Some Big Bumps In The Road For Sarah Palin’s National Career
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has hit some bumps in the road in what some consider to be her inexorable attempted journey to the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination.
She has some public relations problems at home — typically being blamed on poor staffing that doesn’t do the real Sarah Palin justice. And the man who plucked her out of being just one more GOP governor and his Vice Presidential nomination is not exactly rushing to endorse her for 2012.
Add to that her previous image problems — she is a favorite of the GOP’s conservative base but a punchline and was a reason not to vote Republican for many other Americans — and she has some heavy roadwork to do on the road to 2012.
First, there’s her problems at home – which are not good harbingers for someone who wants to create a groundswell of good news to prepare a (re)entry on the national stage:
A seemingly unending series of public relations gaffes has Sarah Palin loyalists frustrated and worried she is diminishing her stature. And they blame an inner circle they say is composed of not-ready-for-primetime players.
Note that it always seems as if the people around Sarah Palin (her staffers, the McCain staffers, the press) are the ones to blame and not perhaps another factor: Palin’s judgment and choice of actions, associates and words:
Interviews with Alaska and Washington-based GOP political professionals who are familiar with the Palin operation describe the governor’s team as a gang that couldn’t shoot straight, a staff whose failure to execute basic political maneuvers too often entangles the governor in awkward and embarrassing situations that could have easily been avoided.
The state of confusion is compounded by two separate Palin spheres that don’t communicate with each other, one based in the governor’s office and another based in the D.C.-area, where Palin’s political action committee is located—and the incongruous presence of a high-profile Democratic trial lawyer among her political advisers.
The lawyer, John Coale, is a former supporter of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign who became a Palin confidante as his wife, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, interviewed the former GOP vice presidential nominee and her family numerous times during and after the election.
Their presence around Palin has become Topic A among many of her allies as well as other Republican insiders who are mystified as to why an anti-abortion rights conservative who ran against Washington elites is now turning to a pair of capital insiders for counsel.
There is another complication here as well: for Van Susteren. No matter how the Fox News host cuts it, now her interviews will now be compromised the eyes of all except fervent Sarah Palin supporters. Earlier in the year, her seemingly endless series of interviews with Palin led some to suggest she was pushing Palin personally. Now it’s not a secret. Her interviews will be perceived as PR pieces and not even talk show interviews. Van Susteren’s ties to Palin now would make a Sean Hannity interview with Palin seem like one conducted by a fiercely independent independently minded journalist by comparison.
And then there’s the case of Arizona Senator John McCain who — once again — has skirted the issue of supporting Palin in 2012 with all the smoothness of a man with two broken legs trying to do the limbo:
Sen. John McCain isn’t committing to supporting his vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, if she runs for president in 2012.
McCain — the GOP’s presidential nominee last year — says he wants to see who the other candidates are and what the situation might be.
The bottom line: if he wanted her, he’d have praised her to the hilt. If he wanted to remain aloof but wanted her, he’d have begged off but left enough hints that he feels she should be the candidate. He did neither.
The Arizona senator elevated Palin to the national stage with his surprise pick. He says he has great affection for Palin and her family. But he also cites three other governors — Utah’s John Huntsman, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty as potential candidates.
McCain joked he was going to get himself in trouble for forgetting a name.
On Friday McCain insisted to the Washington Times that he had nothing but kind words for Palin:
While Sen. John McCain’s former vice presidential candidate has criticized his campaign recently for not sharing her religious fervor, the Arizona senator has nothing but kind words for the Alaska governor who electrified Republicans last year.
“Listen, I love and respect Sarah Palin,” the 2008 Republican presidential candidate said, speaking softly in an interview Friday with reporters and editors at The Washington Times. “I love her family. I am convinced that her running on the ticket energized the Republican Party in a way that, let’s have some straight talk, that I couldn’t or didn’t.”
