Sarah Palin Quitting Her Bus Tour Even Though It’s Only Half Done?
Over at RealClearPolitics, Scott Conroy reports that Sarah Palin’s “One Nation” Bus Tour, which made its way up the East Coast during the week after Memorial Day, is apparently taking an extended hiatus and may be over altogether:
Less than a month after she appeared poised to shake up the Republican presidential campaign, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has once again receded from the 2012 limelight.
When Palin launched her “One Nation” bus tour on Memorial Day amid a swirl of media attention and excitement from her fervent fan base, many political observers who had once dismissed her were reminded of the jolt that her candidacy could provide to what has thus far been a relatively sleepy GOP nominating fight.
(….)
Though Palin and her staff never announced a timeline for the remaining legs of her trip, aides had drafted preliminary itineraries that would have taken her through the Midwest and Southeast at some point this month. But those travel blueprints are now in limbo, RCP has learned, as Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska, where the skies are currently alight for over 19 hours a day and the Bristol Bay salmon fishing season is nearing its peak.
As Palin enjoys her sojourn to the 49th state, she has not reconnected with key early-state figures like Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and she may have jeopardized whatever political momentum she gained from her recent reemergence in the 2012 discussion. Her political action committee’s website still greets visitors with a stale banner, announcing the nationwide bus tour beginning “[t]his Sunday, May 29th.”
More than a few of Palin’s core supporters have grown impatient and confused about her strategy, venting their frustration on Internet fan sites.
Palin’s extended hiatus could mean that in spite of her readily apparent “fire in the belly,” her family has persuaded her not to further pursue the presidency. Alternatively, it could indicate just the opposite — that she is plotting her next move and wants to ensure that it is well thought-out — and that she retains the element of surprise. Indeed, the problem with assessing how Palin’s movements figure into her 2012 calculus is that she remains one of the most unpredictable political figures in America — even to her most trusted aides.
There’s been some speculation that her re-entry into the public eye may coincide with the release of “The Undefeated,” a hagiography/propaganda film about Palin that premiered last weekend at the Right Online conference to predictably positive results. Possible, but I’ve got to think that this is just further evidence that Palin has no intention of running for President and she’s just stretching out the time before she actually says that she isn’t running in order to enhance her press coverage, donations to her PAC, and of course her speaking fees.Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.
Update 6/23/2011: Sarah Palin says she’s been summoned for jury duty, which is the reason the bus tour is on hold:
(Reuters) – Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said on Wednesday she was pausing her “One Nation” bus tour to answer the call of jury duty and denied media reports her much-hyped multi-state jaunt had been cut short.
“The next leg of the tour continues when the time comes,” she said in a message posted on Facebook. “In the meantime, no one should jump to conclusions — certainly not the media with their long track record of getting things wrong or just making things up.”
Given that she’s a former Governor, former candidate for Vice-President, and perhaps the best known person in Alaska, I’d be pretty surprised if she survived voir dire and actually ended up on a case.
Really, what more needs to be said? Ignore her and she goes away…
Did you just imply that Doug should/would ignore Palin?
BWAAAHAAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAA!
Good one!
She’s hiding out in Alaska. It isn’t that friendly but at least she’s got rocks to hide under. Her bus tour was a disaster making her weak chances even weaker. She’s going to try to keep milking this as long as possible but lets face it she’s a bad joke gone flat.
1/2 Nation bus tour?
Kind of fitting.
I wonder if this has something to do with realizing the threat that Michelle Bachmann has become to her (Palin’s) brand. Bachmann’s strong ratings and apparent “seriousness” in making a run at the Presidency are placing her in a position to replace Palin as the “top” popular(populist) conservative woman in the US.
I realize this isn’t zero-sum. But while being number 2 isn’t the worst place to be, once the decline begins, the speaking fees and opportunities to influence public opinion begin to drop as well (Ann who again?). And sooner or later, the public, and then the press, loose interest.
It would be interesting to see if this is a real kick in the pants for Palin to up her game, or if she’s going to keep coasting and pulling moves like this.
Except for her body guard Piper and grandparents, the other family members quit the charade of a “family vacation” after one day. Next up I predict Palin’s praise-Me-Me-Me! “movie” will quit half-way through its run at theaters also, too.
So, Conroy, with no evidence, like say the releasing of her scheduling and logistics team, Recher and McMarlin, admits he doesn’t know what’s going on, but not surprising you would
glom on to this Doug,
I tried to watch her movie, but it got too hard halfway through so I quit.
