Surprising Sarah Palin shows up on Conan O'Brien's show, wreaks revenge on William Shatner

Politicians much prefer Fridays to bury news releases they want to be able to say they put out but don't really want people to notice much. Especially on the eve of the second to last shopping Saturday of the 2009 Christmas shopping season.

A little misdirection and clandestine camouflage going on Friday afternoon at NBC's studio for "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien." Early audience arrivals were escorted out of the studio to permit a secret rehearsal by a surprise political guest.

No, not William Shatner.

Well, yes, William Shatner. Who read from a new best-seller.

But someone else showed up unannounced onstage to read from a less best-selling book than the one Shatner shared with the national TV audience.

Take a peek at the video here:

Sarah Palin wraps up her well-covered, best-selling book tour this weekend with appearances back home in Alaska. Have we mentioned that the former governor's national favorability poll ratings have gone up from 39% last summer to 46% now? President Obama's job approval rating has slipped to 50% or below these days.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Comments

[Letscheck]

History was made tonight. The tide turned. It has been turning for over a year, but tonight it broke through the MSM.

Conan has probably secured his place in the polls as well. After all of the jump shots, taken and missed, by those trying to take over late night viewers, Conan scored a three pointer that will put him in the top of the box.

[Mark]

This is the longest 15 minutes of fame we have ever endured from someone with no qualifications for fame whatsoever. (Someone else wrote "her" book, for one thing, and it's "best selling" because right-wing think tanks buy thousands of copies to give away free.)

I usually catch Conan on Hulu, but I'll boycott this edition. I've seen enough of St. Sarah to last a lifetime.

[Milquetoast]

Wow! That was flawless, girl! Not everyday you can render the Shat Man speechless! "There's room for all the animals in Alaska- right next to the mashed potatoes!" I don't know if it's a Leno/Hugh Grant moment for Conan but it was goooood!

[abc]

Once again, favorability is not the same as job approval.

And yes, you have mentioned it. Many, many times. And each time, one or more of your readers have pointed out that comparing favorability and job approval are not the same thing.

[DanStlMo]

Poor Letterman.

[JadedByPolitics]

It is absolutely fantastic to see Sarah Palin having the LAST LAUGH at the tools on the left! They tried to destroy her and yet here she is standing tall and proud and having a FANTASTIC time doing it!

[Mark in Kansas]

Plenty of reason to admire this gracious lady, not least of all for her ability to keep on coming back every time someone takes a shot at her. She was magnetic when she first appeared on the national scene and that characteristic has grown even stronger. The crucible of fire refines the metal. If her detractors continue taking the shots, they'll make her even stronger.

She might run for the office of President. She might not. Whether or not she does, she's effective right now in illuminating the inconsistencies and fallacies of the current Federal government. This lady has my full support.

[Jery45]

Shatner did such a fantastic job at mock disbelief - he really made the skit funny. And kudos for Palin for showing up on an NBC show, of all places. Talk about entering into the liberal lion's den. Conan was the biggest winner, though.

[Grandpa]

A waste of good video tape.

[Danielle]

There is no denying it (unless you're totally disingenuous). That woman in a natural. Now I can see why the Obama people are horrified of her -BOO!
She's comes across as everything he's not. Honest, likeable and America loving.
Merry Christmas

[Huckapedia]

>>> BREAKING NEWS... HOT OFF THE PRESS:

MIKE HUCKABEE WINS SEVEN (No make that EIGHT) 2012 PRESIDENTIAL POLLS IN A ROW!!

Public Policy Polling released a new 2012 Presidential Poll yesterday and it shows Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama in a Statistical tie. Even after all the unwarranted liberal media press last week on Huckabee, Huckabee still gains tremendous ground on President Obama with a 7 point change since last poll. Mike Huckabee is an unstoppable force, his fans are energized and multiplying at a phenomenal pace across America into every state and every county of America.

If the 2012 Presidential Elections were held today, it's highly likely Mike Huckabee will be elected as the new Commader in Chief of the United States of America.

