Like moths to the flame, we return this week to the story of Sarah Palin as she generates headlines on a variety of topics. Nothing new there, perhaps. But look closer, and you'll notice a change in those headlines -- and in Palin. She's re-emerging as... a politician.
Following an uneven debut in 2008, Palin retreated last year to write her book, raise money (for herself and her political organization), post Facebook updates and try to regain her personal footing on the national stage. For Palin, 2010 is about raising her political profile and establishing her place in the GOP.
Or at least, that's the plan -- a plan that enters a crucial stage this week.
Palin doesn't appear likely to embrace the GOP establishment's full slate of candidates.
Palin formally kicks off her effort Saturday evening in Nashville, where she'll deliver a televised keynote address to the National Tea Party Convention. In some ways, the grassroots movement and Palin face similar challenges -- still relative newcomers, they're struggling to overcome questions about their effectiveness and organizational skills, as well as their overall credibility. They can help one another; they can also tear each other apart.
The next day, Palin will endure her first-ever Sunday morning interview, with Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace. But even before the Tea Party convention and TV grilling, she already has done some of the footwork necessary to build a foundation for 2012. (On that front, Palin remains as strong as ever; a new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll shows she continues to lead the crowded GOP field of 2012 candidates.)
Last week, for example, she waded into GOP politics in Arizona to back her 2008 running mate, who faces a potentially strong challenge from the right. Palin's decision to endorse Sen. John McCain over former Rep. J.D. Hayworth is as unsurprising as it is pivotal. While it could be dismissed as the necessary act of a loyal and grateful ally, Palin's endorsement also will serve as a new test of her ability to force her natural base of conservatives to go somewhere they don't necessarily want to go. How well Palin fares in that effort could mean as much for her in 2012 as it does for McCain this year.
But Palin doesn't appear likely to embrace the GOP establishment's full slate of candidates. In Kentucky's competitive Senate primary, she crossed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the National Republican Senatorial Committee this week by endorsing ophthalmologist Rand Paul over their handpicked candidate, Secretary of State Trey Grayson. Paul is the son of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who proved to be one of McCain's toughest critics during the 2008 primary. Which raises a key question: Before McCain chose Palin as his running mate, where were her true loyalties in that race?
Palin's loyalties this year appear to lie almost entirely with conservatives, according to her political action committee, SarahPAC, which collected $1.4 million over the last six months of 2009 and ended the year with $900,000 in the bank. SarahPAC donated $65,000 to more than a dozen candidates in 2009, including conservative darlings like Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minnesota) and Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) and Sens. Tom Coburn (Oklahoma) and John Thune (South Dakota).
As we move into a more intensive phase of the 2010 cycle, however, how will the party use Palin (and vice versa)? She's contributing to Rep. Roy Blunt's Senate campaign in Missouri, but will she headline rallies for him in the swing state? SarahPAC recipients Charles Grassley (Iowa) and Jim DeMint (South Carolina) don't have competitive Senate races this fall, but will Palin nonetheless offer her help as a way to reintroduce herself in those crucial 2012 states?
Palin's PAC wasn't exclusively focused on other Republicans. As The Hotline's Reid Wilson reports, SarahPAC spent more money on copies of Palin's best-selling book Going Rogue than it gave in contributions to candidates over the last six months of the year. New Federal Election Commission reports show SarahPAC spent almost $48,000 buying copies of Going Rogue from publisher HarperCollins but handed out just $43,000 in donations. The FEC reports show Palin has been purchasing the book to send to donors, some of whom got a copy after contributing to the PAC.
All of which suggests that, while she focuses on building up other Republicans, Palin is still as focused as ever on building up herself. Which, for a politician, isn't that surprising.
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