Palin retakes center stage on book tour

From the Washington Times

I can't wait! This week, Palin's book will be out and her book tour will start! It's an exciting time!!

Palin retakes center stage on book tour
Book tour has media buzzing
By Andrea Billups
Washington Times
Sunday, November 15, 2009

This time, she makes her public entrance as the headliner, not the pretty and vivacious warm-up act that brought bounce and backlash to the 2008 McCain presidential campaign.

As Sarah Palin re-emerges onto the national stage with a new book and a tour to promote it, the polarizing one-time vice presidential candidate gets to sell her story her way. Even the book's title, "Going Rogue," suggests that after delivering messages under the careful watch of Republican handlers a year ago, she's now calling her own shots as she travels the nation to set up what some say is a certain run for the White House in 2012.

Even as some on the left attack her credibility, others say that to dismiss her as a political flash in the pan would be folly. No other veep candidate in recent decades, they say, has generated such ongoing fascination.

"Sarah Palin may be the one rock star that the Republican Party has for the moment," says Larry Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. He cites the intense demand for her at national fundraising events as "a symbol of her potency and potential as a presidential candidate."

While family foibles have thrust her into the nasty gossipy crosshairs, her embrace by the celebrity magazine set hasn't been all negative, he says.

"I think Sarah Palin is kind of a boundary-crosser," Mr. Jacobs says. "She has one hand in the world of politics and the other on the front pages of entertainment and variety magazines. And frankly, it's worked for her politically. She's been able to widen her message, and it's given her visibility that is extraordinary."

On Monday, Mrs. Palin's taped interview with talk-show and public-consciousness queen Oprah Winfrey will air, giving viewers a showbiz insight into her current mind-set. In promotional tapes released in advance of the show, Mrs. Palin opens up about her ill-fated interview with Katie Couric - she knew it was bad - and also welcomes prodigal near-son-in-law Levi Johnston to her Thanksgiving table.



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