I guess she’s willing to test a new theory: If the cameras aren’t on her, does she still exist?
So, let’s see: Doug is always complaining about discourse of frivolous topics, such as a sitting US representative sexting, but, has no problem with stupid rumors about Palin. He always calls for better discourse, yet will take shots at Palin (and Republicans in general) at the drop of a hat. Dems always seem to get a pass.
Feel free to start at any time.
@William,
Yes, yes I know. I commit the cardinal sin of daring to criticize Her Holiness.
Dems always seem to get a pass.
Really? Gee, author tags are handy, aren’t they? Let’s take a jaunt through Doug’s recent archives:
But The President Says We’re Not Engaged In Hostilities In Libya
Anthony Weiner To Resign From Congress
Porn Star Turns On Weiner
Obama: If I Were Weiner, I Would Resign
TMZ Releases New Weiner Photos
Report: Weiner Checking Himself In For “Treatment”
Top Democrats Call On Weiner To Resign
Weiner Staying Put
Explicit Weiner Photograph Released
U.S. v. John Edwards: Both Sides Are Rolling The Dice
John Edwards Indicted On Campaign Finance Law Violations
John Edwards Likely To Be Indicted Today
John Edwards Secretly Meets With Key Witness Before Indictment
Justice Department Gives Go Ahead For Indictment Of John Edwards
It’s Hard For Jimmy Carter To Be Humble
Obama Administration Tells Congress War Powers Act Doesn’t Apply To Libya Mission
Look at all those Dems Doug gives a pass to! He really must love those Dems.
There were at least five more Weiner posts in there, but I thought I had grabbed enough. So let’s review your comment, shall we, Teach?
Doug is always complaining about discourse of frivolous topics, such as a sitting US representative sexting, but, has no problem with stupid rumors about Palin.
So while Doug may complain about the media’s obsession with stupid politicians who do stupid things that don’t actually affect normal Americans lives, he still posts a lot of critical pieces about them. I counted at least 13 Weiner posts from the last month, which you imply he ignored while he’s willing to write about Palin. So what’s your problem? Oh, I think Doug already identified it: Thou shalt not criticize Sarah.
You could check the twitter update, apparently Conroy wasn’t very clear, because he didn’t have a story, Yes Edwards was a conman, a crook and a demagogue, that’s pretty true of
Wiener as well, Carter might be personally honest, but he is terminally naive, to the degree
that he furthers the propaganda efforts of Hamas.
she’s a quitter…period. sad that some think quitters are a reflection of “real america”.
amusing as this story is…I am far more interested in Bristol accusing Levi of date-rape.
Defending Sarah Palin is now a sort of intellectual self-mutilation.
I’d be fit to kill if I were stuck on a bus with my family for weeks.
Maybe she’s rethinking her strategy.
It appears the quitter has also quit her trip to Africa with Frank Graham and her press secretary Greta Van Halen. Maybe god told her there was only room for one bat-shit crazy chick in the So-called republican primaries.
Anyone who is surprised that Sarah Palin quit in the middle of something clearly has not been paying attention.
She is unfit to be President, plain and simple, not because of her party affiliation, but because she is an idiot.
You never bother to actually check anything, no wonder we ended up with Obama,
Palin is now saying that she was called home for jury duty, and will resume the tour on her own schedule — which she never published, anyway, so there’s no way to say “see! She quit the tour!”
Here’s a source Doug and the rest of the Palin-obsessed should respect confirming that.
Correction time?
Didn’t think so.
J.
I’d still be willing to give Willie Nelson a run for his money if I were on a bus with a few youngsters for weeks on end.
Waiting on that correction, Doug. How about a brand new post about Palin having to go to jury duty? Bueller?
I wonder why I don’t see anything about Palin’s jury duty on Alaska news sites? You’d think they’d know about it.
Still waiting on Mataconis’s correction/apology (yes I know, a hell freezes over wait), PDS allows one to make any snarky comment-no matter how wrong/ill informed but not to make a correction in the light of his egg on face moment.
It must be so sad to be so wrong so often.
Anyone pick up on the fact that Recher, Palin & Co. never planned on coordinating with the media? Think they made their point pretty well with this.
And we know Palin is all about doing her duty. Well, maybe not her sworn duty as Governor of Alaska. Minor detail.
jay tea:
I’ll believe that when I see proof that it’s true. Let me know if any such proof ever appears.
