Howard Dean vs. Sarah Palin?

Everyone knows I respect and admire Howard Dean. In my opinion he broke the mold for liberal progressives, and he carries it off without being an extremist. I supported him when he ran for President, and would again. He is one of the dwindling few Democrats who have a voice in party politics that is still talking sense. His leadership of the DNC was the main contributor to the gains the Democrats made in Congress during his chairmanship, and he presided over the battle royale between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with ironclad neutrality.


His neutrality irked Rahm Emmanuel and Speaker Pelosi who were solidly in Camp Obama, and Dean got snubbed for a Cabinet position. (See my OpEd here: The Fall of the House of Dean ) He was tossed up as a serious contender for HHS Secretary, which was eventually given to Kathleen Sebelius, after both she and Hillary Clinton were vetted off the VP short list. Regardless, he took his leave with grace and has been advocating for progressive causes since. Likely he angered the White House further when he loudly denounced any health care reform law that excluded a single-payer (universal) system, openly criticizing Pelosi and the President.(See my OpEd here: Howard Dean Blasts Obama, Sebelius-- Calls Public Option Mandatory) When the Sunday show circuit bore no fruit, he launched his own reform campaign through his PAC, Democracy For America, and I still believe if the Democratic party bosses had listened to him, health care reform would not have been bungled so badly in Congress. (See my OpEd: Howard Dean wades into the healthcare battle)


Dean founded Democracy For America in 2004. DFA is, "the people powered PAC, has over one million members nationwide. DFA is a grassroots powerhouse working to change our country and the Democratic Party from the bottom-up. We provide campaign training, organizing resources, and media exposure so our members have the power to support progressive issues and candidates up and down the ballot..." Most recently, DFA is taking on the Tea Party and its firebrand pin-up girl, Sarah Palin.


Here is an excerpt from a fund-raising email I received from Howard Dean and DFA today titled simply, "Sarah Palin.":


I have been in politics for a long time now and I have never seen more extreme candidates than ones being pushed today by Sarah Palin.

They're not just attacking the work President Obama has done -- they're attacking our social safety net and the building blocks of the modern middle class. They want to kill Social Security and Medicare, abolish the minimum wage and end unemployment assistance. Some have even questioned basic civil rights.

Candidates like Joe Miller, Rand Paul and Christine O'Donnell are pushing an agenda that is more extreme than Bush and Cheney's ever was.

But we can stop them. We have a chance to beat two of Sarah Palin's top candidates with progressive fighters and pick up two seats in the United States Senate -- one in New Hampshire with progressive champion Paul Hodes and one in Palin's own home state of Alaska with small town fighter Scott McAdams.

(Click here to make a donation to DFA.)


Palin is wading into the midterms energetically, and in good American tradition, the election is becoming a referendum on the President and his legislative agenda. State and federal candidates are being forced to align with or against Obama, and one of the loudest voices calling out the President is Palin's. Most observers believe, probably correctly that these are the first sparrings of the 2012 presidential race. I don't think it would be politically wise of Obama to legitimize Palin further by directly attacking her. Most visibly, Bill Clinton has taken on the Obama-surrogate role with his ultra-charismatic campaigning style, but the Dean niche is still skeptical.


Howard Dean is uniquely equipped to fight Palin right now, and if he makes any headway, the Democratic party is going to owe him another huge favor. Dean is an ex-governor, as is Palin, and although the two are oil and water politically, it is what legitimizes both of them. Dean is not in elected office at this time, and therefore has no constituency to please, he can say what he wants. Dean also remains a viable presidential candidate, and has maintained, even increased his credibility with liberals and left-leaning moderates. Much more than the president at this time, Dean is the anti-Palin. He showed his stuff in terms of growing the Democratic party with his "50 State Strategy," and his PAC, Democracy for America supports dyed-in-the-wool liberal progressive policies: reforming the Democratic party, ending the Iraq war, solving the climate crisis and providing universal health care. All the causes seemingly abandoned by the Obama platform so eloquently spun out in 2008. Dean can easily storm the castle over at the Tea Party camp, and he has the ideological headroom to safely distance himself from the taint of the White House at this moment in US politics. Dean can spread the net to liberals and to independents whose critical support is flagging. Both are losing confidence in the president and giving valuable ground to the disturbing uber-conservative ground swell in the GOP calling itself the Tea Party.


