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Nov 16 2009, 5:06 pm by Matthew Cooper

Palin on Oprah

I don't usually say this, but I really wish there was a dial group on Palin's Oprah interview. What parts did undecided voters like? This is just the first salvo in the Palin Book battle. She's got a huge rollout with campaign-style events and interviews galore. Trying to be open minded, I thought she did pretty well. She's obviously comfortable in front of the camera, and she has an engaging story. But the ugly side of her, dissing her son-in-law, Levi Johnston and Katie Couric, coming up with a still inexplicable explanation for abandoning ger governor's post, well, those things couldn't have played that well. But I'm very curious to hear from you if you had the chance to watch. What did you think?

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Deborah

I'm unwilling to watch, but did you think as Andrew did that she's preparing to run for 2012? Or that she's all about the book and being a rightwing gadfly?

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Buzz Feedback

What I think is I'd like to know how she'd handle negotiations w/the Russians to replace START-1.

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kadzimiel

She tried to repackage herself, but it was pretty clear she wants revenge on anyone who denies her her "rights". Essentially she wants to be tyrant over a small, theocratic banana republic, with the power to eradicate anyone who crosses her. Fortunately, the majority of Americans find her repulsive blend of egomania and inadequacy unacceptable.

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Phil Hart (Replying to: kadzimiel)

Anyone seeking public office who thinks (as Palin did during the campaign) that her First Amendment rights are being threatened by the media's coverage of her is about as unsuited to serve in a democracy as anyone possibly can be. She is Richard Nixon without the intelligence.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/palin-fears-med.html

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MM

I watched. She definitely is preparing to run. Ha, she even said Trig would be starting Kindergarten in 2012, trying to slyly signal to women/moms everywhere. The time to go back to work is when the youngest starts school. In response to the questions about how she would be VP or P, God forbid, with 5 kids, including an infant, she talked about her vast support system up in Alaska. I wanted Oprah to ask if they would ALL move down to DC if she and McCain had won. Also, how would she know if Levi had for all intents and purposes "lived with Bristol" if her travel schedule was so intense (and maybe Todd turned a blind eye when he was home)? I find it hard to believe (or very very sad)that she didn't even see her husband for 3 weeks after she found out the Trig was going to be a boy and that he had Downs Syndrome.

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BJ13 (Replying to: MM)

About that sly comment re: Trig entering kindergarten ("and I'm excited about that"): Trig will be 4 years old. Has something changed, or is she off by a year? Or pushing Trig's age up a bit for obvious reasons?

I too wondered about this "support system" crowding itself into the White House, when Repubs seem to have an issue with Mrs. Robinson's "freeloading" presence there.

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RAGGEDT

Levi is the father of her grandson -- NOT her "son-in-law."

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mscottdjh

She presents well when she's not being pushed about anything. She has a narrative (even if it's in her own head) and so long as no one threatens her narrative, she's good. But seriously, if she was surprised that an interview with Katie Couric would be more than working moms comparing notes, then she truly is too stupid to be taken seriously. In one breath she talks about how women can do anything. In the next breadth she complains that Katie ("the perky one," really?) pushed her too much on actual issues. So we should take her seriously because women can do anything, but she shouldn't be interviewed the way other candidates for national office are interviewed because...why exactly? I'm not a Couric fan by any stretch, but I found SP's remarks about her petty and small.

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Steve

Seriously, I don't know why Palin doesn't just start her own religion. She's already got a built-in base of rabid followers who will believe anything she says, she can bask in adulation all day long and no one would question her at all, she could make millions, and she wouldn't even have to pay taxes. She could milk her followers as much as Scientology does, only she'd have more of them. Seriously, that's her true calling, cult leader. She's missing the bus if she doesn't go for that.

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BJ13 (Replying to: Steve)

I think she already has!

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glitz

Funny that you put it that way, Steve, since Scientology seems to have been an outgrowth from L.Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics" book. I feel pretty sure that "Dianetics" would be seen as having more 'substance' upon which to place one's faith than Palin's book. But then when did a cult ever need substance to develop and survive!

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