Let's make a Democrat Party hack eat some crow!Andrei Cherny, Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, predicts a low turnout for the movie.I don't how many of you have ever participated in competitive sports, but if you have, this will be familiar to you. There's a true story which has been repeated many times in high school, college and professional athletics. It goes like this... In the run up to a big game, the coach or a player from one team talks trash about the opposing team. The coach of the opposing team clips the article containing the quote and puts it on his team's bulletin board and makes sure that every one of his players takes the time to read it. This fires up each player and motivates his team to make an "above and beyond" effort, and they go on win the game.
"I think 'The Undefeated' fits as a title until she tries running for President," said Cherny. "Most people in Arizona are looking for someone more in the mainstream than where Sarah Palin is."
"I think for folks who are moderates who are in the mainstream, Sarah Palin has no appeal," said Cherny. "It's great she's on Fox and has TV shows and movies, but I think people want a serious leader."
"I'm very happy that the house finally has someone living in it. it's been empty for a while, and it's nice to have a neighbor," said Monica Rahman, the owner of a busy stable across a dirt road from the manse the former Alaska governor is reported to have bought.- JP
A company acting for an unnamed cash buyer ponied up $1.7 million for the sprawling 5-bedroom horse property in this saguaro-studded neighborhood northwest of Phoenix on May 13, and sources close to the deal have told some news outlets like the Wall Street Journal that Palin is the buyer.
The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate's possible purchase of a home in the Lower 48 has stoked speculation she may shortly announce as a contender for her party's nomination to run against President Barack Obama in 2012.
For days, Rahman says, the formerly quiet neighborhood has been buzzed by clattering news helicopters, while an influx of reporters has boosted traffic up and down the previously quiet roads, some of them unpaved and used as riding trails.
"The horses get spooked. It's dangerous," she said, her exasperation at the media clearly straining a natural courtesy.
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It also makes sense geographically for Palin to base a federal campaign out of Arizona. We are one of the fastest growing states and Arizona has major transportation hubs, modern infrastructure and a technologically savvy community. We’re in a region of the country that is highly accessible to and from other parts of the country making travel more of a convenience rather than a challenge to a national campaign.However, as Wilkfors points out, the political advantages of an Arizona-based Palin presidential campaign are likely what sealed the deal:
I also happen to believe that the Palin’s fell in love with Arizona during their multiple visits here over the last three years. Arizona is a great place to raise a family and be a part of a broader community. Ultimately, Americans move to places where they feel comfortable and I’m willing to bet the Palin’s feel very comfortable right here in Arizona.
Arizona will have 11 electoral votes up for grabs in 2012. That makes Arizona a high priority campaign state. Arizona is also guaranteed NOT to have a home state favorite running for President in 2012.In addition, argues Wilkfors, Arizona has proven campaign networks and organizations already in place and an ample talent pool of strategists and operatives to staff a nascent Palin campaign. He has no doubts that Gov. Palin would also be able to count on political endorsements from the Canyon State's congressional delegation, including Rep. Paul Gosar, grateful for her support for in the 2010 election.
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I like to say that Arizona is also a crimson red Republican state with a independent maverick attitude. Arizonans are conservative but they have a discernible mistrust of government and especially the federal government. In 2010, Republicans swept all statewide seats and took super majorities in both the State House and Senate. That makes Arizona a comfortable spot for any conservative political leader and Sarah Palin fits that mold.
Palin also has a huge following here in Arizona among women, conservatives in general and a thriving Tea Party movement. Having spoken with many conservative grassroots activists over the last year, it’s obvious to me that she would have no problem building a hardcore base of support among the grassroots and party faithful. Many would be proud to adopt Palin as their own.
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Put on the market in February for $1.75 million, the walled-and-gated house sits on 4.4 acres and has a home theater, a billiard room, a walk-in wine room and a "resort style backyard" with a gazebo and pool, according to the listing and listing photographs. The brown, stucco-and-stone house, which was renovated this year, has several fireplaces, a six-car garage and mountain views. The property has a circular driveway and desert landscaping.The $1.65M purchase lends weight to months of speculation that Gov. Palin will run from president in 2012 and base her campaign in Arizona.
