Palin Lives in the Moment, Spurns Washington Insiders

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.