Palin Joining Fox News As "Commentator"

[FSTargetDrone]

Turn it off, turn it off!

Sarah Palin takes Fox News commentator job

By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press Writer Rachel D'oro,

Associated Press Writer 4 mins ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, will take her conservative message to Fox News as a regular commentator, the cable channel announced Monday.

"I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News," Palin said in a statement posted on the network's Web site. "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news."

Fox said that according to the multiyear deal, Palin will offer political commentary and analysis. She also will host occasional episodes of Fox News "Real American Stories," a series featuring true inspirational stories about Americans.

"Governor Palin has captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum and we are excited to add her dynamic voice to the FOX News lineup," Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, said in a statement.

Palin is hugely popular with conservatives and has more than 1.1 million Facebook followers.

She stepped down as Alaska governor in July, 17 months before the end of her first term in office. Her resignation came less than a year after she vaulted to overnight fame as John McCain's running mate.

Palin worked part-time as a weekend sportscaster in the 1980s for KTUU-TV in Anchorage.

Her upcoming commentary career had her Facebook fans giddy with excitement Monday.

"Tell 'em like it is girl!!!!!!," one poster wrote.

Palin finished a nationwide tour in December to promote her best-selling book, "Going Rogue."

[Themightytom]

Good lord now she IS sharing Glenn Beck's kitchen! breakroom

i am going to watch this at LEAST oncce a month ffor comedic value, I look forward to tthe youtube gaffs, the Daily show montages the circus of hilarity this must represent.

[Darth Yan]

Heaven help us.

[Tanasinn]

Daily Show and Colbert Report writers have to be grinning ear to ear.

[cosmicalstorm]

Sarah Palin returns to the Mothership

[CmdrWilkens]

Nate Silver over at 538.com has been betting on this for, I think, most of the past half year so once again with the predictions he wins.

[SirNitram]

Now, the predictions of how long before she quits!

[CarsonPalmer]

Well, I have more faith in the American people than a lot of others that I know, so I'll optimistically say this:

By giving her a platform to speak all the time, FOX is doing us all a favor. She'll say so many idiotic things that it will torpedo her shot at a presidential run.

[General Zod]

How long until someone at Fox tells Palin about 4-Chan?

[Alyeska]

Does this hurt her chances at 2012? If so, I am all for it.

[Sute]

Daily Show and Colbert Report writers have to be grinning ear to ear.

For now. Eventually, though, I expect they'll realize that she's made things too easy for them and find it unsatisfying.

Does this hurt her chances at 2012? If so, I am all for it.

Good question. In a sane, reasonable, world this would completely destroy her chances for 2012. In this world, I'm not so sure. Considering what Fox's viewers already see as good and right, their loyalty to her may well grow.

[Phantasee]

So between her, Huckabee, and Glen Beck, I think Fox has managed to get everyone under one tent again. Fox is clearly the reincarnation of Reagan.

I was actually pretty rattled to discover Huckabee had his own show. I don't get FNC, but I do see the listing for it in the digital TV guide. I'm tempted to order it.

[SCRawl]

Does this hurt her chances at 2012? If so, I am all for it.

I can't see her running for anything ever again. After all: it turns out that she quit being governor of Alaska in order to (a) write a book, and (b) be a talking head on Fox. How could anyone take her commitment to a job as important as president seriously?

[Eldy]

Does this hurt her chances at 2012? If so, I am all for it.

I think it drives home the truth of just how far-right and not at all a "maverick" she is. Because of this I would expect her popularity among hardcore conservatives to go up and her popularity among everyone else to go even farther down.

[Dark Hellion]

SCRawl I think you are discounting an important thing about the voter base she is courting; there is little consideration for practical qualifications, it is much more about ideological purity. Whether she quit or that she is a news commentator doesn't really matter to this subsection of Republicans just saying the right things about the right issues. Its base tribalism at its worse but it is what it is.

The fact that this probably does ruin her chances doesn't necessarily mean she won't run if she surrounds herself with these types of Republicans and believes in the "silent majority".

[Crossroads Inc.]

SCRawl I think you are discounting an important thing about the voter base she is courting; there is little consideration for practical qualifications, it is much more about ideological purity. Whether she quit or that she is a news commentator doesn't really matter to this subsection of Republicans just saying the right things about the right issues. Its base tribalism at its worse but it is what it is.

The fact that this probably does ruin her chances doesn't necessarily mean she won't run if she surrounds herself with these types of Republicans and believes in the "silent majority".

I was going to post something similar just before you, The people who back Palin at this point have no sense of "Electability" At this point its all about making a statement and making themselves feel important.

