Colleen O’Connor: Palin: ‘Keep on honking; I’m reloading’
In this Sept. 24, 2009 file photo, former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, center, arrives at the check-in counter at Hong Kong airport. Palin emerged from a two-month absence from public view in an unlikely manner: With a closed-door speech, heavy on foreign policy, to a group of investors in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
I told you so.
On July 6, I dubbed Sarah Palin’s resignation as Governor of Alaska, a “brilliant political move.”
Willie Brown, the former Mayor of San Francisco, was one of the few liberals who agreed.
Yes, it was about money, about going onto a larger stage than Alaska, and about keeping options open.
But, it was also about upending traditional insider politics and the mainstream media that covers them. Thus far, Palin, once considered a sideshow in American politics, is drawing a more devoted constituency than the three-ring circus in Washington, D.C.
Interest in her is so high that a fan recently paid $63,500 to have dinner with her, part of an Internet auction for a charity that aids wounded veterans.
Initial Findings:
Palin is a bigger ratings magnet now than before she resigned. Look at the various political websites. Whether it is to ridicule, revile, or admire her, no major outlet is without its attempted coverage of her.
She has successfully banned the main stream media from her events and pushes past them with tweets, Twitter and Facebook entries. Who can forget the “death panel” phrase that knee-capped the current health care bills? Talk about a reduced carbon footprint.
Invitations abound — over 1,200 at last count. She accepted one highly paid speaking engagement in Hong Kong and the press had to resort to surreptitious cell phone videos, tape recordings or exit interviews to report what she said.
Heavy countable Palin “clicks” on the Internet sell ads — as do mentions of her name in newspapers and on TV — both old line media with declining audiences.
What fun that must be for the media — counting on one’s nemesis to save you.
Palin is Bankable
Why so much attention to a “has been” Governor?
Because Palin is that commodity that is so lacking in this economy. She is bankable.
Or as Michael Falcone wrote on POLITICO, she remains the “hottest brand name in politics.”
Currently, there are five different Palin action figure dolls. Her asking fee per speech competes with former heads of state. And her book is due out Nov. 17 – months earlier than previously estimated, and just in time for the heavy holiday book buying season. (Sorry eBook fans. That feature will be delayed until Dec. 26).
About that book
The initial book run is 1.5 million copies — enviable for any author. The reputed advance is $7 million, and it is already #1 on the Amazon bestseller list.
The title: “Going Rogue: An American Life.” Already the sneak previews have begun.
Of local interest, Palin spent several weeks in San Diego working on the manuscript with her collaborator, Lynn Vincent.
Palin is almost without peer in the oxygen starved Republican Party. Granted that former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee, outpolled her in the conservative “straw poll” recently, and that former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney has logged more TV face time, but Palin still fascinates in ways few comprehend.
See related: O’Connor: Sarah Palin for mother of the year | O’Connor: Hilary v. Sarah 2012 | Jason Owens: This media elite not apologizing to Sarah Palin
New American Mythology
Palin is an historian’s dream, not just because of her mega-star quality, or her supernova rise from Alaska to everywhere, but because she embodies something left over from the 19th century Frederick Jackson Turner “frontier thesis” that so dictated America’s history and mythology.
According to Turner, it was the frontier that made America competitive, innovative, and free of the shackles that bound old Europe. The frontier was our liberating destiny.
Oddly enough, the 21st century’s fabled frontiersman is a woman!
Whether she is a throwback to former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher; the twin to the recently elected Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel; or a comedic replay of right-wing housewife, Phyllis Schaffly, (who so enraged feminists in the 1970s); no one, as yet, can say.
That is she a force is undisputable. To what end is debatable.
Hence, the conflict
The virulence of the anti-Palin crowd remains stunning. An Alaskan paper recently had to apologize for a “terrible mistake” when they headlined Palin’s Hong Kong address with “A Broad in Asia.”
