Last weekend, ex-Republican campaign strategist/current Fox News political commentator Karl Rove repeated twice that Sarah Palin will run for president. He’s obviously right.
Appearing on Fox News Saturday, Rove stated that Palin “has a schedule next week that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity.”
He then appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” pointing to a campaign-like video recently released by Palin‘s Political Action Committee, as well as upcoming events in Iowa as evidence that Palin will soon announce her candidacy. Watch the video below.
“If she doesn’t get in next week, I think people are going to basically say, ‘She’s not in, she won’t be in and if she gets in, I’m not going to be for her,’” Rove added. “You can only tease so many times in the political process and I think she’s getting to the end of that.”
Much evidence seems to back up Rove’s comments. Back in late June, Bristol Palin told Fox News that her mother had definitely decided about whether or not to run, but that “some things just need to stay in the family.”
Since around the time she made that statement, Palin’s schedule has, as Rove put it, “resembled that of a candidate, not a celebrity.” Celebrities don’t paint a giant tour bus with American flags and tour U.S. historical sites with their families, nor do they show up at the Iowa state fair to talk about the future of the country. And they especially don’t release campaign videos.
Rachel Maddow shared Rove’s prediction, Tweeting: “Why is it political common wisdom that Gov Palin is not running? What’s her new Iowa ad for, if not for a campaign?”
So what does Palin have to gain by launching her full-on campaign three months before announcing her candidacy? (If, in fact she does.)
Back in October 2010 Palin said that she would run for president in 2012 “if there’s nobody else to do it.” She included that she’d “take a real close look at the lay of the land to consider whether there are those with that common sense, conservative, pro-Constitution passion, whether there are already candidates out there who can do the job … or whether there’s nobody willing to do it, to make the tough choices and not care what the critics are going to say about you, just going forward according to what I think the priorities should be.”
By delaying her official entrance, Palin may simply be waiting for the other candidates to say enough regrettable things to justify her entrance using the criteria stated above.
When each new candidate enters the race, he or she tours New Hampshire and Iowa stating positions and usually saying something either regrettable or downright stupid. Bachmann has so far provided the richest examples thus far, as has Rick Santorum who claimed in May that John McCain doesn’t understand torture.
The media, of course, endlessly exploits these gaffes and excoriates the new candidate for anything he or she has ever said that could be construed as controversial and/or unpresidential.
Eventually, media attention eventually moves from the new candidate to settle back on the group as a whole. By delaying her big announcement, Palin may simply be waiting for the excitement surrounding each candidate to burn out.
In doing so, she is also minimizing her time under intense scrutiny, which is essential, as Palin has proven herself to be more susceptible to gaffes than any other candidate.
Rachel Maddow Debunks Claim That She Caused Florida To Cancel Lockup Contract
Fans of the prison reality television program Lockup got some sad news this week, as Florida governor Rick Scott canceled a contract with the series arguing that the prison officials signing it did not have the authority to do so. Somewhere along the line, rumors began to circulate that Scott did so in retaliation for MSNBC, and specifically Rachel Maddow, who has often criticized his government. Donning a prison uniform, Maddow tossed to the Friday night airing of Lockup with a special edition of “Debunktion Junction,” disproving any claim that the issue was related to her.
Explaining the situation, Maddow noted that the government had explicitly said they canceled the contract with the program because “the Department of Corrections did not have the authority to grant this contract.” However, claims arose that the real reason was that Maddow was a “persistent critic” of the administration,” and Scott didn’t want to help the network. “I prefer to think of it as ‘principled pointer-outer,’ but I understand,” Maddow joked, then turning to the evidence: Lockup was reportedly not the only program to have been denied access, for one. But Maddow also reached out to the administration, whose spokesperson denied any such claim. “We weren’t aware of any affiliation with Maddow,” the spokesman responded in an email, adding that canceling the contract because of her would be “petty.”
Then, “because the show must go on,” Maddow tossed over to Lockup. She freely admitted she “watched it like this every week,” referring to the outfit which, while probably not true, is a hilarious thing to envision.
Mehcad Brooks Is Rachel Maddow's Biggest Fan; Appreciates His Gay Following
True Blood alum Mehcad Brooks says he is MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's biggest fan.
The 30-year-old Brooks said his devotion to Maddow goes beyond the pale.
“I'm a huge fan,” he told gay entertainment website AfterElton.com. “There's not a bigger Rachel Maddow fan. I'm a Maddowphile.”
“She's a national treasure,” he added. “I think that we need honest voices like that and we need journalism like that.”
Brooks, who played Benedict “Eggs” Talley in the second season of HBO's vampire drama True Blood, can now be seen playing Terrence “T.K.” King on cabler USA Network's football drama Necessary Roughness. He's also the former spokesman for Calvin Klein's X brand of underwear, which has earned him a devoted gay following.
“I appreciate” my gay following Brooks said, then added: “I grew up with a gay uncle who I was very close to and my parents are very liberal and there was a time where … I think every young person questions what their sexuality is. And I did the same thing. I had questions in my head and I realized that I was straight and I thought, 'Well, why is this any different for anybody else?'”
“I'm a human rights activist and it doesn't make any sense not to treat everybody the exact same way. It just doesn't make any sense, it's counter intuitive, it's inhuman and it has to stop.”
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