I think she wasn’t called for jury duty. I think she just got bored sitting on the bus, so she’s taking a break while she decides what to do next. And if she gets back on the bus in a month or two, she’s never going to actually demonstrate that she had jury duty. She’ll just be very vague about that, and invite us to assume that she did, even though it’s just a fabricated alibi.
Palin is all about making lame excuses that never get proven. Just like she has never proven that she was actually forced to spend a lot of her own money defending herself from lawsuits (and this is supposedly why she had to resign as governor). That’s another fable that the loyal, gullible Palinists accept unquestioningly, even though Palin has never shown proof.
Your reading comprehension sucks. HuffPo is not “confirming” Palin’s claim about jury duty. They’re simply telling us what she said. The only “source” for the claim is a highly unreliable one: Palin herself.
Like anyone cares whether or not you come to believe it-we will all rush to show you the proof I am sure
I don’t expect anyone to care whether or not I believe it. Whether or not any one person (me or anyone else) believes this isn’t interesting or important. On the other hand, what is interesting and important is how large numbers of Palinists tend to believe everything she says, even though she makes important claims (like the claims about her personal legal expenses) without bothering to show proof, and even though she has a long track record as a liar (link, link, link).
When a leader of a major party is a serial liar, and lots of people choose to treat her as something other than a liar, that’s something important to notice.
She’s quitting halfway through? What a surprise.
I’ll believe that when I see proof that it’s true. Let me know if any such proof ever appears.
juke, be honest for once. You will only believe that which confirms your prejudices. You’re nowhere near important enough to anyone to put on any kind of notification list. And no one cares enough about your opinion to bother to try to convince you of reality — you’re remarkably clue-resistant.
Palin never published any kind of itinerary, schedule, or commitments for her trip. Therefore, the notion that she “quit halfway through” is utterly unprovable.
Palin said she was called home for jury duty. That is an insanely easy thing to prove or disprove — the only person I could think of both arrogant and stupid enough to even try something like that is Joe Biden, and he’d get away with it because he’s a Democrat.
If Palin wanted to make up an excuse to stop the tour, she could simply say Piper got sick. Or even homesick. Bam. That easy. Or they had to handle some situation with the fishing company. Jury duty? Way, way too easy to disprove.
juke, like so many Palin haters, instantly assume that everything she says is a lie, and hardly ever look for themselves or pay attention when others prove she was right. But they remember the feeling that “she lied again,” and it reinforces their assumption for the next time.
In the meantime, Obama lies his ass off, breaks pledge after pledge after pledge, and breaks laws repeatedly, but they don’t notice ‘cuz they’re too busy obsessing over someone who is utterly irrelevant and meaningless (by their own words).
It’s a fascinating study in abnormal psychology — obsession, denial, and hypocrisy.
It’s kind of like Media Matters for America. They, too, have a similar blind spot. But they’re honest about it — they are dedicated to “exposing conservative lies in the media.” They freely admit that they’re just fine with liberal lies.
The folks above… not so much.
J.
I just want to see the original jury summons. Legitimate questions have been raised. How difficult could it be just to release the document?
Rick, Now you are sounding like a Birther.
Um… Paul? I think that was the point.
J.
I’ll believe it as soon as we get a credible source that is not Sarah Palin. So far I have not seen one.
How’s the deep end treating you Jay? The convolutions you go through are quite pathetic.
Is Palin still stonewalling on releasing the summons?
jay:
You’re exactly half right. It “is an insanely easy thing to prove.” All she has to do is show us the document calling her for jury duty. On other hand, no one else can disprove it, because of this:
Surely she knows this, which underlines what a clever alibi it is. She can easily prove that she’s telling the truth, but of course she won’t, because most likely she’s not. Meanwhile, no one can prove she’s lying.
On the contrary. It’s impossible to disprove. Meanwhile, the other excuses you mentioned introduce problems. They are all jobs she could delegate to someone else. Whereas jury duty can’t be delegated.
When did “others prove she was right,” with regard to something I demonstrated was a lie? And in case you already forgot, this is where you should look: link, link, link.
I’m impressed with all the examples you’ve provided: zero.
anjin, she’s released the Certificate of Live Juror. But it looks like it’s been Photoshopped — the numbers don’t match up, there are some odd artifacts around the key seals…
J.
like so many Palin haters, instantly assume that everything she says is a lie
In the meantime, Obama lies his ass off, breaks pledge after pledge after pledge, and breaks laws repeatedly
Heh.