Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
For the past few years, Sarah Palin has been making a movie about herself. Actually, she hasn't been making it, but she initiated the project. From Real Clear Politics:
Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role, the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment: Reach out to conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon with a request. Ask him if he would make a series of videos extolling Palin's governorship and laying to rest lingering questions about her controversial decision to resign from office with a year-and-a-half left in her first term. It was this abdication, Palin knew, that had made her damaged goods in the eyes of some Republicans who once were eager to get behind her potential 2012 presidential campaign.
The response was more positive than Palin could have hoped for. He'd make a feature-length movie, Bannon told Mansour, and he insisted upon taking complete control and financing it himself -- to the tune of $1 million.
To anyone who thinks she's a lightweight, or not-so-bright, think again. This is some gutsy, long-term thinking. With an emphasis on gutsy:
Though she did not have any editorial role in the project, Palin facilitated access for Bannon and his film crew to key Alaskan defenders who were involved with the major achievements of her administration, and the filmmaker spent several weeks in the 49th state gathering archival film and conducting research and interviews for the project. He and his team took extraordinary measures to keep their endeavor secret.
The movie, according to many sources, is done. And it's impressive. It's a large-lens look at Palin's life, time in office, and genuine accomplishments.
It's also a fairly complete look at the controversial governor. Again, from RCP:
To convey Bannon's view of the pathology behind Palin-hatred, the film begins with a fast-paced sequence of clips showing some of the prominent celebrities who have used sexist, derogatory and generally vicious language to describe her.
Rosie O'Donnell, Matt Damon, Bill Maher, David Letterman, and Howard Stern all have brief cameos before comedian Louis C.K. goes off on a particularly ugly anti-Palin riff.
"I hate her more than anybody," C.K. says at the end of his tirade, the rest of which is unfit to print here.
Bannon intends to release two versions of the film. An unrated edition will contain some obscene anti-Palin language and imagery, while the other is targeted to a general audience and will seek a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
Again, this is a canny move, both from the perspective of the filmmaker -- more controversy = more ticket sales -- and from the point of view of Palin. The unhinged hatred people have for her makes her even more popular with some people. Even people like me, who have reservations about her presidential run.
And she is running for president.
How do I know?
When's the premiere of the movie, you ask? Next month.
Where's the premiere of the movie, you ask? Iowa.
Sarah Palin is running for president. And this film is her opening shot. From all reports, it's a big one. Despite my misgivings, I have to say: I wish her well, and I'm rooting for her. I just haven't figured out exactly what I'm rooting for her to do.
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Comments:
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Other Conor
Channeling conservative convert David Mamet:
"Nominations are for closers."
"You think Alaska was abuse? You think Alaska was abuse? You can't take Alaska -- how can you take the abuse you get in DC?"
"Oh yeah, I used to be a governor, it's a tough racket." · May 25 at 12:07pm
Even Mamet would acknowledge that the abuse President Palin would get in DC is nothing compared to the abuse private citizen Palin gets today -- and she doesn't have any perks of office to cushion the blow.
Funny that a "quitter" is so willing to put herself into the political fray in the face of that onslaught. Funny too that she's so different from the typical politician would would lie, cheat, steal and sell out his or her grandmother to gain and cling to elective office. Yes, something must be wrong with her: she didn't view being in office as the purpose of public service.
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Mark Belling Fan
Friedman, Buckley, and Thatcher all simultaneously? Doesn't that seem like a fairly high hurdle?
Which current Republican hopefull meets that test?
Have any of them even endorsed Medicare reform?
Say what you want about Palin, I don't think she will sell Paul Ryan down the river. Can you say that with confidence about Romney or Pawlenty? · May 25 at 12:05pm
You're addressing a Daniels fan. Doc Rahe didn't need to convince me that Romney is our worst nightmare. Pawlenty is my reluctant second-choice as a matter of necessity now that Daniels is out. I don't know much about Thaddeus McCotter, but I'm interested given the little I've read about him here at Ricochet.
My only concern ever about Palin was her depth of knowledge, or lack thereof, on foundational conservative principles and policies. She needed to exhibit more than a passing interest in educating herself after she quit her job, rather than promoting herself in silly un-presidential reality shows. Did you watch it? I had to quit. It was too painful.
