Palin appears to be just as big a media draw as she was when first introduced as McCain’s running mate Aug. 29.
From CNN to Fox News, “The Today Show” to Larry King and many others, Palin has been making the rounds of the national media outlets.
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Bill McAllister, Palin’s spokesman, said in an e-mail the governor’s office has received about 130 requests for one-on-one interviews. The number of requests has made things crazier around Palin’s office than the week she was introduced to the world, McAllister said.
This week, Palin became the focal point of the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami. Reporters seemed to ignore Palin’s counterparts and peppered her with questions often related to the failed campaign.
What most media seem to be curious about these days is whether Palin will run for president in 2012.
So far, Palin has not given a definitive answer, though in interviews she has not ruled out a run for the White House.
During a press conference in Miami she told reporters the future for her is not the 2012 presidential race but what happens in the next couple of years.
She also tamped down questions and talk of the past campaign.
“As far as we’re concerned, the past is the past and we’re focused on the future,” Palin said Thursday at a press conference
Regardless of what happened during the 2008 campaign, many top-level Republicans — and a slew of conservative writers and talk radio hosts — have rallied around Palin as a future leader of the GOP.
“She is somebody who is going to be one of the voices in helping to lead the party in the months and years ahead,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told The Associated Press. “We’re going to need a whole team, but she’s clearly going to be one of the voices that people are going to look to for some perspective on various issues.”
Geography may play a role if Palin does decide to pursue national office.
Many experts have said Palin will have to work extra hard to both govern a distant state and keep a presence on the national scene.
Her appearance in Florida this week is the type of activity she’ll need if she wants to keep her name fresh in the minds of political leaders and voters, pundits say.
On the flip side, being in Alaska might also work to Palin’s benefit, said Gerald McBeath, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
“That distance and removal adds a little bit of mystique to her potential candidacy in 2012,” McBeath said, adding that with technology, Palin can stay in touch with her Lower 48 counterparts.
Palin also might benefit from the very quality McCain cited as one of the reasons he chose her as his running mate: her separation from Washington D.C. politics as usual.
McBeath does warn, however, that Palin’s recent ascent into the limelight will add pressure to her job as Alaska’s governor that she hasn’t seen in the past.
“There will be much more national media scrutiny of her performance as governor than there’s ever been,” McBeath said.
Offering a bit of advice, McBeath said Palin can’t become dormant on the national scene for six months, for instance, and expect to be able to pop up again.
Palin became a fixture of the Republican base during her two months on the campaign, and experts say she’ll have to maintain that exposure to voters during the coming years.
No matter what Palin’s critics have to say, however, it’s become clear the GOP has faith in her to be a party leader.
Describing Palin at the news conference in Miami, Texas Gov. Rick Perry told The Associated Press she, “is a governor who has led her state boldly, inspired a nation with her optimism, her frank talk, her unashamed embrace of bedrock conservative principles. She represents us, Republican governors, as well. And I can assure you, she’s just getting started.”
Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Comments
21 comment(s)TERESEE HENNEY wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:43 PM:
daedelus wrote on Nov 22, 2008 8:04 AM:
Christian Sarah wrote on Nov 21, 2008 12:40 PM:
True Christian.... Yeah, right! "
James Goad wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:34 PM:
James Goad wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:23 PM:
mary D wrote on Nov 19, 2008 11:47 AM:
terri in ohio wrote on Nov 17, 2008 8:58 PM:
terri in ohio wrote on Nov 17, 2008 8:49 PM:
terri in ohio wrote on Nov 17, 2008 8:42 PM:
Lees Summit Conservative wrote on Nov 17, 2008 6:19 AM:
Attacks are good, but you must follow them with a strong leadership comment or you come across as a whiner. The Republicans running for office in 2008 forgot that and focused on distancing themselves from Bush, but gave no leadership and thus they lost. "
MTRush wrote on Nov 16, 2008 7:18 PM:
JoJo wrote on Nov 16, 2008 2:54 PM:
cat wrote on Nov 16, 2008 11:22 AM:
Susan wrote on Nov 16, 2008 9:49 AM:
Susan wrote on Nov 16, 2008 9:45 AM:
Susan ryan "
GURU wrote on Nov 16, 2008 4:47 AM:
is there no other person in GOP with little better qualities as a leader..
Anyway, all the best to her.. "
Esther wrote on Nov 15, 2008 4:10 PM:
Cathy wrote on Nov 15, 2008 10:42 AM:
Tired of it wrote on Nov 14, 2008 11:02 AM:
stonere wrote on Nov 14, 2008 8:55 AM:
Spankles wrote on Nov 13, 2008 11:15 PM: