First let me say that I hope she runs. Not because I think she will win the nomination nor am I free of concerns but...she draws attention and does speak of important free market principles. It should also be said, that were she not attractive, we would not know her name.
One of the biggest mistakes of the failed McCain campaign—and there was no shortage of them—was its handling of Mrs. Palin. Her criticisms of the campaign's treatment of her appear prominently in "Going Rogue." But the book contains self-criticisms too, if not as many as there ought to be for a candidate who was ultimately responsible for her own uneven performance.
That said, "Going Rogue" is more a personal memoir than a political one. More than half the book is about Mrs. Palin's life before the 2008 campaign. She discusses her coming of age in the "new frontier" state of Alaska; her personal faith journey; her experiences with marriage and motherhood, including two miscarriages, a special-needs child and a pregnant teenage daughter; and the free-market convictions that have guided her political career. As a politician, she comes across as a prodigious worker capable of mastering complicated issues—not least the energy policies that matter so much to Alaska's economy—and of building bridges to Democrats.
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By MELANIE KIRKPATRICK
"Going Rogue," the title of Sarah Palin's autobiography, refers to the snide remark of an anonymous McCain aide late in last year's presidential campaign. It was used to describe the vice-presidential candidate's move to break free of her media handlers and speak out against the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan, a state that, in Mrs. Palin's view, was well worth contesting. The "word came hurtling down that I had been 'off-script,' " she writes. The campaign hadn't bothered to inform her of the Michigan decision, which she learned of from a reporter. "Of course," she adds drily, "it's pretty easy to issue candid, off-script messages when there is no script to begin with"
One of the biggest mistakes of the failed McCain campaign—and there was no shortage of them—was its handling of Mrs. Palin. Her criticisms of the campaign's treatment of her appear prominently in "Going Rogue." But the book contains self-criticisms too, if not as many as there ought to be for a candidate who was ultimately responsible for her own uneven performance.
That said, "Going Rogue" is more a personal memoir than a political one. More than half the book is about Mrs. Palin's life before the 2008 campaign. She discusses her coming of age in the "new frontier" state of Alaska; her personal faith journey; her experiences with marriage and motherhood, including two miscarriages, a special-needs child and a pregnant teenage daughter; and the free-market convictions that have guided her political career. As a politician, she comes across as a prodigious worker capable of mastering complicated issues—not least the energy policies that matter so much to Alaska's economy—and of building bridges to Democrats.
Through it all, Mrs. Palin emerges as a new style of feminist: a politician who took on the Ole Boy network and won; a wife with a supportive husband whose career takes second place to hers; and a mother who, unlike working women of an earlier age, isn't shy about showcasing her family responsibilities. She writes with sensitivity and affection about her gay college roommate, and she confesses her anguish when she found out that she was carrying a baby with Down syndrome. That experience, she says, helped her to understand why a woman might be tempted to have an abortion. This is not the prejudiced, dim-witted ideologue of the popular liberal imagination.
But of course it is for details of the McCain campaign that many readers will pick up "Going Rogue," and Mrs. Palin will not disappoint them. She describes in particular how campaign aides muzzled her and mismanaged her family. If anything, she is too gentle on the staffers who kept her out of the loop and under wraps. She is certainly too gentle on the man at the top of the ticket who let them get away with it. She has hardly a critical word to say about John McCain, whose appearances in the book are surprisingly few.
The mistakes started on day one. The McCain communications team had not compiled the usual press-briefing guides, she writes, with the result that the national media had "zero information" on her or her record in Alaska. Moreover, her "family, friends, and political associates were under strict instructions not to talk to the media." She wasn't even allowed to speak to her home-state press, which was very friendly. When one of her aides asked McCain headquarters for permission for her to go to the rear of the campaign plane to talk to reporters, the response was swift: "No! Absolutely not—block her if she tries to go back."
She says that the campaign stiffed her for $50,000 in vetting expenses. She expresses perplexity at the focus of McCain aides on her clothes—"Never before had I been involved in a campaign that placed such an emphasis on packaging." And she is angry about the campaign's handling of her daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy, which included putting out a press release that Mrs. Palin had not seen or approved. "If they [the leaders of the campaign] weren't going to let me speak my heart and mind even about an intimate issue affecting my own family, what would they let me speak to?"
When the media blackout was finally lifted and she had an interview with Katie Couric of the "CBS Evening News," the result was disastrous. Mrs. Palin takes responsibility, saying that she "let the team down" and that she "mistakenly let myself become annoyed and frustrated with many of her repetitive, biased questions." But she also blames the campaign for not prepping her adequately and for telling her that it was going to be "a pretty mellow interview, short and sweet, about balancing motherhood and my life as governor."
It is disappointing that Mrs. Palin devotes so little of "Going Rogue" to the issues that she and Mr. McCain ran on. She says that the campaign should have focused more on the flagging economy and been more aggressive in countering Barack Obama's agenda. She also says that she wasn't allowed to praise President Bush's homeland-security policies. But that's about it.
Mrs. Palin's veep candidacy ignited fury on the left and much skewed reporting in the mainstream media. It is probably too much to hope that a book that begins at the Right to Life booth at the Alaska State Fair will inspire her critics to read on. But if they do, they'll find themselves in the company of a woman whose views are more nuanced than they were portrayed to be during the campaign. As for her supporters on the right, they won't find much new ammunition with which to counter those who say that Mrs. Palin isn't ready for the rigors of the White House.
Speaking of which, "Going Rogue" offers little guidance on the big question: Is Mrs. Palin preparing to run for the presidency? The final chapter, "The Way Forward," is a mere 13 pages and reads like a stump speech. It consists mostly of generalities on conservative values, fiscal restraint and the need for a strong defense. But the quotation from her father with which she introduces the chapter perhaps offers a clue to her future plans: "Sarah's not retreating; she's reloading!"
Wow. You read that book pretty fast compared to your past book reading tempo. Did you spend the weekend at Evelyn Wood?
No one hopes she runs more than I do, with the possible exception of President Obama.
I remember what a great movie Rocky was and I wondered what Stallone might have in him. And then he went on to create a comic book character of himself and cashed in fabulously with movies which were each more horrible than the last.
I remember how much I liked Sarah when she first appeared: a person honest enough and determined enough to "throw the bums out" even though the bums were in her own party. And then she went on to create a comic book character of herself and cash in very nicely.
There may be something she could do to get me to take her seriously, but I have no idea what it would be. I'm sure she will run because it will further her personal financial interests (and, obtw, I'm OK with that), but it strikes me as highly unlikely that it will further any meaningful national debate.
Hags
Well said Hags, but you give her too much credit to begin with. She is wholly unqualified and there is nothing she can do in a couple of years - perhaps even a lifetime - to change that.
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