Posted on 12/25/2010 8:59:56 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
She wasn't running for anything in 2010, but Sarah Palin sure got plenty of attention.
Two years after her failed GOP vice presidential bid and just a year after quitting as governor of Alaska at mid term, Palin remained in the spotlight.
She worked as an analyst for Fox News, made political pronouncements on a weekly basis (at least) and appeared on her television series "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on The Learning Channel. The latter half of the year even brought plenty of attention to Palin's family, though not all of that attention could be considered positive.
The New Oxford American Dictionary tipped a hat to Palin with its word of the year, "refudiate," which she used in one of her many Tweets.
Here's a look at the Top 5 Media Moments, both good and bad, for Palin and her family in 2010.
The good
1. Palin's use of social media. With more than 2.5 million Facebook fans and more than 341,000 Twitter followers, Palin avoided what she calls the "lamestream media" and took her message straight to the people in 2010. And virtually every time she tweeted or posted to Facebook, the "lamestream media" wrote about it. (Guilty as charged, here.)
2. The 2010 election. When Health Care Reform passed Congress in March, Palin targeted 20-some House districts where Democrats voted for the bill. Her political action committee, Sarah PAC, spent most of its early money on, well, Sarah. But she took the bold step of endorsing several candidates in competitive GOP primaries, including several of what she called "mama grizzlies." Many of those won. When South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley was accused of adultery, Palin stood by her side. Having helped some 100 candidates during the election season, Palin likely will be looking for payback if (some would say when) she enters the 2012 GOP presidential fray. And those endorsed candidates in early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina could come in handy.
3. "Sarah Palin's Alaska." The eight-part TLC series is part travelogue, part family reality show, and despite what she may claim, plenty political. Premiering in late November, at the same time as Palin's latest book, the series is keeping the potential candidate in the spotlight during what is typically a political downtime.
4. Daughter Bristol makes the finals of "Dancing With the Stars." When Bristol, apparently a star for having her teen pregnancy announced during the 2008 presidential campaign, joined the popular reality show, it meant more exposure for mom, too. Even the controversy of whether the audience was booing Sarah Palin or a low score for the ultimate winners put the light on the politician. And as Bristol came back week after week, it offered more opportunities for mom to show up on the popular prime time show.
5. Trip to Haiti. Earlier this month, Palin accompanied Fox news gal-pal Greta Van Susteren and evangelist Franklin Graham to do relief work in the country that is still reeling for this year's earthquake. If offered a positive light for someone who is often a lightning rod - and not always in a good way.
The bad
1. Palin's nasty Thanksgiving Day Facebook note. Angry that much was made of her radio gaffe calling North Korea our allies, Palin (or was it her assistant Rebecca Mansour?) took to Facebook with a shrill note lambasting the media. Coming on a holiday, the note struck the wrong tone.
2. Bristol's "middle finger" remark. When Bristol, billed as a teen activist for her abstinence education work, made the finals of DWTS, it stirred up plenty of controversy. Allegations that mom and friends activated their networks to vote for her (not illegal, by the way) abounded. The single mom didn't react so well to the controversy, saying on the final show that if she won "It'd feel like a big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me."
3. Bristol & Willow's Facebook fiasco. When an acquaintance (probably not a real friend) bashed "Sarah Palin's Alaska" during it's first broadcast, the two daughters were quick to defend their mom and her show. Unfortunately, Willow used a gay slur and both used plenty of crude language. Bristol later apologized on her Facebook page. But it left some wondering if the Palin children could use a bit more adult supervision.
4. Having Dad reload for you. Really? Palin used gun imagery in a March Facebook post, urging health care reform opponents to "reload." When radio personality Laura Schlessinger came under fire, so to speak, for using a racial epithet, Palin urged her: "Don't retreat . . .reload!" on Twitter. But when it came to hunting caribou for her TLC show, Palin looked to her father for help reloading by moving the bolt of her rifle. That and the six shots it took her to kill the beast made her claims as a hunter a bit suspect.
5. The political losses. Palin took plenty of political bets in 2010, and she lost on some of her biggest. At home in Alaska, she endorsed tea party candidate Joe Miller over incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Miller won the primary, but Murkowski won the general as a write-in candidate (even though Miller's still fighting the outcome). In Delaware, she put her name and her cash behind Christine O'Donnell in the primary, but O'Donnell lost big. Other general election losses for Palin included Carly Fiorina in the California Senate contest and Sharron Angle in the Nevada Senate race. Meanwhile, polls indicate that Palin is a divisive figure among independents. Sixty percent in one recent poll said they definitely wouldn't support her presidential candidacy.
What will 2011 hold for her? Will Palin hit the hustings in Iowa and take on the big boys of the GOP in the state hosting the first 2012 presidenial contest, the Iowa caucuses? Or will Oprah's conclusion that Palin's presidential ambitions are nothing to worry about prove true?
Tune in a year from now, when we'll know for sure.
