Wishful Thinking
Paul Waldman makes the case that the era of breathless coverage of Sarah Palin is over:
Palin’s game is one you can only play for so long. Once it becomes clear you aren’t actually running, people lose interest. About eight months from now, there will be a Republican nominee for president. Suddenly, there will be a Republican politician who is infinitely more important than her. So Palin may try to pop up again during the campaign, but her ability to get attention will be severely curtailed.
In fact, I’ll go so far as to predict that this issue of Newsweek is the last time she’ll appear on the cover of a news magazine. Ever. The “Gosh, what’s Sarah Palin gonna do?!?” period has come to its end. She’ll probably try to produce the same media interest four years from now, but it won’t be nearly as successful. There are only so many times you can write that story.
It’s been a crazy and often fascinating ride, but Palin really has little more to offer as a politician or cultural figure. What’s she going to do next – say something ignorant? Complain about liberals? Provide some unseemly family drama? We’ve seen it all before, and it gets less interesting every time. Unless she goes on trial for murder, most Americans just aren’t going to care.
I think he’s right. We hear about Palin less and less. Palin will continue to make her millions on the wingnut welfare circuit but her looks will fade. Meanwhile, a new wingnut sweetheart has risen and she is taking Palin’s media.
The strongest evidence came when her bus tour fizzled out after ruining Romney’s New Hampshire declaration. The media finally wised up and stopped following her. That came on top of shrinking crowds for Palin appearances and rallies. She’s over unless she runs — and if she runs it will be a disaster, and she’ll be over anyway.
Unless she goes on trial for murder, … I would not rule that one out.
Palin is definitely Old Business. The GOP is better off to put her on a shelf and bring her out from time to time to support contemporary candidates that HAVE a snowball’s chance in hell to win an election.
Palin’s looks are already fading — FAST — and she’s desperately trying to look like Michele Bachmann (note the pearls, and the hair) more and more in her Fox “interviews” (I say that, because in this clip, it’s obvious her teleprompter starts out s-l-o-w) http://bit.ly/nF327j
In cast you hadn’t noticed, Delbert, people are still free to do what they want, whether the national party approves or not.
I haven’t noticed any change in Palin’s looks. I HAVE noticed that Bachmann has been botoxed to a fare-thee-well. Look it up — photos from a couple of years ago show her forehead wrinkling with her often over-the-top emotional rants. No more. How much with the Tea Horndogs like her once she looks like the sea hag?
Becomes a political correspondent (note–I did not say analyst or pundit) on Election Eve, and a tier 2 surrogate at fundraisers. Maintaining a decent enough funding stream of income. Incredible, but true. Mark my words.
Why incredible? Sounds entirely plausible to me. For crying out loud, even Ralph Reed is still suckling at the conservative teat. Tea Horndogs still find Ann Coulter attractive. I’m sure there’s plenty of room for Sarah.
They’re like the Boomer Esiasons of the political world.
Unless she goes on trial for murder,
Or one of her offspring decides on the Lindsay Lohan or Octomom career path.
I’m cynical that the media is done with her. She’s been serious eyeball or click bait and eyeballs or clicks seems to be the reason some of the media gets up in the morning. A group of people *reporting* on what one person says on Twitter or Facebook who almost never deigns to interact with the media on its usual terms have been pretty well trained to deliver the attention she so badly wants. Right now there is a big field of shiny trainwrecks for them to pay attention to, but once the Quitta decides she wants their attention, she’ll get it.
John McCain is a FAIL all the way around and the media capture pretty much every damn thing he says.
I agree with unstable’s article for the most part. The only exception I see that can change her from fading away, is the following. (Someone is going to get the GOP nomination for president, and that same someone is going to have to pick a vp candidate, and whoever that is, even if it is Sarah Palin, will definately be in the spotlight). That is the one possibility that I see that could change her fading away.