First Read : Sarah Palin

Steele talks Palin

Domenico Montanaro — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:25:00 GMT

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Kelly Paice
NBC's Andrea Mitchell interviewed Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

Here is some of what Steele had to say about Sarah Palin. A clip is below with text after the jump.

HERE'S THE FULL VIDEO.

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Profiling and Palin's trip to Ft. Hood

Domenico Montanaro — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:28:00 GMT

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Sarah Palin released the second leg of her “Going Rogue” book tour yesterday, including a stop in Fort Hood.

“I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in every stop on the tour, but I'm especially looking forward to meeting our brave men and women in uniform at Fort Hood,” Palin said on her Facebook page. “I'm joining the efforts of many others by donating my royalties from the book sales during our stop at Fort Hood to the families of the victims whose lives have been forever changed by the tragic events of November 5th. I am humbled to be able to join the larger effort called ‘Community Response to 11/5,’ which was established by the Central Texas-Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the US Army (AUSA).”

Yesterday, Palin said, "I think that there were massive warning flags that were missed all over the place and I think that it was quite unfortunate that, to me, it was a fear of being politically incorrect to not -- I am going to use the word -- profile this guy -- profile in the sense of finding out what his radical beliefs were. … Now, because I used the word 'profile' I am going to get clobbered tomorrow morning. The liberals, their heads are just going to be spinning. They're going to say 'she is radical, she is extreme.' "

Palin did not specify what she meant by “profile,” widely and generally believed to be a reference to focusing on groups of people by race, religion or otherwise. There certainly was seemingly enough evidence that Army Major Nadal Hasan was not a competent psychiatrist without “profiling” him. But, NPR reported, that Hasan’s religion may have been a factor in him being passed – despite his poor marks. And the FBI has said it was aware of Hasan’s communications with a radical Imam prior to the shooting, but deemed them not necessarily evidence of so-called radical views.

Hardly “liberals,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen gave differing views than Palin on profiling.

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McCain defends Schmidt, Wallace

Mark Murray — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:12:00 GMT

From NBC's Mark MurrayJohn McCain today picked up the phone and called Reuters to defend Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace -- who worked for him in the last year's presidential campaign -- from the charges that Sarah Palin has made about them in her book. "There's been a lot of dust flying around in the last few days and I just wanted to mention that I have the highest regard for Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace and the rest of the team ... and I appreciated all the hard work and everything they...(read more)

Palin book means record sales in Mich.

Domenico Montanaro — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:00 GMT

From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam VerdugoGRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Huge lines this morning meant a record number of book sales at the Grand Rapids Barnes & Noble. A spokeswoman for Harper Collins tells NBC News more than 1,000 copies of "Going Rogue" have been sold. The bookstore has already run out of wristbands for those standing in line since early this morning. That means the rest of those who waited in the cold will likely not get a chance to get their book signed by Sarah Palin tonight....(read more)

The media's hypocrisy on Palin

Domenico Montanaro — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:17:00 GMT

From NBC's Mark WhitakerSarah Palin hardly needs defending. She prides herself on being a supportive hockey mom, but she can lace on skates and deliver hard checks into the glass with the best of them. Still, while watching and listening to a lot of the media discussion of the rollout of her book, I can't help noting that some of the coverage is more than a little selective, and hypocritical. Still, the widespread suggestion in some of the media commentary that she simply isn’t qualified enough...(read more)

The scene in Grand Rapids

Mark Murray — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:15:00 GMT

From NBC's Andrea MitchellGRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- More than 1,500 people camped out overnight outside the Woodland Mall here for the chance to return later and get a book signed by Sarah Palin -- the first stop on her book tour. People had driven for hours to get in line for an orange wristband and instructions to return and line up later. Palin is expected to be signing books from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Mall operators say she'd have to sign one book every 15 seconds to get through everyone with...(read more)

GOP watch: Palin's interview with Oprah

Mark Murray — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:11:00 GMT

Oprah Winfrey’s much-anticipated interview with Sarah Palin aired yesterday, featuring the former vice presidential candidate’s musings on politics, pregnancies, and porn. Speaking about her handlers on the campaign trail with John McCain, Palin said, “If I were to respond to a reporter's questions very candidly, honestly -- for instance, they say, ‘What do you think about the campaign pulling out of Michigan?’ And I think, ‘Darn, I wish we weren't. Every vote matters. Can't wait to get back to Michigan,’ and then told afterwards that, ‘Oh, you screwed up. You went rogue on us, Sarah.’”

On resigning from her governorship in July: “It was a point where my state, the state that I so dearly love -- it is my home, it is where I will be buried. My state of Alaska was being hampered by my presence there, being shackled behind a governor's desk. I wasn't able to get out there and talk about issues that were important to me, or an ethics violation would be filed.”

On her daughter Bristol’s pregnancy: “If we had been given that allowance to deal with the issue in a more productive way, we perhaps could have sent a better message about "this is not to be glamorized." It's not to be emulated. It is a tough, tough challenge, and it is a problem in America, so let's try to deal with it.” Palin also touched on her own struggles when pregnant with Trig, to the point when abortion crossed her mind. “It was easy to understand why a woman would feel that it's easier to just do away with some less-than-ideal circumstances, to do away with the problem,” she said.

And although Levi is invited to Thanksgiving dinner, Palin said she might have to call him a different name: “I hear he goes by the name Ricky Hollywood now. So if that's the case, we don't want to mess up his gig he's got going. Kind of this aspiring--aspiring porn, some of the things that he's doing. It's kind of heartbreaking.”

By the way, John McCain himself says the $50,000 bill Palin was so appalled the campaign wouldn't pay was for the "Troopergate" scandal and NOT for vetting her.

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Palin still hearts RGA

Domenico Montanaro — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:28:00 GMT

From NBC's Domenico MontanaroSarah Palin is no fan of the DC Republican establishment. But one group with which she still has a pretty good relationship: the Republican Governors Association. She's now offering "individually signed 'Going Rogue' limited edition copies" for a $100 contribution to the RGA. Remember that during the '09 elections, Palin also plugged the RGA on her Facebook page and solicited donations for it. She and the group's executive director Nick Ayers knew each other before...(read more)

Sarah Palin's rough year

Mark Murray — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:57:00 GMT

From NBC's Mark MurrayHere's a piece one of us wrote on MSNBC.com about Sarah Palin's rough year since last November's presidential contest, and whether or not she can make a political comeback. Despite all the money and attention former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s autobiography is expected to draw as it hits bookshelves this week, it’s difficult to think of a national political figure who’s had a rougher year than the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. Consider President Barack Obama...(read more)

Top McCain adviser defends campaign

Domenico Montanaro — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:07:00 GMT

From MSNBC's Norah O'DonnellSen. John McCain's longtime friend and former chief of staff, Mark Salter, has just issued a statement about Palin's accusations. Salter, who co-authored McCain's books, defends Nicolle Wallace's actions throughout the campaign. Palin suggests in the book that Wallace was a double-agent for Couric because Wallace had worked at CBS News prior to the campaign. From Salter: "After we had been criticized in the press for a lack of disciplined messaging earlier in the...(read more)