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Palin Lives in the Moment, Spurns Washington Insiders

1 year ago
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Eleanor Clift
Eleanor Clift
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Win or lose when the votes are counted on primary night, one thing is certain, Sarah Palin gets headlines. As analysts ponder the results, inquiring minds search for answers. What is she up to? Is she collecting chits for a 2012 presidential run? Or is she just having fun building the family bank account and jerking the chain of more traditional politicians? Her endorsement track record so far has been mixed, though her choice for the Senate in Alaska, Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, has a narrow lead in the GOP primary over incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Palin's win-loss ratio is unlikely to improve in November since most of the candidates she favors tend to be so far to the right that if they get through the primary, they're outflanked in the general election. Sharron Angle in Nevada is Exhibit A. The GOP was on track to win the seat of the Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid until Palin boosted Tea Party favorite Angle to the front of the pack. Enough of these losses and it's possible that Palin could be damaged goods after the November elections.
There's a difference between having a sliver of the electorate love you madly and reaching out to 50 percent plus to win a national mandate. Lining up with Dr. Laura Schlessinger to shout the N word to your heart's content can't be smart politics. Most political professionals doubt Palin will run for president, but she is the wild card going into the election. Newt Gingrich, who gained national prominence on the strength of his inflammatory rhetoric, has found himself eclipsed by Palin when it comes to inciting the Republican base, veering into Nazi analogies to oppose the Islamic cultural center in New York in large part to set himself apart from Palin.
Even as she sets the gold standard for conservative rhetoric going into the 2012 presidential election, there is this sneaking suspicion that she's in the game for reasons that have nothing to do with saving the country from socialism and everything to do with keeping her name on the marquee and making money. To do that she's got to maintain the persona of a potential presidential candidate and keep everybody guessing about her political future. So far she's doing all the right things and with little professional help of the kind that she blamed for her crash-and-burn exit from the 2008 McCain campaign.
Maybe that will change if she gets serious about running, but at the moment Palin doesn't seem to have what Washington types would consider experienced people around her. The McCain people were probably enough politicos for her for a lifetime. As the other candidates sign up their rosters of consultants and pollsters, Palin's main links to Washington's political and policy elites are Fred Malek, an operative who goes back to the Nixon era, and Randy Scheneumann, a neo-conservative activist and lobbyist who Palin bonded with when he played Joe Biden in the mock debates during the campaign. Malek opens doors for Palin in Washington and was the go-between when she appeared at the 2009 Gridiron Dinner, and Scheneumann traveled with her to Hong Kong last year when she gave a speech assailing President Obama for scaling back defense spending.
Neither seems to be the Svengali-like strategist that most presidential aspirants have whispering in their ear. Malek's role is to assure more traditional Republicans that Palin is not the caricature they see and could be good for the GOP, a mostly losing cause. Scheneumann reinforces her hardline views when it comes to foreign policy. A New York Times article on what it called Palin's growing cast of advisers and support system shows it to be pretty thin on closer examination. It says she talks with a bipartisan nobility in Washington, which I guess means Malek and John Coale, a noted attorney and husband of Fox News host Greta Van Sustern, who helped Palin set up her PAC as a favor, he said. The Times list includes Mary Matalin, former Bush adviser, who praised Palin's book, "Going Rogue," and talks to her from time to time. One aide in Alaska, Meg Stapleton, the closest to a longtime confidante, resigned in May to spend more time with her family.
The Times list even includes Bob Barnett, the super-lawyer who negotiates book contracts for political celebs from the Clintons to Laura Bush, and who did Palin's book deal. But that doesn't make him an adviser on anything else other than maximizing her earning potential, which really is what she's about. There's a spokesperson, Pam Pryor, for Sarah PAC, and a conservative lawyer, Kim Daniels, a specialist in "conscience of health issues" who briefs Palin on domestic issues, but neither appear to be heavyweight image-makers.
As much as it pains the professionals, the First Dude is a major player in what is truly a Mom and Pop operation. His job is to absorb a lot of the anxiety and criticism and leave her free to work her magic. Palin has a gift for social media and is largely self-taught. In fact, she seems to do better in terms of gaining in celebrity when she does things the media regard as totally nuts. That formula works for her, but may not be good for the GOP as the Palin inspired Tea Party wreaks havoc on more mainstream Republicans.
Palin is living in the moment and having a grand time. Whatever she decides about 2012, if Obama is the failed president Republicans believe he is, will the country really want to go with another candidate with such a thin resume? Maybe that's why the Washington pros aren't signing on with Palin. They don't want her any more than she wants them.
Filed Under: Sarah Palin, 2012 President, Woman Up, Internet
Tagged: fred malek, Laura Schlessinger, newt gingrich, political consultants, Randy Scheneumann
More articles from Eleanor Clift »

