Rush Limbaugh: Sarah Palin vs. The Establishment

It is breathtakingly mean-spirited what some Republicans have done to Palin
*
Here are some excerpts from the transcript of Rush's Thursday show:

Conservatism in the Republican Party is still considered an outsider no matter who you are. If you're a conservative you're an outsider -- I mean a genuine conservative... I think the way Palin has been treated has really been a shock and an eye-opener for a lot of Republicans, because it really has been vicious. It is breathtakingly mean-spirited from the Republican side what's been done to Palin, not just the Democrats where you would expect it to come from.

[...]

It is hilarious, folks, to read some of the press about Palin. They just are bugged to no end, accusing her of creating traffic dangers with her bus convoy! You know, she snuck out of the hotel in Gettysburg. She snuck out the back door to head up to New York, I think maybe to meet Trump or something. She beat the media out and they're livid that she gave them the slip. They just can't believe that she got away with that. They can't believe she gave 'em the slip. They can't believe that she would even try to give 'em the slip.

[...]

She is driving them insane. In fact, this story in the Boston Herald makes mention of the fact that Romney's not too happy about this because this is his big coming out day, his big announcement. She's up there stealing his thunder in a different part of the state. He's in New Hampshire announcing. She's drawing all the crowds; says that she's not concerned about the party; she's not concerned about delegates and this, that, and the other thing. You know, I have never met Sarah Palin. I've spoken to her twice in interviews. I don't know her. People ask me for insight. I couldn't tell you. So I don't know. People ask me, "Is she doing this stuff because she has a score to settle with the Republicans, too?

"Does she think they were unkind to her during the campaign with some of the stuff they put out or let get out about the wardrobe?" and I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. I don't know if she's settling scores. I don't know if what she's doing is, quote, unquote, "establishing the brand" and making money. I don't know if what she's doing is having fun tweaking the media. Well, yeah, I do know she's having fun doing that -- and I think that represents a stunning reversal. That she's able to is a stunning reversal. She has them on the run, she has them on defensive, she has them making themselves look like utter high school gossip-mongering fools. It actually is hilarious to look at the dander these people have been worked into.

[More]

- JP

Public Policy Polling: A tie at the top for Palin and Romney

Palin 16%, Romney 16%, Pawlenty 13%, Cain 12%
*
With Mitt Romney in New Hampshire to launch his presidential campaign and Sarah Palin's One Nation bus rolling into the Granite State to host a clambake for influential conservatives, the stage was perfectly set for Public Policy Polling to release the results of its latest national survey of GOP primary voters:

PPP's first national poll looking at the Republican Presidential race since Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump announced they wouldn't run finds Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin in a tie at the top with 16% each. Tim Pawlenty at 13% and Herman Cain at 12% are also in double digits with Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul each at 9%, and Jon Huntsman at 4% rounding out the field.

Romney's support is built on moderate and center right Republicans, while Palin's winning the most conservative faction of the party. With moderates Romney's at 26% with only Pawlenty at 15% also reaching double digits and Palin in third at 8%. With 'somewhat conservative' voters Romney likewise leads with 19% to 15% each for Pawlenty and Palin. But with voters identifying as 'very conservative' Romney finds himself well back in 5th place at 11% with Palin leading the way at 20%, followed by Cain at 15%, Bachmann at 13%, and Pawlenty at 12%.

The Democrat polling company's somewhat smallish sample is made up of 574 primary voters who usually cast their primary ballots for Republicans. The pollster, whose clients include radical leftist site Daily Kos and the SEIU, conducted automated telephone interviews from May 23rd to 25th.

h/t: Henry D'Andrea

- JP

Sarah Palin: Freedom Trail

"Walking in the footsteps of the Sons of Liberty is an extraordinary experience."
*
Gov Palin has posted another dispatch from the One Nation Tour at SarahPAC:

Freedom Trail

It's a sunny day in Boston but our thoughts are still with those affected by yesterday's storm, which ripped through the western part of the state.

There's so much history here. It’s amazing how much of our nation’s history can be found in just two and a half miles on the Freedom Trail.

We visited some of the cradles of American freedom today - Old North Church, Paul Revere's home, Bunker Hill - and met many patriots young and old. We met Augie Parziale and his family who took us through the family business. Their bakery has been in business for more than 100 years and going strong because of hard work and determination to fight through the government's sea of red tape.

