Sarah Palin’s book tour has many of the hallmarks of an early-stage presidential campaign: a branded tour bus, first-leg stops in 11 swing states, and high-profile TV interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. There's even intrigue and infighting, after the AP leaked dirty-laundry excerpts about the tensions she had with 2008 ticketmate John McCain and his staff. Is Palin hitting the road to promote her book or her political aspirations? (Watch an MSNBC panel talk about "Palin-palooza")
It sure looks like a first step toward 2012: A visit to Iowa? Two to three stops a day in battleground states on a Palin-“emblazoned” tour bus? asks Norah O’Donnell at MSNBC’s First Read. The “feisty” ex-governor and her publisher say they’re just aiming to hit as much of America as possible, focusing on places not on most book tours. But “the imagery and pace of her travel is almost certain to evoke images of an early presidential campaign foray.”
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“Can Sarah Palin make a comeback?”
First she has to get beyond the mistakes of 2008: Palin’s book rollout looks like a presidential campaign, but not for 2012, say Jason Horowitz and Michael Shear in The Washington Post. The juicy leaked AP tidbits “trumped the more calibrated cyber-teasers” of the official "soft launch,” giving the “Going Rogue” rollout “all the orchestrated stagecraft, wild accusations, inconvenient leaks, and media fascination” of McCain-Palin 2008.
“Leaks launch Palin’s ‘Going Rogue’ with that ol’ campaign fervor”
“Rogue” is about money, not politics: Actually, “most of the smart money is betting that Palin won’t be a contender for 2012,” says Mark Halperin in Time, but that may not bother Palin. “For now, she’s all about polishing her brand for its purchasing—not its political—power.” And no matter what you think about Palin, she “is going to sell a ton of books.”
“The Rogue returns: On the road with Sarah Palin”
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FOR MORE OF THE WEEK'S COVERAGE OF SARAH PALIN
• Sarah Palin's "whiny" book: Painful revelations or lies?
