But check out Matthew Continetti's piece this morning, at the Los Angeles Times, "Palin Unveils Her Latest Persona: Her Incarnation as Sarah the Celebrity Paves the Way for Sarah the Free Marketer":
Sarah Palin has a talent for reinvention. Since her first campaign in 1992, she's gone through a wardrobe full of political personas. Study her career and you count no less than five different identities: Sarah the culture warrior, Sarah the watchdog, Sarah the reformer, Sarah the veep and now, Sarah the celebrity.RELATED: Airhead Newsweek editor Jon Meacham's non-apology for this week's sexist disgrace of a cover story attacking Sarah Palin, "Official Statement on Newsweek's Sarah Palin Cover" (via Memeorandum).
Such flexibility has allowed Palin to adapt to changing political circumstances. And in a tumultuous political moment, Palin's pragmatism is an advantage.
In fact, we are already seeing the outlines of identity number six: Sarah the free marketer. This is the identity that will be crucial if Palin decides to run for president in 2012 ....
When Palin returned to Alaska after election day, she discovered that she couldn't return to her previous identity. She was still Sarah the veep. Without Democratic support, she had no chance of moving additional reforms through the Legislature. Palin's opponents in Alaska and in the Lower 48 filed a series of frivolous ethics complaints against her. Every time she left her state, the Democrats attacked and drove up her negative ratings. In response, Palin resigned from office.
Leaving the governorship paved the way for Sarah the celebrity. In this phase, Palin is the author of a bestselling memoir. On her book tour, which will take her to places such as Grand Rapids, Mich., and Roanoke, Va., fans and well-wishers are expected to turn out in droves to see her. She has granted major interviews to Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. And she has built a Facebook following of close to a million people. For better or worse -- OK, worse -- she's even produced a satellite celebrity in Playgirl model and future ex-reality-TV star Levi Johnston.
As Sarah the celebrity, Palin can reintroduce herself to the American people on her own terms. In the process, she will make a lot of money. Yet celebrity isn't qualification enough for high office. Fame draws eyeballs, but it doesn't get you votes. If Palin wants to run for the presidency, she also needs to be sure that the public knows her principles.
That's where Sarah the free marketer enters the picture. Palin grasps that the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress are attempting to renegotiate the American social contract. She understands that the Democrats want to increase the role that government plays in the economy and our daily lives.
Palin holds the opposite view. In her book, she talks a lot about fiscal responsibility. She recalls Ronald Reagan's approach to economic growth. In her Facebook messages to supporters, she opposes the Democratic healthcare and climate cap-and-trade bills. She favors reducing regulation and increasing competition.
Palin is reaching out to the anti-tax-and-spend "tea party" movement. She wants to integrate it into the broader GOP. In a recent special congressional election in upstate New York, she intervened and endorsed the pro-market third-party candidate, Doug Hoffman, over the liberal Republican, Dede Scozzafava.
These moves have put Palin on the cutting edge of American politics. She's comfortable as Sarah the free marketer. She's in the middle of the raucous fight over President Obama's sweeping domestic agenda. And to the delight of her fans and the dismay of her enemies, she's not going anywhere.
BONUS POST: From Legal Insurrection, "Never Missing An Excuse To Attack Trig Palin."
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