Seems like Sandy has “She is pretty and I’m not so I hate her guts” attitude. It must suck to look like Sandy, I don’t know whether that’s a dude or a chick. Someone should do a DNA test and get definitive results
She looks like a white barry, IMO. It’s the ugly chicks and the macho men who expose their own inner weakness w/their derogatory comments of Sarah.
Its pure jealousy..just from the snarkiness in this dude/chick’s article is nothing more than high school kinda jealousy. I bet if Sarah looked like Hillary Clinton they would praise her..its jealousy and its also about how Sarah is pro life and these ugly ass women are a bunch of abortion lovers
YEP! Sarah has it all - loving husband, mom of 5, accomplishments galore and beauty, brains, guts - all built on a firm foundation - God, family, country. She represents ALL PATRIOTS like Reagan did.
Oh yeah, there's a lot of Sarah hatin' by the media and they'll do anything they can to belittle her in the eyes of 'independents'. Here's what they cant' do: keep her rallies below phenomenal. Keep her public appearances below play-off game turnouts- maybe even Superbowl as the primaries begin.
No Greek columns, just straight talk from a true conservative and she'll bring the house down. She sees America from her house in Alaska and the potential it possesses. Resources, talent, and opportunity abound but are not utilized. Why? Almost a hundred years of statism, from FDR, LBJ, and now, Obama- has been a period of suffocation for those ideals that built this country- hard work, investment, risk, and return. In short- capitalism.
Maybe, if she desired to attract the wishy-washy moderate, she could label her campaign as: compassionate capitalism. Shirley, Obama has marketed his agenda as compassionate communism. That's because he's a liar, and Sarah would never do the same. So, forget it.
Before the next election I sincerely hope Clue Bat Inc. will receive wide distribution of it's product line. If the first two years of Obommunism weren't enough, the next two should be enough to get 'fence-sitters' off the fence. If not, cue the Clue Bat.
Speaking for myself, the most recent legislation passed during this lame-duck congress clearly indicates where this administration is headed, not to mention those things they didn't pass, but wanted. Alarms should be going off everywhere over this country. I know folks are distracted by the 'season' and that's why they perpetrated this at this time. Still, the new boys in town have to start dismantling things in January, or else.
We're only a few more pieces of legislation and a couple of court cases away from becoming Venezuela. When that happens (and I'm afraid it will) we'll have only the states to protect us, and among those, there'll be turncoats. I hope and pray our new electees will be able to change our course, but many years and much precedence has passed. They have a monumental task and my support, but I must admit, my doubts.
And so, how does Sarah play into all of this? You need a leader. You need someone to run point. You need someone with the courage to take-on the power structure and it's agenda. And, you need someone they fear mightily. That would be Sarah. She's shaken their cage and lived in their heads rent-free since 2008. But, most importantly, you need someone who loves America and all it stands for- not Eurosocialism, not third-way fascism, not the class/race/gender divisiveness perpetrated by Obama. (In the real world, President Punkass and his Miss Hate America wife would have been run out of town on a rail.)
2012 will be All-In. It'll be for all the chips. Losing this one will mean going to Plan B- where the states finally say, "enough", and the whole Union thing falls apart, Lincoln be damned. I take it back: Lincoln might be proud as the states finally say to the Feds, "Free at last, free at last....","take your Federal Highway Funds, and shove them up your a.." Works for me.
Excellent! observation! "What, me worry?"
Yes.
Sarah’s beauty starts from within. Only liberals look at the surface.
That would be a good guess. I remember a couple of Mopars of
that era that incorporated shapes like that.
I'm not liberal and I've looked at the surface.
Damn you nailed it!! These over weight/heavy no children, 20/40 year old liberal women can’t STAND Sarah!!! Why?? ‘Cause she has the body of a high school cheerleader AFTER 5 or so kids!!! Great kids, a nice looking husband who is a charger/stud who dotes on and adores his life’s partner/lover...the liberals can’t stand it! Pure jealousy is all it is.
Nothing better than having Dad cover your six.
Well said.
I must say these articles do seem to come from some questionable sources, and so often a picture is worth a million words.
that’s those consumed with jealousy. Then those who do not like conservatives value. And then the elites who are not fond of the concept ‘we the people’. And then there are those who enjoyed being ‘kept’ by the gov’t. Surely, you didn’t think there is only one group of haters. Where do you fit in?
“Yes, but at 56 she will not set off threat alarms in women of child bearing age.”
Sorry, but she will always be seen as a threat to insecure women, regardless of age. And she will be. Unintentional, but that’s just the way it is.
Ooooooooooo... Just think. That's the "worst moment" of the last year for Sarah.
In reality, it was one of her best moments. Her calling the Leftist media the "Lamestream Media" is exactly analogous to Reagan calling the former Soviet Union the "Evil Empire." Both terms are correct. Reagan's controversial label helped bring down the Evil Empire, while Sarah's could help bring down the evil media empire.
You said it with how Sarah will inevitably draw crowds and they will not hear it through their filter and they are worried about her so much as entering the race because she will do a lot of damage to Obama because she will say what every other Republican will not. She needs to run.
Probably pretty traumatic seeing one's cousin beat to death!
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