According to the Maricopa County assessor's office, the home was appraised this year at just over $1 million. A spokesman for Ms. Palin couldn't be reached for comment.
The neighborhood is "as rural as Scottsdale gets," says broker Bob Hassett of Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty, who was not involved in the deal but said he was approached in 2007 by a previous owner about listing the home, which he described a "Southwest in feel." Within a square mile of the home, he said, houses are priced between $500,000 and $5 million. Real-estate agent Jeff Sibbach of John Hall & Associates described the area as "low-profile; most of the stuff in there is horse property."
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Has Sarah Palin bought a house in north Scottsdale?This highly speculative article, mind you, is not from some blogger who's been out in the desert sun with his iPad too long, but from The Arizona Republic, the state's largest newspaper. Perhaps it was just a mirage. Really, just because Bristol bought a house in Maricopa, doesn't mean that Todd and Sarah have to buy one too. From what we hear, there's plenty of room at her place to put Mom and Dad up when they have business in Arizona. Besides, Bristol is spending a lot of time in Los Angeles these days, so the parents would have the place to themselves.
For months, rumors have circulated in Arizona political circles that the former Alaska governor and possible 2012 presidential contender either was shopping for homes in Scottsdale or had already bought one.
A just-closed deal on a secluded luxury home in far north Scottsdale might fit the bill, and talk has begun that this may be the one. It's an 8,000-square-foot, dark-brown stucco home with a guard gate that can keep unwanted visitors away. It has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a six-car garage, a swimming pool and spa, and a full basement with a home theater, billiards room and wine cellar.
Safari Investments LLC paid $1.695 million cash for the home in a deal that appears designed to cloak the identity of a high-profile buyer.
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Alan Kierman, an attorney with the Phoenix law firm of Mack Drucker & Watson, is listed on property records as the contact for Safari Investments. Asked point blank by The Arizona Republic if Palin and her husband Todd Palin bought the north Scottsdale house through the company, Kierman said he had no comment.
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Requests seeking comment from Palin or her aides made Friday and Saturday through her political action committee, SarahPAC, were not successful.
Saturday outside a North Scottsdale home speculated to be the new property belonging to Sarah Palin, a black SUV with Alaska plates pulled up and asked our ABC15 crew to leave the area immediately.2. From SarahNet and Palin Twibe via Twitter:
The driver wouldn't comment on whether Palin plans to move in so she can set up shop for a possible 2012 presidential run.
via SarahNet.net Video: Was Sarah Palin was IN Arizona Last Week? We post, you decide. http://dlvr.it/SdlSz #palin3. Looks like the real estate deal is the Palins for real.
One early decision, a source says: It would be based in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Bristol Palin recently bought a house in nearby Maricopa.Smith says Palin aides haven't respond to his inquiry about the rumored plans.
One lesson of Palin's sometimes-difficult time in the spotlight has been that Alaska is an extremely difficult base for national politics. From a distant political culture to a daunting time difference, Palin hasn't been terribly well served by the fact that her state is little-known to reporters in the lower 48, and that email inquiries arrive at 3:00 a.m. needing answers by 5:00 a.m.
And Arizona carries its own significance: Basing a campaign there would be a provocative rejection of any lingering political cost from those who connect her harsh rhetoric and Gabrielle Giffords' shooting -- a traditional refusal to retreat. It's also the core of the politically contested, fast-growing new West.
If accurate, this is another interesting hint that the Palin camp, despite having made no public overtures in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire, is still very seriously considering a run.Smith's rumor is the seed from which even more bizarre rumors spring, as The Arizona Republic's Dan Nowicki blogs:
On Tuesday, state Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, forwarded a rumor that Palin was contemplating coming to Arizona to run for retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl’s open seat in 2012.But if a Democrat says something, it's always a pretty good bet that it's a lie. From Henry D'Andrea at Politicons we learn:
SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford emails, “There has been no decision about where a campaign would be based.”Crawford's denial hasn't quelled the buzz:
Political analyst Jamie Molera cited several reasons to give the rumor credit.- JP
"I don't think its something where she threw a dart on the board and said, 'Arizona's going to be the place we're going to start from'. I think they've done polling data, I think they've talked to a number of individuals within and outside of the party structure, and I think she made a calculated decision that Arizona is going to be a good place top launch her national platform," Molera said.