["Today I must apologize to Mrs. Palin personally and on behalf of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner for the choice of words used on the bottom of Wednesday's front page regarding her speaking engagement in Hong Kong this week to a group of global investors." (September 23, 2009)]
The “tut-tutting” among political insiders and the mainstream media is now encyclopedic in scope.
Why, one wonders, does a reputed political “lightweight” draw such heavy criticism?
That unknowable is why she remains fascinating. Evidently, she frightens people — especially on the coasts.
The hinterland loves her.
At the recent California GOP convention in Indian Wells, posters featured Palin alongside the Statue of Liberty with the words, “Two Ladies Worth Fighting For,” inked underneath.
Palin, herself, may or may not comprehend her polarizing nature, but Willie Brown credits her with “some of the best political instincts I have ever seen.” Best to take her seriously.
The popular California bumper sticker, “Keep On Honking. I’m Reloading,” may capture the mystery that is Sarah Palin.
On the traffic-congested coasts, the threat refers to impatient car owners. In the less populated rural areas, it may refer to migrating Canadian geese.
But for Palin, it epitomizes the response to her media detractors.
“Keep on honking. I’m reloading.”
Colleen O’Connor is an SDNN political columnist.
Tags: author, book, California, hong kong, media, Sarah Palin, SDNN
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Comment by: Stacy Posted: October 1, 2009, 12:40 pm
Great article.
Thank you for an honest representation of Sarah Palin in the public eye. The best way to gauge your article is that after reading it, I have no idea what your political beliefs are.
It’s good to see journalism alive and well in my home town.
Comment by: humanpower Posted: October 1, 2009, 1:51 pm
Well, Stacy, then you’re not paying attention. And yes, Colleen, Sarah Palin scares the bejeezus out of me. You know why? It’s the same reason George W. scared the bejeezus out of me. The power of charismatic idiots without sound ideas to motivate constituents based solely on fear and ignorance is pretty damned scary.
Comment by: Dan Posted: October 1, 2009, 1:55 pm
humanpower, LOL you just described Obama and his supporters perfectly! LOL
Comment by: Rachelle Posted: October 1, 2009, 1:58 pm
Great article!!! Thanks for sending it 2 me!I’m going 2 post your comment on my blog, so others can read this! Rachelle http://www.conservativegirlwithavoice.com
Comment by: Nicole Posted: October 1, 2009, 2:03 pm
Awesome article. I’m so sick of the unsubstantiated insults against this woman. And Humanpower, you scare easily! You lump Sarah in with George Bush … who is the ignorant one? Do you know anything about her record in Alaska? Did you know that the Alaska GOP refused to put Sarah’s picture on their state website after she won the governorship? The state GOP hated her because she exposed their corruption! She is no George Bush party darling!
Corrupt lobbyists and legislators are sitting in prison in Alaska, in large part because Sarah Palin doesn’t go with the flow. She challenges the comfortable, and comforts the challenged.
Sounds like just what we need more of in politics!
Comment by: Sapwolf Posted: October 1, 2009, 2:45 pm
Palin gets it.
Her speech in Hong Kong pretty much spells out her views on many issues.
It appears based on her beliefs and her governing and leadership in Alaska that she is the ‘anti-Obama’.
Obama is for dependency, but Sarah is for liberty.
Obama is for big messy overbearing gov. and Sarah is for limited government.
Obama is for involuntary collectivism, and Sarah is for voluntary charity.
The differences are so striking that I don’t see how she doesn’t run for the presidency in 2012, and she will win if Obama does not pull back from the far left and back to the middle like Clinton did. If he does, he will get a second term, but if he doesn’t and keeps showing his ineptness as POTUS, Sarah will defeat him despite the media protecting Obama.
She’s a force of nature, and the media will not be able to portray the lie forever.
She’s basically Ronald Reagan in her views.
After the new Carter, the country will be ready to embrace liberty again.
Comment by: Sapwolf Posted: October 1, 2009, 2:49 pm
Humanpower,
Do you know how funny your remark is? It describes the emptiness of Obama and the machine he brought with him from Chicago.
