by Jules Witcover

Sarah Palin Going Rogue by Donna Grethen
Sarah Palin (© Donna Grethen)

She's back!!! That, of course, would be Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, former Republican vice-presidential nominee and continuing political celebrity, demonstrating her attention-grabbing talent if not her intentions for the future.

The new darling of populist conservatism kicked off her 14-state book-peddling tour for her telltale opus, "Going Rogue," on the best showcase on television, "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Without revealing her plans she displayed some of the reasons she has Tea Party protesters enthralled with visions electing the first woman president, after the failure of Hillary Clinton to break that particular glass ceiling.

Palin coyly told her hostess that the presidency in 2012 was "not on my radar screen right now" -- hardly a Sherman-like disavowal of interest. But she did allow that she was concentrating on 2010, when her fellow anti-Obamaites hope to deliver the president a political black eye by regaining control of Congress, or at least one of the two houses.

That comment could signal any number of political activities, but it seems unlikely that she would run for public office again in Alaska after having so abruptly quit the governorship without finishing her elected term and thus, some would say, thumbing her nose at her fellow-Alaskans.

Indeed, the smell of self-promotion clings to her post-resignation behavior, despite her insistence to Oprah Winfrey that she wants to use her newfound prominence to fight for her state and country "on a different plane." To the observations that her abandonment of the governorship would disqualify her from further public service, she quoted her father as saying she was "not retreating, she's reloading."

Demonstrating the scrappy, self-confident style that endeared her to the faithful during her vice-presidential run, Palin insisted that "you don't need a title to make a difference." But she offered no specifics on how she intends to do so, either in her book, in part a get-even diatribe at John McCain campaign operatives who she says tried to muzzle and then remake her, or in her little chat with Oprah.

Nevertheless, she probably provided enough of her homey naturalness to keep all those conservative hearts beating, while reinforcing many Democratic convictions that a Sarah Palin presidential nomination would be a gift certificate to Obama for a second term in 2012.

The current wide-open picture in the Republican Party, with retreads like Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney and perennial wishful-thinker Newt Gingrich leading the hopefuls, encourages the speculation that the party must come up with a bright star, albeit even a shooting one, to lead it out of its current doldrums.

Optimistic comparisons are being made in some GOP quarters with the ascendancy of Ronald Reagan, first regarded by many as a simplistic B-movie star who fooled everybody in his ascendancy to the Oval Office. But Reagan in two terms as governor of California acquired both stature and familiarity with substantive issues that gave credibility to his first failed presidential candidacy in 1976, and paved the way for his election four years later.

There was a time when little was expected of a vice-presidential nominee or, in fact, of an occupant of the office. When a nominee with little national experience was chosen, such as Palin was in 2008, nobody seemed to care much, even though nine vice presidents became president through constitutional succession.

In the last three decades, however, vice presidents have increasingly involved themselves in governing functions, and none more conspicuously than Dick Cheney, the man Palin sought unsuccessfully to succeed. In his tenure, the vice presidency became a significant power center, perhaps later highlighting Palin's deficiencies in awareness and command of national issues.

In the interview, Winfrey joked about the notion advanced by some that Palin was highly qualified to compete with television's most popular talk-show hostess. Palin with a broad grin told her, "Oprah, you're the queen!" But Palin's own comfortable and cheery manner was a quite effective audition for such a spot if some other network or cable outlet were interested.

Running for president of the United States, however, is an entirely different matter, or should be. Palin at one point talked about how these days there's nothing a resourceful woman can't do -- even balancing parenting a large family with leading the country. It was enough to send Palin fans' hopes soaring, while causing shivers elsewhere.

 

Going Rogue: An American Life

The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star

The Audacity to Win

 

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