Palin did not invent the Tea Party, but they have embraced her as their figurehead. Combined with this and her PAC, SarahPAC, and her growing celebrity, Gov. Palin is still holding the #2 spot in Republican presidential picks for 2012, narrowly behind Mitt Romeny. And the way the Republican primary process works, with their winner-takes-all system, Palin could plausibly shut out the competition with critical early wins. If Howard Dean is targeting Palin it is because he understands the threat she represents to liberal causes. Because of his now-outsider stature, Dean may actually be able to direct the commentary coming into the 2012 election, which is "officially on," once the mid-term Congress is sworn in. If it works, there could be a background rumble, "Dean '12." And wouldn't that be interesting.

Palin is now defacto GOP party boss

Still don't believe me about Sarah Palin?
Apparently she now tells John Boehner what to do, and has the political capital to swing the entire GOP establishment behind a 3rd party candidate she favors. HERE.

SarahPAC Steps Up Its Game

Former Governor Sarah Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC is gearing up for the big time. The PAC has officially met FEC regulations for being a multi-candidate committee, which increases SarahPAC's maximum per-candidate contribution, and opens up the PAC to campaign on as many platforms as they desire. POLITICO reports that SarahPAC is currently leading in contributions to other candidates, although Mitt Romney's, Free and Strong America PAC, has raised more money by over a million dollars. And Mike Huckabee is trailing in a distant third both in contributions and fund raising. It's still too early to tell what will happen, but this is a gear-up move for Palin, and a common tactic used by presidential candidates in order to facilitate travel and campaign engagements, or to develop "chits." Palin is also testing her mettle with the big boy's club in Hong Kong, and will be addressing Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), a global brokerage firm, an organization that has also hosted Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Alan Greenspan.

Hillary vs. Sarah

Colleen O'Connor at the San Diego News Network has a pretty interesting theory supporting the idea that Barack Obama will be a 1-term president (or "Carterized" as I keep warning, but he doesn't listen for some reason...) and in 2012 we will see Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin.

I'm not sure I believe any of it.

However, two things.

1) I would love it.
2) As I have already said, Hillary would rip into her like a bag of Doritos.

OK, three things:

3) And Hillary Clinton would be President.

Maureen Dowd Is A 'Mean Girl'

I think Maureen Down just needs another woman to hate.

Read this stellar piece of hack.

So, Maureen Dowd, who was one of Hillary Clinton's most caustic (and yes, misogynist) critics on the campaign trail now describes her thus: "Hillary’s radiant robustness, on the other hand, even with a sore elbow, makes the dictators in Iran and North Korea we’re so worried about seem like frail, little creatures."

While Sarah Palin is: "...aggrieved, paranoid and press-loathing in her new role as bizarre babe-at-large, a Nixon with hair extensions..."

I can't say it enough times: I am not a supporter of Sarah Palin, either, but the vile, disgusting sexism that she is continually bombarded with, having little if anything to do with her actual qualifications or skills, makes me so mad I could spit nails. It makes me want to make a campaign contribution, to vote for her. Hair extensions? Come on Maureen. Really? You really think Sarah Palin has fake hair -- and that has something to do with her character as a politician? These hateful embellishments are nothing more than catty coffee table digs. They further undermine Dowd's credibility and make her look like the petulant one.

Unfortunately, people listen to Maureen Dowd, for whatever reason. In this same article she accuses Sarah Palin of being, "...a demagogue, embodying grievances and playing to people’s worst impulses." Takes one to know one, Maureen.

Palin vs. Kerry & Democrats Crumbling Base

Ah, from one loser to another.