Walking in the footsteps of the Sons of Liberty is an extraordinary experience. The history of the rebellion and the republic lives on in these hallowed grounds. These sights are living symbols of our past that remind us to work towards a brighter future.

On to the Granite State!

- Sarah Palin

- JP

RealClearPolitics: Palin Slams RomneyCare In Massachusetts

There will "obviously" be more explanation from Romney for his support of government mandates.
*
On the road with Sarah Palin's One Nation tour, Scott Conroy of RealClearPolitics reports that the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee criticized RomneyCare just minutes before the former Massachusetts governor who signed that bill into law formally announced his candidacy for president:

After noting that he would be a "great candidate," Palin quickly changed his tune when asked about Romney's record.

"I think that he'll have maybe a bit more challenges with independents who make up the tea party movement, wanting to make sure we are not going to--we won't have any excuses or perceived political reasons to grow government," Palin said. "In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, obviously, and I am not the only to say so. But obviously there will be more explanation coming from Gov. Romney for his support of government mandates."

Pressed on whether Romney would have a particularly difficult time attracting support from members of the tea party movement, Palin did not hold back.

"That perhaps will be a big challenge for him because tea party activists are pretty strident, in a good way, in making sure that the candidate that many of the tea party patriots will support--the candidate has a record of living out the principles that tea party patriots do embrace," she said.

Palin added that Romney may have a "good argument" that what he implemented in Massachusetts applied only on a statewide level and would not be appropriate nationally. But then she quickly went back on the attack.

"However, even on a state level and a local level, mandates coming from a governing body, it's tough for a lot of us to accept because we have great faith in the private sector and in our own families and in our businessmen and women in making decisions for ourselves," Palin said. "Not any level of government telling us what to do."

[More]

Conroy says that both candidates could benefit from the local media's Palin vs. Romney narrative because it draws attention away from other players in the crowded presidential field.

- JP

Can Sarah Palin bring Reagan Democrats back to the GOP?

She's a 20-year veteran of elected politics.
*
On the first leg of her One Nation tour, Gov. Palin is reaching out to the Northeast, which is, as Christopher Chantrill points out, is a target-rich environment full of the white working class (also known as Blue Collar Democrats, originally known as Reagan Democrats), that has been up for grabs in recent elections. Can Sarah Palin win them over?

Time was that the white working class was the darling of the liberals. But then the liberals soured on them. In the 70s working-class whites were bigoted Archie Bunkers; in the 2000s, "bitter clingers." Liberals decided that all along they had really loved women and minorities, and they became the darlings of the liberals, extolled and boosted in the university, the halls of Congress, in stock photos, and on stage and screen.

Of course, the white working class has only itself to blame. Put not your trust in princes, says the Good Book. Back in the 19th century the working class had built its own authentic social institutions, the labor unions, the fraternal associations, the Methodist and Baptist Churches, from scratch. But then the liberals came calling with flattery and free money. There's a line for that too: The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

When you are living in the Garden of Eden, the darlings of the liberals, life is peachy: good jobs, good wages, benefits, health care, pensions. But when the liberals decide to change you out for a newer model, then it's back to the real world, only now the unions are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Democratic Party and the fraternal associations have withered away into irrelevance. But for the "pessimistic and alienated" in this fallen world, there is God and guns and Sarah Palin.

You can see why the party professionals don't take Palin seriously. The way people talk, you'd think Sarah Palin was a political newcomer, rather than a 20-year veteran of elected politics.

But there is another, bigger reason why the Republican insiders find it so difficult to take Palin seriously. Their game is political chess, a game of movement, and Palin plays Chinese Go or weiqi, a game of position, where you put down counters and never move them. With Going Rogue, she put down a counter that positioned herself as a "commonsense conservative." With America by Heart she positioned herself as a "commonsense constitutional conservative." Now, with her "One Nation" bus tour, she is mounting a "campaign to educate and energize Americans about our nation's founding principles, in order to promote the Fundamental Restoration of America."

That's the new counter that Sarah Palin is placing on the board as she moves up the Northeast corridor: the "Fundamental Restoration of America." It has quite a ring to it. It is just the line you would want to take if you were running for president against Barack Obama and his czars, his crony green capitalists, his waivers-for-friends ObamaCare, his regulatory blizzard, his jobless recovery, and his 1967-borders foreign policy.

