Spinning Palin

 

If they really thought Governor Sarah Palin was such an irrelevant yahoo, why didn’t they laugh her off and wish her good riddance after the elections? Why have they kept her presence so palpable in the heat of their attacks? The liberal media and even sitting politicians couldn’t keep from taking shots at the woman, long after she went back to run the state of Alaska. Why have they remained so virulently hostile to her?

They haven’t even been able to control themselves. Letterman hit a new vile and ugly low and it couldn’t even remotely have been spun as comedy. Vanity Fair’s outrageously mean-spirited attack recently….Where did that come from? Maybe it got them the publicity they wanted, since most big media are flagging badly. Trash sells, unfortunately.

But why has Sarah Palin been so marketable? And particularly, the business of trashing her?

Because she’s so different from the rest of the pack, and plays by her own rules. 

And since the media and other politicians can’t control her or even figure her out, they’re having a heyday speculating.

Nearly rubbing their hands in glee, Democrats said that it “continues a pattern of bizarre behavior.”

“Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long-shot national political ambitions, or she simply can’t handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down,” said Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan.

For elected officials with lengthy records of service, such as former Sen. Bob Dole, devoting their full attention to their presidential bid can be a smart move, said Stuart Roy, a political consultant who has worked for Republican congressional leaders. That argument just doesn’t work for Palin, Roy said, adding that he admired Sen. John McCain’s decision to pick her as his running mate last year.

“Maybe there is a personal reason of some sort,” Roy said. “But barring that, if it’s a political move geared at 2012, it’s one of the most politically tone-deaf moves in years. Two and a half years as governor doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be president; look at Barack Obama. But it doesn’t set you up for anything, either.”

And thus they remain baffled. Not only the media and Democrats and liberals who love to excoriate high profile conservatives and especially, Sarah Palin. Republicans are besides themselves…and they were already all over the place.

Last year’s Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, issued a statement expressing “the greatest respect and affection” for his former running mate, and a hope that “she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he’ll seek Palin’s help this fall for GOP gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Chris Christie in New Jersey.

Other party leaders were not so enthused. Karl Rove, former political adviser to President George W. Bush, said on Fox News Sunday that he and other GOP strategists are “perplexed” by Palin’s bombshell. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, another potential 2012 Republican presidential contender, called Palin’s strategy “risky.”

Or shrewd…

Some GOP heads were spinning and shaking…

But her defenders believed an unorthodox move, even if risky, has a clear logic and may only further increase her standing with conservatives who don’t care what establishment figures in or out of the GOP think. Leaving the governor’s office at the end of this month leaves her free to travel the country, command large speaking fees, and begin the process of rallying her devotees without pesky home-state opponents criticizing every move.

These varied reactions were an echo of the debates that have followed Palin every step since her nomination as John McCain’s running mate 10 months ago — a surprise that turned out to be just the first of many surprises served up by one of the most colorful and polarizing American political figures in a generation.

And certainly, the most fiercely independent and loyal to her beliefs, like them or not.

Meg Stapleton, Palin’s Alaska-based spokeswoman, called it “a fighting move.”

But even Stapleton acknowledged that the job Palin said she loved during the press conference had become a drag.

“It’s a liberating feeling. … She can’t get out of there soon enough,” said Stapleton.

And what she’ll do when she does…..it driving everyone crazy. That power shouldn’t be underestimated.