So, yesterday, Sarah Palin had an article in the Washington Post, criticizing the Cap & Trade program recently passed by Congress.

Today, Sen. John Kerry has a response at Huffington Post, claiming in essence that she is completely wrong.

Observations:

• They're both right
• Apparently Sarah Palin's ideas warrant a rebuttal from John Kerry
  (but I thought she "didn't matter" any more...)
• Read both articles, and you will be looking at a time capsule of Conservative vs. Liberal

In equally disturbing news, apparently the DNC (Democratic National Committee) is launching a TV campaign ad series specifically targeting moderate Dems, to court them on the health care vote. So, now apparently, the urging of the president, the Democratic leaders in the House, and the entire (liberal) chattering class isn't good enough. They have now activated Organizing for America, the arm of Obama's presidential campaign that got folded into the DNC after the primaries last year, to put "grassroots" pressure on lawmakers and Washington opinion crafters. Why do I find this disturbing? And what does it have to do with Sarah Palin?

It's disturbing because of what it says about Democrats in Congress -- that they are so disunified they need their own electoral machine to campaign them to pass the #1 imperative of their own platform from just 11 months ago.

And it has something to do with Sarah Palin, too: Not only is she clearly remaining viable politically, but she has already said that she plans to campaign in the lower 48 both for Republicans and Democrats who share her views -- this on top of the news that her approval rating among Independents jumped almost 10 points this week. Before anyone jumps all over the "shares her views" comment, here is what she actually cited as her views: limited government, spending restraint, energy independence and strong national defense.

This is getting interesting.

Palin To Headline Reagan Day Dinner

Sarah Palin will give the keynote address in Iowa this fall at the Reagan Day Dinner, which is the major GOP fundraiser annually. It is reported she may be on her way to Virginia, too, to campaign for Republicans, in a state that saw huge Democratic gains in 2008.

Everything's Bigger In Texas, Even Sarah Palin

So, 6 days after her announcement of resignation in Alaska, Sarah Palin is on the campaign trail -- in Texas, again. Palin is back on the stump for incumbent Governor Rick Perry in his re-election campaign, facing what some think will be a tough primary fight against the more moderate U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Perry is gearing his campaign toward an anti-Washington candidacy, right down Palin's alley. This is not Palin's first trip for Perry, as I reported here, she began campaigning from Perry back in March, coinciding with the launch of SarahPAC. (And the next day the FEC listed Sarah Palin as a 2012 presidential candidate, then quickly denied it, although the listing still exists...)

So, Palin is testing her political capital in Texas, a good place to do it. We'll see. She didn't waste any time getting back on the campaign trail, that's for sure.

Palin Does Nixon

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, commenting on Gov. Palin's resignation announcement, said two things in an interview on Fox News Sunday, which I think are quite telling.

First, he claimed that Gov. Palin's press conference to announce her resignation "created more questions" than it answered, and said that you "don't do that." I say, why not? In fact, if you are attempting to raise your political capital, why wouldn't you do just that. I'm also not convinced she created more questions. I believe she confirmed many theories about her own ambitions, but the press conference itself was quite to the point, if lacking any "what next" statements; for the time being, Palin is keeping those close to the vest. To Mike Huckabee I would say, go Google Sarah Palin and you tell me just how effective a little bait and switch can be. 6, 740,000 hits in .46 seconds is a lot of questions answered.

Second, Huckabee tried to compare himself to Palin. He seems convinced that Palin has resigned the governorship in Alaska because the ethics complaints against her are too overwhelming, and literally said, "been there, done that," and was a little condescending about how well he handled it and how poorly it reflects on her. Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, also on the interview panel, was quick to jump to Palin's defense, citing over $2 Million in staffing costs alone to handle the ethics complaints against Palin, and drawing the discussion back to Gov. Palin's point that this is simply wasteful time, money and effort that she would rather spare the state. While this may be only partly true, it is not the interesting part. What is interesting is Huckabee trying to claim he has been through the same thing as Sarah Palin. He also claimed that dealing with a hostile state Congress constantly lodging complaints against him was "harder than running for President," and that he persevered anyway. OK, Mike, first of all, you didn't end up running for President because the GOP electorate liked John McCain better. And second, the only thing anyone knows about Arkansas is that Bill Clinton was governor. The personal and political evisceration that was visited on Sarah Palin and her family in the 2008 election cycle is unlike anything Mike Huckabee has ever experienced. What is telling here is that he is trying to draw comparisons. In a more traditional time, Huckabee, as the runner up for the GOP nomination in 2008, would be the natural successor to the nomination in 2012, yet instead, we see him trying to co-opt Palin's experience as something he's "been there" and "done." He hasn't.