So can Gov. Palin bring Reagan Democrats back to the GOP? If this Obama economy continues to tank, as it shows every indication of doing, yes she can.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Residents Hit Hard in Massachusetts

"Our prayers are with the victims of yesterday's twisters..."
*
From SarahPAC:

Residents Hit Hard in Massachusetts

Drove through the rough weather last night in Massachusetts, hoping folks are safe this morning as residents survey the aftermath. Our prayers are with the victims of yesterday's twisters and all those who are faced with what may seem insurmountable rebuilding challenges. The damage we saw was shocking.

It was an honor to meet great MA residents as we pulled off I-91, heard their concerns and hopes for their state and country, and shared their appreciation for the East Coast's inspiring history. We handed out copies of the Constitution and asked that they help explain our nation's blueprint to their children. I was happy to be invited to call in to local radio station WTIC to talk about our nation's foundation and our victories, respecting the blessings a child provides - including our most special kids with special needs, and impressive UConn basketball programs.

Obviously in these parts the storm's widespread damage is the focus today. May these resilient MA residents find strength to move forward. God bless them.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

MSNBC leans forward... and falls on its face

Reason.TV exposes the hypocrisy of MSNBC
*

Memo to MSNBC: Before you accuse her, better take a good look at yourself.

h/t: Weasel Zippers

- JP

Day By Day (June 2, 2011)

Bad Dogs
*
Good morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day:


Please support Chris Muir's pro-Palin Day By Day.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 1, 2011)

Sarah? She’s running, and she’s going to WIN!
*
Tokyo Tengu at The Constitution Club:

“Look for clues, people! Sarah doesn’t have negative poll numbers because she’s doing things wrong. She has negative numbers because the MSM is doing everything in their power to drive them down. Similarly, Obama’s media numbers are not high because he’s doing things right, they’re high because the MSM is doing everything they can to inflate them and to provide cover for him by ignoring or downplaying his mistakes.”

- JP

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention Part 292

"Over their heads" Edition
*

Dan Riehl, at Big Journalism:

“Time and again, it appears to me that Sarah Palin does, media-wise, what she wants to do and not what the media seems to expect of her. Is that really such a bad thing? Well, perhaps it is if one sees his- or herself as knowing it all, some sort of media personality and alleged expert about something, as opposed to simply a journalist or reporter... Personally, I’m content to watch the show play out, whatever it may be – watching the media scramble to try and make some sense of it from their perspective, while continuing to attempt to remind us just how important they are, as opposed to Palin, perhaps, is simply the icing on the cake, in a way. Given the relative unpopularity of the media in America today, it is worth wondering just how many Americans may be viewing all this the very same way. For better or worse, just as I’ve said Palin seems extremely innovative in terms of her use of media in politics, I also think she is using it to take Reagan’s concept of going over the media’s head directly to the people to a new level, as well.”

Kurt Schlichter, at Big Journalism:

“Her bus tour... was straight out of ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu counseled his students to know their enemies as they know themselves, and to take advantage of their enemies’ weaknesses and laziness. And that’s just what Sarah has done.”

Mark Hemingway, at The Weekly Standard Blog:

“MSNBC: Palin In ‘Breach Of Federal Law’ for Using the Flag. Or Something... In case you doubted that Palin derangement syndrome is still one of the most potent forces in American politics, I give you MSNBC's Martin Bashir... Uh, what? Of all the objections that could be raised, let alone coming from a TV anchor who's British, that is just really, really strange -- not to mention wildly off base to suggest she's violating federal law for using the flag on a speaking tour about patriotism.”

Jim Geraghty, at NRO's Campaign Spot:

“Oh, wait, it’s only an outrage when Sarah Palin does it.”

Eric Ames, at NewsBusters:

“Joe Scarborough, MSNBC's favorite Republican, on Tuesday continued his habit of slamming conservatives. He knocked former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's One Nation bus tour as ‘a big, old, fat weekend of nothing, politically.’ The former vice presidential candidate spent this Memorial Day weekend in Washington D.C., where she visited important historical sites, including backdrops that many political candidates have used before. Scarborough and his Morning Joe colleagues, however, were determined to avoid taking her seriously.”

Kyle Drennen, at NewsBusters:

“NBC's Curry Whines About Palin's ‘Bad Relationship’ With Media, ‘Not Playing Well’ With GOP...”