Mrs. Palin, the self-described “hockey mom” whose evangelical Christianity often played a prominent role in her campaign, got a laugh when she told a Republican audience in Alaska earlier this month that there was “nobody I could find that I wanted to hold hands with and pray” with within the McCain campaign just before her vice presidential debate with then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat.
The governor later said she meant no disrespect, and Mr. McCain on Friday said he took no offense.
But if McCain had nothing but kind words for Palin, he didn’t offer any regarding her and 2012.
Palin’s third problem is going to be her image. A beloved Saturday Night Live parody won’t get her votes. And images of real and the satirical are still out there and potentially fare more damaging in terms of image than an old Mad magazine parody or must one Saturday Night Live sketch. These lingering images represent perceptions — and mean that if she makes one misstep she will be perceived as playing into a stereotype that she has been shoved into.
Here are some of the images out there from 2008:
Satirical: Palin as potential Disney movie (subtext: how can anyone but a GOP partisan really take her seriously?):
News: The disastrous intereview (a “medley”):
Reaction from the public: Not enough members of the GOP base in this arena:
Palin also sparked a kind of cottage industry in satirical songs…many of which weren’t exactly flattering, such as:
Palin’s problem: If she has a hope of being elected she has to go burnish her image and pick up support beyond GOPers. It turns out she hurt McCain in 2008.
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11 Responses to “Some Big Bumps In The Road For Sarah Palin’s National Career”
Any high profile re-emergence of Sarah Palin on the national scene is also likely to be accompanied by the re-emergence of her alter ego, as interpreted by Tina Fey. I realize that is the least of Palin's problems, but it certainly provides an upside for her detractors. The most amazing thing about interpreting Palin is that is can be played pretty straight and still be very effective, which of course is as much a tribute to Tina Fey's genius as it is to the material.
Sarah Palin is a lightweight and it's unlikely she'll be a serious candidate any time soon (of course I think Obama is also a lightweight but that's another topic). She was rushed into service as GOP VP candidate mainly because of her gender and appeal to the base. Since the base is shrinking it's not likely she'll ever have a wide appeal.
In a way it's too bad because with more experience and media preparation she might have had some success but instead has been turned into a national joke, both from her own ineptitude combined with an amount of media scorn surprising even for the left.
The GOP base loves Palin and will support her. She'll run for prez in 2012 but the real question is how voraciously her fellow Republican contenders will go after her in the primaries. Because she likens herself to a pit bull they shouldn't hold back…. I still remember the McCain/Romney dust-ups and I'd love to see that with Palin. I'm gonna start stocking up on popcorn.
As we all recall there was a debate on whether Hillary was being treated fairly or unfairly in the primaries and I expect the same with Palin. Lastly experience doesn't matter that much- it's all about how you sell yourself and more to the point of this posting, the abilities of the team you have in place.
Palin will win the nomination in 2012, if she choses to run. Romney spent $45 million last time, and couldn't even beat McCain. Palin will be able to raise as much or even more than Romney. When Romney campaigned for Chambliss in Georgia he drew crowds of 100-200, Palin drew crowds of 2,000 – 6,000. Watch for SarahPAC to become flush with cash by 2010, and she'll be able to exert a lot of influence. She'll also most likely campaign in the lower 48, and will be able to mobilize thousands of volunteers for get out the vote efforts. Money, crowds, volunteers, three key ingrediants that Romney won't be able to match either in 2010 or 2012.
To be clear (since I wasn't in my first comment)…. I only meant the McCain/Romney dust-ups as an example of what will be repeated in 2012 with Palin (and whoever)…. If there is a Palin/Romney fight then I totally agree with gahanson's comments…. Sorry if I implied that I was predicting a Palin/Romney fight.
I don't agree with your premise that only GOP partisans support Sarah. I used to be a PUMA (former Hillary Clinton Supporter) and a registered Democrat. I am now a member of Team Sarah and a contributor to SarahPAC. Before the election of 2008, I had never voted Republican even in local elections (I wouldn't even consider it). However, I voted for the McCain Palin ticket because of Sarah Palin.
