The other night Karl Rove was talking with Greta Van Susteren about the Sarah Palin phenomenon and her record-breaking book sales of "Going Rogue." He says he's started the book, finds it a very good read, is impressed by her crowds (4,000 at Ft. Bragg) and its sales nearly exceeding an ex-president's book, Bill Clinton's, written post-presidency.
The political strategist, with his own book coming out in March, "Courage and Consequence," says Palin has got to learn to pivot off of the misbehaving son-in-law and other soap opera questions because the media want to keep her on the cover of People magazine, not talking about serious issues.
But, Rove notes, there's a big difference between running to sell a book and running to win the White House.
Greta seemed done with her interview when Rove wanted to say something else.
If you thought "Going Rogue" would be the end of Sarah Palin's written rants, you probably don't follow the former Alaskan governor's fan page on Facebook.
The Republican has been blogging like crazy recently with her 1.07 million Facebook fans. (See new video below of the campaign-like scenes.) And getting thousands of comments back.
In addition to pictures from her "Going Rogue" book tour -- of happy children, grinning U.S. troops and flags of the American variety -- Palin gives a more personal look behind her many interviews and individual visits with fans and customers.
According to a new industry sales report, her book is coming up on half a million copies sold in its first five days on the market, a sales rate of about 4,000 per hour around the clock. Which ought to keep her in moose chili a while.
Her Facebook page also has some touching photos of memorabilia that fans give her when buying the book. Plus, of course, the long lines of eager book-buyers at stores and malls along the way on her strategically planned 25-state tour.
Also behind-the-scenes looks at her unscheduled visit with the Rev. Billy Graham.
Her legions of Facebook fans are growing by a couple of dozen every few minutes. They grow each time you refresh the page.
In one recent post, the Republican calls Fox News' Sean Hannity "a great American." Oh, and an apology for leaving 100 fans at a book signing in Indiana.
But the main focus of her blog posts lately has been about Congress -- things like war spending and "Obamacare," her pet name for the healthcare bill.
Palin blasts the healthcare "scheme" for taxing everyone starting next year. The actual legislation, however, plans to ramp up taxes in 2011 and on a sliding scale, where richer residents are taxed more and the modestly wealthy get a 0.5% hike.
On Tuesday night, Palin was bothered over "liberal Congressional proposals" that would institute a tax to fund the war in Afghanistan. Palin supports the war and the troops but not the idea of paying for it with new taxes.
"With Congress and President Obama spending money on everything at breakneck speed, it’s interesting that they are only now getting nervous about ...
... spending," Palin writes, "but only when it comes to providing the necessary funds to complete our mission in Afghanistan."
This qualm about the government proposing taxes on war and nothing else comes less than a week after she complained about the government proposing taxes on healthcare.
The early-stage war tax proposal called the "Share the Sacrifice Act," which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she may support, would fund a U.S. troop escalation in Afghanistan that Rep. David Obey estimates will cost $1 trillion over 10 years. [Note: An earlier version of this post called Obey a senator.]
That would buy a lot of books.
(Update: Palin, whose father was her high school track coach, has now Twittered to followers that she's leaving the book promotion trail over the Thanksgiving holiday to travel to Kennewick, Wash., for a 5K Red Cross charity run with numerous relatives before a book appearance Sunday in nearby Richland.)
In the surest sign yet that the newly former CNN talker seriously plans to enter politics, Lou Dobbs has already flip-flopped on the question of amnesty for people illegally living in this country.
Having created much of his fame and infamy out of controversial statements on the unacceptable presence of an estimated 12 million undocumented workers in this country and the federal government's ineptitude in addressing the problem, here's what Dobbs now says:
We need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions.
His surprising switcheroo barely two weeks after departing his network of nearly 30 years came during an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Dobbs, a Texas native and graduate of Harvard, lives on a 300-acre farm in northwest New Jersey, where he could run for a U.S. Senate seat.
Or possibly launch a presidential bid for 2012, trying to tap into the kinds of conservative populist anger that has confounded the Republican party and fueled so-called "tea parties" across the country this year, protesting taxes, spending and deficits.
"Whatever you have thought of me in the past," Dobbs told Telemundo's Maria Celeste the other day, "I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together. I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest."
The Garden State usually votes firmly Democratic. But earlier this month voters there rejected the reelection Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine -- who had ample money and the frequent campaign support of President Obama -- and elected a Republican on a "taxes-are-too-high" platform.
The next U.S. Senate election in New Jersey comes in 2012, when incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez is up for reelection for the first time.
If politics doesn’t work out, Sen. John Ensign can always turn to poetry.
