The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Like John McCain during his concession speech, McCain Ends “Classy”, Sarah Palin has been "gracious" in defeat.

Saying that the only thing she ever wanted during the campaign was a diet Coke, she denied that she was the typical Republican who likes spending other people's money, Palin Calls Her Critics "Jerks," "Cowardly". Unlike her own performance on the campaign trail, she has labeled criticism about her as “cruel and it’s mean-spirited, it’s immature, it’s unprofessional, and those guys are jerks.” Even worse, now that the snowbird has returned home to Alaska, she won't be needing all those fancy duds, so the RNC has dispatched a lawyer to retrieve the clothes and other goodies. Tensions between McCain and Palin camps come to light.

With the Democrats still basking in the euphoria of Obama's victory, the place to go for bitterness and recriminations is definitely the GOP (also known as Grumpy Old Men). And they have certainly been dishing it out. As Steve Benen notes, PUTTING AWAY THE LONG KNIVES, McCain's campaign doesn't help itself by pointing the finger at Palin. They picked her. Campbell Brown of CNN agrees:



However, after all is said & done, the real question is: What's up with Sarah?

There is no doubt that she's the gift that keeps on giving and that she will dominate the news for a while, both as an object of scorn and desire. But what of her future? Is there a Sarah Palin in our future?

According to a recent poll, 64% of Republicans pick her as the top choice for the GOP ticket in 2012. She herself has suggested that she wasn't doing this for nothing and John McCain called her "an impressive new voice" in the Republican Party. Boos mar John McCain's gracious concession as he hints it's just the beginning for Sarah Palin.

This has been a lively topic of discussion among the LLWL Gang.* One of the other Gang members and I have made a bet on whether she'll live on in infamy. Loser has to buy pizza for the office. I've placed my money on she's history. Since it will take a little time to see whether she's going to continue to provide fodder for the late night comedians (& the LLWL Gang), we plan to revisit the question on the Ides of March (March 15, 2009) to ask "Who's Sarah Palin?"

I realize that at this moment, I have the longshot spot. According to the London Daily Mail:

But Republican leaders say the election was just the beginning for Sarah Palin.

Despite coming under fire for her inexperience, insiders say she is already being groomed to run for the presidency in 2012.

She even let slip her own ambitions last week, saying in a TV interview that she’s ‘not doing all this for naught'.

And should her presidential ambitions full flat, Hollywood has also come calling.

Several top producers are vying to see if she can turn her popularity among the country’s conservatives into TV ratings.

Now Joe Biden will be filling the vacant VP job in Washington, network executives are sharpening their pitches to try and persuade her to capitalise on her new found celebrity.

Her self-mocking appearance on Saturday Night Live, with lookalike star Tina Fey and actor Alec Baldwin, only heightened Palin fever in Hollywood.

‘Any television person who sees the numbers when she appears on anything would say Sarah Palin would be great,’ said veteran morning-show producer Steve Friedman.

‘The passion she has on each side, love and hate, makes television people say, "Wow, imagine the viewership".‘

According to the Hollywood Reporter, most industry insiders believe an Oprah Winfrey-style daytime talk show will be the probable route for the 44-year-old.

They think her folksy, straight-shooting personality would be an immediate hit with the predominantly female audience.

'I see her less a variety show host like Ellen De Generes and more of a single-topic host like Tyra Banks,’ said one top TV producer.

Cable news is another possibility and perhaps easier to fit in with her day job. Mike Huckerbee, who lost out to John McCain in the Republican primaries, has just begun his own weekly show on Fox News.

One producer has even floated the idea - only half-jokingly - of taking advantage of the curiosity surrounding the entire Palin clan and their Alaska setting and packaging a reality show called ‘The Palins’ as a mixture of The Osbournes and Northern Exposure.

See also, Post Election Predictions for All News Junkies.

In the meantime, we can enjoy the fun with Sassy Sarah. Here's Letterman's The Top 10 New Revelations about Sarah Palin:





* LLWL Gang = Lady Lawyers Who Lunch (My officemates)