The loser goes to Denmark to lobby for Chicago when he is a president of the COUNTRY.
Why? Because Obama still has some puppet strings attached to him from the Daly machine and the corrupt state gov. in Illinois.
Any notice how many people who were foolish enough to project so much onto Obama have rubbed and scratched off the Obama bumper stickers now that they see the true man that he is.
We warned, and now many people regret it and won’t admit they voted for him.
Comment by: Jilly Posted: October 1, 2009, 2:54 pm
August 08
Alaskan Fisherman talks about Sarah Palin
By Dewie Whetsell, Alaskan Fisherman
As posted in comments on Greta’s artical referncing the MOVEON ad about Sarah Palin
by Dewey Whetsell
The last 45 of my 66 years I’ve spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here’s the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it…It’s not about persona, style, rhetoric, it’s about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I’m about to mention here.
1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor’s office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican’s “Corrupt Bastards Club” (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, throwing confetti and singing “la la la la” (well, you know how they are). Name another governor in this country that has ever done anything similar. But while you’re thinking, I’ll continue.
2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So, she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called “ACES”. Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them “don’t let the door hit you in the stern on your way out.” They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has done anything similar.
3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor’s office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as “pork”. She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the “when-hell-freezes-over” stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we’ll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor’s jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor’s cook (remarking that she could cook for her own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never mentioning—I imagine—that she’s packing heat herself). I’m still waiting to hear the names of those other governors.
4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed “gosh and golly” mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn’t impress you, then you’re trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand.
5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn’t start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started. This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again.
6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025. We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona . Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that’s just a cover-up. I’m still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won’t be holding my breath.
By the way, she was content to to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn’t let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better.
Comment by: Ted Clayton Posted: October 1, 2009, 2:55 pm
Ms. O’Conner,
Outstanding assessment.
humanpower,
You’re flatly mistaken about Palin being a “charismatic idiot”: whether she is charismatic is a matter of personal judgement … tho there is a strong consensus; but, branding her an idiot is simply an avoidable (and disempowering) fallacy.
Likewise, the appraisal that Palin supporters are motivated “solely on fear and ignorance” fails to take account of the observable enthusiasm, and does nothing to check their progress.
No, actually, Sarah Palin is certainly highly intelligent, and her supporters certainly run the full gamut of human-kind: a few lightweights, mostly average, and a few big-bore types that can stand off and trade salvos with anybody on earth.
Comment by: palinpower Posted: October 1, 2009, 2:58 pm
humanpower,
Just like they did with George W. Bush, the liberal Democrat butt-kissing media is trying to make people think she is stupid. Well, G.W. Bush turned out to be smarter than your Democrat candidate John F Kerry. Who’s stupid now?
The Democrats are so scared of her star power, they are trying to trash her at every instance with the same “stupid” tag. Sorry, but we’ve seen what the liberal media does now. We’re not buying it anymore.
Comment by: Connie Posted: October 1, 2009, 3:35 pm
Great Article Coleen O’Conner. Thank you. Love Sarah Palin. She is a good woman and a special woman!! Everything I would want my daughter to grow up and be. And a runner too!!
Connie
Comment by: LandofLincoln Posted: October 1, 2009, 3:55 pm
Sarah Palin reminds me of the type of athlete who wasn’t born great, but realizes it. Who, through sheer will power and determination, rises above her weaknesses and makes herself the best she can be. She was not ready for the viper’s pit of national politics when McCain picked her. She will not make that mistake again. All of you who are afraid of her. Good. You are wimps. She is no threat to anybody but those who wish to undermine the foundations of this country.
Comment by: Ann Posted: October 1, 2009, 4:14 pm
What can I say.
I will stand and fight with this woman.