Karl Rove, on the same panel, seemed to think Palin has made a mistake as well. He claims that now that she will no longer be governor in Alaska, she has cleared her calendar so to speak, and this will be a detriment. Rove believes that the GOP in the lower 48 will be clamoring for her time and she won't have the excuse of being needed at home to keep her in demand. Scarcity breeds popularity, etc. Rove claims that she has lost control of her trajectory by doing this, which is entirely contrary to what others are saying. I'm not sure what to make of that part, as Karl Rove can be credited nearly in total for George W. Bush's successful presidential bid. However, Rove may also be (now) the voice of a vanquished convention. Palin was certainly not shy or unclear that she believes "business as usual" is not good enough and called her decision the right one although it may be "unconventional and not so comfortable."

There are no answers as of this time what Sarah Palin intends to do now, or what the deep reasons for her resignation are. She clearly made the decision to resign as governor partly to protect her family. She said it here. Vice President Biden implies here that it is the #1 reason any politician does anything. And Joe Scarborough said it here.

The interesting part is that no one thinks we've seen the last of Palin, and many voices are calling it the first parlay in the 2012 presidential run. The main question most people are asking is, can Palin maintain her visibility and her credibility for 3 years without being in elected office. Clearly she intends to campaign for Republicans in the lower 48 who share her political views, and she intends to use SarahPAC as that platform. She is also freed of conflict of interest between the governor's office and her PAC. I would watch closely which campaigns and what politicians she gets involved with over the next year. Freed of the governor's responsibilities, she's got a lot of time to rack up favors, which could easily turn into endorsements a year later. One of the panelist on Fox News Tonight claimed that Palin has ruined her presidential aspirations by ensuring she will have "less than 2 years on the national stage." It surprises me anyone still thinks this. No one knew who Barack Obama was until his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, no one took him as a serious presidential candidate until late in 2007, and he rose to the presidency with "less than 2 years on the national stage." Sarah Palin was the surprise in 2008, and she's still keeping us guessing now. I would not write her off. You'll still have Sarah Palin to kick around.

Sarah Quits Her Day Job

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has announced she will resign her governorship at the end of this month, elevating Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell to the post.

I haven't had time to read the media explosion it caused. But there will be more on this from me, as I am chronically fascinated by Sarah Palin.

Needless to say opinions are ranging from, "Palin has ruined her political career," to "the true 2012 frontrunner has emerged."

What to watch: SarahPAC should have some clues.

Palin. No, Romney. OK, Palin

Interesting round table where the guests try as hard as they can to make it appear they think Mitt Romeny is the GOP frontrunner for 2012, but still can't stop talking about Sarah Palin.

My prediction is still on track.

Yes, Sarah....

Wherein Sarah Palin reminds us she will be running for President soon. And for a change, sounds pretty polished.

We Will Make Them Famous -- British MP's, That Is...

So, is anyone paying attention to what is happening in the UK, and inside the European Parliament?

Sparked by the scandalous revelations that British MP's (Members of Parliament) were writing off "phantom" mortgages and charging the government for cleaning their moats, Labor, Gordon Brown and left-leaning politicians have suffered staggering losses both at home and in the European Parliament. In response, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has "reshuffled" his Cabinet, amidst a slew of resignations. Not satisfied, a chorus of voices is calling for Brown himself to resign, or at the very least, hold a fresh general election. Conservatives are making a sweeping comeback in the UK, elbowing Labor out of the way for the first time in over 30 years.

