What does Palin's 'Mama Grizzlies' video mean?
Sarah Palin's campaign-like commercial for her political action committee has pundits asking if she's firing the starting pistol for a 2012 presidential run
![A screenshot from Sarah Palin's new commercial.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XycBBGMVsgLcoidJsQR7TG-415-80.jpg)
"This year will be remembered as the year commonsense conservative women get things done for our country." So begins Sarah Palin's campaign-like commercial for her political action committee, a video which has quickly gone viral. (Watch below.) The two-minute spot features Palin speaking to and meeting women voters, backed by the soundtrack of her 'mama grizzlies' stump speech. Pundits are split on Palin's intentions — is she simply lending sisterly support to the "pink elephants" in the 2010 race, or kicking off her own run for the presidency?
It sends a message to the GOP — Palin is here to stay: The video is aimed at "Republican party officials across the country," says Greg Sargent at The Washington Post. And the message is: "Palin is a political force to be reckoned with." Although it's "way too early to try to figure out whether she'll run" in 2012, the "campaign-like feel" of the video — and its determination to illustrate her "rising clout" — is the clearest sign yet that she will.
"The message of Sarah Palin's Mama Grizzlies video"
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It's aimed at women — but the focus is on Palin: It's just as clearly aimed at female voters, says Glynnis MacNicol at Mediaite. But it's worth noting that the ad doesn't show any of the "mama grizzlies" the former Alaska governor has endorsed in 2010, even though the voice-over aludes to them. "This video is all about Palin."
"Sarah Palin's new ad looks a lot like a Presidential campaign"
If it is a presidential-campaign message, it's telling: The video is notable for its lack of "black or Hispanic or... minority faces," says Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic. Palin's message is about "dreaming of an old America" before mass immigration, civil rights, and Darwinism. It's a "new fundamentalism" that, in spite of a lack of substance, has a "ferocity and passion" that makes it "very potent" indeed.
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