The Teabaggers right now are going out of thier way to hurt the GOP and they really don't seem to care. I feel in years to come, Palin and other Teabaggers will become the New Nader, someone who runs over and over knowing they have No Chance of ever becoming President.

[Patrick Degan]

Does this hurt her chances at 2012? If so, I am all for it.

Are you kidding? This is the beginning of her 2012 campaign.

[sketerpot]

How long until someone at Fox tells Palin about 4-Chan?

Nothing will be able to top the time they tricked Oprah into saying that Anonymous has "over 9000 penises, and they're all raping children."

[CaptainChewbacca]

Does this hurt her chances at 2012? If so, I am all for it.

I can't see her running for anything ever again. After all: it turns out that she quit being governor of Alaska in order to (a) write a book, and (b) be a talking head on Fox. How could anyone take her commitment to a job as important as president seriously?

I agree. Being a FOX commentator is going to require her to make too many broad generalizations and glib comebacks while on film, more than enough fodder to nail a seasoned politician, let alone Palin.

[Simplicius]

Stay on topic and keep the chatter down, folks.
____

I don't know that a career on Fox News is necessarily a springboard for presidential ambitions. It could be, but as a commentator she's got: 1.) A guaranteed audience of brain-dead fans; 2.) A bully pulpit; and 3.) Pretty decent money, I'll bet. I wouldn't be surprised if being a talking head fed her vanity and greed well enough that she let her political ambitions slide.

[General Zod]

Stay on topic and keep the chatter down, folks.
____

I don't know that a career on Fox News is necessarily a springboard for presidential ambitions. It could be, but as a commentator she's got: 1.) A guaranteed audience of brain-dead fans; 2.) A bully pulpit; and 3.) Pretty decent money, I'll bet. I wouldn't be surprised if being a talking head fed her vanity and greed well enough that she let her political ambitions slide.

Considering it's pretty much free publicity, she probably thinks it can only help her Presidential aspirations.

[Simon_Jester]

Yes, but she's an idiot. Whatever good it does her with her existing supporters (which, I agree, is substantial) will be more than offset by the harm it does her among the general public by having her make a fool of herself on a regular basis on national TV.

[Garibaldi]

Palin has no political future outside of that rabid 28% that would tick off a box for Sargon the Destroyer if he ran under the GOP banner. You can tell who is and who is not a real political entity in American politics simply by looking at how the media treats them, and with the exception of FOX News virtually every media outlet has got the knives out for Palin. Obviously this treatment is richly deserved, but that's immaterial. The media doesn't fillet anyone with that much gusto unless they have no power and no influence and no friends in high places. Palin will continue to embarrass the republic for the next few years but then she'll crash into a mountain in 2012 and God willing that'll be the last we hear of her.

For further elucidation:

The always excellent Matt Taibbi

[RedImperator]

There is no Palin 2012. None. No chance. Palin knowingly torpedoed her future political ambitions when she quit the Alaska governorship midway through her first term. It's pretty obvious now what her plan is: get stinking rich as a paid speaker, talking head, and author, and enjoy the power and influence that comes with being a popular right-wing pundit without any of the responsibility of actually governing anything. And it's a good plan. As long as Obama's in office, the 23-percenters will be an enraged mass of ratings and book sales. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Sarah Palin radio show soon. She'd be good at it, too--folksy charm, a mean streak, a built-in worshipful audience, and a totally controlled environment where she never has to answer a hardball question from anybody.

And if she changes her mind, she'll get slaughtered. In addition to what Matt Taibbi wrote about, the 2012 Republican primary is going to be a dog pit and someone who quit her governor's job in the middle of a recession is going to get eaten alive by the Republican governors who didn't. She'll hit all the right notes in the debates (pro-life, anti-tax, pro-gun, anti-Obama), but so will everyone else, so no advantage there. Yeah, she'll have her hard-core supporters who stick with her to the bitter end, but so did Hillary Clinton and Ron Paul, and fat lot of good that did them.

[CmdrWilkens]

Following up a bit to what RedImp started, she has no base that another Republican contender can't hold better. The anti-government Norquist types will flock to Paul before her (or Haley Barbour as well). The pro-business, anti-tax folks will flock to Romney (or Pawlenty or Gingrich), the social conservatives like Huckabee better and woudl split between her and most of the rest of the above field. The establishment would go for Romney or Gingrich and as mentioend the RGA would crucify her for leaving out early. In the primary field having access to state machines can eb a huge boost. Governor's and big city mayors have an impact on GOTV that is subtle but real and almost all of those folks are against Palin. She has a Teabagger corps but they are divided enough to support others who have out-nutted her.