Melissa Clouthier, at RedState.com:

“One thing Sarah Palin is acknowledging is that the media world has changed. She’s embraced her ability to control the message by bypassing the traditional media. They’re forced to cover her anyway. Meanwhile, a lot of other Republicans count success by a page 15 mention in the New York Times. They’re woefully behind the times on that account. Sarah Palin is a savvy and flexible politician. Going her own way may scare some donors who are used to doing things the way they’ve always been done, but I would submit that the old ways haven’t worked so well.”

Doug Powers, at The Powers That Be:

“The way the media is covering the start of Palin’s bus tour, it would be more fitting if Sarah were riding in a white Ford Bronco.”

Moneyrunner, at The Virginian:

“Sarah Palin is exactly where she wants to be doing exactly what she wants to do. She is so well known that she does not have to follow the conventional script of all other candidates. This country has serious problems, and she will take her message about the solutions directly to the people without the filter of the MSM. She has nearly two years to change the impression that people have about her competence. The media overdid their demonization; it set the bar so low that she can virtually waltz over it. Now she will campaign her own way, in her own time and via her own communications channels. And the media yap-dogs will be left in her wake. They have to cover her but they will hate every minute of it.”

Charlie Spiering, at the Washington Examiner:

“Continuing on bus tour, Sarah Palin sounding more like a candidate...”

Glenn Beck, via The Right Scoop:

“I really, really like Sarah Palin the way she doesn't care [about the media]. I think what the media doesn't see coming is there's going to be more people like that very soon... The media- all they're doing is holding on to their power. They don't like it- again, it is a ‘guild thing.’ They don't like the fact that Sarah Palin will not walk through their gates and bow to their gods... Who the hell are you media? Who are you? You think you're the protector. You're not the protector... You haven't protected the Constitution. You haven't protected the people's money. You haven't protected the people's rights. None of it.”

Breda, at The Breda Fallacy:

“The media is throwing temper tantrums because Sarah Palin dares to go wherever she wants without notifying them in advance. But, hey, at least she's not having journalists locked in closets, right?”

Bob Belvedere, at The Camp of the Saints:

“Whether you think Sarah Palin would make a damn fine President or not, whether you think she could win or not, you’ve got to love the way she’s been sticking it to the Mainstream Media and The Establishment [both Left and Right] the past few days. Both groups have been reduced to indignant, stuttering rages over her refusal to play by their rules... This is a gal who got fed-up with others painting their own pictures of her – she merely took control of the brushes and the paints. Good for her. Message to the Krauthammer/Will/Kristol contingent: you risk looking like fools if you continue to underestimate this lady. Don’t make the same mistake you did in the late 1970′s when you did the same to a certain actor/cowboy. Man…I love this gal.”

Skip MacLure:

“The vision of the ‘press’ frantically trying to second guess Sarah Palin as she takes them on a wild game of ‘Fox and Hounds’ is just too funny.”

Don Surber, at the Charleston Daily Mail:

“So quit acting like paparazzi... A CBS News senior political reporter complains about Sarah Palin’s treatment of the press. Boo hoo hoo. She is so mean to them. And after all they have done to her. Er, for her. Here is an idea: Quit chasing her. Quit acting like paparazzi. Quit the childish insistence on following her every move. This is not journalism. It is stalking. She is not the American Princess Di. The press sneers at her — ‘she told fellow Fox News employee Greta Van Susteren’ — and then wonders why she wants nothing to do with them. Instead of praying, CBS News Producer Ryan Corsaro should stop chasing her. Instead, CBS News should use its resources covering the president and the vice president, who keep barring the press from campaign fund-raisers.”

- JP

Can Governor Palin rewrite the political playbook?

"Army of Davids" may be put to the ultimate political test
*
Sarah Palin's One Nation bus tour of the American northeast seems to have met or exceeded her expectations, so much so that she and her team will try out the innovative concept to the Midwest and the South. Associated Content contributor Mark Whittington opines that if she decides to run, expect more innovation in the form of her campaign structure:

Clearly Palin is conducting a test run of what may be the most unusual presidential campaign in recent American history. She means to bypass the Republican Party establishment, including the cadre of precinct chairman whom political candidates usually cater to, and take her case directly to the voters. Many pundits regard this as a mistake and even a sign Palin has no intention of running. The party apparatus is considered crucial for creating on the ground organization that a candidate needs to get out the vote.

Palin may be thinking of a different model, one that seems to have worked in the past two or so years to shake the political foundations of the United States: the Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party has not been a hierarchical organization in the classic sense. It is one example of what law professor and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds calls an "Army of Davids," in which individuals band together, self-organize, and go forth to effect change. The Tea Party has been wildly successful in this, putting hundreds of thousands of people in the streets and organizing voters for the 2010 election.

It could be that Palin is thinking along these lines if she pulls the trigger on a presidential run in 2012. Activists, bound together by social media, would band together and work cooperatively to elect Palin, just as the Tea Party worked together to oppose President Obama and get more conservatives elected in 2010.

[More]

There are, of course, naysayers in the chattering class who doubt that the political ground can be broken with with a campaign organized using such a cutting edge model. But if Gov. Palin were to get herself elected president in this fashion, she will have rewritten the political playbook.

- JP

Union Leader: Palin plans Seacoast clambake with NH Republicans

“I appreciate them reaching out to me”
*
The Union Leader reports Gov. Palin and her staff will give the Granite State GOP some of the care and attention they have been asking her for by courting a number of New Hampshire Republicans at a seacoast clambake:

Kevin Smith, executive director of the conservative issues group Cornerstone Action, confirmed tonight, “I received a call from one of Sarah Palin’s staffers asking whether I would be available for a clambake tomorrow (Thursday) evening on the Seacoast.”

He said he was given no further details and expected more Thursday morning.

“I appreciate them reaching out to me,” Smith said.

We’ve also learned that among the other Republicans invited were Shannon McGinley, chair of Cornerstone Action, and Jennifer Horn, founder of the conservative non-profit issues advocacy group, “We the People,” which happens to be the phrase on the side of Palin’s “One Nation” tour bus.

[More]

Governor Palin was last in New Hampshire, the state which holds the nation's first primary, in mid-October, 2008, campaigning as a vice presidential candidate.

h/t: M. Joseph Sheppard

- JP

Pence: Gov. Palin a contender the day she chooses to run

"I admire her courage and determination"
*
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) no doubt gave Andrea Mitchell an answer to her question that she and Joe Scarborough didn't want to hear, as he was interviewed on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program Wednesday:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

h/t: National Journal

- JP

More Quote of the Day Honorable Mention Part 291

“Media On a String” Edition
*

Aaron Goldstein, at The American Spectator:

“Palin's bus tour evokes another Sinatra song. When you consider the behavior of the liberal media in covering her latest journey, Palin is not only resolute in conducting it her way, but in doing so demonstrates that she has them on a string... But the liberal media has a vested interest in covering Palin. They passionately supported President Obama's election in 2008 and will vigorously support his re-election bid next year... If Obama is to be portrayed as hero and champion for the downtrodden, then by necessity there must be a villain who is to be portrayed as a lightning rod of discontent. For the liberal media, Palin is their straw man to be feared, loathed and ridiculed.... But therein lay the contradiction. If Palin is someone who isn't worthy of serious attention then why go to all the trouble of turning her into public enemy number one? ... Palin has learned how and when to pull their strings. If Palin can pull the liberal media's strings, then imagine what she could do with President Obama's thin lines?”

Martha R. Gore, at Examiner.com:

“The greatest puppet show going on the in the US today is the one being managed by Sarah Palin. The stage is occupied by politicians, pundits and reporters. As she pulls the strings, no matter what she says or does, she fires up the speculation. And she is literally driving them up the wall.”

Rush Limbaugh:

“The Drive-Bys are trying to figure out what Palin is up to... I just find their reaction to her over the top. They are totally discombobulated. They can't stand it. They can't stand any of it. They can't stand the fact that she's happy, they can't stand the fact she's making money, they can't stand the fact she's got a bus and she's got the family on the bus. She's traveling around, and they can't stand the fact that she's not telling anybody where she's going. They can't stand the fact she didn't call the Republican Party in New Hampshire. They can't stand the fact that she's not a team player. Of course, when she was on the team, where were they? They were doing everything they could... (interruption) They weren't stabbing her in the back, Snerdley. They were stabbing her in the front trying to get rid of her... I tell you, folks: She has rendered them totally irrational. She's making utter fools of these people, as they are plunging to new depths to come up with anything they think is legitimate criticism of her.”

Nancy Morgan, at American Thinker:

“The media is in a frenzy and elite pundits are all atwitter. Why? Because Sarah Palin refuses to let them define her.”

