Sarah Palin has... launched what appears to be a thousand-day campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in the summer of 2012. Her glamorously homespun book, the hip baby-blue bus branded with her online addresses, the zealous frosh staff, the scrupulous TV choice of Oprah and Barbara Walters, and especially the selection of big Blue states to begin the ground tour—MI, OH, IN, FL, NC, VA, PA—describe not just a scenario for the GOP nomination, but also a carefully constructed map of electoral votes for the presidency against Barack Obama.Read the rest here.
Palin’s Going Rogue book tour launch is a one-upsmanship imitation of The Audacity of Hope book tour that launched Mr. Obama in the fall of 2006. At the time, Mr. Obama was a very junior senator from Illinois on few lists for the presidency; even his publisher admitted expectations for the book were modest given the immediate non-fiction competition from John Grisham, Bill O’Reilly and Bob Woodward. Nonetheless, beginning nearly three years ago, on October 19, 2006, Obama’s tour used flattering TV appearances on the Today Show and Oprah, combined with worshipful reviews—“that rare politician who can write”—and choice independent bookstore appearances in McCain territory such as Tempe, Arizona, to rocket to Number 1 on the New York Times list. By Christmastime, the senator was deep in conference with David Axelrod, planning how to jump in front of the all-world favorite Mrs. Clinton by opening an exploratory committee in January 2007—a move that sold even more books.
Palin’s book tour and book sales already dwarfs Obama’s....
- JP
