Pesky, Pestering Questions for Palinites

I'm not one for pessimism, especially when it comes to those I adore and have a longstanding investment in, but out of curiosity, answer me this:

Do some of you think that you could advise Palin better than those who currently do? Do you sometimes want to throw your TV in frustration at her interviews? Do you ever get tired of defending her to others? Do you get in a tizzy when those around you start to speak ill of her?

These are lingering thoughts - of which, I'm sure most can relate and provide insights on. It's always neat to hear what fellow Palinites are feeling - especially when our candidate is Public Enemy Enemy #1.

Just thoughts for the day. And no, I'm not abandoning my love for Sarahcuda, I'm just honestly inquiring.

Happy St. Paddy's, and yes...this is a post from me you're seeing. It's not a mirage!

The Winds of Change, They are a Blowin'

Look who's back from a blogging drought? This corner of the web has been calling me back.

So here I am again, trying to get back into the 'bloggin swing of things. There are so many blogs out there that are so terribly copy-heavy, monotonous and boring - I just skip through them all. I have always tried to make this blog different than the others. A little politics, a little Sarah, with other random things (like sarcasm) mixed in. And who doesn't love picture posts? C'mon.

For starters, I feel the need to spread the word about the RGA's Remember November web movement. It has truly moved me with slick, well-thought-out videos and content. It's hard to believe that the midterms are only a few short months away, and that 2012 is just around the corner. The Republican Governor's Association has done a great job of reminding us how powerful our voices are, and to exercise those voices through the Remember November website.

If you are not a Facebook member of Remember November, I highly suggest you 'like' it in order to stay on top of their cool videos and updates. They will inspire you, trust me!

Here is the most recent RN video:

13 Weeks from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

If you've hung on to the bookmark for this blog, thank you so much. I'd love to get a comment from you to see who's still around.

Let's roll on to the midterms - it's one step closer to 2012 when we take back our Country. And if you're a millennial like me, wise up, speak up and help get this done.

Anne

Has Hell Frozen Over?

I've been out of sorts for a few months, and I do apologize. With the amount of Sarah headed straight for us in the next few weeks, you can bet that I'm going to try to get back in the swing of things.

But, onto the shock of the day...

Our Question Answered: Where in the world has She been?

An interesting piece about Sarah's whereabouts from The Washington Post:

Where in the world is Sarah Palin? The former Alaska governor has made no public appearances since she stepped down July 26. This week, her father told a reporter she had been out of the state for more than a month, working on her memoir. Where, exactly, she was doing that, he said he didn't know.

How about sunny Southern California? Residents of a San Diego apartment complex saw Palin several times over the better part of August, our colleague Amy Argetsinger reports. The former guv often sat poolside and tapped away on a laptop, with her husband, Todd, and at least a few of her kids nearby.

Why San Diego? Palin's reps wouldn't get back to us for comment, but public records indicate her ghostwriter -- Lynn Vincent, a writer for the Christian magazine World -- lives in the neighborhood. (Vincent declined to comment.)

A resident tells Argetsinger that Palin -- generally wearing T-shirts, sunglasses and visors -- went mostly unrecognized by the neighbors, until one family found themselves chatting in the pool with a little girl named Piper who told them her younger brother was named Trig.

But don't go looking for them: The neighbor says he saw them pack up last weekend, and he hasn't seen their car since.

I hope her Facebook notes were written poolside. That would be just too awesome.

The Palins Caught NYC 'by Surprise'

Some scoop about Palin's night at Michael's in NYC:

"Michael's was packed with plenty of familiar faces this afternoon. Seems the gang was out in force before disappearing for the true dog days of August. The real side show in the dining room took place last night, when none other than Sarah Palin dropped in with Bob Barnett and took the staff completely by surprise. A little birdie told me Bob was dining with a couple of folks, left and came back with Palin and her husband Todd, the ex-'First Dude.' According to all accounts, the former governor was clearly enjoying her new role as a private citizen last evening: She drank Deutz champagne and ordered lobster 'off the menu.' Could she have been celebrating some big soon-to-be announced TV deal? As they say on the small screen, stay tuned!"

(Source: Fishbowl NY)

Dear Sarah, America Misses You (Just Check Your Facebook!)

Sarah said goodbye last Sunday, but the world waits for Private Sarah to say hello.

The AP has quickly picked up on the fact that Palinites miss their girl. We do, and it's very evident on every Palin blog you go to. We need our Palin fix. Just a tweet...something. A hello, or a "I'm having a great vacation!" (By the way, her Facebook is almost at 700K and her Twitter around 130K.)

Everyone has been quick to say what she is, or is not doing. But, we all know that she's kicked back with the family, enjoying some downtime from being a public official for about 12 years. She's probably going on long runs, sifting through her life (and mail!), writing, fishing, hanging out with her children and just enjoying being "Sarah." After all, she hasn't been a private citizen in a long darn time.

In advertising we always say, "Always define yourself first, or they will define yourself FOR you." They being the public, the opposition. In the midst of a large group of organizations capitalizing on Palin's name just for fundraising, I hope she takes this advice. I hope after she gets rested up, she comes back out, takes the reigns and says to America and those pundits who incessantly critize her, "No, THIS is who I am. I won't let you define Sarah Palin."

With that being said, here are some snippets from the AP article:

It's been five whole days since Palin stepped down as Alaska's governor and her Internet fans are dying to know what's next.

"Sarah can you give us just a hint!" writes one Facebook follower.

But the hockey mom-turned politician who promised to launch her change to private life on social networking sites has been quiet so far. In fact, she's gone "dark," leaving supporters to flood the Web with speculation.

The big question on their minds is the 2012 presidential race. Will she or won't she?