Michelle Malkin, at the Colorado Springs Gazette:

“For more than two years, Palin-bashing journalists (on the establishment left and the right) have mocked the conservative supernova while milking her for headlines, circulation, viewership and Web traffic. They lambaste her as trivial, obsessing over her shoes, glasses and hair — and turning one of her misspelled words on Twitter into Watergate. They label her a grievance-monger for calling out media double standards and then kvetch, moan and wallow in a pool of self-pity when she doesn’t spoon-feed them coveted political scoops... What makes Sarah stand out in the national GOP field is that she is beholden to no one and controls her own destiny. She doesn’t need media kingmakers to make her. They need her. She doesn’t need newspaper or TV producers to drive her story. She drives them. Crazy. The unhinged reaction of the Palin-hating convoy reveals what its attendants fear most: a politician who doesn’t fear them.”

John Sexton, at Verum Serum:

“They’ve been treating her like a celebrity instead of a politician since she hit the national scene, so now she’s treating them like paparazzi instead of reporters.”

J.E. Dyer, at Hot Air:

“As much as they prefer to make and shape the news – to decide what it is, to deck it in themes-n-memes, to determine whose narrative is communicated effectively and whose is to be shipwrecked on ‘beat your wife’ insinuations – they can’t not cover Sarah Palin. They have to be there, because everyone else will be. And everyone else will be because ‘Palin’ sells... Palin is a media factor the media didn’t make and can’t unmake... The press isn’t accustomed these days to not perceiving itself as in control of what the public is interested in. But the MSM is innately more hardheaded about this than niche bloggers and opinion writers, because the MSM is a for-profit enterprise. It has a bottom line... What we are seeing with the press frenzy over the bus tour is nothing more than the free market at work... She really is attempting to ‘do politics’ her way... She is bypassing and ignoring the conventional forms of politics to address a political need as she sees it – to engage the people on the importance of our nation’s founding philosophy and founding documents – on her own terms. The interesting thing, at this point, is that from this unconventional posture, she’s driving the market. The coverage – grumpy, expostulating, reluctant – is following her.”

Darleen Click, at Protein Wisdom:

“How much does Sarah Palin live rent-free in the minds of :::cough::: journalists?”

Alex Fitzsimmons, at NewsBusters:

“MSNBC's Martin Bashir on May 31 insisted that Sarah Palin's bus tour amounts to a ‘breach of a federal law.’ Anchoring his eponymous program, Bashir scolded, ‘In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes, the flag of the United States.’ In his accusatory ‘Clear the Air’ segment, the former ABC Nightline anchor lectured Palin that ‘standards of respect and etiquette’ discourage using the American flag for ‘any advertising purpose whatsoever.’ She drapes herself in the stars and stripes and makes millions of dollars in the process," chided Bashir. ‘This has got nothing to do with the presidency and everything to do with filling her pockets.’ The only problem: the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment. If flag burning is protected speech, certainly displaying the flag on a tour bus is legal... Where was Bashir's patriotic tongue-lashing for any Democratic politician who has ever flown the American flag at campaign rallies and in political advertisements?”

Ben Barrack:

“Want proof that Sarah Palin's bus tour is driving the left insane? Look no further than the assertion from MSNBC's Martin Bashir, who says she's in violation of ‘federal law’ by having the flag painted on her bus... The more Sarah Palin causes left wing heads to explode, the more powerful she gets.”

Andrew Malcolm, at Top of the Ticket:

“Sarah Palin plays the media like a violin: Her turn now... The media on campaigns is accustomed to being courted, even catered to with assigned airplane seats, meals, transportation to events, seats waiting, transcripts, the upcoming advance schedule, self-serving secrets confided. But now they want/need Palin more than vice versa. They know the ratings when she's on. And they know bosses love ratings. So, they follow along in the exhaust... Who'd have thought going in that a Wasilla city councilwoman would become mayor? Or make such a stir on the oil and gas commission? Or challenge an entrenched aged state Republican establishment and its incumbent governor? And actually win that primary? And then in the general, defeat a better-known Democrat trying to return to the governor's office? And remember too when Palin's surprise gubernatorial resignation halfway through the first term terminated, according to the media, any chance that she'd have any role in American politics ever again? Judging by the attempted coverage of her not-so-secret ‘One Nation’ bus tour this week by the same media, apparently not.”

Patrick S. Adams, at Patrick's World USA:

“How ironic it is that Sarah Palin once called on the press to treat her fairly and to ‘stop making things up,’ and now the press is complaining that she's not treating them fairly. She has turned these once powerful elites into Monty Python's flying circus.”

