Bad News For Dana Milbank! (Slapped Back by Sarahy)

“She’s really an Atlantic City lounge act for the right wing,”

I never liked the idea promoted by Rethug-lover Dana Milbank of the Washington Post that everyone should ignore Sarah Palin for a month (or a week or a year, or just several days, whatever) because denying her publicity after she had been caught in several embarrassing gaffes would somehow ennoble the coming Presidential campaign for the real thugs (or somethin'). Or, perhaps, make it easier to think of the Rethugs as normal again? Making big money from venality will make you indulge in wishful thinking now and then, won't it? (But don't let the on-constant-display madness in Wisconsin affect your judgment of the heavy seriosity of the Rethugs either). I never thought Milbank was anything but a Rethug apologist before that, thus, I wanted to be sure that candidate Sarah should be covered constantly in all her "glory" and ignorance to ensure that she couldn't make a "comeback" after the public's two-second memory had mercifully cleared. It was a pretty good plan. However, now it seems it's moot -and she's differentiated herself a little from the rest of the nutters by saying publicly "it was unwise for Republicans to keep doubts alive about the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate and citizenship." So she's now "serious candidate Sarah?" (Emphasis marks added - Ed.)

On Long Island, Palin Opens Up and Plays Coy WOODBURY, N.Y. — Sarah Palin did not visit Iowa or New Hampshire on Thursday, and she did not drop by South Carolina or Nevada. But inside a country club ballroom here, as she logged another stop as a paid speaker, she said she could not wait much longer to decide her future.

“Nobody is more qualified to multitasking and doing all the things that you need to do as president than a woman, a mom,” Ms. Palin said to appreciative laughter, particularly among the women. She added with a smile, “Maybe someone who’s already run for something — a vice-presidential candidate?”

No, she did not say whether she intended to upend the Republican race for president with a campaign of her own. And, no, she did not say when she would answer the question that has kept other prospective candidates in suspense. But she did suggest that the presumed candidates for 2012 might not have the intensity that voters are demanding.

And, she said, her decision could come sooner rather than later.

“Time on the ground is very important, and I’d be the first to not necessarily recommend a short amount of time,” Ms. Palin said, recalling those chaotic days after she was chosen as the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2008. “People need to start making up their minds here pretty soon for that time on the ground, meeting with constituents and having time to pack their suitcases.”

For more than an hour on Thursday afternoon, she took questions not from Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity or Greta Van Susteren, who often interview her as an analyst on the Fox News Channel. Instead, she stepped away from her comfort zone and appeared before a bipartisan crowd of 1,000 business leaders at the Long Island Association and took questions from the group’s president, Kevin S. Law.

She urged Congressional Republicans to oppose raising the nation’s debt ceiling, declaring, “It doesn’t necessarily have to result in a government shutdown.” Even if it did, she added, “Let it be for a week or two.”

She conceded that a successful presidential bid could not be built through a digital campaign alone, saying that Facebook and other forms of social media could not reach enough voters. Asked if she would be the first Twitter president, she blanched and adopted a self-mocking tone. “What a slogan: I tweet more than you tweet.”

She said it was unwise for Republicans to keep doubts alive about the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate and citizenship, saying: “It’s distracting. It gets annoying. Let’s stick with what really matters.”

And she called for the full repeal of the new health care law, revisiting the catchphrase that caused so much controversy during debate of the bill: “When I talk about death panels, death panels was in quotation marks.”

Such lines are standard political fare, and Republicans may not give them a second thought on television. But on the front lines of a campaign — whether in an Iowa living room or a New Hampshire diner — voters often consider things with a different ear.

“What people are desiring to see is no more status quo — not necessarily just seeing more players in these political machines, who are sort of preordained and get to be the ones who get nominated and go forth,” Ms. Palin said. “People are ready for our governmental establishment to kind of shake it up.”

Ms. Palin’s afternoon appearance at the ballroom of the Crest Hollow Country Club, the site of numerous wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs, offered an atmosphere much like she would face if she decided to run for president. Despite her best-selling books, reality television show and hours of televised interviews, Ms. Palin is not yet a fully formed political figure, and her approval ratings could change — for better or worse — as a candidate.

The audience, which included many Democrats, responded with repeated applause. But there were also uncomfortable silences. She held up a Reader’s Digest from February 1964, the month of her birth, which she used to make a point about reducing the deficit.

“We don’t have to reinvent any wheels here to get the economy back on the right track,” Ms. Palin said. “The solution in here to fix the problem, you know what it is? You invest in a five-cent stamp and you write your congressman and you tell him, ‘You’re going to get fired.’ Five cents back in the day! Nothing’s changed. It’s the same principles that can be applied.”

Robert Zimmerman, who represents New York on the Democratic National Committee, was in the audience and met with Ms. Palin at a reception before her talk. He said he was surprised by the Reader’s Digest anecdote.

“She’s really an Atlantic City lounge act for the right wing,” Mr. Zimmerman said. Still, he said, Democrats should not to dismiss her potential, saying, “Suburbs have the largest swing voters in the country, which concerns me.”

The Long Island Association, which bills itself as the state’s largest business group, invited Ms. Palin to speak about a month ago. She was paid for her appearance, but organizers declined to disclose details of the arrangement. It was originally intended to be private, officials said, but Ms. Palin asked that it be opened to the media.

“I was actually surprised she got as much applause as she did,” said Mr. Law, who asked Ms. Palin questions for 64 minutes. After escorting her to her car, he said: “She told me she loved the format. She probably will do more of it because she did pretty well.”

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