Refudiating Ed Rollins

Sarah knows the issues, Mr. Rollins. Read her op-eds and get a clue.
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Mike Huckabee's 2008 campaign manager Ed Rollins launched a vicious attack today on Gov. Palin in a hit piece posted on CNN's website. Dan Calabrese calls him out for his disingenuous smear job:

There is much to mock about a piece on Gov. Palin’s supposed lack of presidential qualifications, especially coming from a man who once tried to help win the presidency for H. Ross Perot, who was not only unqualified but also insane.

But the one that deserves to be exploded is one of the most oft-repeated, condescending slams on Palin. It certainly does not represent any original thinking on Rollins’s part, as it’s been expressed many times by the likes of George Will and just about every D.C.-based political consultant. It is this:

“If you want to be a player, go to school and learn the issues.”

Bulls___, Mr. Rollins. Bulls___.

The notion that Sarah Palin isn’t up to speed on the issues is one of the most groundless ideas on the political landscape today. Take your pick where it comes from: The stupid Charlie Gibson “Bush Doctrine” question? (In which Gibson demonstrated he doesn’t know anything about the Bush Doctrine.) The media’s full-court coverup of Palin’s truthfulness in talking about death panels? People’s confusion between Tina Fey’s caricature and the genuine article?

Whatever the source, it only goes to prove that lots of people believing something doesn’t make it true.

Spend some time on Palin’s Facebook page, where she regularly holds forth on the issues. See what she has to say about tax policy, the WikiLeaks fiasco, monetary policy, energy policy, Iraq and the crucial priorities facing the incoming GOP Congress.

And that’s just the most recent. Palin regularly uses her Facebook platform to deliver her thoughts on leading issues of the day to nearly 2.5 million fans who receive her posts in their newsfeeds. So she not only knows the issues and expounds on them with eloquence, she is smart enough to go directly to the public with her message, bypassing the idiotic legacy media in the process.

[More]

Another well-documented refudiation of Rollins' politically-motivated anti-Palin barrage was published today by Whitney Pitcher on Conservatives 4 Palin. Give it a read.

- JP

Cheering Crowd greets Gov. Palin in Carmel, Indiana

Some spent the night in the store
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Hundreds of fans gathered in a suburban store north of Indianapolis to get their copies of her book signed by Sarah Palin, according to a Columbus Republic story:

Palin greeted fans and signed copies of her book, "America By Heart," at the Carmel Meijer store Thursday evening. The Carmel visit is the only one in Indiana listed on Palin's Facebook page.

Palin shook hands and made chit-chat as the line moved through a cordoned-off area of the store.

Some waited for hours to see Palin, including a number who spent the night in the store.

Gov. Palin's "Going Rogue" book tour stopped in Fort Wayne and Noblesville last year when she signed copies of her best-selling first book.

More reporting on the Indiana event by The Indy Channel (WRTV-TV), The Indianapolis Star (which also has a photo gallery), WXIN-TV and a video package which aired earlier today on WISH-TV. The Indiana News Center reported this morning that Kristen Dorini, the first person in line, arrived at the store at 7:30 Wednesday night.

- JP

Bristol Palin answers Keith Olbermann's cruel attack

"I have never claimed to be perfect."
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On her Facebook page, Bristol Palin defended herself against Keith Olbermann's recent cowardly attack on the young woman made on his MSPDS network show:

Mr. Olbermann--Sorry We Can't All Be As Perfect As You

Recently, a left wing commentator named Keith Olbermann attacked me for being a spokesperson for abstinence education and for being an Ambassador for the Candies Foundation, which promotes teen pregnancy awareness and prevention education. He went so far as to call me "the worst person" he knows, apparently, for my efforts to educate teenagers about the real world risks of premarital sex.

Accusing me of hypocrisy is by now, an old canard. What Mr. Olbermann lacks in originality he makes up for with insincere incredulity. Mr. Olbermann fails to understand that in order to have credibility as a spokesperson, it sometimes takes a person who has made mistakes. Parents warn their children about the mistakes they made so they are not repeated. Former gang members travel to schools to educate teenagers about the risks of gang life. Recovered addicts lecture to others about the risks of alcohol and drug abuse. And yes, a teen mother talks about the benefits of preventing teen pregnancy.

I have never claimed to be perfect. If that makes me the "worst person in the world" to Mr. Olbermann, then I must apologize for not being absolutely faultless like he undoubtedly must be.

To Mr. Olbermann let me say this: you can attack me all you want. But you will not stop me from getting my message out about teen pregnancy prevention. And one day, if you ever have a daughter, you may change your mind about me.