8) PPP Poll (12/10/09)
* Huckabee 45%, Obama 46% (Statistical tie)

7) Iowa 2012 Presidential Poll (11-23-09)
* Huckabee 39%, Gingrich 32%, Romney 32%

6) USA Today Poll (11/05/09)
* Huckabee 71%, Romney 65%, Palin 65%

5) CNN Poll (10/28/09)
* Huckabee 32%, Palin 25%, Romney 21%

4) Rasmussen Poll (10/15/09)
* Huckabee 29%, Romney 24%, Palin 18%

3) PPP Poll (09/24/09)
* Huckabee 41%, Romeny 39%, Palin 38%

2) AOL Poll (10/01/09) ~ 200,000 votes
* Huckabee 25%, Romney 22%, Other (14%)

1) Value Voter Poll (09/19/09)
* Huckabee 28%, Romney 12%, Pawlenty 12%

The Great Communicators of the:

20th Century - Ronald Reagan, 40th US President in 1980
21st Century - Mike Huckabee, 45th US President in 2012

Mike Huckabee's popularity continues to soar to record levels everyday. The last time America saw this "come back from behind win" was when the great Ronald Reagan finished 2nd in the 1976 Presidential Elections then to come back with such resounding strength to win in a landslide elections in 1980.

Check it out for yourself, just google the 3 simple words:
Huckabee Fan Club

[dean norbert]

"Have we mentioned that the former governor's national favorability poll ratings have gone up from 39% last summer to 46% now? President Obama's job approval rating has slipped to 50% or below these days."

sorry but that's just an idiotic statement. of course her ratings would climb. she doesn't hold down a job, she tours the country smiling her cute smile at adoring crowds, and she tosses stink bombs at the administration.

meanwhile obama's gotta clean up the garbage left over from bush's years in office - a depression & two wars - while trying to pass health care over the screeches of the insurance lobby and the tea baggers.

jeesh, and you wonder why we feel the MSM is becoming less & less relevant. more posts like yours and you'll be out of business completely - because we'll all be gone as readers

[donsmith7777]

Sarah has miraculously become so knowledgeable and intelligent on so many subjects, why don't her handlers allow her to appear on "Meet the Press" or "Face the Nation"?

Because she'll babble like a clueless high school beauty queen off script?

Because she'll give "Saturday Night Live" material for weeks?

Give me a break Sarah, "When the going gets tough, I quit" Palin can't even handle half an hour of tough, grownup questions... that's why she's always on Rupert Murdocks' Fox News/ GOP TV catching slow-pitch softballs.

Palin's book publisher is HarperCollins, also owned by Rupert Murdock, you 'betcha.

It's obvious Palin's number one concern is collecting wingnut welfare.

[Travis]

Palin was awesome and Shatner was a good sport.

[Batboy]

"...wreaks revenge on William Shatner"

That Sarah, she sure showed Shatner....

Sarah was great...as was William Shatner who both performed the skit masterfully!

I think the LA Times "wreaks revenge" on their readers.

[Robert Castle]

Sarah Palin is Dystopia personified, like Vice in the medieval morality plays. She is corrosive, callous, and corrupt, being used by hose who control the Republicon party leaders to further demoralize the voters.

she i

[Ballon boy]

hah..! she forgot to open the book to read it.

(Both read from cue cards.)

[ObiJohn]

Here's the thing: the MSM and the Dems have created the "Sarah Palin is an idiot" meme and they used it to torpedo McCain last year. They couldn't go after McCain because he was so obviously more qualified than Obama, so they had to attack him on his VP selection... "do you want Palin one heartbeat away from the presidency?"

Unfortunately, the truth has a disturbing tendency to eventually shine forth regardless of the mud that some try to cover it with. Palin is certainly not an idiot, and this realization is coming to the American public at the same time they're seeing just how vacuous the Candidate of Hype really is. (Not that Obama is an idiot, he is just very inexperienced and has a flawed world view. His Nobel Prize acceptance speech may be a glimmer of a realization on his part that his assumptions about the world were wrong and need to change if he is going to be a successful president... but then we see him trying to sell Stimulus II instead of learning the lesson from Stimulus I.)

