Sarah Palin: political and personal

01 July 2009 |permalink | email article

The 9,800-word piece by Todd S. Purdum, Vanity Fair’s national editor, in the August issue – “It Came from Wasilla” – is a must-read. Despite her disastrous performance in the 2008 election, as Mike Allen reports in Politico, she is still the sexist brand in Republican politics, with a lucrative book contract for her story. But what the charismatic Alaska governor wants America to know about herself does not always match reality.

By election time top McCain aides who tried to work with Palin were barely on speaking terms with her, and some news organizations were reporting that various aides saw her as a “diva” and a “whack” job. It’s a rare look at a hasty and ill-conceived campaign in which soon after the GOP convention began to fall apart and doomed John McCain.

While few campaign sources are directly quoted in the meltdown of the vice-presidential pick it’s doubtful many will dispute Purdum’s account. Barack Obama told aides, the article reports, that it took him months to be a national candidate, and added, “I don’t care how talented she is, this is really a leap.”

Sanford: end is near

This week’s piece by Politico’s Roger Simon which suggested four reasons why the South Carolina governor might still have a political future already needs revision after Sanford’s interview with the Association Press. He says he “crossed lines” with a handful of women other than his mistress – but never had sex with them. I mean, it doesn’t get more Clintonesque than that. Sanford says his Argentine mistress is his soul mate as he tries to fall back in love with his wife. I predicted he’s be gone by the end of July. It will be much sooner.

Read ‘em and weep

“The great paradox of the age is that Barack Obama, the most riveting of recent presidents, is leading us into an era of Congressional dominance. And Congressional governance is a haven for special interest pleading and venal logrolling.” David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, on the balance of power in Washington. [Editor’s note: Ironically, under Bush 43, it was the executive branch which craved absolute power.]

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