Bristol Palin

- JP

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Episode 4 Preview: 'She's a Great Shot'

In which our Sarah shoots down the haters' lies
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TLC has a preview of the next episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" posted:


This episode provides further proof that the anti-Palin leftists and their useful idiot Levi Johnston were bearing false witness with their bogus claims that she didn't know anything about hunting, shooting and firearms. Drug fiend Andrew Sullivan is just one of the leftist tools who hate Gov. Palin so much that they will childishly believe any wild hare tale which they hope they can use to drive down her approval numbers. Here's what Sully blogged just a couple of weeks ago:

Levi got her exactly:

"She says she goes hunting and lives off animal meat - I've never seen it," said Mr Johnston, 19. "I've never seen her touch a fishing pole. "She had a gun in her bedroom and one day she asked me to show her how to shoot it. I asked her what kind of gun it was, and she said she didn't know, because it was in a box under her bed."

Surprise! I Believe Levi. But then I have long believed that Palin lives in an utterly fabricated world where she shoots, fishes and has contractions while giving speeches.

Let's see now... Levi and the leftists (good name for a punk band) claimed that our Sarah didn't know one end of a fishing rod from another, yet we've seen her on her series not just casting for Salmon, but working the nets with Todd on their commercial fishing boat. We've also seen her putting in some time on another working boat wrangling halibut, plus working the line in a fish processing facility. We watched as she dispatched clay pigeons expertly with a shotgun, and in this latest episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska," we will see her shoot down once and for all time their lie that she doesn't know anything about guns and hunting.

Anyone who accepts as fact a rumor told by a disreputable person with an axe to grind and doesn't even bother to check out the story because he fears that it will be proven false, is quite pathologically disturbed and living in an alternate universe.

- JP

Gov. Palin's book signing in Spirit Lake draws fans from 3 states

Some of them showed up at her hotel this morning
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On the Des Moines Register's Iowa Politics Insider blog, Tom Beaumont reports that Gov. Sarah Palin was on a pace to sign more than 1,000 copies of her new book today in a Walmart store in the northwest Iowa resort community of Spirit Lake:

Palin, making her second trip to Iowa in the past week to promote “America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag,” arrived shortly before 11 a.m. at the store. Palin, who overnighted in the area, was delayed briefly when a small crowd of fans showed up in the morning at the hotel where she was staying.

Inside the back room where Palin was signing the books, country music played loudly while Palin feverishly signed stacks of books while making small talk with fans, like Julie Swanson, 32, of nearby Harris.

“I just love what she stands for. I love her values,” said Swanson, a stay-at-home mother of two-year-old son Luke. “I hope she runs for president.”

Two of Palin’s daughters, Piper and Willow, were with her, as they have been throughout the 16-city book tour, which wraps up tomorrow. At one point, Piper asked her mother if she could shop in the store. “Piper, look for a scarf, honey,” Palin said as the girl left the room.

[More]

In a separate story, Beaumont said this Iowa event also drew fans from nearby South Dakota and Minnesota, "judging by the license plates in the crowded parking lot."

Sioux City television station KITV has a few photos posted here.

Next stop on the book tour is this evening in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, Indiana.

Updates...

From the Guv via Twitter:

"Awesome Iowa!Thank u! & just heard America by Heart is #2 NYT bestseller list behind Pres.Bush's good book,so thanks for sharing inspiration"

The Iowa Independent also covered the event here.

- JP

Norquist and Barron: Sarah Palin has earned the right to run for president

"Palin’s résumé more than qualifies her as a top-tier candidate"
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In a Politico 44 opinion piece, Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, and GOProud's Christopher Barron make the case for Gov. Palin qualifications and her right to run for president:

Palin has made clear that she is thinking about running for president. Everyone, from pundits to former first ladies, has weighed in on what she should do. Many urge her not to run.

But if she decides to, Republicans of all stripes should applaud her decision. This isn’t an endorsement of her candidacy. It is, however, an endorsement of her right to participate in the process.

[...]

Palin has earned the right to run if she chooses. Despite the left’s caricature of her, Palin’s résumé more than qualifies her as a top-tier candidate. She brings almost 20 years of public service experience to the table. She has served as city council member, mayor, chairwoman of Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, governor and GOP vice presidential nominee.

Men with no elective experience have sought the GOP nomination. In the 2012 cycle, we might see a former mayor, a former ambassador, a senator defeated by almost 20 points in his reelection bid, a sitting governor and a former one-term governor all seek the Republican nomination. Rightly, none of these men has been urged not to run — and neither should Palin.

