Sarah Palin: Playing politics for fun and profit?

In his in-depth look at Sarah Palin, New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman explores the controversial argument that the erstwhile Republican VP candidate quit her job as Alaska's governor to parlay her new fame into wealth. Her $7 million deal to write and promote her memoir, Going Rogue, opened the door to a lucrative string of TV and speaking gigs. Is this just another liberal attack on the right's presumptive leader, or is Palin just spouting knee-jerk conservativism for personal gain?

Palin's exploiting true believers: It's no secret that Palin's a "hi-def huckster," says Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Daily News. But Sherman really "nails down" the fact that she's making money off conservative ideas, instead of fighting for them. Still, she's hardly the first politician to treat her disciples as "roadkill" on the road to fame and fortune.

"The (formerly) 'terrible' life of Sarah Palin"

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Here we go again — another baseless attack from the left: Palin didn't quit to make money, says Ian Lazaran in Conservatives4Palin. She quit because "left-wing obstructionists," with their baseless ethics complaints, made it impossible for her to do her job. Besides, getting rich is nothing to be ashamed of, and it certainly doesn't disqualify Palin as a political leader.

"The commercialization of false narratives about Palin (update)"

Palin is fully committed...to herself: Palin may run for president, but only if she views it as a necessary step to build her brand, says Joshua Green in The Atlantic. Judging by her "middling" poll numbers and distaste for the drudgery of politics, "Palin's prospects in the Republican Party are a good deal dimmer than her star wattage suggests." If it's a choice between "earning money and running for president, Palin will choose money."

"Sarah Palin, Inc."