Palin: Going Public
- Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 6:29
- Battleground Iowa
- 1,317 views
- 34 comments
By Emily Geiger
I saw Sarah Palin’s interview with Oprah, and I thought she went a long way towards answering some questions people still have about her.
For example, I thought she answered the questions about the widely-panned Katie Couric interview very well. She basically said that she was annoyed with Couric because she interpreted Katie’s demeanor and questioning as being very condescending.
I have to say, given the clips replayed on the Oprah show of the Couric interview, I agree with that assessment. First, Couric was speaking unusually slowly, like you would with a small child or with someone who doesn’t speak English very well.
Palin interpreted Couric’s question about what books, magazines, and newspapers she reads as basically asking, “So, how does a stupid hick chick such as yourself know about anything important anyways?”
Palin admitted that she should not have let her annoyance show and probably should have just answered the (insulting) question.
I also thought that Palin provided a much better explanation of why she resigned her position as governor than I’ve heard her articulate before. Basically, Palin said that her presence as governor had become too distracting given the partisan attacks that were constantly being leveled against her (often in the form of expensive and unfounded ethics complaints), and that, because she loves Alaska so much, she felt she needed to get out of the way so that the government of Alaska could get back to functioning normally and taking care of its people.
I remember listening to Palin’s initial press conference in which she announced her resignation. I believe that this is what she was trying to articulate back then (along with concerns about her family), but, due to nerves (and probably, in hindsight, an inadequate amount of preparation), these ideas were not at all communicated effectively by Palin at that time.
However, that doesn’t mean that those are not good reasons for her resignation. In fact, I think her actions in this regard can be viewed as very selfless. She was willing to put the good of her state and her people above her own personal ambitions. Not many politicians would do that.
Overall, I think Palin did herself a lot of good. She is at her best when she can speak from the heart. When she talks about the issues with Bristol’s pregnancy and with her own baby, Trigg, she connects with every mom out there. When she talks about her personal testimony of choosing life, it is extraordinarily powerful.
I really don’t think Palin has her heart set on establishing herself as a 2012 presidential candidate. Right now, since she doesn’t have a job, it seems her focus is on selling books so she can take care of her family. And, I really think her other professional focus is just about promoting conservative principles and doing what she can to further those conservative principles as a private citizen.
I also think she’s done a great job at dealing with some pretty tough questions in the last few days. I heard a clip of Barbara Walters’ interview from Tuesday morning in which Walters asked Palin how she felt about McCain campaign bigwig Steve Schmidt saying that a Palin presidential candidacy would be “catastrophic.”
The irony of Schmidt’s statements, which Palin pointed out, is that Schmidt himself was the person responsible for the vetting process when she was chosen to be the vice presidential nominee, so if he didn’t think she was qualified to be president, he’s a pretty pathetic excuse of a high-level campaign operative to have let her selection take place. Of course, she said it a little nicer than that.
Or maybe Schmidt’s just trying to railroad her because he is diametrically opposed to everything she stands for in regard to social issues, particularly the issue of gay marriage given that Schmidt’s own sister is gay, and he has spoken publicly in favor of gay marriage.
So, tell me again, who is the one out of touch with Republicans and the public in general. Once again, this might not be everyone’s number one issue, but when presented with it, the public overwhelmingly supports traditional marriage, especially when given the opportunity to do so at the ballot box.
Bottom line, Palin scored some big points this week on the favorability scale. Self interested political operatives (who would have no chance of ever working on a Palin campaign) like Steve Schmidt lost some big points this week and are basically being outted for what they really are… a bunch of self-interested, out of touch hypocrites.
About the Author
Battleground Iowa has written 222 stories on this site.
Emily Geiger writes from a conservative perspective on everything from politics to religion to pop culture. Like the original Emily of Revolutionary War era, this Emily is delivering important messages crucial to winning the raging war of the time, but today, this is a culture war rather than a traditional one. And, like the original Emily, sometimes it takes a woman to do (or say) that which lesser men lack the courage and tenacity to do.
34 Comments on “Palin: Going Public”
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Palin has poisoned the Party. She is attractive only to the lunatic fringe. The polls show overwhelmingly the electorate has no faith in her as a leader. She will take her freak show to great metropolitan areas such as Sioux City where she can hide behind her frothing at the mouth followers and avoid scrutiny. Love her latest observation that the “In God We Trust” inscription has been moved closer to the edge on coins implying that we are moving closer to a Godless society surely demonstrates the cognitive skills for higher office. The sooner her red hot burns out the better.
Awl-rite, so Emily is impressed and approves. Well isn’t that just speshull.
I am curious, does Palin travel with Trig? She seems to be on the road a lot for a mom of a special-needs toddler. But maybe she brings him along and I haven’t heard about it.
“Freak show” “lunatic fringe”…
MIE, CD…you two never learn do you.
Palin’s out there saying what a lot of people in this country are feeling right now. And she’s pretty much the face of the frustration that many people have about the Republican Party in general. The way that she was handled by the McCain campaign is a classic case study of how NOT to run a successful campaign.
However, what is amazing is the double standard in how Palin is treated…compared to what a liberal woman would be treated.