The embattled Nevada Republican took another beating this week when Doug Hampton appeared on ABC’s “Nightline.” Hampton was Ensign’s best friend and top aide until the senator had a months-long affair with Hampton’s wife, Cynthia, who also worked for him.
Though the program Monday night revealed few new details about Ensign’s extraordinary efforts to keep Hampton quiet, it created a whole new round of unflattering headlines for the onetime GOP golden boy. (Ensign, in a statement, said he had not “violated any law or Senate ethics rule” in his dealings with the Hamptons.)
It also showed Ensign to be something of a poet.
Hampton said he found out about Ensign’s affair with his wife by intercepting a text message the senator had sent to Cynthia Hampton.
How wonderful it is.
Can’t believe, it’s like a kid.
Scared but excited.
It’s one syllable from being a haiku, a poem with five syllables in the first and third lines and seven in the second. May we suggest another – with the proper amount of syllables – in anticipation of Ensign’s 2012 reelection bid?
Well, he's starting to think so. Word out of New York this afternoon that LD is pondering a run for the White House.
The 64-year-old award-winning former radio/TV host, the son of a Texas propane dealer (no gasbag jokes, please), was asked on a radio interview today about this "crazy idea" floating around of him seeking the presidency of these United States.
His response: "What's so crazy about that? Golly!" (Except he really said golly.)
He elaborated slightly:
"Well, I’ll tell you this much -- it’s one of the discussions that we’re having. For the first time, I’m actually listening to some people about politics. I don’t think I’ve got the nature for it. [But] we’ve got to do something in this country, and I think that being in the public arena means you’ve got to be part of the solution.
The controversial Harvard-educated CNN commentator, who was particularly outspoken on this cockamamie idea that the United States has some kind of illegal alien problem, abruptly resigned on-air Nov. 11. Protest groups claimed they had him pushed out.
But Lou cited his growing concern over the nation's expanding problems and the need to address them beyond his cable commentator's role. (See video below for his complete resignation remarks.)
Now, it's taken the self-described "independent populist" 12 whole days to....
broach the idea of running for the White House, good news for any incumbent since Dobbs and you-name-all-the-others can divvy up the voters unhappy with him.
It is, of course, a preposterous idea that someone never elected to anything except high school student body president in rural Texas could win the nation's top elected job on the backs of angry voters who believe the incumbent is incompetent.
Next thing you know, people will be suggesting that some old movie actor from California, who switched parties and peddled refrigerators on black-and-white TV, could run against a Democratic president elected after eight years of Republican controversy and scandal. And then the Republican actor could be elected president -- twice.
Just as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was wowing crowds in a book tour for "Going Rogue," her one-time almost son-in-law Levi Johnston -- the father of her grandson, Tripp -- celebrated a publication of his own -- full-length photos in the nude for Playgirl Magazine.
Palin, who does not mention Johnston in her book, told Oprah that she considers his poses porn.
"By the way, I don't know if we call him Levi -- I hear he goes by the name Ricky Hollywood now, so, if that's the case, we don't want to mess up this gig he's got going," she said. "Kind of this aspiring, aspiring porn -- the things that he's doing. It's kind of heartbreaking."
As for Johnston's relationship with his son, Palin said: "He hasn't seen the baby for a while, but we will let that be the discussion between Bristol and Levi, as they work out their relationship. Because Levi will forever be the father of this beautiful little baby, and I continue to hope for the best, and pray for Levi."
Asked if he would be invited to Thanksgiving, Palin said, "He is part of the family...This can all work out for good."
Johnston has already generated some political heat by saying, in an interview with Vanity Fair, that Palin found her job as governor "too hard" and that she offered to adopt Tripp to hide the teen pregnancy.
The Playgirl shoots provide further evidence that even as Palin's national profile rises, Johnston's not going away anytime soon. As The Times' Meghan Daum put it the other day, "He's hot, he's cute, he's playing hardball."
Not that it matters politically because obviously she's a female Republican dunce and he's obviously a male Democratic genius.
But Sarah Palin's poll numbers are strengthening.
And President Obama's are sliding.
Guess what? They're about to meet in the 40s.
Depending, of course, on which recent set of numbers you peruse and how the questions are phrased on approval or favorable, 307 days into his allotted 1,461 the 44th president's approval rating among Americans has slid to 49% or 48%, showing no popularity bounce from his many happy trips, foreign and domestic.
Riding the wave of immense publicity and symbiotic media interest over her new book, "Going Rogue," and the accompanying promotional tour, Palin's favorable ratings are now at 43%, according to ABC. That's up from 40% in July.
