Rumor of the Week: A second Palin home in Arizona (Updated)

Welcome to Rancho Espejismo*
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The more fanciful of the lastest crop of Sarah Palin rumors seem to originate in Arizona. The state Democrat Party recently tried to raise some money by claiming that Gov. Palin would move to The Canyon State and run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring John Kyl. If you liked that one, you're going to love this one:

Has Sarah Palin bought a house in north Scottsdale?

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.

[...]

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.

[...]

Requests seeking comment from Palin or her aides made Friday and Saturday through her political action committee, SarahPAC, were not successful.

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.

It must really be a slow news day in Arizona for the old Republic (est. 1890) to go there. Based on nothing but pure conjecture after an anonymous buyer purchases an upscale property in Scottsdale, two reporters with apparently nothing better to do try to link that real estate transaction to the Palins. It makes us wonder what they're teaching at the Connect The Invisible Dots School of Journalism these days. Whatever happened to having two confirmed sources before running with a story? That must have gotten discarded along with reporting known facts fairly and non-passionately.

*That's Spanish for "mirage"

Updates...

1. Jennifer Parks of Phoenix television station KNXV reports:

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.

The driver wouldn't comment on whether Palin plans to move in so she can set up shop for a possible 2012 presidential run.

2. From SarahNet and Palin Twibe via Twitter:

via SarahNet.net Video: Was Sarah Palin was IN Arizona Last Week? We post, you decide. http://dlvr.it/SdlSz #palin

3. Looks like the real estate deal is the Palins for real.

- JP

Ridiculous Rumor of the Week

This one pegs our "Wild Hare" meter
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Lamestream media blathering heads and political spin doctors are pushing the ridiculous rumor that Sarah Palin is moving to Arizona, not to run a 2012 presidential campaign from Maricopa County, as earlier rumors projected, but to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican John Kyl.

The rumor was floated in last Sunday's edition of The Arizona Republic, and it is being pumped up by Arizona Democrats as a fundraising gimmick with the complicity of Vichy Republicans. Ford O'Connell and Steve Pearson hyped it Thursday at Tucker Carlson's establishmentarian The Daily Caller.

The rumor pegs our "Wild Hare" meter for several reasons:

First and foremost, Gov. Palin is an Alaskan who loves her state. Though she may establish a base of operations in the lower 48 - understandable, because Alaska is effectively out of the political loop due to its relative remoteness and time zone differences - we can't see her changing her first allegiance to her home state. The governor values loyalty, and she has always been loyal to Alaska. Don't expect a TLC series titled "Sarah Palin's Arizona." It's not going to happen.

Secondly, the 2008 vice presidential candidate has never shown any interest in becoming a member of the U.S. Senate. That's not to say that she would never consider such an option, but even if she did decide to run for the Senate, she would not move to Arizona to do it. If Sarah Palin doesn't run for president in 2012, and decided to run for the Senate, she would likely challenge Mark Begich, the Alaska Democrat whose term expires in 2014. Begich is vulnerable, as his approval ratings are hovering around 35 percent, while the former Alaska governor is still viewed favorably by a majority of Alaskans.

Finally, the U.S. Senate is not the focus of Sarah Palin's ambitions, nor has it been since Frank Murkowski gave his daughter the Senate seat years ago (h/t: hrh40). Her sights are set much higher now. She is seriously considering a run for the White House. As she said in her recent Facebook Notes op-ed, "2012 can’t come soon enough."

- JP

The latest grist from the rumor mills

When Sarah Palin stepped down as Alaska's governor July 26, here's how the AP reported it:

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Sarah Palin stepped down Sunday as Alaska governor to write a book and build a right-of-center coalition, but she left her long-term political plans unclear and refused to address speculation she would seek a 2012 presidential bid.

Now that the book has been written, what about that center-right coaltion? The AP story didn't elaborate. Many of us have expected that this is what she would do, but there has been no specific discussion of it from the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate beyond her announced intention to campaign for conservative candidates, regardless of their party affiliation.

Some have latched on to this from the NY Post's Cindy Adams:

Sarah Palin fans, take heart. Your per son of choice has no intention of going quietly. As we speak, she is gearing up. E-mails are currently going out to the favored faithful to help form a coalition. She is primed, ready and now forming a national organization called "Stand Up for Our Nation."

A caveat is in order here in the form of a 50-pound bag of rock salt. Gossip columnists are notoriously unreliable sources of good political intel, and that goes double for snarky Palin-haters like Adams. Other rumours to come out of the gossipy bunch -- that Palin was shopping for a home on Long Island, that she was counseling Jon and Kate Gosselin, that she was moving to Rhode Island -- have all been wrong. 