Comment by: Jackytc Posted: October 1, 2009, 6:31 pm
SHE IS STRONGER NOW THAN EVER, THE MEDIA HAS CREATED A MONSTER OF POWER; BEGGINING WITH THE TEA PARTY’S, INDEPENDANCE VOTER’S, HOME AND WORKING WOMEN, MILITARY, AND THE CHILDREN LOVES HER. “DO BETTER WASH OUT…, YOU BETTER NOT CRY…, SARAH IS COMING TO TOWN”!
Comment by: yazoo Posted: October 1, 2009, 8:04 pm
Miz Sarah is sharp, sweet, smart, and tougher than a keg of railroad spikes. Yowza! What a woman!
Comment by: Pauli Posted: October 1, 2009, 8:15 pm
We shall overcome! We shall overcome! We shall overcome someday! 2012, baby — Sarah Palin for President!!
Comment by: Peteyk Posted: October 1, 2009, 8:42 pm
Don’t mess with Sarah! She is the second coming of Ronald Reagan. She is a true patriot And is loved by so many people, me included! I would hook my wagon to her! She is going places.
Comment by: Karen Posted: October 2, 2009, 1:26 am
Of all the viable candidates in last year’s presidential election–McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden–the only one of the bunch I could stomach was Palin. I held my nose and voted for McCain but the only one I really cared about and was excited about was Palin.
I love her. She’s like a young Margaret Thatcher, and is on a philosophical par with Ronald Reagan who’s been a huge favorite of mine forever.
I think the media and the liberals are afraid of Sarah because she can’t be bought, because she’s wise and astute and fearless. I’m burnt out on politics and the mainstream media with all its vaunted self-interest and corruption, but I would come out of hiding in a big way to support Sarah Palin.
She’s the real deal and could be an incredible force for good in Washington if given the chance. For the sake of the nation and the world, let’s hope and pray and work to see that she gets that chance.
Comment by: apodoca Posted: October 2, 2009, 2:09 am
Thank you for this article. What I like is that you left emotionally loaded words and subtle references out of it so that I’m not aware of your stance towards Palin. I like that you presented the story and did not include yourself in it. Would that more ‘journalists’ were like you, newspapers wouldn’t be dying.
Comment by: Don L Posted: October 2, 2009, 4:00 am
Keep referring to Sarah as a commodity oh ruling class and watch the commodity come alive to haunt you. Sarah is nothing but a voice to those disenfranchized people who are being run over by the ruling class in both parties and the media. She represents traditional values and honesty -a rare commodity in itself these days of government sponsored death and control of every aspect of freedom -the citizen be damned.
Comment by: Robinsolana Posted: October 2, 2009, 5:47 am
Great article.
Factual and gracious.
Great posts.
Article by Dewie Whetsell, Alaskan Fisherman
is highly enlightening.
Who knew. Our trusty media has carefully suppressed this part of the story.
Alaska is a special place and Sarah Palin is a special woman. We are all enriched by her coming on the political scene. Who else can you say that about.
Comment by: Dra'aken Anlor'ven Posted: October 2, 2009, 5:51 am
Watching things unfold as a neutral observer, I must say Barack Obama is flailing about all over the place. As for Sarah Palin, she knows when to strike and strike hard. Those facts are indisputable.
With that comparison in mind, I see the “Yes, we can!” mantra matched perfectly against the “Keep on honking, I’m reloading” mantra. Both sides should not underestimate the others’ will for change…
(Also, on a very small note, they’re actually ‘Canada Geese’ - not ‘Canadian Geese’)
Comment by: Raymond Posted: October 2, 2009, 11:13 am
Humanpower and the rest of so called elite MSM and rinos,
Oh please.. stop putting your negative comment without knowing the true facts about Palin. Governor Palin is a fiscal conservative governor of Alaska who took down the corruption within her party and that is why both corrupted demos and rinos hated her so much. She is a real leader with moral convictions. Are you, humanpower, a devil’s advocate or what?? get off and start reading the facts. You are just a waste and a liability to America’s interest.