Most recent media attention has focused on the 60% who say she's unqualified to become president. Her unfavorable rating is 52%, down from 53%, which still doesn't ignite a lot of optimism for Palin-lovers.
On the other hand, 35 months before the 2008 election, that Illinois senator was such a nobody that no one even thought to ask such a question about him. Things seem to change much more quickly these days.
Saturday night Palin's book bus swung by a mall in Roanoke, Va., a state Obama won a year ago but just recently elected a Republican governor to replace departing Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The former Alaska governor wanted to greet the hundreds of fans already lining up in 39-degree weather for her Sunday morning signing.
"She brings out a different crowd, " Salem Republican Party Chairman Greg Habeeb told the Roanoke Times. Habeeb was struck by the numerous non-Republicans he spotted in the line snaking all over the mall. "She taps into something that the Republican Party really needs to tap into."
Sunday, Palin flew ahead of her bus to visit the Rev. Billy Graham and his son Franklin at the father's North Carolina home before her appearance today at Fort Bragg.
Overall, Palin's, well, campaign will visit 25 states, most of them politically crucial. Florida gets the most stops, three.
Everybody thinks 2012 when they think of Palin, who last week pushed Oprah's show to....
Never shy about $eeking money, Democratic President Obama's Organizing for America is now using the threat of Republican Sarah Palin as an opportunity to acquire more.
It has just sent an e-mail out to its millions of supporters today pleading for urgent donations to fight the mother of five, now on her heavily-publicized, cross-country book promotion bus tour. She holds no political office currently; in fact, she's among America's unemployed, though doing quite well financially.
Perhaps you've heard a little something about Palin in recent days.
The former governor of Alaska has written a book called "Going Rogue" that details her experiences in last year's presidential campaign, her values and thoughts on various issues.
Some people (bipartisan) think (fear) she may become a candidate for the 2012 presidential election.
Since the Republican Party that chose her as its first female presidential ticket member last year has such a glaring national leadership vacuum these days, she's getting tons of publicity in her symbiotic hate-hate relationship with the media, which doesn't mind attracting crowds with her name either (see headline above).
Although the Democratic National Committee dismisses Palin as an ignorant non-factor, it's invested way more time and effort this week attacking Palin than selling Obama, who was on another overseas publicity trip of his own.
Attempting to use Palin as a lucrative opportunity, too, today's e-mail plaintively asks: "Please chip in $5 to help."
The committee says its goal is a half-mill in one week, chump change for the one-time senator's $750-million presidential campaign.
Today's electronic missive calls Palin "dangerous," blames (credits) her for the term "death panels," and says it needs the money to combat her lies (claims), which will be magnified in coming weeks by well-known complicit conservatives in the media.
The donation plea also warns ominously that "the rest of our opponents will likely parrot those attacks."
It says the money will be used for event organizing, advertising and funding calls to Congress in support of Obama's beleaguered healthcare legislation to counter "right-wing attack groups."
Naturally, Palin is also playing off of Palin's publicity. If you give $100 to her SARAHPac here by midday next Wednesday, she'll give you a free signed copy of "Going Rogue."
Photo: Indianapolis Star via Associated Press (Long lines of Palin book-buyers stretch around the entire mall parking lot in Noblesville, Ind.); Getty Images.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told the Hudson Union Society some weeks ago that Republican attacks on President Obama for everything from visiting Dover Air Force Base to opening the White House to local trick-or-treaters on Halloween are hurting the country.
When he was at Dover the other day, and went there to pay respect for soldiers, I heard a lot of people on the right say, "Aw, that's just a cheap photo-op." No, I think it was the commander-in-chief of our military paying respect to a dead soldier, and I'm grateful that he did that, and I was proud of him for doing that. And I think we all -- as Americans -- should give him credit for doing that.
Finally, recalling that liberals regularly reviled George W. Bush no matter what he did, Huckabee, a former pastor, pleaded for comity.
I hated it when people did that to George Bush. They couldn't even laugh at the man's jokes. They found something wrong with everything and if we do that to Barack Obama, then shame on us, shame on us. No wonder our country is so divided when that happens.
Huckabee made the comments while on book tour for "A Simple Christmas." Republican insiders, mindful of all the attention focused on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue," are calling Huckabee's "the other book tour."
Regular Ticket readers know how much we enjoy the Onion.
This video was too good to resist. (It might take a moment to load.)
So in honor of casual Friday, here's that important institution's faux report on an important disaster that reportedly threw the president and his entire family into turmoil.
As it no doubt would any loving and similarly equipped home.
This "report" also brings news about how Vice President Joe Biden manages to remember all those words that he keeps saying.
