Politico’s Ben Smith reports that Clear Channel has passed on Sarah Palin for a spot on their network. Based on recent polls, it looks like a majority of Americans are passing on Palin as a Presidential contender as well.
I personally wish Sarah Palin and her family well. I think her treatment at the hands of most of the media has been shameful and would not have been allowed to continue if she were a liberal.
I had my fingers crossed that day in August of 2008 when the McCain campaign announced her as their VP pick. I knew she was very popular in Alaska at the time and that she was one of the few people pushing hard for domestic oil drilling, something that should be one of our highest priorities.
But I also knew that her resume was thin, too thin to be propelled into the national limelight. I was afraid that she would be eaten up and spit out once her usefulness was over. In less than a year, she is an ex-VP candidate and an ex-Governor. Maybe she will find her niche as campaigner, drawing in big crowds and big money for conservatives and helping rebuild the Republican Party. Even that is promblematic because she has also said that she will campaign for conservative Democrats and Independents and that stance further limits her effectiveness as being someone who is in the forefront of rebranding the Party.
In my opinion, Sarah Palin needs to make a fundamental decision. What party best represents the interests of the American people?
She should then work to promote that party’s political philosophy and if she sells a lot of books and gets lucrative invitations to deliver speeches around the country, more power to her.
One thing that won’t work for her any better than it works for anyone else who has tried it is what she has been doing the last month or so: fence-straddling.
~~John Cronin~~
Broadcasting and Cable reports:
By: Ben Smith
My own sources say much what they said when asked about a TV show for Palin: Don’t think so. While you might assume Palin would be a better fit for conservative radio than the less partisan world of syndicated broadcast TV, my sources say the country’s biggest radio conglomerate, Clear Channel, has already passed on her.
The main objection to Palin as radio talk-show host is that she would have to hold forth for three hours a day. While some of her recent remarks may indicate a talent for improvisation, anyone who’s listened to Rush Limbaugh or Thom Hartmann or Don Imus or Howard Stern or even Ryan Seacrest knows it’s the rare personality who can blab extemporaneously for 15 hours a week.