[...]

We don’t pretend to know what Palin will do — and can’t tell her what’s in the best interest of her and her family. We can, however, say with confidence that if she wants to run, she should. She has earned that right. A Palin candidacy would be good for the process, good for our party and good for our country.

[More]

Hmmm... Norquist and Barron must not be among those Republican leaders Joe Scarborough has talked to whom he claims agreed with his criticism of Gov. Palin. As we have already pointed out, Scarborough also claimed that all of the conservative radio hosts he's talked to share his opinion of the governor as well. Yet both Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin are among Sarah Palin's strongest supporters, and they have in common a very low opinion of Scarborough.

SCARBOROUGH: They will not say it on camera, but they all say it, all say it, all say it off set.

BRZEZINSKI: All of them.

We can only conclude that Mika and Joe don't talk to many "major Republican figures." Not conservative ones, anyway. Either that, or they both lied. It's not like MSDNC hosts have sterling reputations for veracity...

- JP

TLC Video: Counting Fish (Outtake)

Responsible, Scientific Natural Resource Management
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Here's an outtake (deleted scene) from "Sarah Palin's Alaska" where Sarah, Todd and Piper meet with Tim Sands of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Tim's count of Sockeye (red) salmon ultimately determines when fisherman can catch the fish and when they cannot. This management strategy allows a sufficient quantity of this variety of Salmon time to swim upsteam and spawn, assuring that the species will reproduce in abundant numbers.


"Sarah Palin's Alaska" is shown Sunday nights at 9/8c on TLC with an encore showing at 11/10c.

h/t: Ron Devito

- JP

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention, Part 164

"Driving the Discourse" Edition
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Darrell Delamaide at Political Capital:

"Sarah Palin continues to dominate the political agenda. The former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate is driving our national discourse in the “lamestream” media, the blogosphere, social networks and, above all, in the Republican Party. Palin comes out with a new, instantly bestselling book celebrating American exceptionalism, and every Republican who hopes for a future in national politics is talking about nothing but exceptionalism... Palin is in fact using Obama’s playbook against him. She is, as her supporters often noted in the 2008 campaign, no less qualified to be president than he is..."

Luigi Zingales via The Sun-Times:

"I'm impressed that she knows me because I'm not sort of a national figure... Not only that she knows my name but she seems to have gotten my ideas right..."

Mark Hemingway in The Washington Examiner:

"Remember how Sarah Palin called the Bush family 'blue bloods' after they tacitly endorsed Romney? Well... Meghan McCain, posessor of an Ivy-League degree, had to Google this extremely common phrase? And then she uses this as an excuse to knock Sarah Palin for being against education or something? Someone please tell me why it is that Meghan McCain is a noteworthy pundit? I think it has something to do with her own blue blood pedigree, because it sure doesn't have anything to do with her general level of self-awareness."

Tom Cohen at CNN:

"Sarah Palin has yet to formally declare she will run for president, but the book released Tuesday titled America By Heart... is a blueprint for the conservative battle plan against President Barack Obama's re-election in 2012."

Jeffrey Lord at The American Spectator:

"This mother of five with a successful marriage, the woman who, without benefit of a famous name or marriage, has been elected successively to positions as city council member, mayor, president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors, served as the appointed (by the then-governor) chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission before being elected governor herself -- this before becoming only the second woman to be tapped for a major party vice-presidential nomination, a successful author and bona fide TV star like Reagan -- this is the woman who is now presented by everybody from GOP Establishment types to liberal enemies as just a vacant Barbie-style version of other men who were too dumb to be president. Goldwater? Romney? Ford? Reagan? Kemp? Bush 43? Bush 41? Like them all, Sarah Palin is just too dumb to be president... It is, yes, a pattern of modern media treatment with prominent Republicans that is discernible as far back as Dwight Eisenhower. But in fact what some call Palin Derangement Syndrome is merely the modern face of elitist arrogance that has been present since the evolution of America itself as just one more colonial outpost of the British Empire."

Jimmy Carter on C-SPAN's "Book TV":

"She's one of the most dynamic and attractive speakers we've ever seen. She knows how to appeal to a crowd, she's extremely eloquent... She's going to be a formidable candidate..."

TheRightScoop:

"There is an obsession on the Left with those on the Right who have made mistakes and decided to reform themselves, and in this case it’s Bristol Palin... She’s made it her mission in life to use her platform to encourage young women to abstain from sex before marriage because she doesn’t want them to experience the same kind of hurt and pain she’s experienced. And I ask Keith Olbermann, what is so wrong with that? So when I hear Olbermann or those of his ilk diminishing people like Bristol Palin, trying to destroy someone who has done nothing but share their experiences with others, it just reminds me of how hateful and intolerant those are on the ideological Left."

