Crashing The Party In Iowa, Sarah Palin Claims She Doesn’t Know If She’s Running For POTUS
As most of the announced candidates for President were preparing yesterday afternoon for the debate later that evening, news broke that Sarah Palin would be showing up this weekend at the Iowa State Fair, along with her entourage and accompanying media throng. Well, she showed up just around Noon and she’s being as manipulative and coy with the media as ever:
Will tea party rock star Sarah Palin endorse anyone while she’s in Iowa – maybe Texas Gov. Rick Perry?
A beaming Sarah Palin, surrounded by a pack of camera-armed fairgoers, said no.
“Oh, you know the process hasn’t even played itself out yet, so no on premature endorsements,” Palin told The Des Moines Register as she eyed livestock in the Cattle Barn.
“And I haven’t even decided yet if I’m going to jump in or not yet.”
I don’t believe it. Even someone with Palin’s grassroots appeal in the GOP can’t afford to wait too long and, so far, there’s absolutely no indication that she’s hired any campaign staff or made any contacts withSubscribe to Comments the powers that be in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina Republican Party’s, and, most significantly, she continues to be employed by Fox News Channel. I believe she has decided, and she’s decided not to run. She’s just playing the media for as long as she can to get the attention that she craves, and to guarantee that she’s the center of attention even when the focus actually belongs somewhere else.
She’s done it three times now, after all.
First, she just happened to be in New Hampshire on the day Mitt Romney was announcing his candidacy. Then, she just happened to be in Iowa on the day Michele Bachmann kicked off her campaign. Now this. Anyone who doesn’t see what she’s doing here is willfully blind. It’s cute little game, but that’s all it is.
I like that she is trolling the Republican Primary. Next she needs to go to that Red State gathering where Perry is announcing.
I think she should announce, but say that she won’t start campaigning until December.
nar·cis·sism /ˈnɑrsəˌsɪzɛm/ Show Spelled[nahr-suh-siz-em] noun
1. inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.
Short version: Palin hasn’t done a lot of the things that one would expect a candidate to do if they were running a conventional campaign for president.
News flash: Palin never had any intention of running a conventional campaign for president.
I have no idea if she’s going to run or not, but her not living up to Doug’s conventional wisdom is utterly irrelevant. She simply doesn’t believe she needs to, and would cause her more harm than good.
I think she’s right on that one.
J.
Obviously it’s undeniable that she’s a shameless publicity whore. That doesn’t exactly distinguish from any number of her peers — and by peers I mean other publicity whores like Paris Hilton, Snookie, Dennis Rodman, Trump.
But Palin’s particular brand of PW-ing goes the extra step by maliciously harming the party that plucked her from her well-deserved obscurity. She’s a publicity whore who bites the hand that feeds her.
All in all, just a lovely person. And she attracts those like herself as we’ll no doubt see here shortly.
@hey norm:
nar·cis·sism /ˈnɑrsəˌsɪzɛm/ Show Spelled[nahr-suh-siz-em] noun
1. inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity. See “Obama.”
Fixed that for ya, chum.
J.
Palin’s sudden appearance is her way of saying “turn the cameras on me!!!” All we need is for her to stamp her pretty little feet and throw a temper tantrum because she hasn’t been getting enough attention (aka narcissistic supply) lately.
Maybe she’s waiting for some kind of a reality television deal before she starts her campaign. TLC presents Caribou Barbie Hits the Campaign Trail.
Palin acts like the old rules don’t apply to her.
Richard Nixon once said “when the president does it, it’s not illegal.”
In both cases, in certain circumstances, they are both exactly right.
J.
@ M. R.
Let’s leave the 7 time rebound leader out of this.
@ JTea…
Just throwing the word “Obama” onto any comment doesn’t actually mean anything. Did Obama show up in Iowa without actually commiting to running? Did he show up when Hillary was announcing her candidacy just to rob the spotlight, like Palin did to the Mittster? I don’t remember that? Did Obama have a reality show, paid for in part by Alaskan citizens, in which his father had to reload his rifle? Did he do fancy pageant walking? Did he attend five different colleges, only to recieve a joke degree in Communications?
I think you just have delusions you are unable to deal with. Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Then seeking professional help is the next.
@Jay Tea:
Which is no doubt why he ended up resigning to avoid certain impeachment.
BTW–Pretending that the rules that apply to others do not apply to them is a hallmark behavior of people, like Palin, who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.
And this, Jay, shows why you are completely morally bankrupt. When people talk about “a nation of laws, not men” you _really_ don’t comprehend what’s being said.
@legion: The specific example I was thinking of, legion, was in the release of classified information. It is illegal for anyone to do so — except the president. He is the final arbiter of what is and what is not classified, and if he just blurts out highly classified information (or does it on purpose), it’s perfectly legal. For example, if Bush (instead of Richard Armitage) had told the world that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative, that’s his prerogative.
J.
That vacuous idiot is not running for president. If she was, she wouldn’t have her job at Fox. She is just a pot-stirrer, enjoying the newfound glamorous life that one gets from being a celebutante. She is not the least bit interested in governing. If she couldn’t handle Alaska, what makes anyone think she can handle a higher office?
@Jay Tea: Well, the Nixon quote you use is absolutely not about that at all. Nixon’s clear concept, which he even elaborates on, is that if the President chooses to break a law, too bad for you. His statement is sometimes couched in the cloak of “national security”, but Nixon very clearly was referring to being unaccountable for _any_ action.
Additionally, while the POTUS may be the ultimate arbiter of what is or is not classified information, it still can’t separate him (or whomever) from the consequences of that act. If, in the Plame example, concrete damage is done to national security by that revelation, it’s the leaker’s fault, even if he couldn’t be convicted for the original leak.
