When asked by The New York Times for others to speak to about Ms. Palin, her spokeswoman, Ms. Stapleton, mentioned the Republican media adviser Mary Matalin (who has been in sporadic contact with Ms. Palin’s camp) and Dana Perino, the former White House press secretary for George W. Bush (who seemed barely to know her).The reporter spoke with people whom Meg Stapleton — "her [Sarah Palin's] longtime spokeswoman" — recommended to him. Apparently, at least one of those recommended by Ms. Stapleton, Dana Perino, didn't know Sarah Palin well enough to comment for the article! This must certainly be an interesting, informative article. Let's look at the direct quotes, so we can find out whether Ms. Stapleton may have recommended anyone else:
“Few public figures not in office have leveraged the nexus between media and political positioning as Sarah Palin has,” said the Washington lawyer Robert Barnett[.] [My, my, the attorney who set-up Sarah Palin's book deal has praised her. Hasn't he?]
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a badge of honor to be thought of negatively by some of these people,” Mr. Recher said. “But the bottom line is, I was incredibly proud to serve John McCain, and I couldn’t be happier to be part of Sarah Palin’s world now.” [Jason Recher was paid well by Sarah's PAC to accompany her on the Going Rogue tour.]
“She used to be a moderate Republican in Alaska, but I think all of these attacks have hardened her and made her absolutely more conservative,” said John Coale[.] “I think there have been times during all the attacks when she thought, ‘This is just too much,’ ” Mr. Coale said. “But now I think it all makes her more determined. Whatever she’s doing now, it feels like a calling to her.” [Mr. Coale helped set-up Sarah's PAC and is married to Greta Van Susteren. They are both friends of Sarah]
“I’m disappointed by her endorsement of Paul,” said William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard and one of the conservatives credited with “discovering” Ms. Palin in 2007. “But they always disappoint you.” [William's the guy who brought Sarah to the national dance and after initially expressing surprise when she stormed off the floor, provided the spin that's ... well, kept her spinning.]
“I think if Sarah has a passion, it’s that she really believes that there is a silent majority out there that she wants the folks in Washington to know about,” said Kristan Cole, a friend in Wasilla. [Yes, long-time friend — old enough, like Sarah, to have heard of Nixon's "silent majority" — and founder of the Alaska Fund Trust, Sarah Palin's do-whatever-she-wants-with-it legal defense fund, ostensibly formed to defend against ethics charges, now, itself, mired in ethics problems.]There you have it. No new characters have joined the cast, so how is the reporter's statement, "Beyond what her Fox-watchers and Facebookers can see, Ms. Palin is quietly assembling the infrastructure of an expanding political operation," meaningful?
What about that "soon-to-be-built television studio in her living room?" Would you want a television studio in your living room? What is meant by "television studio?" Sarah Palin has appeared on "Oprah" and Fox from her home in Wasilla, apparently without a studio. Perhaps Fox has found some deficiencies: perhaps Fox has found that the lighting could be improved or that the electrical service could be upgraded or that a more professional backdrop is in order. Is that a whole television studio? We are well aware of Sarah Palin's (and her spokeswoman's) tendency to exaggerate and embellish.
The reporter wrote, "She reads daily e-mail briefings on domestic and foreign policy from a small group of advisers who remained loyal after her tumultuous vice presidential campaign in 2008." Would any of those advisers be associated with conservatives4palin.com? From SarahPac's last financial disclosures, we learned that two of that group's founders, Rebecca Mansour and Joseph Russo, have been paid by the PAC. They've certainly been loyal, even if their missives haven't always been accurate. Sarah Palin certainly relies on e-mail, so much so that she once embarrassed herself by citing a rumor that originated in an e-mail chain letter.
The reporter quoted one other person: “She has expanded her house and turned it into a compound,” said Rebecca Braun, who edits the nonpartisan Alaska Budget Report. “She is basically invisible in Alaska but as big a celebrity as Princess Di everywhere else.” Rebecca Braun didn't appear to be one of Sarah Palin's fans after a revelatory NPR story was read. Apparently the reporter spoke with one person whom Ms. Stapleton may not have recommended.
Of course, Sarah Palin had no involvement in writing the article, or so it might seem, because we're told, "Ms. Palin, who declined to comment for this article, is scarcely seen around her hometown these days, said residents of the so-called Duct Tape Capital of the World. And since leaving office [to "progress" Alaska] last year, she is silent on state political matters."
Other articles have referred to the New York Times article, Palin Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned for Variety of Roles, directly or indirectly, and may be better informed:
Talking Points Memo has Brain Trust To Nowhere
The Atlantic has Palin Puts Together a ... Campaign?
The Daily Beast has Sarah Palin's Money Man
The Washington Independent has Team Palin, which appears to be factually inaccurate concerning Becki Donatelli's involvement (An out-of-date Washington Post column, The Protectors of the Palin Brand, is cited; a later column is more up-to-date; note, however, that that column doesn't mention that Becki Donatelli quit SarahPac. (A reader might infer from Meg Stapleton's remarks in that column of the Washington Post that an amicable separation had occurred))
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