This was the kind of Congressional / governmental shakedown Sen. John McCain was talking about in his 2008 presidential campaign when he said, "We will make them famous." It's a difficult and unfortunate time for the Labor Party in the UK; it makes me wonder what it would be like if something on this scale really did happen in America. The US media was up in arms over Kathleen Sebelius failing to itemize a couple thousand in charitable contributions, and $150,000 worth of clothes the RNC bought for Sarah Palin (which, by the way, the FEC has ruled to be entirely above board. Talk about invented controversy. Ug.) Sure, we've got poster boys for corruption this past year like Bernie Madoff and Rod Blagojevich (whose scandal is deepening by the day, but the media is keeping it off the front pages because it could impact both Roland Buris and President Obama, both of whom are critical to the Democratic majority in Congress.) But, do we have these examples inside the government? And are we naive enough to think they don't happen? I'm curious to see how long the British MP shakedown will take to cross the pond and start lapping the shores of Washington.

Obama Makes Light of Prop 8 Protesters

At a California Democratic fundraiser, Wednesday, May 27th, with hundreds of Prop 8 protesters outside, President Obama openly dismissed them by making a joke about not knowing "what promise" they were talking about. See the video here. He later backpedaled a little bit and spun out some generic rhetoric about "standing with him." How about you stand with me, Mr. President?

Someone pointed out to me the other day that Obama's tepid stance on GLBT issues may in fact be supported by the idea: What are you going to do, vote for Palin in 2012? Tell you what, I just might. I came within a moment's hesitation of voting for John McCain this time. And if I have another president who doesn't care about my civil right, why should it matter if I vote for a different one who doesn't care? In fact, having a president who openly despises me just might inflame the community enough to get a unified movement going, instead of this half-baked "wait and see" and "stand with me" crap that just keeps people hanging on a thread.

I just can't get over the hypocrisy of it. The first black man to be President of the United States won't come within striking distance of the last legally sanctioned discrimination in America. And, while he was in California-- California for God sake -- with Prop 8 protesters outside, he has the chops to make a dismissive comment like that. As I've said before, and likely will say again, one of the reasons people hate Conservatives is because they're not ashamed of what they believe. So called "liberals" need to dodge and spew out empty crowd-pleaser rhetoric and make off the cuff offensive jokes that they can later deny. So, come 2012, unless there has been substantive progress on guaranteeing full civil rights for gay Americans from the White House.... You betcha! I just might vote for someone else.

Sebelius Clears Senate Hurdle

USA Today reports that Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's nominee for HHS Secretary, has cleared the major hurdle of the Senate Finance Committee, winning their approval 15-8. The vote will go to the full Senate within a few days, and assuming her final approval, Sebelius' appointment will complete President Obama's cabinet. Only 2 of the 10 Republican members of the Finance Committee voted in favor of Sebelius: Sen. Pat Roberts from her home state of Kansas, and moderate Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.

Olympia Snowe again... I could be wrong about Sarah Palin.

Some campaign advice for Sarah Palin

Contact matters. McCain-Palin took overwhelming margins where exit polls report the campaign directly contacted them. But, McCain had less money, a lot less money. And, by the end, they were making strategic decisions based on stretched resources.

Labor backed Obama, big. John McCain was seen as a friend to business, but not to unions -- not to Joe the Plumber. Say it with me: Todd Palin. If there was ever a poster boy for the guy next door, there he is. He's handsome, wholesome, a commercial fisherman and a world champion athlete. And he holds the baby while his wife waves to screaming crowds.

Women. Women. Women. Sarah Palin is already co-opting Hillary Clinton's "America's best days are ahead of us," and, "that highest, hardest glass ceiling," and other language. SarahPAC? Come on. (Can you say HillPAC for Republicans?) I absolutely agree with the many, many voices that said, "Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton." And if it were Palin vs. Clinton in 2012, Hillary would smoke her. But it's not going to be, at least, barring some really serious chicanery or tragedy. Say what you will, but many Clinton supporters were behind her because she was a woman, and the appearance of another viable female candidate for President will draw women to the GOP ticket. Mark my words.

