Film to Portray Sarah Palin as Reaganesque in Iowa

WASHINGTON – The Real Clear Politics post starts simple enough.

Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role… It accelerates quickly.

Palin never got the credit she deserved for the midterm rout. However, like any savvy marketing personality she knew she couldn’t leave her fate up to others. So… the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment… Creating a film to meld her closer to Ronald Reagan.

Bannon intends to premiere the film in Iowa late next month before expanding the release to New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. [...] Palin has been tight-lipped about which way she is leaning in regard to running for president next year, but her team of advisers is operating under the notion that they are laying the groundwork for a future campaign, until they are told otherwise. … If she does decide to run, “The Undefeated” will be the key element to her initial coming-out party. … As she mulls her decision in the coming weeks, the other Republican candidates in the field will be left to prepare for a hibernating grizzly who appears poised to rise up once again. – Palin’s Secret Weapon: New Film to Premiere in June

When Ed Gillespie came out implying, along with others, that the Republican field was set, I couldn’t help but feel that it was forced. From Politico:

“The waiting is over,” said Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and counselor to President George W. Bush. “Things are going to accelerate pretty quickly now.”

“You’re seeing everything you’re going to get,” said a Republican who has talked privately with the leading candidates.

Let’s just say it’s last call, which could include Rudy Giuliani (a very bad decision if he chooses to jump in), Michele Bachmann (can take Iowa away from Pawlenty), and just maybe Sarah Palin, who’s got a tough slog at this point, but nothing is impossible given the GOP field.

Ben Smith was the first to report in early May about Palin possibly taking a home in Arizona, with pictures of the swanky mansion splashed across the web this week (here’s Bristol Palin’s home). Arizona is a perfect spot, not only bringing memories of her historic and catastrophic run for the presidency, but also Barry Goldwater and the maverick streak that once made Sarah Palin the governor of Alaska. It’s as perfect a stage Palin’s going to get, even with all the baggage she’s got and that’s true whether she runs for president or senator.

With the news that the Tea Party’s Freedom Works is pulling out everything to beat Mitt Romney, it’s clear the Tea Party sees an opening because the Republican field is very weak on emotional connection. Sarah could provide that in a heart beat, even if she can’t win the presidency, because Independents won’t buy it and her nomination would fuel Democrats like nobody else.

If Palin’s ever going to run her time is now.

Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.

Photo from Sarah Palin’s “Alaska.”