Palin's First Press Conference Since VP Nod

Alaska Governor and former future Vice President Sarah Palin gave her first real press conference (video below) since being nominated for the nation's 2nd highest office. The Q&A took place at the National Association of Republican Governors conference, and CNN, via HuffPo, reports that some of the other governors of "Real America" were a wee bit testy about Palin's bask in the limelight.

The GOP governors spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity.

One called it awkward: "I'm sure you could see it on some of our faces."

Another Republican governor eyeing a presidential run in 2012 told CNN the event was "odd" and "weird," and said it "unfortunately sent a message that she was the de facto leader of the party."

There has been palpable tension among some GOP governors gathered in Miami that Palin has been sucking up all the media oxygen.

There were lots of substantive problems with Palin's responses, like her suggestion that she shouldn't answer questions about the Presidential campaign because it's over, when she never gave the press this type of opportunity while it was going on. Even absent that fact, the notion that an event from the past is off-limits to questioning is patantly ridiculous to anyone other than Marty McFly.

Having said that, this is another example of ungrateful Republicans trashing Palin for her one, undeniable claim to greatness: Her ability to generate heat for her party. I doubt any of those anonymously quoted Guvs could fill their own ofices, let alone a press conference.

This leads me to something I've been thinking about for awhile.



This leads me to something I've been thinking about for awhile. As I've written several pieces defending Palin recently, I've begun to appreciate that star quality in her. While I maintain every substantive objection, I can see that she has a gift for messaging to the Republican base.

Palin's extreme conservatism, I think, doesn't fit with the more moderate path the GOP needs to take in order to recover, but as a figurehead, she could continue to attract newcomers to the party. My unsolicited advice to her would be to follow the speculation that has her leaving government for a career in the media. She could do her party a lot more good there.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal",on BlogTalkRadio, Tues through Thurs at 10pm, and Fri, and Sat at 11pm. (Eastern) Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.