Gov. Palin needs to back off abortion. Note, she has already done so in a token fashion (possibly more than token, really) by appointing a pro-choice judge to the Alaska Supreme Court. If she's smart, she will come to the campaign with the attitude that choosing life is still a choice. I don't believe abortion will be the line in the sand anyway. But, if she really wants to throw a curve ball, and get some more moderates back on the Red side, that will be a way to do it. The party faithful will always be the party faithful, and they would (at this point) accept a pro-choice Republican if it meant getting back into the White House. Again, you just watch. I could be dead wrong on this one, but I'll stick to my guns for now: Sarah Palin will soften her rhetoric on Roe vs. Wade.

Energy independence. Alaska is already ahead of the curve on this to begin with. If Gov. Palin spends some time over the next few years really pushing for energy innovation in Alaska, and it works, she will have a leg up in the energy / environment debate. Again, this would be another one, if she's smart, that she will come into the campaign praising Democrats for, and promising more of the same. By the end of the 2008 campaign, both Obama and McCain were offering a "kitchen sink" theory on energy solutions; within a few years we'll see how well it's going, and the GOP will jump all over it. With an energy-savvy candidate on the ticket, they just might get the lead on that alone.

"We will make them famous." The GOP co-opted the Democrat's message in 2008. It was too little too late by the time McCain started trumpeting reform, but that dog is getting its day now. Like it or not, Gov. Palin does have a record on reform, a good one. Yes, she has some regressive points too, but you really can't shake a stick at the courage and success with which she shook the tree in Alaska. And a lot of rotten fruit fell off. If she's smart, she will come into the campaign praising Obama's government cleanup efforts, and promising to do more of the same. Again, overwhelmingly in the 2008 exit polls, voters (particularly critics of Congress) broke for McCain. They wanted to see a backhand slap from the White House, and Sarah Palin is possibly more capable of projecting that promise than McCain was.

I told you so on bailouts. So far the government interventions in multiple financial firms is turning into a huge ballooning mistake, gaffe after gaffe. Even if it does eventually pan out for the good, public opinion is not good and will not be.

The age differential will be gone. Something that did hurt McCain, which was entirely beyond his control, was age. People thought he was too old, and there was some concern that Palin was not qualified. However, there was quite a bit of concern that Obama wasn't qualified, either. Something I found quite interesting was the reality vs. what was spun out: by the strictest definition of "executive experience," between Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin, by a long shot, Sarah Palin had and will still have the most "experience" of any candidate. Regardless, in 2012, age will not be a factor, as President Obama and Gov. Palin are both in their 40's. And, barring a huge, impeachable bungle, Barack Obama rendered the experience argument moot, at least for the time being.

In spite of the Tina Fey inspired popular opinion, Palin did not hurt McCain. According to every exit poll, the people who said the Palin pick influenced their vote, broke hard for McCain, 10-15 points or more. If Sarah Palin hurt McCain's campaign, it was because people wanted Palin instead.

Lastly, the thing that in reality most hurt McCain and the GOP overall in 2008, will be gone: the comparisons to Bush. Buh-bye. The incumbent party (Democrats) will be on trial in 2012, and they will be the ones accused of offering "more of the same." The First 100 days isn't even over yet, and they've already got some 'splainign to do. If my warning that Obama is going to get "Carterized" comes true, it's more trouble in Changeland.

For the record

In 2006, I started talking about John McCain. Everyone said, "He's a blowhard. He'll never get the nomination. Blah blah blah." Note, I never predicted he would win, but unbeknown to even me, he accomplished something else. Something that could be simultaneously terrifying and exciting.

For the record:

Sarah Palin is now, and will remain, the GOP front-runner for President. And she does not intend to wait until 2016. She will challenge Barack Obama in 2012, and a second term for him is most certainly not guaranteed.