@Anonne: And yet, she continues to fool Jay Tea. What does that say about our crack political analyst?
If Palin runs Obama gets reelected, even if Palin is not the nominee. For the reason that a Palin candidacy by itself will turn the GOP nominating contest into such an abject farce it’ll be impossible for whomever prevails to recover.
If Palin runs and obtains the nomination, hell’s bells, Obama in that event not only is guaranteed another term in office he likely will exceed Bush 41’s landslide electoral vote total from 1988 and perhaps even could challenge the electoral tally of LBJ’s wipeout victory in 1964 over Goldwater.
Probably the greatest irony here is that a large percentage of the conservative chattering classes won’t be able even to grasp the irony.
@Jay Tea: “It is illegal for anyone to do so — except the president.”. Right. Thereby not making it an illegal act when he does so, by definition, and therefore not supporting your thesis.
@legion: I didn’t say that Nixon was right in his application, but the statement itself is true in certain circumstances. In some ways, the president is above the law, and certain laws simply don’t apply to him.
Which was a parallel for Palin and the “laws” of presidential elections. So many rules simply don’t apply to her, and would only unnecessarily bind her.
The same holds for Obama. He did quite a few things that should have instantly disqualified him from winning the election, but he won anyway. Ronald Reagan, too, for that matter.
The “rules” are for most politicians. The truly exceptional ones can pick and choose which they obey.
J.
Such as…
@Jay Tea: No.
There is a massive, massive difference between “rules” and “laws”. The President is most decidedly _not_ “above the law”. The President has the power to suspend certain laws for specific, identifiable reasons, and he is accountable for that – Nixon’s problem (in this instance) is that “getting reelected” isn’t a valid reason. If not, then the entire concept of impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors” would be gibberish.
“Rules”, OTOH, are what govern a game. If you break a rule & nobody calls you on it, then you’re not playing the same game as everyone else. As you say, “exceptional” people can sometimes get away with that. But if you break the law, you’re a criminal. That’s an enormous difference… running for President may look a lot like a game, but _being_ President is altogether different.
I don’t think she’s running — which is a real surprise to me.
I expect this will be the last year or two when anyone takes her seriously outside of perhaps Fox and the talk radio circuit. Her continued appearances have taken on the feeling of “crying wolf” (or should I say “presidential announcement”). The problem is that there has been no substance to any of them.
She’s neither feeding her base or the media with anything of real value. If she was still the only game in town, this might be ok. But right now Bachmann and the imminent arrival of Perry have pretty much our Sarah’d Sarah. She’s not longer going to be able to generate headlines or get covers by just “being Sarah.”
Unless she does something “juicy” soon, she’s on step away from being a candidate for the political equivalent of a “Behind the Music/What ever happened to” special a decade from now.
The only things exceptional about Palin are her stupidity and her audacity. Not sure if that’s enough to win her the GOP nomination, let alone the presidency.
@An Interested Party: Reagan breaking the rules? Nashua, NH, 1980 debate. Several candidates were excluded; Reagan brought them in anyway and got into an argument with the moderator over their inclusion, triggering the infamous “I’m paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!” (Note: the guy’s name was actually Breen.)
Just the first that came to mind.
J.
For the record, I don’t think Palin will run this time around. But I’m not going on record as saying she won’t, because I think if she ever does run, it will not be in accordance with what the experts say should be a traditional campaign. And I think she could make a credible run with a much later official announcement.
J.
“Palin” and “credible”–two words that don’t belong in the same sentence.
Fiona, I thought this article was about Sarah…why are you describing Obama.
Indeed. Just look at the triumph that was Palin’s movie. No need to finish the bus tour, which actually involved a little sustained effort. I remember well how her fan club touted it as a genius move at the time, and we all saw how right they were. Oh, wait…
The only way that I have ever seen a Palin candidacy was in the context of a “save the party from itself” move of the sort that people were hoping Al Gore might make in 2004. If she doesn’t have the stroke to get drafted from the floor (and I don’t think she does at this time) or to be begged to enter the race, she’s smart enough to know (or at least no so witless that she doesn’t realize) that running is an uphill pull with a bottom line that is really much less than being a presenter on Fox News offers.
Say what you will, being governor of Alaska shows that she knows how to cut her losses effectively.
She will run, and she will be nominated.
The rest of the field is pathetically weak, so she will pop right to the top when she finally declares.
doug:
She would be getting almost as much attention right now even if she had said months ago that she wasn’t running. Why? Because her endorsement is worth a lot. So she would be getting lots of attention right now by coyly withholding her endorsement.
Why is she playing this game? Because she can, and because it’s a smart way to maximize the drama of her actual announcement, when that moment finally comes.
You’re looking at the situation from the perspective of a normal, rational candidate whose highest priority is to get nominated and become president. But that’s not her highest priority. Her highest priority is to get as much attention as possible, and to boost her career as a celebrity, while not working too hard.
I don’t think she cares that much about winning the nomination, or winning the White House. She might be actively hoping to win neither. But just running will give her career a nice boost. Whereas not running is a choice that will forever be hard for her to explain, and it will cause people to lose interest in her.
Here’s how we know she’s going to run: because the amount of attention she will get as a candidate exceeds the amount of attention she will get as a non-candidate. So why shouldn’t she run? She has no reason not too. What has she got to lose by running? Nothing, really. So why on earth would she choose not to? Because she couldn’t possibly enter so late and still win? But she doesn’t care.
And here’s why she will enter as late as possible: because that’s a good way to maximize the amount of attention she gets, while also not working much. Aside from liking attention, she likes to avoid work. Staying undeclared as long as possible minimizes the amount of work she has to do.
voice:
Her Fox job will be waiting for her when she’s done running, and she’ll be worth more after all the drama of being in the race.