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4 Comments

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Darling

the best thing about palin is how she drives the people who think they are so much smarter than her crazy.all this woman has to do is post a blog,back a candidate,tweet something and just watch the elitists in washington and around the country pick up on it.most of the people in my neighborhood who dont agree with her politics still say shes more like one of them than all the harvard graduates running the government.

August 25 2010 at 4:19 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Darling's comment
jancf

The anti-education candidate extraordinaire. God save America from these. It appears to be a race to the bottom in some circles. Why would ANYONE want 'someone like them' to be our leader? Common sense dictates we want the brightest, most educated, most worldly experienced, calmest, most rational person we can find. I doubt our Founders would have approved this fanatical anti-intellectual bent in a million years.

August 25 2010 at 6:58 PM Report abuse -4 rate up rate down Reply
ettu

" Her endorsement track record so far has been mixed, "...............You can withdraw your claws now, Ms Clift. Thus far, Palin has had 20 wins and 10 losses........can you claim such a winning percentage for the columns you write? If they had a thumbs up/down poll at the end of each one, I would wager you would not fare as well as Sarah. As for living in the moment, those who do so are the ones' who get the most out of the one life they have to live. Looking back with regret (and I am not endorsing ignoring history), and worrying too much about the effect on the future that the actions you take today will have (and I am not endorsing acting in a totally impulsive manner), all leaves little time to savor the present. Life is short.......take each day as it comes, and find out where the bright spots are.......you will die a happier person if you do.

August 25 2010 at 2:57 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
tzdeb

Bigotry and sexism is alive and well in america. The press ridicules and trivializes female candidates for president. It doesn't matter from what political persuasion -- liberal/progressive or conservative. Look what happened to Hilary Clinton. Eventhough she was opposite to Sarah Palin in idealogy, the press paid more attention to her pant suits than to her politics. Sarah Palin is likewise treated poorly. This country is not ready for a female president.

August 25 2010 at 1:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to tzdeb's comment
vobox3343

Oh, Please. I'm sure there's evidence which would show that women have not strengthened law enforcement or helped our military in any significant way. I worked for a union company at one time, and we always helped the women do the jobs they weren't quite up to snuff on. And no, I didn't mind at all. But please stop the "sexists nonsense." It's been anything but.

August 25 2010 at 2:31 PM Report abuse -5 rate up rate down Reply
ettu

VOBOX: Surely there were women who helped out the new men on the job, also. In fact, perhaps you should look back and ask yourself if the women you helped out were the more outwardly appealing, or did you help wherever needed?

August 25 2010 at 6:20 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
bubba1zfg

Sarah is her own person. She certainly doesn't need the Washington insiders.

August 24 2010 at 8:48 PM Report abuse +16 rate up rate down Reply
retfla2

You media type still don't get it! Palin means what she says and says what she means. I guess that is so far removed from todays politicians that it is impossible for them to understand someone who fights for what they believe regardless of the cruel media portrayal. She said she would not rule out running and would run for President if she thought it was best for the Country- She walks the walk, unlike other politicians who just talk the talk- Obama a perfect example of that. 2012 can't come soon enough!

August 24 2010 at 6:49 PM Report abuse +8 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to retfla2's comment
mar3dees

You say Palin "means what she says and says what she means?" So, you think she meant this? "[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does, interview with NBC affiliate KUSA in Colorado, Oct. 21, 2008" She didn't even know what a VP does.

September 12 2010 at 9:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
hank870

Sarah Palin can do just what she wants to do, either earn m0ney or work to be a political newcomer. In any case she is raising hell for a lot of people. Noone seems to know what she's really about. In Alaska she was about getting the oil companys and other squatters in Alanka doing nothing for the state getting off their asses and contributing to the development on commerce.

August 24 2010 at 6:36 PM Report abuse +7 rate up rate down Reply

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