If I'm wrong, I'll happily eat crow. Yummy.

What a week it's been, Sarah!

SarahPAC sent out it's first official communique today. The sender, sarah@sarappac.com, is assuredly Palin herself as her signature appear at the bottom of the email. It reads as follows:

Dear Supporter,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for joining SarahPAC. What a week it has been! Thanks to supporters like you we have had a fabulous start.

I want you to know that I have been truly touched by your notes of support and encouragement and look forward to working with you all in the future to advance our shared ideas and goals. These are just a few of the touching notes I've received from you:

Don from Juneau, AK: "I joined the PAC, and I'm willing to help in any way I can. I firmly believe you are exactly what this country needs, more so now than ever. Go Sarah!"

Cindy from St. Louis, MO: "My husband and I signed up for the PAC this morning. We are thrilled and behind you 100%! We will help any way we can."

Dee from Nashville, TN: "Be courageous! Be strong! Be bold! Don't quit. Thanks for all you've done, there are many of us praying for you daily!"

As a nation, we face serious challenges ahead. Our country is far too dependent on foreign sources of energy. Greed and corruption have broken the public's faith in our economic system.

By speaking out, proposing new policies, and working together, I believe we can ensure that America's best days are ahead of us. And this is what we will accomplish together through SarahPAC.

That is why I hope you will continue to support SarahPAC by encouraging your friends, family, and colleagues to visit our website, www.SarahPAC.com to sign up for updates. With your help, I'll be able to speak out. And you know I will speak for you.

Please stay tuned for more information and updates- I'll be in touch with you soon about more ways to help our PAC.

With an Alaskan heart,

Sarah

P.S. I'm counting on you to spread the word to your friends about SarahPAC. Please tell them to sign up for email updates at www.SarahPAC.com and visit my official Facebook page to share your thoughts and comments. Thank you!

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As I have said in a more private context, this is as transparent as when I received Hillary Clinton campaign materials in the mail in 2006 -- I lived in Oregon -- and she was running for the Senate in New York. Note that the materials I got had no date or political office listed on them, just said "Hillary Clinton," and were red, white and blue. I'd say this email from Sarah Palin qualifies as an obvious indication that she plans to run for President.

Here are a few highlights from the email I'd like to discuss.

What a week it has been!

A quick Google news search for "Sarah Palin" reveals quite a week indeed. Let's look at Palin's checklist over the last bit:

• Test drive my political capital in Texas. Check.
  (Many reasons why Texas is a great proving ground for any Republican)
• Tell Ashley Judd to stuff a sock in it. Check.
• Take an axe to the State budget.Check.
• Get a book deal. Check.
• Write an article defending Arctic drilling. Check.
• Meet the Washington elite. Check.
• Start a fight on The View without even being there. Check.
• Launch my own political action committee. Check.
• Start my presidential campaign. Check.
• Try to co-opt Hillary Clinton's message some more. Check.

I'd say pretty close to every item on that list is addressed in the email from SarahPAC today.

"America's best days are ahead of us," really?? Come on. Sure, Hillary Clinton is not the first politician to say that, but it was a Clinton campaign mantra in 2008. As if SarahPAC wasn't obvious enough an attempt to copy HillPAC. So, co-opting Hillary is covered, again. I wonder if Sarah Palin really thinks Hillary Clinton's supporters would come over to her.

And what is this "With an Alaskan heart" thing" Oh yeah, I forgot one really important check list item:

• Tell the Alaska legislature to shove a sock in it.Reassure the Alaskan people I am still their governor. Check.

The show is getting exciting! Stay tuned!

FEC Reports Sarah Palin As Presidential Candidate 2012

Federal Election Commission: Sarah Palin for President 2012. An FEC spokesperson told the Alaska Dispatch that this was an "erroneous" listing, added due to her starting SarahPAC on Monday. Sure, that's why it's still there.

Palin PACs It In

Yes indeed. SarahPAC. You betcha!