Attn. Media and Politicians: It's All About Palin

Time Magazine ^ | September 20, 2010 | Mark Halperin

[2ndDivisionVet]

FROM: Mark Halperin

TO: Coastal Elites, the Media and Establishment Politicians of Both Parties

RE: Sarah Heath Palin

Don't underestimate Sarah Palin. Yes, she is hyper-polarizing: she sends her fans into rapture and drives her detractors stark raving mad. But she can dominate the news cycle with a single tweet and generate three days of coverage with a single speech (as she did this past Friday in Iowa). Her name recognition is universal.

You are right to complain that she is not offering specific policy proposals and that her inaccessibility to media outlets other than the one that pays her — Fox News — puts her beyond the kind of scrutiny and accountability we have come to expect for our leaders.

But the mistake you are making is to assume that Palin needs or wants to play by the standard rules of American politics. Or that it even occurs to her to do so. Trash her all you want (even you Republicans who are doing it all the time behind her back) for being uninformed, demagogic and incoherent, and brandish the poll numbers that show fewer and fewer Americans think she is qualified to be President. Strain to apply political and practical norms to Alaska's former governor. You are missing the point.

Surely you've come to accept the reality that as a businessperson, Palin is a genius. The gusher of revenue from her speeches, books and television deals sweeps away any doubt that she can brilliantly harness her energy, charisma and popularity into a moneymaking bonanza.

But what you need to appreciate is that the same dynamics of supply and demand that Palin has cleverly exploited for financial gain also make her inimitably formidable as a political force.

Take this weekend's Des Moines, Iowa, speech, for example...

[GonzoGOP]

It’s a long time to 2012 but I think she should formally announce and get to work establishing what she wants to do in office.

One of the oldest rules in conflict is to threaten two mutually exclusive goals. It allows you to concentrate all of your effort, but prevents your enemy from presenting a unified front.

Right now there are two options open for Gov. Palin. (1) Run for the presidency. For this the dems and the MSM need to mount an all out blitz to try to destroy her before she can grab complete control of the party apparatus. (2) She can be the spokes person for the tea party. To oppose this the MSM must deny her coverage and keep her out of the news. Since the democrats don't know which she will do they are constantly changing tactics and undermining their own campaign and credibility.

Alinsky says to destroy a movement you must freeze it, personalize it, and then destroy the leader. This is because destroying the leader is much easier than destroying the movement. We must hold off declaring a leader, or allowing the MSM to declare one for us, until the last possible minute. So long as Gov. Palin remains a member of the Tea party what they can do is limited. When she becomes the personification of the conservative cause there are no limits to the mischief the MSM can get up to.

[SuziQ]

her inaccessibility to media outlets other than the one that pays her — Fox News — puts her beyond the kind of scrutiny and accountability we have come to expect for our leaders.

Oh that's rich, coming from someone in an MSM which has YET to subject Barack Obama to NEAR the scrutiny to which they've given Sarah Palin. She doesn't have to appear on talk shows to be investigated and scrutinized; they've been doing that since the minute she was announced as the Repub. VP nominee. If she ever decides to run for President, I don't know if they'll be able to write anything NEW about her, since they've been trying to bring her down from the beginning, and have been throwing anything they can find against the wall to see if it will stick. So far, nothing has, and that has made them barking lunatics when it comes to her!

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sarah Palin? They’ve given more scrutiny to young Miss Christine O’Donnell in the last two weeks than they’ve done for Mr. Obama since 2004!!! Heck, I’m betting we know her college grades and have seen her birth certificate!

[presently no screen name]

It’s a long time to 2012 but I think she should formally announce and get to work establishing what she wants to do in office...I see no reason for conservatives in this election to play coy with the voters.

You see it as playing coy but I see it as her not having made up her mind, as yet. Her main focus is on helping conservatives get elected this year. Do you see anyone else throwing their hat in the ring now and they aren't working full time getting conservatives elected.

Those who know their plans on running are very quiet in all aspects, IMO. No doubt, planning their strategy now against SARAH and not the real enemy, the 'rats. Then they will appear on the scene and say 'vote for me'. The GOP establishment will not pick Sarah as their choice. Lots of strategy behind the GOP scenes right now - not for the best interest of our country - but for the GOP establishment.

[jslade]

Heck, I’m betting we know her college grades and have seen her birth certificate!

Good point!

[Pollster1]

But the mistake you are making is to assume that Palin needs or wants to play by the standard rules of American politics. Or that it even occurs to her to do so.

This is the most extreme hypocrisy imaginable. Palin wanted more than anything else to play by what she hoped were the standard rules of American politics, until she discovered that the standard rules include trashing any conservative woman with a chance of success. Once the mainstream media devoted more effort to researching her past and her children each day for a month than they have devoted to investigating Obama in his lifetime, Palin gave up on finding professionalism in the DNC's propaganda arm.

So, was her daughter pregnant or just a little chubby? Was she her baby's mother or grandmother? . . .

[ClayinVA]

I think she will announce right after the midterms, no need to distact people before then.

[SuziQ]

Too right!