Does Sarah Palin Now Need the 'Lamestream' Media?

So now she needs us.

I'm talking about Sarah Palin and the "lamestream media." Ever since her 2008 campaign with John McCain ended in defeat (and recriminations), Palin has waged war on the media. She blamed news reporters for her public image as an intellectual lightweight. (Katie Couric, this means you.) She has denounced both liberal and conservative journalists who have . . . well, been mean to her. She's mounted a feud against Joe McGinniss, who is writing a book on her. After Politico ran an article reporting that unnamed establishment Republicans feared Palin could sink their party, should she win its 2012 presidential nomination, Palin called the article "crap" and blasted its two authors -- Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei -- as "jokes." Columnist Tina Dupuy has been maintaining a "Sarah Palin's Enemies List" of folks and institutions Palin has assailed, and that ever-growing roster is up to 75 names. About a third of them are journalists or media entities, including Brian Williams, the Wall Street Journal, Rachel Maddow, Charlie Gibson, and Maureen Dowd. (I'm not on the list.)

As Palin has regularly poked at the establishment media, she has exploited new media and conservative media to skirt the gatekeepers. She has tweeted, Facebooked, published two books, appeared on conservative radio shows, and spouted her views as a paid commentator on Fox News. On Twitter, she has amassed 336,689 followers. Her Facebook page has been "liked" by 2.5 million people. When she wants to weigh in on a policy or political matter, she doesn't have to wait to be called by a reporter for The Washington Post for a comment. Instead, she deploys a tweet, and the mainstreamers dutifully report on her latest 140 characters. She has ruled by clicks.

And don't forget her cable reality show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," on TLC, where she went caribou hunting, or her presence -- via daughter Bristol -- on "Dancing With the Stars." With all of this, Palin has essentially created her own alternative media industry. From Web to radio to TV -- Palin connecting with millions. Unfiltered. Up close and personal.

And it hasn't worked.

Poll after poll shows Palin is not winning people over -- that is, not as a potential presidential candidate. Last month, Gallup found that 52 percent of Americans held an unfavorable view of Palin -- a new high (or low) for her. While GOPers were gaga over her (80 percent had a positive impression of Palin), her favorable rating among independents was down to 35 percent from 44 percent at the end of 2008. More to the point, a CNN poll noted that 70 percent of Americans did not consider her to be qualified to be president. (And only 54 percent of GOPers said she was qualified for that top job.) This week, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll reported that Palin's negative rating has been climbing, and in a matchup against Obama, she was creamed, 55 percent to 33 percent. By contrast, Obama's margin over Mitt Romney was only 7 percent. Clearly, the public doesn't consider Palin presidential timber -- despite, or due to, her multi-platform overexposure. The more attention she draws, the worse she does.

What's a media-basher to do? Call in the media.

As Politico reported this week, Palin has been forging a détente with the mainstream media she once slammed. In the past few weeks, she and her staff have granted interviews to The New York Times, Time magazine, and ABC News. In other words, that mavericky gal is playing the game that all pols play. In fact, she used an interview with "Good Morning America" to break the stop-the-presses news that she's opposed to the tax cuts deal President Obama reached with congressional Republicans. She didn't send that message via a Facebook note.

On her own -- with all her outlets -- Palin has not been able to alter her image. So she's decided to give the MSMers a chance. Is this a sign of desperation? Perhaps she's hoping that if she grants these journalists access, she will earn respectful treatment -- and that will help her in the gravitas department. It's worth a try, especially since her live-by-the-tweet strategy appears to be driving her numbers in the wrong direction. But what's next? A sit-down with Rachel Maddow? No, I got it: a return appearance on Couric's CBS News. When that happens, you will know she's really worried.

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