What is Sarah Palin doing in 2013?

Sarah Palin has become a household name lately with the release of the movie, The Game Change.  She has been doing a lot of television interviews and we've had a chance to get to know a little more about her and her family. 

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All through the month of March, HBO is airing “Game Change”, a filmed adapted by Danny Strong, which was based on the book written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. The film was directed by Jay Roach. The film does an excellent job of chronicling the early days of Sarah Palin’s assent into celebrity status.

Although the story mainly about Palin’s impact on the McCain campaign, it is told through the eyes of Steve Schmidt, McCain’s campaign manager. The story begins with McCain’s campaign realizing that they are in a unique set of circumstances coming off the unpopular Bush administration, a failing economy, and going up against a transformative figure in Barack Obama. Realizing what they are facing, they attempt to change the landscape of the election by bringing on board Sarah Palin. Given the last minute nature of her selection, they are unable to have her go through the same vetting process that other vice president candidates go through. On the surface however, her exceptional life story seemed enough of a risk to be the game changer the campaign was looking for.

As Sarah is integrated into the campaign, cracks start to appear as it relates to some of her knowledge about issues. Foreign policy is a specific deficiency that many pointed to, as Palin got into hot water with her comment that being Governor of Alaska, and therefore bordering Russia, gave her a unique perspective foreign policy. This comment eventually resurfaced during Sarah’s now infamous interview with Katie Couric.

After realizing that perhaps Palin wasn’t as ready for prime time as they would have liked, Steve Schmidt and his team (the movie focuses heavily on Nicole Wallace specifically) begin to shield Palin and utilize her amazing talents as being “a great actress”, as they put it. They coach her up for the vice presidential debate in which many field she out dueled then-Senator Joe Biden, although many polls have mixed reviews. Either way, her performance there was much better than her interviews with Couric, or the one with Robert Gibson, in which she fumbled other lines as well.

Regardless of her missteps on policies or general political knowledge, Palin proved to be a fund raising rock star. Her no non-sense style and conservative beliefs energized the based and it was evident on the campaign trail. Money was rolling in and she realized she was the reason. At this point, this is where many staffers believe Palin starting going rogue, to borrow a term.

In what was always an un-winnable situation, Palin and McCain started to differ on many items, especially when Palin began to make decisions without conferring with Schmidt. There were many occasions along the way in which she caused issues, for example, she wanted to give a concession speech on election night, which has long been the solemn duty of the presidential candidate only. As evidence of her popularity, chants of “Sarah! Sarah!” bellowed out as McCain gave his speech.

Whether or not the movie and book embellished the actual truth of the events that unfolded is of little consequence, and will be debated by those involved. The takeaway from the film is two-fold. First, McCain ran on a campaign of ‘Country First’ and this move to pick a women was observed as a self-serving political gesture. Secondly, Palin’s place on the national stage was forever set in stone by those few months in 2008. Life comes down to a few moments, and Sarah took full advantage of hers.

Whether you like her or not, Sarah Palin is at least interesting. Everyone has an opinion about her. What is yours?

What do you think of Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin's meteoritic rise to celebrity came during the 2008 Presidential Election as she was tapped to become John McCain's Vice Presidential running mate. Before this, she served public office in the state of Alaska, eventually becoming Governor in 2006, a post she resigned from in July 2009.

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She has been a polarizing figure since she jumped on the scene. Opinions about her never seem to be in the middle of the road. Half of the population views her as inexperience, unworldly, unsophisticated, and unintelligent. Concerns especially arose during the election cycle mainly around some of her foreign policy answers and fumbling of questions during interviews; while the other half views her as a take charge, no nonsense mother.

Since the end of the 2008 presidential election, she has been heavily involved in politics and has been no stranger to publicity and criticism. Many people have wondered what exactly she has been up to since she announced that she was not going to run for president in October 2011. Well, she has been in the news, especially with the release of HBO's original film, "Game Change", that goes behind the scenes of the 2008 election.

The choice of Sarah Palin for the vice presidential spot on the Republican ticket energized the conservative base. The Alaskans liked her as governor of their state. What do you think?

In late February, Lifetime announced that it was picking up ten episodes of the reality show called "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp." The show will focus on Bristol's life as a mother while she raises her three year old son, Tripp, whom she was pregnant with during the 2008 presidential election. The show, obviously, will focus on Sarah and Todd Palin, as well.

Recent comments by HBO’s Bill Maher about Sarah Palin lent to studio laughter and were considered typical male locker room humor. However, Sarah Palin did not find them as funny. These issues surfaced on the heels of radio host Rush Limbaugh’s “slut” remark in reference to Sandra Fluke, a law student from Georgetown University, and President Barack Obama’s subsequent handling of the situation by personally calling Sandra Fluke.

Sarah Palin makes an effective point that President Obama’s concern over women doesn’t seem to impact enough to call mothers of fallen soldiers, and that his calling on Sandra Fluke was politically motivated.

Sarah Palin’s point of contention was first with Bill Maher’s comments, but then evolved to encompass President Barack Obama. Bill Maher made a $1 million donation to Priorities USA, a pro-Barack Obama super PAC. Palin has called for President Obama’s campaign to refund the donation in protest of these comments, claiming that his remarks were demeaning to all women, not just her.

Sarah Palin is publicly endorsing Newt Gingrich as Republican presidential nominee Tuesday. However, many (including myself) believes that she is secretly planning on running for President herself.

When voting on Super Tuesday in Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin was approached by CNN's Paul Vercammen and asked a few questions about her intentions to run for president in 2016. Palin, who energized the Republican Party base during the 2008 Presidential Election, and then helped fuel the Tea Party Movement during the 2010 mid-term election cycle as well, has been a focal point of speculation about her political future. Palin gave the typical political non-committal response with regards to the 2016 election, vaguely stating that she doesn't close any doors and will do whatever is best for the country, typical political jargon.

The 2012 question was a bit more intriguing, however, and many insiders feel that Sarah Palin is actually positioning herself for a run at the White House in this presidential cycle. On the surface, this doesn't seem likely, but this year has created a set of circumstances that may lend to such a result. The goal here would be shoot for a brokered GOP convention in Tampa. This can be accomplished if frontrunner Mitt Romney does earn the requisite delegates. While in Wasilla on Super Tuesday, when asked if she would accept the nomination from a brokered convention, Palin was much less vague by basically giving a yes answer, saying she is very "open" to it. In addition, she has conducted herself in a manner that looks like someone with an eye on the White House. She has attacked Mitt Romney which has helped to elongate the primary process. She has also consistently attacked Obama, establishing herself as a clear anti-Obama conservative that will appeal to the conservative base. Stay tuned...

What would you like to see Sarah Palin do in the future? All views are welcome but no name calling please. Be civil or your comment will be deleted.