Her silence is not keeping supporters from discussing the possibility of her chasing the country's top job or taking on another national role.

Said one Facebook entry: "Drill, Drill, Drill ... all the way to the White House!!!!"

Said another: "Sarah, our country really NEEDS YOU NOW!!!"

One person asked Palin if she was keeping tabs on the site.

"Is there any way you could somehow let us know you're reading this?" the poster asked. "Maybe a little tweet sometime when you get your Twitter up again."

[...]

In her last three months as governor, Palin routinely tweeted about state business and other subjects, including domestic energy development, the death of Alaska-based soldiers and dismissals of ethics complaints against her. Nearing her gubernatorial departure, she indicated she would use a personal account on Twitter to continue to stay in touch and more freely speak her mind.

"10 dys til less politically correct twitters fly frm my fingertps outside State site," she tweeted July 17.

Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said Palin will resume her Twitter feeds in the near future. He said he was not at liberty to discuss any of her post-office activities.

Where some supporters are concerned, soon is not soon enough to hear from Palin.

"Anyone find it strange that Sarah has not shown up at all on Twitter by now??? If she waits too long, people will move on," one supporter wrote Thursday on the Web site Conservatives 4 Palin.

Wrote another: "Sarah can't even go 4 days without tweeting? I think she's smart to go 'dark' for a while."

That she is laying low came as no surprise to Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin's political action committee. SarahPAC reportedly has raised more than $1 million.

"Seeing how she just left office, I would think she's taking a few days off," Pryor said. The time off is a way for the governor to "shut off the lights and close the door and go from one chapter to another."

I think Pam Pryor's quote is spot on. Palin just closed a significant chapter in her life, and now needs to refresh, renew and "restart her engines."

AK Ethicsgate Exposed: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

A damning and eye-opening 11 minutes.

This is the famous video that AK ethics complainers wanted removed from You Tube. Watch it, read and listen closely. It will open your eyes to the hell Palin has been subjected to these past months - the hell that froze her office dead in it's tracks and put her hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt - which consequently forced her to resign. All because they wanted to make her "life a living hell" after the 2008 Election. But, Palin is no longer their whipping boy. She knows "Roberts Rules for Radicals"; she knows "The Thumpin'" - and she knew she had to outwit them.

Watch this video. It eerily makes all of the pieces and players connect.

UPDATE: It seems this copy has also been taken down.....the ankle-biters are squirming!

Link:

For You Twitter Fiends: Update on Palin's New Account

I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer for those tweets to "fly from her fingers."

A moderator at Team Sarah has the inside scoop:

Via official sources, Team Sarah has been told that we will have to be patient when it comes to the Governor's new Twitter account. We have learned that it will be unveiled at a later date. Details, as we receive them, will be shared with Team Sarah members.

Any bets on what it will be? Not "AKSarahPalin" "SarahPalin" "SarahPac" or "Sarah_Palin" - those are already taken. I wonder if she could take over one of those names, though? I know several celebrities have done that.

Guess we'll just have to wait a little longer to find out. I wish we didn't - I'm getting antsy to hear from her!

July 26: One Door Closes, and Another One Opens.

It's official. Sarah Palin, now a former governor, is simply "Sarah from Alaska." Today in Fairbanks, Sean Parnell was sworn in as Alaska's 12th governor. Palin has been scrubbed from the AK Gov website, and her Facebook no longer says "Governor" under "current office."

Things are changing.

The above tweet is a little bittersweet, but tomorrow, something new begins - and I, along with thousands of supporters, am beyond excited to be along for the ride. I'm excited for her new Twitter, and I'm excited to see what happens at SarahPAC...and I'm thrilled for her August 8th speech at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA. But, more importantly, I'm relieved that the Sarah is free of the partisan attacks that came in the form of daily ethics complaints and FOIA inquiries. Shannyn Moore and Andree McLeod no longer have Sarah to drag through the mud. Who will the ADN kick now?

It's a great day to be a Palinite. Especially when she gives a Barracuda-of-a-speech like she did today in Fairbanks.

The best line? "How about you [the media] quit making things up?"

Here are some pictures from this weekend's events.

Social Media: Sizing Up the Competition

Everytime a 2012 GOP poll is mentioned, Sarah, Romney and Huckabee are almost always in the top 3.

During the 2008 election, Barack Obama proved that social media is an important tool to organize grassroots efforts and galvanize supporters. I personally believe that online organization was an important factor in Obama reaching 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In the coming years, we are going to see these sites reach new potential in organization and information dissemination. We have only seen the tip of the iceburg.

With that being said, I thought it would be interesting to show the GOP's top 3 contenders side by side on 2 popular social networking sites: Facebook and Twitter. It's important to see the number of followers these politicians have - which lead you to understand who is utilizing the media tool in the best way possible. Folks want to "follow" and "support" certain politicians because they aren't stagnant - they update, they Tweet, they USE the site fully.

And that person is obviously Sarah Palin.

She knows how to use these sites to her advantage, and it shows. She has 6x the number of Facebook supporters Mitt has; and 3-4x the number of Twitter followers Huck has.

These people follow her because she talks to them directly through these sites - and often. She personalizes messages, she's honest and she doesn't ghost her updates or Tweets.

I'll predict that these sites are going to be a big factor in the continued organization of her grassroots. These 2 networks, along with other comprehensive and organized sites such as Conservatives4Palin, Team Sarah & Texas for Sarah Palin - of which neither Huck nor Mittens has.





Sarah Palin: 667,708
Mike Huckabee: 100, 464
Mitt Romney: 67,229





Sarah Palin: 113,549
Mike Huckabee: 31,860
Mitt Romney: 14,476