COMMENTARY | Wearing black leather, a helmet and heels, Sarah Palin roared into Washington, D.C., on the back of a Harley Davidson as part of the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day motorcycle rally. "We're here to honor our vets," she told NBC News. However, many suggest Palin's attendance was a publicity stunt to promote her much-chattered-about bus tour that many speculate is a test run to explore her odds as a 2012 Republican presidential candidate.
The One Nation bus tour, funded by Sarah PAC donations, is stirring controversy whereever it goes. While visiting iconic symbols related to the founding of America in the company of her family and a small entourage, Palin has kept supporters guessing where she might show up next and the media chasing their proverbial tails as they scramble to keep up with her, reports CNN.
Palin maintains that the bus tour is a family vacation to promote awareness of American history. That she stops only at historical locations and consistently avoids political discussion should support her claims. Still, because anxious members of the media and her supporters prefer to believe she's testing presidential waters, speculation and hearsay continue to be reported as news, which fans continue to read. The forthcoming trip to Iowa, according to Real Clear Politics (RCP), is only fueling the speculation fire.
After all, Iowa is "the nation's first voting state" where she has "not yet set foot this year." Then again, neither has Herman Cain. Despite chatter that her trip to New Hampshire is meant to rain on Mitt Romney's official announcement parade, Palin tells Politico the convergence is purely "coincidental."
Scott Conroy of RCP even claimed to have the inside scoop from mystery "sources" in Palin's camp that the tour was in fact "designed as a test run."
Before One Nation began, Washington Post's Rachel Weiner reported of the nationwide mailing of 400,000 solicitations to raise money for the PAC that now funds the tour. Weiner even used Scott Conroy's creative license first to turn ambiguity into news.
"The copy of the letter sent to The Fix came from South Carolina," she wrote. Yet despite the PAC's title, "Look Ahead: 2012" was printed clearly on the page, Weiner reported that the PAC was called "2012 Can't Come Fast Enough." This blatant inaccuracy was then parroted by other news outlets, including Politico, Time and even the Alaska Dispatch.
It's almost sad to watch them, these self-appointed political assassins who worked so hard to destroy her life in 2008, trying so desperately now to resuscitate her campaign in order to have her back.
Prior to the launch of One Nation, Palin released a promotional video. Amid patriotic shots of familiar Americana, you're teased with glimpses of the mammoth bus being wrapped with images of the U.S. Constitution and the Liberty Bell. Also on the bus are waves of red stripes, which conjure the most iconic symbol of all: the American flag. MSNBC's Martin Bashir insists this infraction amounts to a "breach of federal law."
"In fact, the whole thing could be in breach of a federal law," Bashir said, according to Media Research Center, "because the United States Flag Code establishes important rules for the use and display of the stars and stripes." Before choosing to Clear the Air about federal law, perhaps Bashir should have boned up on the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which says even the burning of the American flag is protected by the First Amendment.
While she will talk generic political commentary on FOX News, Palin avoids discussion of her own plans and limits public appearances to charity fundraisers like "Heroes Among Us," a pro-life fundraiser in Maryland, and a Washington brunch to raise money for Epilepsy research at Tammy Haddad's 18th annual garden brunch, as reported by Politico. Otherwise, Palin continues to guard her political aspirations as fiercely as her next bus trip destination.
Depending on the poll, Gallup, CNN or Zogby, Palin ranks high among potential GOP candidates. At the same time, Gallup reports that Palin's favorability rating is at a record low since John McCain put her on the national stage in 2008. Likewise, despite President Obama's consistently low approval numbers, CNN and FOX News still predict Obama will win in 2012.
In the end, against the hopes of her fans who want to see her run and the craving of media stalkers who yearn to knock her down again, when all is said and done, their mutual desire to hear Palin announce her 2012 candidacy will prove to be much ado about nothing.
"Whether she runs or not, Palin needs to stay relevant in order to leverage her celebrity, influence and earning capacity," said Mark McKinnon, a Republican consultant who helped coach Sarah in 2008 as she prepared for her vice presidential debate with Joe Biden, according to the Los Angeles Times. In the meantime, as the flurry of excitement and speculation continues to swirl around her, "there's no downside to teasing the possibility just as long as possible."
There are no comments yet