It's
all about the benjamins, really. Soon to be ex-governor Palin is bored with obtaining actual executive experience, and is "going broke" defending herself against evil...somethings. Oh, yes. All those
nasty bloggers questioning her questionable doings.
I seem to recall that the Clintons were in a similar bind after Mr. Clinton's term finished (no quitters, they). They
set up a
fund that had its
fits and starts, they wrote books and
eventually pulled it off. As I recall, they were millions of dollars down, no exaggeration.
I heard (or thought I heard) that Sarah Palin's defense fund garnered an overnight haul of big bucks the day after she announced her coming resignation. There are
bunches of people raising
oodles of money for her to be "defended" or run for president in 2012.
So, absent any "actual responsibilities", she's going to tour the "lower 48". She'll be a hit down
south, and maybe some in the
west. If she can avoid losing, she might be able to pull off a nomination.
Not a win, but a nomination.
There's lots to ignore in Palin herself, but not in her following. Americanism is strong in the South and West, where incomes are low and faith is high.
Howard Dean said it,
John Edwards said it, but nobody listened (well, voters did, media didn't). They talked about the poverty, but the faith, not so much. People can endure physical poverty as long as they feel spiritually enriched. This has nothing to do with church or a particular faith, really, but with a feeling of community - shared values, shared experiences, whether real or imagined.
This is why the local optometrist is pulling in cash hand over fist selling glasses "as worn by Sarah Palin". This is why people still have on their McCain/Palin stickers on after pulling off the W ovals (you can see the spots). These are the people that Beck and Bachman are trying to woo, and the ones everyone else is trying to ignore,
perhaps with good reason.
.jpg)