For example…the AP assigned ELEVEN, count em, ELEVEN staffers to “fact check” Palin’s book. Guess how many they assigned to “fact check” Hilary Clinton’s book “Living History”–ZERO.
Newsweek puts a picture of Palin in running shorts on its cover in a tasteless exercise in exploitation…and nary a word from NOW or any other feminist organization..
Put a picture of Michelle Obama though wearing the same thing…and you can damn well bet you’d see every women’s organization screaming their lungs out for Newsweek to retract it.
Hawk–she’s the one that put herself out there making millions so she is better have a flak jacket on. She may represent the frustrations of a certain segment of the population. If that indeed is the case then I feel sorry for the people who are attracted to her. They must be ignorant, narrow-minded and have no capacity for independent thought. Moreover, from what I have learned from Republican organs is that she is vapid, a quitter, an ingrate, a liar, selfish and a poor mother. Good mothers don’t let their daughters get knocked up. To think you have been hoodwinked by this good looking phony speaks volumes about your political judgment (or lack thereof).
MIE,
You are the last person that should be questioning someone else’s political judgement. While I may have disagreements with HawkCR1, I cannot see him voting R just for the sake of voting R as you have admitted you would do.
Al–I’m sorry. I don’t vote R just to vote R. I look for moderate candidates who are smart, educated, accomplished, responsible and sensible–all the attributes that have passed you by.
“Couric was speaking unusually slowly, like you would with a small child or with someone who doesn’t speak English very well.” I don’t mean to be condescending, but Palin is not an intellectual heavyweight. The answers she gave during that interview would suggest that Couric needed to speak even more slowly. The best thing for the Republican party (as opposed to the far-right base) would be for her to drop out of the public eye just like she dropped out of being governor.
Iavoter–the fact that she quit being governor to make a buck selling her book singularly disqualifies her from holding office again. She is the stuff of the Bravo Channel. She stumbles from one personal crisis to another just like the shallow pathetic Women of Orange County and the Kerdashian (sp?) sisters. To substitue such rubbish for national leadership shows how utterly stupid some people are. What an indictment against the radical right!
Becha Newsweek and whatever running mag originally took and used the photo, are each laughing all the way to the bank. Good business sense, an old-fashioned Republican (anybody remember them?) ideal.
Besides, I kinda like the photo, just might print it out, find me some duct tape, and stick it up over the workbench in the garage alongside Ann Margaret and Raquel Welch.
CD–how Farrah Fawcett?
And, the conservative woman bashing continues.
You guys can’t criticize her because she’s done well for herself in these interviews and explained a lot of the misconceptions about her, so you resort to personal attacks and insinuations that she’s not a good mother (Yes, DMDem, I’m talking to you. As a woman, you should be ashamed of yourself).
You’ve proven her point over and over again about there being a double standard, and I’m guess you’re just going to keep doing it.
MIE, will I see you at the Culver holiday party in a few weeks? Hope you bring your wife along too.
Scott–good mothers don’t let their daughters get knocked up. Where’s the double standard? She, to promote and sell her books is displaying her faux family as if they were mere fashion accessories. If her purpose is to sell books and make money, I say good for her. If her goal is to further her political ambitions, it’s game on. Politics is a full contact sport. Look how Limbaugh bashed Clinton’s daughter. Look how the ITR is portraying Culver with the photos. Brutal but that’s how the game is played. Live with it.
Amber-isn’t she gorgeous?
“Good mothers don’t let their daughters get knocked up.” Wow, you must live in a box. I know a lot of good mothers who have had rebelious and/or boy crazy daughters, some of whom have gotten pregnant. Of course, I suppose your friends who are all good mothers would have just gone down to the local planned parenthood and “taken care of the problem.”
And yes, there is a double standard with Palin. When is the last time you saw Hillary or any democrat woman on the cover of newsweek in running shorts? Nobody fact checking Hillary’s book while Palin gets 10 AP fact checkers? Morons who won’t acknowledge the double standard when it is so freaking obvious that even Oprah acknowledged it?
Please, come join the real world.
Scott–you are absolutely correct in showing compassion for families that are caught up in such an unfortunate set of circumstances. That compassion should also be given to other unfortuate families such as black fatherless families who are struggling to make ends meet; families with unemployed parents who no longer can afford adequate health care, families struggling with children addicted to drugs. I could go on and on.
My (I hope) friend MIE wrote: “good mothers don’t let their daughters get knocked up”.
Back in the day, good Repubs would’ve just been whispering, “Happens in the best of families.”
Double standard?… I’m not really convinced one is being applied. Palin doesn’t really compare to Hillary in terms of issue awareness, political and diplomatic skill. Hillary isn’t nearly the “celebrity” that Palin is. They share the commonality that they are female politicians. If those are the only factors you consider, then ok, its a double standard. But really, they are a long ways apart in aptitude and experience.
Palin is a sex symbol and a bit of a joke as a serious politician, so as strange as the Newsweek cover is, its not that surprising. Newsweek wants to make money, thats why they did it.
