The Marketer in Chief

A Daily Dish reader explains Sarah Palin's motus operandi these days. It's a sales run. She's riding that wave, because who knows when it will come violently hurtling to a stop? Politics? Yeah, I gueeeesss. But this money making is good. She says, I'm going to put up with scrutiny from here on out, most likely. Why not cash in?

If you think of Palin as a politician trying to build a movement, it's indeed peculiar that she wouldn't want any video or audio coverage of an address that was, reportedly, delivered well and warmly received. But if you think of that address as content she wishes to sell at paid appearances, the restrictions make perfect sense. She wants to be paid to deliver this speech again and again, just as a movie distributor wants to charge numerous audiences to watch its film. If people see it online, they're less likely to pay to see it in person, and there will be some who decide they don't like it enough to pay for it.

Is it cynical and calculating? Of course. But you don't have to be a politician to shift things in Washington. Incendiary tastemakers Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity (who might be the worst since Limbaugh and Beck are mostly just selfish, ego-bloated charlatans while Hannity seems to genuinely foam at the mouth when talking about liberals) provide her with the perfect path. That means money, fame, a cult following, control, no messy governmental "duties" and power. The only place for her to go is U.S. senator, and that's generous. Really, she's doing what most of us would do. I predict after what is supposed to be a casual run for the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 turns haphazard and cartoonishly embarrassing, she will back away and stay outside the ring. But she will continue to lead her flock.