Jennifer at Cubachi:

"The problem here is that people actually were sympathetic and rooting for Bristol Palin, while Margaret Cho was kicked off after two weeks on the show. Even America couldn’t stand the unfunny clown... The shackles are coming off and the left can’t stand it."

Jim Morekis at Connect Savannah:

"One of the more ridiculous examples of 'common wisdom' echoed by the pundits these days is the idea that Sarah Palin can never be president. I’m certainly not a particular fan of hers, but to think she cannot be elected is to be in complete denial both of politics and of the state of the nation today... If unemployment continues at very high levels, and if President Obama continues his tepid, feckless ways — so bizarre considering the lofty rhetoric of civic engagement that got him into office — Palin doesn’t have to be wildly popular to beat him. She just has to be a viable alternative for a plurality of voters... She is street–smart. And in politics, the streetfighters always win in the end."

Husna Haq at the Christian Science Monitor:

"Whatever Palin’s plans, you can be sure Mr. Obama’s campaign team is reading up for clues... One guess what’s on David Axelrod’s nightstand."

Gary P. Jackson at A Time For Choosing:

"The latest Public Policy Polling survey shows Sarah Palin leads all potential candidates for the 2012 nomination for President. The numbers look like this: Sarah Palin 21%, Newt Gingrich 19%, Mitt Romney 18%, Mike Huckabee 16%, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty are tied at 5% each, John Thune 3%, Daniels 2%. Sarah also leads the “second choice” picks as well, with 20%. This is well ahead of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney who clock in at 13% each. The rest of the field is in the single digits. Sarah also leads in favorability among GOP voters and is only bested by Mike Huckabee in low unfavorables."

The Associated Press:

"Sarah Palin gave at least $507,000 to candidates and political causes in 2010 as she earned a reputation as kingmaker and raised her profile ahead of a possible presidential run."

Psota at Free Will:

"When John McCain first nominated Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate... CNBC ran an endless loop of an interview that Palin did with Maria Bartiromo on the topic of energy. Have you ever seen it? I'll bet not, and if you see it, you'll know why. Palin is very impressive, speaking passionately and knowledgeably on energy policy that would impress anyone not on the left side of American politics. Some of her verbal tics are present, of course - I remember chuckling at the time over her repeated use of the phrase 'America's hungry markets' - but she goes toe to toe with the Queen of Wall Street, laying out the case for a free market, domestically based solution to America's energy problems - throwing in some criticism of the Bush Administration along the way."

Cindy at Books and Chocolate:

"In this inspiring follow-up to her best selling memoir, Going Rogue, Sarah Palin writes more about the values the United States was founded upon. Inspired by the people she has met and talked to since her first book was published, Palin shares their stories, their faith, and their dreams that reflect her own."

Michael Falcone and Amy Walter at ABC News' The Note:

"Yahoo! today released it’s 2010 Year in Review, a 'look back that identifies the top trends of the year from billions of consumer searches, and the top stories and topics of the year' on Yahoo’s network. ABC’s Rick Klein notes that seven of the 10 most-searched politicians were women: 1. Barack Obama, 2. Sarah Palin, 3. Christine O'Donnell, 4. Hillary Clinton, 5. Nikki Haley, 6. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 7. Meg Whitman, 8. Nancy Pelosi, 9. Linda McMahon, 10. Scott Brown."

- JP

Day By Day (December 2, 2010)

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Good Morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day.



Support Pro-Palin Day By Day

- JP

Quote of the Day (December 1, 2010)

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Tammy Bruce:

"It never ceases to amaze me the depths to which the GOP Boys will stoop. Here they tell us they should be the ones ruling the world and then use Scarborough to test run a whiny, juvenile attack on Palin. Make no mistake – this has quite a few more fingerprints on it than Scarborough’s – and those prints belong to the Bush/Romney/GOP Machine... Joey’s screed consists of nothing but personal attack after personal attack, absurdly misrepresenting her comments, and assigning vile, ridiculous intentions to her commentaries... So the machine now has a Sophie’s Choice of its own – engage Governor Palin on the issues and lose, or…scream at her and try to beat her up, and lose. Either way, Gentlemen, bring it on."