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Stuart Creque
Kenneth
I think I'm in love with you... · May 25 at 11:56am
The difference between W. Chauvinist and you, Kenneth, is that he would be persuaded by Palin achieving the Friedman/Buckley/Thatcher trifecta, whereas you you would find some reason to prove it didn't happen. · May 25 at 12:05pm
Oh, Stuart. Don't be such a male chauvinist! He's a she! ;-)
Aug '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
double-post
Edited on May 25, 2011 at 9:41pmJun '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Bill Whalen: Here's today's challenge, Ricochters: can someone, please, explain why Palin running is a good thing for the GOP?
She's better than Romney... is that a good thing?
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Other Conor
I would disagree that Palin is getting it any worse than any of the other candidates, she has her supporters and her skeptics, like every other candidate. Obama may get a pass, but I have yet to see a Republican candidate get one. · May 25 at 12:27pm
Just curious: which other Republican candidate or potential candidate has been honored with his or her own porn satire, a la "Nailin' Palin"?
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Aaron Miller
Mark Belling Fan
Friedman, Buckley, and Thatcher all simultaneously? Doesn't that seem like a fairly high hurdle?
Which current Republican hopefull meets that test?
Have any of them even endorsed Medicare reform?
Exactly. I think many people hold Palin to a higher standard than they do for other candidates.
The resignation concern needs to be addressed. She needs to speak in detail about her own policy views. But she's certainly no worse than Romney or Gingrich, who could attract many votes despite their pasts, even if her resignation answer is weak. · May 25 at 12:17pm
Look. She was a half-term governor of a sparsely populated back-woods state. I'm a great admirer of her personally. I tell people I'd love to have her as my sister-in-law or next door neighbor. But she hasn't exhibited the depth of knowledge or experience on key economic or national issues as someone like Daniels or Ryan. If I write hyperbolically, it is to make that point.
She does create buzz though! Just watch this thread.
Jan '11
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Rob Long
Stuart Creque: "For the past few years"
Rob, did you mean months? · May 25 at 11:38am
Apparently, this has been in the works since "shortly after" the 2008 election. · May 25 at 11:44am
Actually Rob, it seems like it was "shortly after" the elections last November 2010.
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Western Chauvinist
Oh, Stuart. Don't be such a male chauvinist! He's a she! ;-) · May 25 at 12:35pm
My apologies - I never knew "Western" was a traditional girl's name.
As for Palin's trifecta:
1) Palin on Friedman and other free-market economists
2) "Sarah Palin For The Fed?"
3) Palin on wanting to meet Thatcher in London
4) WFB's brother Reid Buckley on Palin and reviving WFB's legacy
Let me know if you find these informative.
Oct '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Kenneth
dittoheadadt
Kenneth
Assuming it's fair and honest? It is, by definition and design, a bit of political fluffery. Why on earth would I be persuaded by $1 million of propaganda?
Why not wait and see whether it actually is fluffery or propaganda? Why pass judgment before you know anything about it? Isn't that behavior the realm of the Left?
Gosh, I'm so prejudiced it didn't occur to me that someone with as many negatives as Palin would spend $1 million to produce a balanced movie that is specifically intended to kick off a presidential campaign.
There you go again, Kenneth. Offering sarcasm instead of substance. You really have a blind spot with SP. I mean, most of your non-SP posts are enlightening. But whenever you weigh in on SP, there's nothing.
What part of "...and he insisted upon taking complete control and financing it himself -- to the tune of $1 million..." and "...she did not have any editorial role in the project..." did you not understand?
Oct '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Gus Marvinson
Bill Whalen: Here's today's challenge, Ricochters: can someone, please, explain why Palin running is a good thing for the GOP?
· May 25 at 11:27am
She will win, and she is a conservative. Got any hard ones? · May 25 at 11:52am
Or better yet, turn it around:
Here's today's challenge, Ricocheters: can someone, please, explain why Palin running is not a good thing for the GOP?
(note: "explain" does not mean "snide comments" or "gratuitous insults")
Dec '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
On the "quitter" meme:
Ricochet's own Mitch Daniels has declined to run for President in 2012 in order to protect his family from the indignities of the campaign. That is his right and he is the only person fit to make that decision.
But has Sarah Palin ever backed down from a challenge because it might expose her family to anything they aren't tough enough to take?
When Joe McGinnis decided to invade her family's privacy in the most direct possible way, she didn't plead for someone else to make the mean man go away. She just asked Todd and his buddies to build a fence.
Hell, when her daughter became pregnant on the eve of a national campaign, she didn't try to hide it or keep it secret. She dealt with it forthrightly as a matter of fact.
