Saturday, October 1, 2011

Palin Goes after Fox News

October 1, 2011
By Steve Flesher

Is Sarah Palin preparing to declare her candidacy for president?  In what is sure to cause a lot of speculation, she has taken the opportunity in her last two interviews on Fox News to go after some of that network's tactics and contributors.

Palin expressed major displeasure at what she called a "quasi-reality-show" media game of building up a candidate in order to tear them down.

Among her examples, Sarah Palin cited the popularity Michele Bachmann experienced with the media immediately after winning the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa.  Bachmann is now down significantly in all the polls, especially since Rick Perry has jumped into the race. 

After enjoying a few weeks at the top, Rick Perry's frontrunner status is now threatened by the media, who is now paying more attention to Herman Cain after he won the straw poll in Florida.

Palin's logical position seems to align with the GOP grassroots, who are left scratching their heads wondering why it should take one singular event to get the media to pay more attention to a candidate.  We should be relying on the media to focus on all candidates equally so we can assess the records and positions of each one fairly.

Speaking with Greta Van Susteren earlier this week, Palin remarked on Herman Cain.  She spoke about how his words and his experience as a working American resonated with the grassroots.  She then went on to suggest that it took the straw poll in Florida to make him "flavor of the week" for the media, when in reality it was his qualities as an American which made him appealing to voters.

As usual, the media chose to pick up on one line of Palin's commentary -- i.e., the suggestion that Herman Cain was "flavor of the week."  As a result, various newspaper articles and major media outlets began reporting her context inaccurately.

Later in her interview with Greta Van Susteren, Palin showed dismay at Fox for cherry-picking a few polls which placed her toward the bottom of the GOP's list.  On CNN a couple of days before, a McClatchy Poll was reported which actually showed Palin beating Obama 47-43 among independents.

Fox News contributor Juan Williams remarked that Sarah Palin made a "nasty" comment.  Williams made the statement on Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch Thursday, right before Palin was scheduled to appear. 

In Palin's subsequent discussion with Napolitano, she said, "I think it's nasty when a colleague [Williams] takes a shot when they don't know what they're talking about."

Palin's complaints on Fox News come after a few other Palin-naysayer moments on the network.  Recently, Bill O'Reilly continued to cite one poll which stated that the majority of Tea Partiers do not want Palin to run for president.  Meanwhile, Sarah Palin continues to draw the largest crowds at Tea Party events, as she did in Indianola, Iowa just a few short weeks ago.

In addition to O'Reilly, frequent Fox News commentators and guests like Dick Morris and Ann Coulter have continued not only to downplay Sarah Palin's chances as a potential candidate, but also to insult her supporters, since they are awaiting Palin's decision before they choose to support anyone else.

Of course, Ann Coulter's undying obsession with Chris Christie is questionable, considering that Christie has stated more than a dozen times that he is absolutely not interested in running for president.   We could also remind Dick Morris that his predictions hardly ever turn out to be accurate.  How did that Hillary vs. Condi thing work out for him in 2008?

Considering the track record of many of these commentators, it certainly is easy to understand Palin's point about the "quasi-reality show" they are attempting to create and steer through 2012.  It can also explain why so many of us are waiting for her to shake that up, just as she shook up those "corrupt bastards" in Alaska. 

Now, if Palin chooses to suspend (or even terminate) her contract with Fox News, it could well signal her intention to run for president.  And that's exactly what a lot of people are waiting for.

American Thinker