- JP

Herald-Leader: Sarah Palin draws a crowd to Lexington book signing

"Palin Man" has been to about ten of her book signings

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Sarah Palin fans by the hundreds flooded Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington Wednesday night to meet the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate who visited the store to sign copies of her new book America By Heart:

The book, Palin's thoughts about the future of the United States and words from those she finds most inspiring, was released Nov. 23, about a year after her best-selling memoir Going Rogue.

[...]

Kaye Hughes of Lexington brought her daughter Kacie, a fourth-grader. The two secured their two books, which they will give to Kaye's mother and sister for Christmas, on Nov. 16, the first day they were made available. Even though the meet-and-greet was short, the Hugheses said meeting Palin and her daughter Piper made for an exciting evening.

"They were really trying to keep the line moving, but she shook both our hands and asked Kacie about school and just held onto her hand while she talked," Kaye said. "It was cool to meet Piper, too. They're both just very nice."

Tammy Pickett and Jennifer Cross's smiles and neon green sweatshirts shone across the store as they waited for their turn. Pickett embroidered both shirts, which read, "I came to meet the 45th president." She said she made similar sweatshirts when she met President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on their campaign trails.

Pickett said Palin liked the shirts so much she made an exception to her normal rule of signing only books; Palin signed both sweatshirts and had the women pose with her for a photo.

[More]

Thursday, Gov. Palin will make book signing stops in Spirit Lake, Iowa and Carmel, Indiana. The first leg of her book tour -- she's hinted that additional signings may be announced at a later date -- wraps up Friday with signing events in Cincinnati, Ohio and Columbia, South Carolina.

Update: Coverage from WTVQ-TV here.

- JP

What do 'progressives' do at airports while waiting for their flights?

The surveillance camera knows
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Surveillance cameras at a store in Indianapolis International Airport caught a passing traveler on tape while he defaced books by Gov. Palin:

Airport police were called to the Borders bookstore in Concourse B on Tuesday morning after four of Palin's "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag" books were found to have writing on the covers.

[...]

Police said surveillance video showed a man, who appeared to be a passenger, writing on the books on display near the entrance of the store.

The incident wasn't an isolated one. The store manager said that several books by Glenn Beck were also vandalized about six weeks ago.

- JP

Dianne Newcomer: Alaska is wild and wonderful

She loves that state. What's not to love?
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Here's a review of "Sarah Palin's Alaska by Dianne Newcomer, a travel agent in Northeast Louisiana:

So what if there is a hidden agenda? Who cares if she makes a million dollars an episode for eight shows? What's wrong with interjecting personal — and perhaps political — perspective into the script? Isn't that one of the privileges of being the editor and what makes her so likeable? After all, who really believes TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is "reality"?

Yet, the "reality" was I was really entertained as I watched the show last Sunday night. It was not the well manicured and manipulated family moments that captured my attention, but, rather, the awesome beauty of Alaska. Wasn't the Homer spit stunning? When Palin tells us her show is a "love letter to Alaska," she nailed it! There is absolutely no way the state's tourism is not going to benefit, because Alaska definitely steals the show.

Unlike the "Deadliest Catch" (a Discovery Channel show about fishing for Alaskan crab in the worst conditions possible) or "Ice Road Truckers," (a History Channel show where truck drivers make the treacherous ice route between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay), "Sarah Palin's Alaska" takes place in the summer, and no touch ups are needed! Alaska just sits there looking rugged, wild, majestic, and pristine — absolutely picture perfect. What you see is really what you get! Throw in a little family drama with Mrs. Palin, America's media sweetheart, who even looks cute "stunning" halibut, and you have a travelogue made for Hollywood!

[...]

I am not sure if "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is just another reality show or a campaign promo piece for 2012, but, when she says "we are somewhere you dream about," I believe she loves that state. Yet, let's be honest, what is there not to love about a place where moose, sunsets, snowflakes and wildflowers make the front page of the newspaper and where their colleges offer courses in fly fishing and log cabin construction?

What's not to love about a place governed by Mother Nature?

[...]

No matter how you cut it: Alaska is a strange and wonderful land. It has very few paved roads, no sales taxes, no snakes, cock roaches, skunks, tornadoes, hurricanes or skyscrapers. They adamantly believe they have no weeds — only wildflowers and interesting plants — but they do brag about their abundance of glaciers, mountains, volcanoes, oil fields, gold and timber.

With more lakes than Minnesota and more mosquitoes than Texas, "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is undeniably the Last Frontier. It deserves to be on every good traveler's "bucket list" and, thanks to Mrs. Palin, I am sure it is going to be a hot destination for 2011.

