Posted on 12/11/2009 3:27:46 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
THE day after her autobiography was published, the cover of Newsweek magazine asked the musical question, "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?"
It's a play on the first line of the chorus of "Maria" in the musical, "The Sound Of Music."
The nuns sing of their bewildering young charge, who not only marches to the beat of her own drummer, but sings, dances and strums guitar to it.
Their solution is to ship her off to a household in need of a nanny, and thus one of the most extraordinary adventures of the 20th century begins.
There is a bit of Maria in Sarah Palin, who has her own drum corps. And it is growing.
Her autobiography is setting all sorts of box office records. It was the No. 1 best-seller on Amazon on the day its publication date was announced.
She sold 1 million copies of "Going Rogue" in two weeks.
Bill Clinton had to serve as president for two full terms and endure one of the biggest embarrassments in presidential history to sell as many copies of his autobiography.
Barack Obama? He had magazine covers and talk show appearances galore when "The Audacity Of Hope" rolled out in 2006.
He sold 182,000 copies in the first three weeks.
Palin boosted Oprah Winfrey's ratings by 68 percent, giving the show its best ratings in two years. Again, that topped Obama.
People are standing in line in city after city by the hundreds for hours in near-freezing temperatures just to get her autograph.
One reason Newsweek put Palin on the cover was to sell some magazines.
Newsweek's losses this year are $30 million. It writers and editors may feel they have to get their digs in now because they might not be around in 2012.
The people who like Palin like her in part because she is the underdog. The more garbage liberals pile on her, the bigger her smile is and the more her fans love her.
Such loyalty and popularity are a problem for Republicans?
Pardon me while I laugh.
True, most polls show that more people think she is unqualified for the presidency than think she is qualified.
I fully understand the reservations. She went into TV interviews in the 2008 campaign ill prepared and she simply had not served long enough as governor. Not completing her term as governor also is a problem.
But right now there is no Republican in her league.
Mitt Romney would be the more logical choice for 2012, but when were politics ever logical?
Romney looks presidential. He was elected governor of Massachusetts in part because he looks almost as good as Obama in a bathing suit.
Romney looks presidential. He was elected governor of Massachusetts in part because he looks almost as good as Obama in a bathing suit.
And Romney has money and gravitas, as they say in Washington. He looks like a winner.
But put Romney on Oprah and see if ratings rise 68 percent.
Palin's problem is not ramping up her popularity but rather in ramping up her credibility. Her book shows she has both the drive and the ability to go from the Alaskan outhouse to the White House.
In July, just 39 percent of the public had a favorable opinion of her.
Today, 46 percent do. That is a pretty quick turnaround.
She could win over some liberal critics, too.
Columnist Clarence Page attended the Washington dinner last weekend at which she was the main speaker, and reported: "Yet, as much as her politics are not mine, after chatting with her and her husband, good-natured former First Dude Todd Palin, I came away with a new fondness and respect for both of them.
"If they were faking their enjoyment at being there, they certainly sounded mighty sincere about it."
Right now, the 2012 nomination could be up to her.
She's a smart lady. Her posts about current events on Facebook are a treat. She is shaping the conservative movement.
But the presidency is not a one-man - or one-woman - operation. Presidents have to be leaders. She must show she can lead something besides a state.
She needs to assemble a team. Ronald Reagan assembled a pretty good Cabinet.
She needs to find the next Ed Meese, Michael Deavers and Arthur Laffer, although the old one is still kicking.
Politicians and Newsweek need to consider those crowds standing in the cold waiting for Palin to sign her book - the No. 1 best-seller in the nation.
"How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?" That's for the Democrats to figure out.
Right after they solve a problem like Barack.
As a candidate, he was perfect. As a president? Not so much.
This could cost them at election time.
Or not.
It's politics, and politics is not logical.
btt
And what Sarah is, above all, is a normal human being (only slightly better than most of us. :)
That's why they hate, shes the mirror.
And their viewership is going where since the elction? Up?
elction=election.
I know it’s not a good reason, but honestly I’d vote for her for the sole purpose of making the head of every single leftist in the world spin off.
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