I don't get the "quitter" meme -- I mean, I understand why Lefties who fear her grasp onto it as their one best line of attack, but I don't understand why anyone else gives it much credence, or even thought.
Oct '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
That's fine. A reasonable standard. But it requires you to keep an open mind to allow her to "prove (whether) she's done her homework."
May '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Other Conor
I would disagree that Palin is getting it any worse than any of the other candidates, she has her supporters and her skeptics, like every other candidate. Obama may get a pass, but I have yet to see a Republican candidate get one.
I'm not suggesting others get a pass. But it seems more common for people to dismiss Palin out-of-hand than for people to utterly reject other candidates; both on and off Ricochet.
I'm not endorsing Palin. I'm just saying that, like Romney and Gingrich, she will be popular despite her flaws (most voters are not politics / news junkies) and we should all be considering which bitter pills we would be willing to swallow if our B- and C-grade candidates end up on top.
I live in Texas. That means maybe a third of the candidates who show up in Iowa will still be on the ballot when my vote comes around. If Palin runs, I expect she will make it to the later primaries.
Aug '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Kenneth
I think I'm in love with you... · May 25 at 11:56am
Yeah buddy!
Oct '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Kenneth
Aaron Miller: Before this movie was announced, I didn't think she would enter the race.
If she runs, she will be among the most popular candidates. If this movie presents a good argument for her abandoning her governorship, she will be duking it out with Romney for the #1 slot.
Like her or not, the main reason the media and the Left have so viciously gone after her is because they fear her. They recognize her potential to withstand their usual tactics and defeat Obama, even if many conservatives don't. She might be the only Republican candidate who knows how to play offense. · May 25 at 11:30am
Sorry, Aaron, but there is no Republican nominee Obama would more happily face than Sarah Palin. · May 25 at 11:33am
Oh, I see. The Left has spent the last two years giving her the Robert Bork / Clarance Thomas / Ronald Reagan denigration treatment because she is their favorite opponent, as were the other three.
Perhaps John McCain's treatment by the Left is your idea of a recommendation?
May '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Western Chauvinist
Look. She was a half-term governor of a sparsely populated back-woods state. I'm a great admirer of her personally. I tell people I'd love to have her as my sister-in-law or next door neighbor. But she hasn't exhibited the depth of knowledge or experience on key economic or national issues as someone like Daniels or Ryan.
And neither Daniels nor Ryan is in the race.
What we're left with is a bunch of candidates talking in platitudes and generalizations. I couldn't care less what their values are if they don't explicitly address entitlements and propose radical reductions in government power.
For generations, we have had Republican leaders with plenty of knowledge and political experience but lacking the will to unravel government expansion and publicly acknowledge that compromise with Democrats means ceding authority and debt to central government. Palin and Bachmann will have my consideration so long as they continue to plainly call out Democrats on their lies and tell Americans to buck up for some hard sacrifices.
Western Chauvinist
She does create buzz though!
That she does.
Feb '11
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Stuart- I have no animus towards her, simply questions about someone who is rumored (here) to want to be the most powerful person on the planet.
I think that the abuse she will get on the campaign trail and in office will make what she has endured thus far seem like a walk in the park. I am not saying that it is fair or a good thing that she will get this abuse, just that she will. Do you really believe that the Soros set will leave her be? What do you think Obama will be spending his $1 billion war chest on?
My question was whether she can adequately explain that leaving office was in the best interest of the people she asked to elect her. Maybe resigning was in someway noble, but the onus is on her to show that.
Yes she doesn't have the perks of office but she isn't Cinncinnatus either, she does have her Fox and book deals. Romeny has to answer for Romneycare, Newt has to answer for being Newt, Cain for never having held office, Santorum for having lost his seat. It goes with the turf.
Aug '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
Sarah knows she has to bypass a mainstream media that seeks to destroy her.
She is not stupid, unlike many in the GOP that grovel for favorable press where there is none coming, ever.
May '10
Re: Sarah Palin is Running for President. For Real.
To clarify my last comment, I'm not suggesting Palin has been very specific either. What I'm saying is that the will to propose a sharp turn from the status quo and the will to publicly take the Left to task, instead of just playing defense all the time (like Republicans normally do), is every bit as important as experience and knowledge. I believe our nation is on the brink of collapse. Under such circumstances, we don't need a manager... we need a general (figuratively speaking).