Molera said the large population of tea party members in the state and Palin's overwhelming popularity within the group may also help explain choosing Arizona.
"Good thing Sheriff Clarence 'The Opportunist' Dupnik isn’t running the Anchorage PD, or else both Palins would be rotting in a cell as we speak until evidence could be manufactured."- JP
News of the purchase, which only surfaced in the last few days, triggered media speculation over why the Alaska native would relocate to the lower 48 -- including reports she planned to study journalism at Arizona State University in Phoenix.The ASU rumor was started by gossip columnists who are even more ill-informed and prone to make things up than Palinophobic leftist bloggers. Take their latest rumor, for example, that Gov. Palin has "had enough of Alaska" and will also be moving to Arizona. How pathetically ridiculous. Even if Bristol's parents do eventually purchase a second home in Arizona -- or anywhere else in the lower 48 -- they will never abandon the land of the midnight sun. It is their first home and the place that will always be first in their hearts. Alaska is where the Palins' friends and most of their extended family live. It's amazing that the professional gossipers would concoct such a crazy story. Apparently these clowns haven't been watching "Sarah Palin's Alaska."
A Palin family spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Bristol's plans for the home, built in 2005 and featuring a three-car garage and landscaped backyard.
Arizona State, meanwhile, dismissed the college reports.
"Actually its a rumor. She's neither enrolled nor has she applied to ASU at this time," Sharon Keeler, director of media relations at the university, told Reuters.
While Bristol has bought into the area, some Alaskans think it's unlikely to herald a move to the Grand Canyon state by her mother, Sarah, who ran along side Arizona Republican John McCain in his failed tilt at the presidency in 2008.Bristol's future neighbors in the Cobblestone Farms subdivision were largely positive about her purchase, including Ronny and Monika Kassees, who live just up the street:
"She's got a nice little spot right on Lake Lucille. Why would she sell it?" said Ivan Moore, an Anchorage, Alaska-based pollster and political consultant.
Moore said the elder Palin, who is being watched as a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2012, has money enough to keep her Alaska home and buy another in the Lower 48 should she choose.
"Their buying a house is a nice surprise, and we're kind of hoping it may turn around the economy of Maricopa and the surrounding areas," Kassees said.- JP
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Meanwhile Richard Brock, 48, a property investor fixing a house up the street from Palin's that he hopes to flip, said Bristol's arrival would be good for the community.
"You may agree or disagree with her mother's politics, but I think she held up pretty well on 'Dancing with the Stars,'" I really do. I think it was tough on her. My wife was watching, and I said 'that girl's handling her business pretty well,'" Brock said.
"I'm a little more centrist, but I'm not going to put my politics on Bristol. I'm just glad she's here," he said.
"Bristol Palin is telling friends she may enroll at an Arizona college once she moves in to the home she just bought in the Grand Canyon state..."Obligatory disclaimer: Internet gossip sites are notoriously poor sources of information on all matters Palin. Fact-checking apparently isn't part of their standard reporting process, and they are far more often wrong than right. Sometimes, they just make things up out of thin air.
Public records show the home was built in 2006 and bought for $329,560. It went into foreclosure in January of this year.Bristol's mom, Faherty observes, has been a frequent visitor to Arizona since she first met with Sen. John McCain at his ranch in Sedona to discuss joining his ticket in the 2008 presidential election. Now she has a place to stay for future visits to The Grand Canyon State.
The home was then purchased in May for $137,200 by Michael and Cynthia Smith, a couple from North Dakota, as an investment.
They fixed it up and put it back on the market.
Bristol Palin bought it this month for $172,000 in cash.
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"I'm not sure why she wanted to buy that home, but we are real happy for her," said Michael Smith, 55.
"She seems like a nice girl. We're excited for her."