I was a fan of Sarah Palin before McCain selected her as Vice President. I live in the Northwest so we frequently receive news about what is happening in Alaska. I admired the way Sarah governed in Alaska and stood up to the GOP establishment and the federal government. She is one of the hardest working governors I have ever seen. It is amazing how much she accomplishes in one week (you can verify this via her official Governor of Alaska website which tracks her accomplishments). I 'd gladly trade my governor for Sarah!
I am not alone in my support of Sarah. There are Democratic blogs like NoQuarterUSA.net and Hillbuzz.com that have many members that either support Sarah or have a favorable opinion of her.
As for Sarah's “problems at home,” Sarah still has approval ratings of 60% – 64% in Alaska. Sure, Sarah's poll numbers are no longer at 80% but that happens to anyone in office because some policy decisions are bound to be unpopular. For instance, she is ready to reject up to 1/3 of the Federal Stimulus monies sent to Alaska. However, most Alaskan legislators and many in the public want her to take 100% of those funds. So Sarah is risking some loss of support on that issue. If you will note, Obama's approval ratings have also declined because voters are finding out where he really stands on issues now that he is in office. In Sarah's case, she also gets attacked in the Media often so that will affect her ratings as well (which is what many in the MSM want to happen).
Regarding her staff, Governor Palin is very busy and Alaska is in legislative session until April 2009. Her focus is on Alaska now. SarahPac is independent of Sarah's gubernatorial staff. After April, she will have more time to attend meetings and events outside of Alaska. Sarah has been invited to attend a number of high profile events including major fundraisers because she is a political star with great potential. She can draw huge crowds to her speeches which most other candidates can't. She is new to the national political scene so she will need time to get her SarahPac up to speed (SarahPac was just created in late Jan. '09). SarahPac only has 4 staffers currently.
Why should it be a problem that Greta is favorable to Sarah when 95% of the Mainstream Media is so openly pro-Obama? By that standard, any interview Obama does is suspect. John Ziegler's “Media Malpractice” film clearly shows the Media's bias toward Obama. Bernard Goldberg's recent book about the Media's love affair with Obama also confirms this bias. Republicans should praise those few members of the Media like Greta who are not hostile towards Republicans. As for Greta's husband, John Coale, he is one of a number of PUMA Democrats who support Palin. He has been a supporter of other prominent female politicians for years. Why is it ok for Republicans like Colin Powell to support Obama, but people have a problem if Democrats support Sarah? There are moderate and conservative Democrats too.
As for McCain, Sarah doesn't need his endorsement for 2012 because she has not officially announced that she will run in 2012. Sarah won't base her decision to run in 2012 or not on McCain's endorsement /approval. McCain is more likely to ask Sarah to campaign for him in his 2010 re-election campaign than the other way around (look how she helped Saxby Chambliss win big).
The MSM trashed Sarah's image the same way they will trash all other conservatives or Republicans that have potential. Look at how John McCain, Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele, Michelle Bachmann, Eric Cantor and many other prominent Republicans have been mocked and vilified by many in the MSM. Sarah needs to hire a competent and effective Public Relations team to counter the MSM smears, distortions and outright lies about her. The McCain campaign did a poor job of handling the Media. Sarah and other Republicans can't run and hide just because SNL or Keith Olbermann makes fun of them. Conservatives need to stand up and take it right back to the MSM.
The link for the Hillbuzz PUMA blog I referenced in my comments above is actually the following (if you want to check it out – they are anti-obama democrats):
hillbuzz.wordpress.com
She's certainly more Frank Capra than Disney, the outsider who comes to the big city and confronts the establishment, rather than the corrupt Chicago machine that has expanded nationwide. She correctly predicted much of what has come to pass. She's not popular among what I like to call the Exxon branch of the GOP establishment, but she is with the base, Hence the Alinskyite attack, particularly Rule 12, 'pick the target, isolate it, discredit it” hence the whole series of unfounded ethics complaints, which
has the impact of Rule 5, “make the target live up to their own level to na impossible degree” because of her reformist credentials. Tina Fey's tissue thin inpersonation and Gibson and Couric's hack edited interviews certainly had an influence among the uninformed. I would hate to think that you were one of those.