[More]

- JP

SarahPAC rakes in the contributions (Updated)

Over $3Nearly $5 million this year
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According to Treasurer Tim Crawford, SarahPAC raised $469,000 between Oct. 13 and Nov. 22, pushing the Sarah Palin political action committee's total contributions for the the year over the $3 million mark, reports Jay Newton-Small at TIME's political blog Swampland:

Crawford attributed the surge of funds to energy surrounding the midterm elections, Palin's endorsements and her TLC reality show “Sarah Palin's Alaska.” Her second book, America By Heart, came out Nov. 23.

The PAC spent $64,000 buying advance copies of her books, “just as we did last year” with her first book, Going Rogue, Crawford said. “They're a great fundraising tool for us.” Palin is in the midst of a two-week cross-country book tour.

Overall the PAC spent $581,000 between Oct. 13 and Nov. 22. A larger percentage than normal was spent on contributions to political candidates, $244,000, as Palin tried to help her 81-endosed candidates over the Nov. 2 finish line. Fifty-five of them won.

Crawford says all of the $469,000 was raised online or through direct mail. There have been only two SarahPAC fundraisers this year, while Mitt Romney's PAC has held nine.

Updates...

TIME has its numbers wrong. The yearly SarahPAC total is actually near the $5 million mark. (See comments)

From Ballot Box, The Hill's campaign blog:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's reported haul of some $469,000 over the past month and a half easily tops the total cash pulled in by the federal PACs of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, both rumored GOP presidential contenders in 2012.

- JP

Gov. Palin visits middle Tennessee for book signing

Arrives in an unpretentious minivan
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Sarah Palin's book signing tour took her to the affluent Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee Wednesday to promote her second book, America By Heart.

In the book, Palin tackles a variety of topics, from former President John F. Kennedy to "American Idol." She also voices her opinion about President Barack Obama.

The one-time vice-presidential running mate of John McCain greeted fans, answered questions and posed for pictures during her three-hour visit.

People began lining up Tuesday night outside the Costco in Cool Springs all night for a chance to meet her.

WSMV-TV's brief news story is here, and the station's video package, which aired at 12 Noon, is here.

- JP

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' ratings jump 17 percent

Half a million more viewers than week two
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TV Examiner Matt Carter observes a bump in the ratings for "Sarah Palin's Alaska" for week three:

As it turns out "Sarah Palin's Alaska" could very well be a ratings smash every time. After the TLC program dropped significantly in ratings following the premiere (as expected), the numbers were back in the upward direction for the third installment.

What sort of viewer count are we talking about? The show managed to pull in 3.5 million viewers Sunday, which is a healthy increase of 17% over the previous episode.

[...]

If "Alaska" manages to keep this up, the network could be clamoring for more episodes sooner rather than later.

What explains the gain of half a million viewers over week two? Carter says it could be chalked up to spike in viewer interest, given all of the media buzz over Bristol Palin's appearance in the "Dancing With the Stars" finale. We believe James Hibberd called it correctly when he pointed out that week two's episode took an extra hit from the CMA Awards broadcast on ABC.

Whatever the reason for the rise in ratings, we have to laugh at all the haters who were pronouncing the series dead after week two. Their PDS makes them continually beclown themselves.

- JP

Jennifer Rubin reverts to type

Rubin Version 1.0 returns
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As a writer for Commentary Magazine and its Contentions blog, Jennifer Rubin consistently defended Sarah Palin against the left's attacks. When the news broke that she had been hired by the left wing Washington Post to write about the right, many conservative bloggers and pundits hailed the hiring as a sea change. Finally, they trumpeted, WaPo had obtained the services of a real conservative to write about real Republicanism and conservatism. And hey, after the Weigel fiasco, any conservative would be an improvement.

We didn't hail that particular bandwagon and ask for a ride, preferring instead to reserve judgment until after we had a chance to read Rubin's Post postings for ourselves. Our skepticism was rooted in recent memory. The 2008 Republican primary race was not so long ago, and we recall that she was a big backer then of Rudy Giuliani, the most socially liberal of all the GOP candidates. We also recall that Rubin was especially critical of Fred Thompson, the only across-the-board Reagan conservative in the Republican presidential primaries.

After reading what she has written in her first five columns for WaPo, we see that Jennifer Rubin has downgraded to version One-Point-Oh. She's conservative on three legs of the four-legged conservative stool, but hold the social conservatism from her order, please. It didn't take Rubin long to start running down Sarah Palin now that the commentator is of the Post. In just her fifth WaPo column, she starts to pick on Palin.