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A constant stream of men, women and children flowed through the Desert Ridge Barnes & Noble for Palin to sign their copies of "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag."- JP
In her signature puffed-up hair and sporty jacket, Palin shook hands and interacted with each fan, asking their names and showing a photo cellphone message of her daughter, Bristol, competing on the television show "Dancing With the Stars."
Anxious fans had waited in line since about 5 a.m. that morning, including one person who arrived at the bookstore at 1 a.m. Barnes & Noble staff gave them wristbands to secure their place in the book-signing line later in the evening.
Toy Van Damme, 60, of Prescott, bought two copies of the book to give to her mother and daughter-in-law for Christmas. She described Palin as "an enthusiastic injection for the country" who is uniting Americans through the tea party, and she referred to Palin as "the next president of the United States."
Others shared Van Damme's sentiments, donning T-shirts rooting for Palin to run for president in 2012.
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The potential 2012 candidate for president is scheduled to appear at the Barnes and Noble at Desert Marketplace at 6 p.m. Tuesday.Event details and special instructions can be found here.
Sarah Palin Book Signing
Nov. 23
Barnes & Noble
Desert Ridge Marketplace
21001 N. Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85050
480-538-8520
Repeal "Obamacare": While no one understands everything in the bill yet, it's becoming clear that small businesses will bear the brunt of the legislation, Palin says. "We need real, patient-centered, free market reform," instead of "unfunded mandates" such as the national health care reform, she says.Gov. Palin said that bad policies aren't coming only from Congress and the President, but also from the Federal Reserve Bank, which wants to pump money into the economy by buying treasury bonds.
Stop unnecessary spending to cut the deficit: "We have a spending problem," Palin asserts, referencing the current $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit. Palin suggests cutting non-essential spending and reforming entitlement programs such as Social Security. But, she cautions, "We have to reform them in a responsible compassionate way."
Taxes aren't the answer, she says. "Corporate America doesn't pay taxes; we the consumers do," she says. "We have to remind the government of that."
Instead, Palin suggests freezing discretionary spending at 2008 levels and moving forward with a zero-base budget.
Cancel federal programs and cut earmarks: "When I was the governor, I reduced earmarks by 85 percent," Palin says. "And we did just fine."
Canceling the remaining TARP and ARRA funds and putting that money towards the deficit would help move the country in the right direction, she says.
Make smart policy; stop bad policy: The "endless stream" of new legislation is only succeeding in the federal government "micro-managing the economy," Palin warns.
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"Nov. 2 -- we can see it from our house," the former Alaska governor told a crowd of about 1,000 people at the Arizona Capitol as she made light of a comment she told an interviewer in 2008 that "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."
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"The tea party is standing strong, and it is thanks to you that we have the opportunity to turn things around," she said as she held son Trig on one hip and clutched a sign that read "Party like it's 1773!"
"Let's take back America!" she shouted.
Afterward, Palin worked the crowd while still holding her son, shaking hands and chitchatting with ralliers before being escorted away by police as the crowd shouted "We love you, Sarah!" and fought to catch glimpses and cell phone photos of her.
Organizers sent out a note earlier in the day saying the rally would have a special guest, but didn't name that person.
The rally was the tea party's latest stop on a national tour capitalizing on government discontent. Palin helped launch the 15-day bus tour Monday in Reno, Nevada. It wraps up in New Hampshire on Nov. 1.
Joe Arpaio, America's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff," and state Sen. Russell Pearce, author of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, also spoke at the rally, focusing on illegal immigration.
Palin is urging her supporters to get behind David Schweikert, Paul Gosar and Jesse Kelly in their bids against U.S. Reps. Harry Mitchell of Tempe, Ann Kirkpatrick of Flagstaff and Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson.The Journal notes that the DCCC, in response, is asking Democrats to contribute to candidates in the districts targeted by the governor.
Palin has targeted 20 races nationwide where she wants to help Republican challengers.
The three Arizona races could be indicators of how well Republicans are doing nationally in a year when Democrats and President Barack Obama could face voters’ wrath over the economy and housing. Real Clear Politics lists the trio of Arizona contests as toss-ups in November.