The surfeit of anonymous sources, we;ve seen this problem before, with
stories that haven't panned out. The “Chinese wall”, mandated by ethics
rules, between her D.C, political effort, and the communication staff in Juneau, is responsible for a good deal of the miscommunications. The CPAC speech was never confirmed, so it can't be said to have a firm
committment, but an informal survey of the members there, would indicate
she was the favorite. She has focused almost exclusively on local affairs
since she returned to Alaska, the one campaign stop for Chambliss and the Alfalfa Dinner in D.C. She has stated a responsible position as opposed to future unfunded mandates in the stimulus, that will have to be paid with revenues from a restricted source of oil revenue. She has kept
up work on the AGIA line, despite the negligence of the AGIA line and
in contradiction to that hatchet job by Joe McGinness in Portofolio.
gahanson brings up a good point I hadn't considered before. It is so easy to point and laugh at Palin, since she is such a pathetic excuse for a politician. But elections ultimately boil down to MONEY, and if there's one thing Palin has proven to do better than just about any major Party of No figure so far is that she can bring in the big bucks. She could secure the nomination through a nine-figure funding campaign alone. Never mind she's about five cans short of a six-pack, elections don't have anything to do with intelligence or ideas – it's all about 'The Big M'.
'Pathetic excuse for a politician' like one who would sneer at the special relationship with G. Britain, who would send a letter to the corrupt former
prime minister and rival of the current French one, who would betray Eastern Europe to the Russians in return for noncommittal assistance in trying to stop the Bushehr reactor in Iran, who has volunteered aid to Hamas controlled Gaza so they can strike Israel again. On the domestic
front to nominate tax cheats like Geithner and Daschle and Kellifer (the last actually had some shame) to top office, making a joke of our international economic committments. Who would spend time, filling out NCAA brackets and doing a bad routine on the Tonight Show. Would send
a Secretary of State, to Mexico, and forget to provide the staffwork about it's most sacred shrine. Ironically AIG and Countrywide, or whatever it's calling itself now, Fannie and Freddie, Lehman, allcontributed to that politician, because he had no history of proposing meaningful regulation.
The aforementioned Mr. DeSantis, tapped out on contributions to Chris
Dodd.
No clearly those who would contribute to her campaign, and volunteer to work for her, if need be, in any future endeavor, is because we find she walks the walks, to just talks the walk on fiscal, monetary, energy, foreign
and other policies. Romney proved ultimately noncommittal with his sizable fortune, he and Huckabee made McCain's nomination possible
As a non-American, I at first believed that Governor Sarah Palin appealed only to a narrow GOP base and maybe to religious conservatives. It is surprising to find, therefore that she was elected Governor and retains very high approval in a State with a very high proportion of moderate Independent voters (43% according to Daily Kos). It is even more surprising to find that her bitterest opponents in Alaska are on the conservative Right and that many of her allies have, as often as not, been Democrats as much as Republicans. Clearly, Palin is very devout and has strong pro-life convictions, but that has not prevented her from retaining high approval in a State, which, according to Gallup, is the fifth least religious in the Union. Nor did her religious views prevent her from vetoing legislative attempts to recind benifits from same-sex couples (even the gays over at Hillbuz strongly support her.). One could write a long essay on how Palin has managed Alaska's state finances over the past two years, building up large saving accounts and forward funding for education in the 'good times' and is now in a good position to handle the downturn. Anyone who has carefully perused the Governor's SOS speech and her detailed comments and analysis f the so-called stimulus package can fail to see that she grasps economic reality far better than does Obama. No one doubts that Palin is a true conservative, but all the evidence shows that this is tempered by a strong and necessary element of both libertarianism and pragmatism. Many democrats publicly express the hope that she will be the GOP nominee for 2012, believing their own propaganda that she will be easy to defeat. They should be careful what they wish for.