According to Rubin, or at least the WaPo version of Rubin, the notion that Sarah Palin is the front runner for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination is just a liberal conspiracy because, you see, they want her to be the nominee, as she simply has no chance whatsoever of winning the general election, even against such a failed president as Barack Obama. Rubin hits all of the talking points from the elites of the left and the right - Sarah Palin has limited appeal among independents; golly, she sure did back some questionable candidates for the Senate, especially that awful Christine O'Donnell; her political judgment during a general election might be just too risky; most elected Republicans don't think Palin is a front runner, etc.

That last one is a real gem. Has Rubin asked "most" elected GOP officials or conducted a survey? We don't think so. Oh well, "when in Rome..." or perhaps better said, "while at the Post..." Are we accusing Jennifer Rubin of changing her own narrative to try to get the "progressives" who account for most of its readership to read her column? Not substantially, no. Only just a little. Actually, for Jennifer Rubin its more a case of her reverting to type rather than making a compromise. She's a Rudy Guiliani conservative again. Apparently that's not too conservative for either the people who buy and read the Washington Post or those who run it. And since being negative on Sarah Palin is part of the Post's program, it's good for Rubin that she has no problem with that. It didn't seem to bother her to go negative on Fred Thompson three years ago, so this Palin-marginalizing should be a piece of cake.

- JP

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention, Part 163

"She's So High" Edition
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Ken Berwitz at Hopelessly Partisan:

"After three days of being skewered for saying 'Obviously we've got to stand with our North (rather than South) Korean allies', Sarah Palin is striking back... If revenge is sweet, Sarah Palin has given us a major sugar-high. Now let's see if the media give Ms. Palin's 'Obama-gaffe-paragraph' even a small fraction of the coverage her 'North Korea allies' misstatement got. Wanna take bets?"

NewsTalk1160:

"She’s getting too good at this, yet they still haven’t learned so she keeps making them look stupid..."

Ralph Buttigieg at The Western Lines:

"I can't get enough of Sarah. Yesterday leftest nincompoops made a big thing of Palin's minor slip of the tongue. Anyone who bothered to listen to the interview would know she meant South Korea, and she corrected herself a few seconds latter. Today she delivered the knock out punch..."

Daisy at Chicks on the Right:

"Sarah – You just scored some major points with me..."

Sherman Frederick at the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

"The Sarah Palin haters were in full view when she recently jumbled North Korea and South Korea during an interview. Nevermind that she seconds before got it right.... Well, Palin got her revenge on a Facebook reply... It's a brutal retort to those haters who forgive Barack Obama his many, many misstatements, but not Palin. Further proof, BTW, that conservative women do not get a fair shake from this country's media elite."

philmon at The Clue Batting Cage:

"This is why we love Sarah Palin... Not only is she not afraid to respond to her opponents' constant heckling, she knows how to do it and force them to rub their own noses in it."

David Jeffers at American Thinker Blog:

"Note to Sarah Palin: if you are seriously considering a run for the White House, you must be perfect... If you should misspeak on Glenn Beck's radio program by saying we need to stand with our North Korean allies, even though 8 seconds prior you had identified North Korea as the aggressor, well not only should you be belittled by your own countrymen, but also world leaders. And so... Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS) has clearly become a global malady."

Jim Treacher at The DC Trawler:

"Some on the left can’t control their seething hatred of Palin, and she keeps turning it right around on them... Let’s hope our moral, ethical, and intellectual superiors never learn."

Melissa Clouthier at Liberty Pundits:

"Liberal men suffer the worst Madonna-Whore complexes of all. They cannot handle mom and sexy in one package–mostly because that woman would never be interested in them, therefore, they reject what they cannot obtain. As betas they’re stuck with the mousy and miserable women. You know, the women at the Code Pink march or the Amen Pew at church. Either way, they don’t think of obtainable women as sexy. Sexy equals scary... Women should not have to be some stripped down, butched up, neutered individual or a Stepford wife so that she may please those uncomfortable in their own skin. Get over it already so we can start judging the Sarah Palins by the content of their character and the quality of their ideas. In a more reasonable world, Sarah Palin wouldn’t be causing this fuss... But she’s breaking barriers. It’s time to let them fall and engage women in a real way."

Phil Jennerjahn at The Jennerjahn Report:

"You couldn't get 5 million people to watch a show about Mitt Romney if you paid them."

John Lott at FoxNews.com:

"The media started attacking Palin as soon as she was nominated by John McCain to be vice president and they have continued ever since... Thus, in major news outlets, 194 news stories over the last month from Oct. 28 to Nov. 27 talked about Sarah Palin in the same paragraph that they used the words 'extreme,' 'dishonest,' 'unpresidential,' 'stupid,' 'incompetent,' 'gaffe,' or 'dumb.' Fox News recently identified eleven other contenders -- in addition to Palin -- who will likely vie for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Those 11 candidates, combined, garnered 27 percent more news coverage than Palin, but had 144 fewer negative stories written about them."

Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters:

"Ironically, the very people working tirelessly on Palin's second assassination could be kicking her right into the White House. Now THAT would be entertainment."

Carol Platt Liebau at Townhall.com's Tipsheet:

"I have not always been an unalloyed fan of Sarah Palin's. But one needn't be in order to find Joe Scarborough's new column -- calling on the GOP to 'man up' and confront Palin -- to be both self-serving and, frankly, silly. Look, we all know that Scarborough makes his professional home at MSNBC, and that he spends most of his time talking to the Beltway insiders who wear their contempt for Palin proudly as a badge of their intelligence and sophistication. But come on. The piece makes no sense... And if he is truly serious about averting a Palin run -- rather than simply scoring points among his media buddies and the left -- surely he knows he's going about it in the worst way possible. Such open calls for her retreat make it ever less likely that Sarah Palin will ultimately step aside. Do I agree with everything Sarah Palin says or does? Not by a long shot. But running is her right -- whether Joe Scarborough or anyone else likes it or not."

Julia at The DC Morning:

"Former Republican congressman and morning talkshow host Joe Scarborough lit into Palin in the pages of Politico this morning... Say what you want about Palin, but she does have a more substantial resume than Joe does."

Jennifer at Riehl World View:

"For the past two days, MSNBC has become the headquarters for some of the most outrageous attacks on Sarah Palin and her family. I can't quite understand why Joe Scarborough found it clever to attack Palin for stating the truth about the state of the GOP and Reagan's career in acting... Spare us from Joe Scarborough... He has done nothing to bring forth the rise of the conservative movement. Palin has done more than he could ever do."

- JP

Reich: Sour economy could put Sarah Palin in the White House

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Political economist and former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich, in a Christian Science Monitor blog rant so stuffed with liberal Democrat talking points along with buzz words and phrases that he employs the term "white working class" no less than seven times, concludes that the economy, stupid, could put Sarah Palin in the White House:

As I believe will become clearer, the Palin Strategy will involve a political threat to the GOP establishment: Deny her the nomination she’ll run as independent. This will split off much of the white working class and guarantee defeat of the Republican establishment candidate. It will also result in her defeat in 2012, but that’s a small price to pay for gaining the credibility and power to demand the nomination in 2016, or threaten another third-party run in 2020.

Once nominated, her campaign for the general election will be purely populist. She’ll seek to broaden her base to become the candidate of the people, taking on America’s vested Establishment.

More than anything else, the Palin Strategy depends on the continuing fear and anger of America’s white working class. She’s betting that their economic prospects will not improve by 2012, or even by 2016 and beyond.

Sadly, this is likely to be the case. On Tuesday, the Fed issued a gloomy prognosis. Even if the U.S. economy began to grow at a rate more typical of recoveries than the current anemic 2 percent, unemployment won’t drop to its pre-recession level for 5 to 7 years. A minority of the Fed thought this was too optimistic.

The disturbing truth is the bad economy is likely to continue for most Americans beyond 7 years — maybe for ten or more — because of a chronic lack of aggregate demand. Apart from inevitable inventory replacements and the necessary replacements by consumers of cars, appliances, and clothing that wear out, nothing will propel the U.S. economy forward.

[...]

The President seems unable or unwilling to provide the clear narrative that explains what’s happened and what needs to be done, and Republicans are at this moment ascendant.

It all fits into Sarah Palin’s strategy.

Reich, who drew the ire of his fellow liberals by essentially confirming Gov. Palin's warning about death panels before she even issued it, also invoked the word "anger" six times in his post and tossed in some other reliable old leftist pearls such as "racist," fascist," "fear" and "right wing" just for bad measure. To slam Sarah, he employed "snark," "snide," "sarcastic" and "revenge." One would think he was describing his old Clinton Crew colleague Paul Bergala, not Gov. Palin.

Reich's rant is pure Democrat fear mongering, race baiting and Palin demonizing, but it does offer one thing which is new, and it marks a key change in the Democrat's previously-employed narrative that she could win the GOP nomination, but never the general election. Another liberal Democrat has now admitted that Sarah Palin can not only win her party's nomination, but the presidency as well. The point of Reich's piece is to try to scare Democrats and those Vichy Republicans who read the CSMonitor into stopping her.

- JP

Day By Day (December 1, 2010)

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- JP