The Dems have proposed all sorts of solutions to America's problems, and the solutions aren't working because they're fundamentally flawed. Palin is appealing because she comes across as someone who has common sense, who is realistic, who has actually run a state and a business successfully, and who understands how the world works... unlike Obama.

Palin may not run for president in '12, but she will most likely be the king-maker; the GOP candidate must have her support in order to win.

[TheDopeFromHope]

Say what you may about Sarah Palin and her politics, but she looked incredibly hot! and got in a nice few zings on the Shat-man. I know this is tough for liberals to take, seeing that their ideal of beauty runs along the lines of Helen Thomas and Madeline Albright.

[Gary]

Mark: "This is the longest 15 minutes of fame we have ever endured from someone with no qualifications for fame whatsoever?" Are you referring to BHO?

[CosmicConservative]

Reading these comments from the knee-jerk humorless and hate-filled liberals is like taking a way-back machine to 1978 when the Left was in total disbelief over the "brainless B-Movie actor" Ronald Reagan. Endless clips of "Bedtime for Bonzo" or clips of Reagan flubbing a line flooded the airwaves. Cartoonists portrayed Reagan as a man without a brain. The Left laughed and laughed right up until Reagan was elected President.

Now Sarah Palin is no Reagan (yet), but the more the Left falls into the trap of believing their own lies about her, the more powerful she will become.

So keep it up folks. Go right ahead an mock and sneer at her. Obama's only significant assets when he ran for President were his ability to read a teleprompter and his "sex appeal". Palin has those in spades. And Palin has the things Obama lacks, most notably a quick wit, obvious moral convictions, a deep and abiding love for America and the American people, and the ability to connect immediately and deeply with normal Americans.

Keep it up libs. I'm not laughing WITH you, I'm laughing AT you.

[Jim Treacher]

It's good to see the usual suspects seething with frustration at their inability to destroy this woman.

[fairplay]

Very entertaining. Kudos to Conan. You will be remembered as the first to allow Palin to get a shot back at the ridiculous and more often ugly cheap shots that have been endlessly hurled at this remarkably "clean" X-politician. Shatner was great too. Conan, you did what's right, and it is so refreshing for a change.

[bjr]

The thing that amazes me about Palin is that she has been put through the wringer so many times, and she still gets back up, wipes the mud off her face, and stands strong. I would have broken into tiny pieces long ago. It takes a special type of character to take so much abuse, endlessly, and not break down. She is so incredibly strong.

It's wonderful that Conan is a descent human being, and allowed Palin the opportunity to shoot back. He's gained my respect immensely.

[CTlite]

Most people feel sympathy for the kid who gets picked on by the bully. That's what Palin has been going through for the last two years, and it's been a nauseating one-sided assault. There's only so much trashing of a person that can be done. When reasonable limits have been exceeded, its those trashing the person who end up drawing attention to themselves, as being the ones with the real problems. The news and media should remember this - bury your biases and give equal time, or you will be acknowledged for the bully you are. Americans are sick of the big bullies. Most of us are good people. Apparently Conan knows it. He's the smart one.

[donna johnson]

In many ways Sarah Palin and Obama are the same, as "Mark" said, they both didn't write there books and they are "best selling" because their predicted "wings" bought them up.

They are both relativity inexperienced and have been show to be very naive at time. They both have appeal to large segments of the population, and those segments are played against each other and seem to have no common ground.

The big difference is that Sarah's road is much harder and she has proved more resilient than Obama. She shows that she is the stronger person and
would likely make much better decisions than we are currently seeing out of
the white house.

[Melody]

How very enjoyable! I laughed so hard throughout the whole thing. I just finished Palin's book and to hear Shatner picking pieces out and repeating with a jazz accompaniment was hilarious. How exciting when Sarah comes strolling in with his book in hand. (the look on his face when Sarah walks in was just brilliant.)Well read on her part also, delivered with good timing and great looks. Good Job, guys. That's entertainment. :)

[Jves]

history made: Sarah forgot to open the book during the book reading.

(They were both reading from cue cards under the camera.)