Palin is a known liar and stretcher of the truth, its part of her reputation. While I don’t doubt HIllary has probably lied as much or more as Palin, her assumed lies aren’t obvious, its not part of her reputation. So the application of an army of fact-checkers on Palin and none on Hillary, is closer to smart judgment than unfair treatment.
We don’t know how much or what type of sex education Palin offered her daughter, so its very tough to assign culpability on the mother for the daughter’s pregnancy. Sure it looks bad, but thats ridiculous to blame Sarah for it. Although, she surely passed along the genetic predisposition to love penis, and Alaska is a pretty boring place for a teenager. If we knew Palin didn’t discuss safe sex with her daughter or only talked about abstinence, its totally fair to assign her quite a bit of blame, but we don’t know that stuff. Even so, good parenting only goes so far before the kid has to make his/her own decisions.
And I love Hawk’s statement way earlier- “The way that she was handled by the McCain campaign is a classic case study of how NOT to run a successful campaign.” Yeah, it was an unsuccessful campaign, what better way to learn how to not be successful! It was a mistake for McCain to even pick her, it got the base on board, but it guaranteed they would lose because it alienated the middle. The middle wins elections. It was a huge gamble, but he had to do something.
Further, Palin is doing slightly better in this latest wave of interviews, but not much better than before. Her explanation for the “what newspapers and mags do you read” screw up with Couric is very poor. But at least she does hone up to some responsibility, even though she puts blame right back on Couric in the next sentence. She doesn’t come off as natural with Oprah, she is still trying to talk like someone she is not.
By the way Emily, I note in some of this day’s commentary that the subject lady admitted yesterday on Barbara Walters’ that Obama IS NOT LYING when he says there are no death panels.
Well I’ll be durned.
robpo – Palin is a known liar??
You know, before you start throwing ridiculous claims you might want to actually give Some kind of supporting evidence. By the way, have you forgotten the phrase, “it’s just a right wing conspiracy against us”? or have you forgotten about White water?
Some further Hillary lies,
Chelsea was jogging around the Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Hillary was named after Sir Edmund Hillary.
She was under sniper fire in Bosnia. (Now this one was especially funny to me)
She learned in The Wall Street Journal how to make a killing in the futures market.
If you really want to start talking about known liars, why don’t we start with some whoppers like “I did not have sex with that woman.” or, “I invented the Internet”
I’ve never heard her say Obama wasn’t lying about death panels, and I watched the Oprah and the Walters’ interviews online.
And, by the way, when you combine nationalized healthcare with the now-being-implemented Health Infomation Technology systems (funded by the “stimulus”) and the “comparative effectiveness research” also being funded by the government, you’ve got a situation where the govenrment knows everything about your health, they are making the decisions about what care is cost effective, and they are deciding if you can have the care you need with no other alternatives (even private pay) available.
Sounds like death panels to me.
http://theiowarepublican.com/home/2009/11/18/palin-going-public/#comment-12902
Deace/Peggy/CT/Scott/Al–help. What’s all of this chatter about ARTL and Prolife Profiles dissing Mrs. Palin? She appoints a member of Planned Parenthood to the Alaska Supreme Court. Oh my!!!
Mod –
You’re exactly right on that, she needs to come up with a better answer than I had no choice on that one. I suspect she may restate her position, if questioned.
Why are you asking me for help, Mod?
Peggy–you run in the pro-life circles. I was wondering if you have given any thought to the news reports including the reports that she appointed a Planned Parenthood member to the Alaska Supreme Court. For heaven’s sake, Mrs. Palin may be a closet moderate.
It’s not good, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t count myself among the Palin fanatics.
Peggy: You are much too sensible to be fooled by Palin.
Good point Conservative Thinker – Bill, HIllary and Sarah go in the same bucket. Agreed.
I hadn’t heard those HIllary lies before, except the one about sniper fire in Bosnia. What an idiot. Thats the stuff I’m talking about, thats a Palin-esque type of lie.
Speaking of Palin lies… her quip in the Convention speech about saying no thanks to the Bridge To Nowhere. That was her position after the Feds already killed it. Even to the larger points she made about saying no to federal money was BS, she took lots of earmarks for Wasilla and Alaska as a politician up there. She still took the Bridge money! Just not for the bridge. She repeated this lie multiple times in speeches following the Convention. She also lied about Iraq troop levels in the debate with Biden and throughout the campaign lied about the tax policies Obama put forward and even his actual voting record on taxes in his short career in the Senate. She lied about the health care plan put forward by McCain, saying it was budget neutral even though experts estimated it would cost in ranges of up to $100 billion a year. These are things easily checked. As an informed citizen, I sat there stunned she had the balls to say things I already knew to be false as she said them. Its one thing to exaggerate and mischaraterize an opponent’s words, they all do that to an extent. But when these lies were brought to light, she didn’t stop repeating them.
That said, her Convention speech was good for all the zingers she delivered. It was effective for uneducated citizens. It turned me sour on her because I thought she was really going to be a straight talker and try to move beyond political BS. She was quite the opposite. Add the abhorrent interviews that followed and she was done and over in my book. She’s not a serious politician, shes a celebrity that just spits out talking points and zingers. No intellectual integrity in that pretty head.