Peter Hamby, at CNN's Political Ticker blog:

“Her political skills were on display Tuesday during a bus tour stop in the central Pennsylvania hamlet of Dillsburg, where Palin breezed into a coffee shop and happily sat down with two locals. With a common touch that sometimes seems to elude several of her potential rivals for the Republican nomination, Palin got the two men to open up about their personal lives before veering into a conversation about the sluggish economy... Palin has also been at ease with the news media, her sworn enemy, throughout her bus tour. She has confounded both local and national reporters with her stubborn refusal to provide details of the bus’s itinerary, which is being planned out, often at the last minute, by she and her husband Todd. But she has lingered with reporters and television cameras at several stops, ultimately granting more access to reporters outside of Fox News - where she has an exclusive contract as a network contributor - than at any point over the last two years.”

Dan Balz, at the anti-Palin Washington Post:

“If nothing else, she has mastered the art of playing the media.”

Brad Barton, at WBAP radio in Dallas:

“The same mainstream media that only whispered their complaints about the shabby way they were treated by the Obama/Biden campaign, the same mainstream media who don’t seem at all bothered that President Obama is refusing to hold traditional news conferences, the same mainstream media who refuse to make an issue of Obama/Biden holding public and private fundraisers without any credited media coverage, are complaining about having to follow Sarah Palin’s tour bus without knowing where they are going beforehand. They claim that Sarah Palin’s bus tour is endangering their lives! ... It’s hilarious.”

- JP

Roger Simon: Hey, told you so (again) about Sarah Palin

"Those who underestimate her do so at their own risk."
*
Since 2009, Politico editor and syndicated newspaper columnist Roger Simon has been saying that Sarah Palin can be the GOP presidential nominee. He's still saying it and still warning "progressives" that they mock Gov. Palin at their own peril:

I hate to say I told you so. No, that's a lie. I love to say I told you so. I just don't get to do it very often.

But 50 weeks ago, I wrote a column that was widely reviled. It was attacked both on blogs and in the mainstream media. People demanded that I produce both a birth certificate and proof of sanity.

And all because I wrote in June 2010 a column that began: "Sarah Palin can be the Republican nominee in 2012. I am not saying she will be, but she can be. Those who underestimate her do so at their own risk."

I advised her to do seven things: Dump Alaska, surround yourself with people smarter than you are, pick a handful of issues and stick to them, study up, don't believe you can't do it, don't go changing, and don't worry about failure.

Today, I am not saying that she is following this advice, or that she even knows it exists.

But her recent decision to begin a multi-state bus trip was treated as explosive by the media.

[...]

So according to the polls, the trick for Palin, who leads all potential Republican candidates with a name recognition of 96 percent (Newt Gingrich is second at 84 and Romney is third at 83), is to build positive reaction among Republicans, especially those most focused on government spending and power. Would that really be so difficult?

As some visionary once wrote: Sarah Palin can be the Republican nominee in 2012. I am not saying she will be, but she can be. Those who underestimate her do so at their own risk.

[More]

Will the left listen to what Simon says this time? Don't bet on it. Mocking conservatives is their crack cocaine. They just can't quit it. Remember how they mocked Ronald Reagan? Many of them still do. From Santayana to Simon, leftists can be counted on to ignore good advice and doom themselves to the path of the Mobius strip.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Amazing Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!

Ronald Reagan spoke of "our shared values and the common thread of the American dream..."
*
Gov. Palin checks in at SarahPAC with a midday One Nation Tour update:

Amazing Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!

What a wonderful day to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!

Seeing all the young students on field trips - and generations of families visiting as one - I was reminded of a Ronald Reagan speech from Liberty State Park in September 1980. He spoke of the Americans who passed through Ellis Island and whose first glimpse of their adopted country was the grand statue in New York’s harbor. He talked about our shared values and the common thread of the American dream across an endless mix of backgrounds.

And I was struck by the many visitors from overseas who were drawn to this place, not merely for its aesthetic beauty but also as a symbol for freedom and liberty.

Ellis Island and Liberty Island truly endure as lasting beacons of hope and the opportunity to live an American dream. Lady Liberty is the symbol of unity and friendship we have with other freedom-loving nations. It's also a "warning" of sorts, as France encouraged us to keep democracy alive as the recipient of this gift... basically telling us not to blow it. Thank you for this reminder, France!

Now on to visit colleagues at the FOX studios.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Ben Shapiro: Can Sarah Win?

