Is the ADN still in Palin's pocket?

Okay this story appeared yesterday in the Anchorage Daily News.

It was written by Sean Cockerham, and was supposedly a neutral even handed piece about the continued national popularity of Sarah Palin.

Now I do not know Mr. Cockerham and do not want to accuse him of being a Palin-bot or not but......well here let me point out some of the "facts" that I have a little trouble accepting as accurate.

Gov. Sarah Palin returned to the national stage in a big way this past week, rocketing back into the national consciousness with her David Letterman feud, slams on the Obama administration and drama with national Republican leaders.

Okay well I cannot argue with the fact that Palin is back in the news, hell she is all OVER the news!

The passion of her supporters hasn't flagged a bit since last year's presidential election, burning far hotter than that of any other Republican presidential hopeful. They see her as the future of the party, an antidote to President Barack Obama. Yet she remains highly controversial and attracts intense criticism from non-supporters.

Wrong! Sarah's poll numbers have dipped significantly since her run for VP, both here and in the lower 48. I will agree that her supporters are more fervent and frenzied than back then, so the point that her support is "burning far hotter than that of any other Republican presidential hopeful" could be considered accurate. But what KIND of people is she attracting to support her? That is one of the burning questions.

James Carville easily sums up Palin's true attractiveness to the media.

"Both as a Democrat and just as a person who enjoys being entertained, I can't get enough of her. I taught a class on the 2008 election at Tulane, and I had to get the students to stop me from talking about her because it was just too compelling. She doesn't always just sit on the edge of the cliff, she actually falls off it sometimes," he said.

Carville said he doesn't think Palin is an act. "I think the depths of her beliefs are not in doubt, it's how curious and competent she is where the real doubt is," he said. "And it's not just policy. If it's 'no drama Obama,' drama just follows her around."

Essentially she has become a side show attraction. She is the "Lost Boy of Borneo", "Zippy the Pinhead", and the "Bearded Lady" all rolled into one. You cannot help but be amazed and shocked at the constant string of attention grabbing scandals that seem to follow her and her family around. If politics were a movie she would the trailer of coming attractions that preceded the actual show, all explosions, gun fights, and sex scenes to get the viewer's attention.

There's no disputing Palin's power to draw cheering crowds in the Lower 48. An estimated 20,000 people turned out to see her lead a parade in Auburn, N.Y., last weekend. She was featured prominently in interviews on Fox News Channel, CNN and NBC.

Also wrong! I heard from numerous commenter's who were actually at this parade, on both my blog and Mudflats, that the crowd had simply gathered TO SEE THE PARADE! Many of them did not even know Palin was there until they saw her drive by. This is an absolute misrepresentation of the truth and I find it hard to believe it is by accident. Did Cockerham not do ANY research?

But as in the presidential campaign, Palin continues to be very polarizing. On the national level, many seem to either love her or deeply dislike her. Her supporters will hear a Palin speech or interview and declare her brilliantly in touch with regular Americans and their values. Critics dismiss her as not being presidential material -- and worse.

I do agree one hundred percent with this paragraph. We saw this very thing happen with Palin's speech right before the Michael Reagan fiasco. I am still amazed that anybody thought that thing was good. The thought simply blows my mind.

Cheri Jacobus, a Washington, D.C., Republican strategist, said Palin has taken an unfair beating, one that she asserts would not have happened to a male politician. (Did Ms. Jacobus not see how aggressively the blogs went after George Bush, Dick Cheney on the left, and Barack Obama, John Kerry and Al Gore on the right? Gender has nothing to do with this.))

"The woman is worth her weight in gold in terms of fundraising," she said. "Whether it's 2012 or beyond, or she just wants to be the kingmaker and make buckets of money for the party, she really has a wide berth to work with."

I cannot blame this one on Sean Cockerham because he is only quoting this Jacobus person, but this is also incorrect. If it were so true then the C4P'ers would not be scrambling to try and raise money for her legal bills. If she is such a great fundraiser this should be an easy amount to obtain, I believe it is still under a million dollars. If she is going to be of substantial help to the GOP she sure as hell better be able to raise a lot more money then that!

And then there is this concerning Palin's recent kerfuffle with David Letterman.

Ken Sunshine, a veteran New York public relations executive, suggested to the Washington Post that the fight could turn out to be good for both Palin and Letterman.

"Letterman is a master of this, and he's milking it for all it's worth," Sunshine said, citing similar ratings-boosting "feuds" that Letterman has engaged in with Sen. John McCain and Oprah Winfrey. "But people often underestimate (Palin) and underestimate her following. She's exploiting this very smartly. She's speaking to her core base that feels maligned. ... It's extraordinary that she can bring this off."

Bring WHAT off? Making shit up to portray yourself as the biggest victim on the planet? Talking until even those who initially supported you are speaking out angrily against you? Using your children in a transparent attempt to get national attention yet AGAIN? This is "extraordinary"? This is "smart"? When did the bar get this low?

"Poor Mitt Romney. He's probably wondering, 'Where do I get some of this?' "

I am not a fan of Mitt Romney but I am going to give him credit for recognizing that this is exactly the kind of publicity he DOESN'T want.

So I am sure that most of you get my point. Palin's perceived popularity is really contingent on reporters who are willing to kiss her ass and shape the information to make it appear that Palin is a much bigger deal than she really is. And I am saddened to see that there still appear to be some at the Anchorage Daily News willing to fill that role.

The majority of Americans, and thankfully more and more Alaskans, realize that she is just a joke. An old tired joke that has been retold way too many times.

I am going to leave you with this last piece of the article because every time I try to comment on it I find my breakfast starting to come up.

Greg Mueller, a national Republican consultant, said Palin has a huge grass-roots network and will have no problem raising money.

He said Palin is a "softer version of Margaret Thatcher." She can unite the social, limited-government and foreign policy conservatives, he said, and could be just what the voters are looking for after they are disillusioned with the Obama years.

As my good friend AKM would say, I have no words.