Comment by: sally Posted: October 2, 2009, 12:06 pm
She is fascinating. I still don’t understand the venom directed her way.
Comment by: John Posted: October 2, 2009, 3:34 pm
A previous poster lauds your just-the-facts approach and opacity of your political view. I won’t quibble with either. Instead, I ask this question: What’s the point of the column? To celebrate your powers to predict that Palin would be able to remain on the public stage. That hardly seems like it’s gong out on a limb.
Palin supporters, however legion they may believe themselves to be, seem mostly in love with their idea of her, not the reality. If the latter was true, McCain might be president today.
Palin’s a marketable commodity, and she will likely remain so for some months, perhaps even a few years, to come. There remains no evidence that she has the capacity to acquire the knowledge and gravitas necessary to achieve the higher political office she so clearly aspires to.
It is no surprise that Palin draws crowds and big bucks. People gawk at car wrecks and Britney Spears too. But then most people, at least those with functioning lives and minds, move on.
Comment by: Vic Posted: October 3, 2009, 1:22 pm
Chuck roast isn’t prime rib and Palin isn’t a filet grade either, honey. Anyone who can mangle a message as well as she can, spout off about the need to bring on Armageddon through a war for Georgia against Russia over Ossetia and be ignorant of the first clue of American governmental principles is unfit for anything except being queen of the Lemmings. Unfortunately, there are many of them as this board shows.
Comment by: Paul Stravinsky Posted: October 3, 2009, 6:36 pm
She ain’t goin’ no where, fast.
All my old republican relatives disowned McCain because of “that woman.” That’s right, they won’t even say her name.
Let her sell her books to the Fox “news” viewers. Her history of shooting herself in the foot will protect any thinking voter from being fooled.
Since when are threats of violence, “I’m reloading,” cute political comebacks?
Comment by: Sunday Weiss Posted: October 4, 2009, 5:32 am
Since S. Palin resigned from the Gov Office in Alaska, she canceled a date to speak to the Republican womans group at the Ronald Regan Library, she held a closed door keynote speech in Hong Kong, she has not scheduled public book signings to promote her number one book. And the only pitch I got for the Going rogue, or as I say, going rancid, book was a email solicitation from newsmax, to get the book for 8.95 if I subscribed to newsmax for a couple of years.
Comment by: steve Posted: October 4, 2009, 9:06 am
one-sided article - the people saying it was good just like Palin and that’s not surprising in military town/stupid town SAN DIEGO. Kudos to you for getting a lot of positive comments by feeding them with pro-Palin propaganda
Comment by: San Diego Dave Posted: October 5, 2009, 6:49 pm
Congratulations, Ms. O’Connor! It takes a lot of gumption (or shallowness) to write such a fawning, sappy piece. And how does it feel to get compliments from so many under-educated, Fox News lapdogs? BTW, Palin is NOT getting more speaking engagements since the Hong Kong speech. No respectable entity wants to be connected to the First Dingbat of the country. Don’t believe me? check this out from the New York Post:
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/sarah_lectures_tough_sell_Z6eKRnldUitBmiOfXCBjlI
Comment by: Eric Posted: October 12, 2009, 10:25 am
I don’t like her because she’s a moron. I’m not trying to be funny; I don’t think he’s very smart. And not only does she speak like she hasn’t read a book in 20 years, but she seems to be very proud of that fact. She loves to point at the “liberal elite” (whoever that is) and somehow denigrate the fact that they’re educated and well-read.
Despite what this article says, she’s still a sideshow act.
Comment by: rita Posted: October 16, 2009, 7:40 am
Why does Letterman keep taking after Palin? Is she the only one that draws an audience—other than Letterman joking about his sexual in office exploits?
Comment by: Andre Posted: December 15, 2009, 12:10 pm
I think that the comment by “Eric” is hilarious. In an effort to try to support the educational snobbery so revered by liberals, Eric managed to refer to Sarah as “he”; just after he referred to her as a “moron”. Good going there Eric; brilliant review.