"She knows her base, and she knows her principles."
*
Ben Shapiro in a FrontPageMag.com op-ed examines the question of whether Sarah Palin can win. Here are the money excerpts:

Palin’s not one for subtlety – that’s her drawback, and that’s her charm.

The question is whether in this election, Americans will be put off by Palin’s winking more than they’re attracted to her clarity. Palin’s strength is her glibness – she’s able to boil down issues to their bare essence. She knows how she’s seen, and she embraces it. She’s purely authentic – when she says she wants Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” as her cellphone ringtone, she’s telling the truth. In this way, she’s the polar opposite of President Obama, who loves to obscure issues in a cloud of rhetoric and faux complexity, and who is purely inauthentic. He runs from the fact that he is an ivory tower elitist, alienating Americans with his upturned chin and “into-the-future stare.”

For all the criticisms of her supposedly rough political abilities, she’s navigated the Republican field far more ably than seasoned politicians like Gingrich and Romney. She hasn’t declared, and she’s already running second. She didn’t shoot herself in the foot by embracing liberal politics, and she allowed Donald Trump to play stalking horse on the birth certificate and school records issues. She has never thrown a fellow Republican under the bus (she has praised Romney, Herman Cain, Gingrich, and virtually everyone else who has declared), and she has never promoted a non-conservative candidate for higher office.

She knows her base, and she knows her principles. She smacked Obama on Israel last week with brevity and simplicity: “Anyone who studies history, studies the Old Testament, studies geography understands that Israel now is surrounded by enemies at all times. It should be now that America takes a stand in defending our friends in Israel …. More than ever, we should be standing strong with Israel and saying, ‘No, you don’t have to divide Jerusalem, you don’t have to divide your capital city.” Then she went even further: “I’m going to call him our temporary leader because my goal is to make sure that President Obama is not reelected in 2012.”

It’s that kind of absolute willingness to go after Obama that endears Palin to Republicans. And with Obama’s unpopularity on the rise, the economy in a double-dip, and our foreign policy in shambles, more and more Americans want truth spoken to power. That’s why, counterintuitive though it may seem, Palin may be perfectly positioned for 2012.

[More]

- JP

RCP: Sarah Palin to Visit S.C. as Part of Early-State Trifecta

"To me, an American is an American, no matter what their primary election dates are."
*
RCP national political reporter Scott Conroy says RealClearPolitics has learned that Gov. Sarah Palin will visit South Carolina later this month as part of her One Nation bus tour. The Palmetto State presidential primary in January is traditionally the first to be held among the southern states and the third major GOP primary in the nation:

RCP has learned that she is purposefully bypassing meetings with local party leadership as she works to cultivate her image as an "anti-politician," in anticipation of a wildly unconventional presidential run.

[...]

During her political rise in Alaska, Palin had several high-profile dust-ups with members of the state GOP establishment, which left an indelible mark on her psyche and have made her resistant to what she views as the trappings of party machinery.

Palin won accolades in Alaska when she blew the whistle on a state party chairman who had committed ethics violations, and she subsequently took on incumbent GOP Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski during her successful 2006 gubernatorial primary run, in which she was opposed by most members of the party apparatus.

Palin has shown a deep desire to avoid direct participation in the traditional machinations of Republican Party politics ever since, and she is showing no signs of changing a strategy that has repeatedly paid dividends.

"I figure that politicians in office are really busy and they don't need to be bothered by someone just knocking on their door," Palin told RCP.

Following her current "One Nation" tour of the Northeast, Palin will next journey to the Midwest, where Iowa will be front and center.

[...]

During the third leg of her tour, Palin will travel to South Carolina and may also appear at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, where several other current and potential GOP White House hopefuls are scheduled to speak.

[More]

Gov. Palin will tour Ellis Island this morning before her bus tour continues on to New England. It is widely anticipated that she will stop in Boston, where colonists dumped the British's tea into the Boston Harbror in 1773, on her way to the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire later this week.

- JP

Video: Michael Steele discusses Gov. Palin on NBC's 'Today' show

"Time is on her side" as she tests the waters for 2012
*
Former RNC chairman Michael Steele, now an MSNBC political analyst, appeared on NBC's "Today" show Wednesday morning to discuss Gov. Palin's One Nation" bus tour:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

h/t: O.P. Ditch

- JP

Day By Day (June 1, 2011)

Roots
*
Good morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day:


Please support Chris Muir's pro-Palin Day By Day.

- JP