Sarah Palin: Playing politics for fun and profit?

Is Sarah Palin playing on Republican passions to get rich?

(Image credit: Getty)

last updated 8 January 2015

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

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."

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox