Galloway: Sarah Palin’s movie message to GOP ‘establishment’

The first line to draw applause was Palin suggesting Republicans “learn to fight like girls.”
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution political columnist Jim Galloway was in attendance Thursday night in Kennesaw for an invitation-only preview of “The Undefeated.” In his review, Galloway says those Republicans who are not Palin admirers should "find a way to see at least the final 15 minutes" of Stephen Bannon's documentary

It will tell you much about what’s happening now within the GOP.

As you might expect, the movie is packed with accounts of liberal and media hatred of Palin — conflated as being from one and the same source. This is not news and barely worth a mention.

But the last quarter hour is primarily a diatribe against the “Republican establishment.” Images of House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky jump onto the screen as conservative broadcaster Mark Levin speaks of Republicans “putting up symbolic votes that don’t have any meaning.”

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It is hard to say which thoughts in the movie belong to Bannon, the director, and which ones belong to Palin. The voice of the former Alaskan governor is heard throughout, but it is drawn from the audio version of Palin’s book, “Going Rogue,” to which Bannon purchased the rights.

So there is a layer of deniability available to Palin, if she wants it.

But if the movie’s thesis in fact represents Palin’s thinking, then “The Undefeated” helps explain the strange bus tour that coincided with Mitt Romney’s formal entry last month into the presidential contest. And Palin’s appearance on Tuesday in Iowa — one day after Michele Bachmann’s appearance in the same state — for a showing of “The Undefeated.”

If Palin indeed feels snubbed by the movers and shakers within the Republican Party, then her recent behavior looks less like toe-dipping associated with a 2012 presidential bid and more like a longer-term, guerrilla campaign for the heart and soul of the GOP.

“The Undefeated” opens in metro Atlanta July 15 for a seven-day run at the AMC Barrett Commons theater complex off Barrett Parkway in Cobb County.

- JP