Beyond Cindy Adams, our web searches have only managed to turn up this tweet:

"Sarah Palin putting together a "Stand Up For Our Nation" coalition...more to come."

But the Twitterer may just be passing along what was read in Adams' column. We've also been trying to find someone who has received one of the alleged e-mails, and so far none has turned up. But if we get hold of one, you'll be the first to know.

- JP

One Palin Rumor That We Hope Comes True

Among the many rumors being passed around about former governor Sarah Palin, there have been several to the effect that she is going to establish a second residence in the lower 48. Considering the time and distance constraints travel between Alaska and the continental U.S. will place upon her announced intention to campaign for conservative candidates across the land, this is the only category of current Palin rumors that seems to make any sense.

Some people, evidently in the real estate business, started a rumor in the Long Island area a couple of weeks ago that the Palins were house shopping in the Hampton Bays area and would move there August 1. It didn't happen. We realize that the real estate market is in the doldrums, but... sheesh!

The Hamptons rumor was followed about a week later by one cooked up between failed Alaska bloggers Jesse Griffin and Dennis Zaki, who insisted that Sarah Palin had purchased land in Montana and would be moving there. Both the Montana and Long Island rumors were shot down by Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton, no doubt disappointing at least some in Big Sky country. Those wacky Alaska bloggers must have been smoking dope and listening to old Frank Zappa tunes.

We may have even contributed to another Palin rumor ourselves when we posted an open invitation to Sarah Palin on July 25 to consider making her second home here in Texas. That certainly wasn't our intention. Our post was more whimsy than hope, and we hadn't seen any rumors on the internet about Texas similar to the ones about New York State and Montana. That will teach us to google -- or better yet to Bing or PalinIt -- everything.

As it turns out, there were indeed already rumors to that effect floating around, according to another blog post we subsequently read concerning the governor's race here in the Lone Star State. Imagine our surprise when we read the title, which was "Where is Sarah Palin? Rumors that she may move to Texas?" Imagine our further surprise to see a couple of paragraphs of our "Open Invitation" post quoted in it. Well, saddle our horses and follow us us to the river!

Obviously, the post's author didn't take our post too seriously. We know that because shortly after our quote, the post reads, "On a more serious note..." Whew! What a relief! Now it's our turn to quote that blogger:

On a more serious note, I have heard rumors from a few of my sources now that say Sarah is thinking of moving to Texas because she has family here. One source said that Sarah was in Texas visiting a relative just days before she announced she was resigning as governor of Alaska. Another source said she was meeting secretly with Rick while she was in Texas.

I did not hear about Sarah Palin's Texas trip in the msm, but another person I know who just seems to know everything told me she did indeed visit Texas but did not meet with Rick, just her relatives.

There's that word "sources" again. Everyone seems to have a lot of sources except us. Perhaps we should feel left out, but we don't. What good are all those sources when they are proven wrong so often?

Anyway, it seems there's at least the possibility, as remote as it may be, that there could be more to the Palins making a second home in The Great State of Texas than just our wishful thinking. We won't get our hopes up any higher, but by the same token, until we see a flat-out denial from Meg Stapleton, we won't turn loose of them either. We think the Palins would make great Texans. Our women tend to be strong, very opinionated and not afraid to speak their minds. Sounds just like Sarah, doesn't it? Todd would fit right into the cowboy culture. And the kids would just love the excitement of Friday night high school football games. Like hockey, it's rough and tumble, but we don't need sticks to beat up on the other guys. Sometimes a well-timed forearm can be just as effective.

Y'all come on down!

- JP

Clouthier: They couldn't stop making things up

Melissa Clouthier, commenting on the nutroots going all viral with the false Palin split rumors:

Let’s see, it’s a New Media trifecta: unsourced, no confirmation, no eye-witnesses. Lots of innuendo, next some backtracking and finally, the denial from the person involved, Sarah Palin.

Why do they do it? Fear and loathing.

What will the public take away from the ugly business?

This whole episode says more about the amorality of the Left than it says anything about the Palin family. When a political threat exists, the Left, with one accord, grabs the metaphorical pitchforks and readies the stake. They’ve had the fire burning for Sarah Palin for months. Now, all they need is the Scarlet letter and they’ll feel justified in doing what they’ve wanted to do all along-burn her to a cinder. Well, they’ve been doing that anyway. What they need is justification for their actions.

A friend told me that Sarah Palin Hate reveals so much about the hater. Yes it does.

So what can we expect after such an episode?

Clouthier says the more Sarah Palin goes around them to get to the people, the more vicious the media will get. How dare she bypass them! So they made stuff up. And proved Sarah Palin's point:



- JP