Sarah Palin: Multi-Millionaire
Even though I initially agreed with Michael Merritt’s assessment of Sarah Palin’s “stunning resignation,” I’m slowly but surely starting to change my mind.
First things first: I do not for one second believe that she resigned because of the ethics complaints against her. If she is a fighter – and I believe she is – unfair accusations encourage rather than discourage her. I also do not believe she wants to “protect her family.” If she wants to run for office again, especially the highest office (president!), she’ll be confronted with even more vicious attacks, just like every other prominent politician before her. She knew that when she entered politics; the attacks can come as no surprise to her or to those close to her.
So what is the reason for her resignation? Is it the lame duck argument? Does she believe that, since she accomplished virtually everything she wanted to accomplish when she first ran for governor, it’s time for her to step down? Could be. But does this mean that she will do the same thing if / when she becomes president? That would be horrible: a president has to serve out his or her term. Quitting is not an option. Besides, when one goal is reached, another one will pop up: the world, and America, do not stand still.
In other words, I don’t buy the lame duck argument either.
What then? Well, how about this?
Palin signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish a book in 2010 that will include a discussion of politics, religion, Bristol’s baby, and the infamous Katie Couric interviews. She’ll surely add in a shot or two at David Letterman. Rumors circulated last year that she and her D.C. attorney Robert Barnett were looking for $11 million for the book. A publishing insider tells The Daily Beast that Palin’s advance is closer to $4 million.
You know the red-meat crowds love Palin. So how much will people be willing to pay to have her come speak? Estimates on this one come in all over the map, but the head of one of the country’s largest speaker’s agencies estimates she’ll garner somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 a speech when she hits the circuit. Assuming she can squeeze in about 50 speeches over the next year, that comes out to $3.75 million to $5 million just for doing what she does best—babbling away about Alaska, God, oil, and herself (and, you betcha, she can throw in a wink or two for free).
Obviously, writing a book and giving speeches on a regular basis takes a lot of time. Still, a governor should be able to combine them with his (or her) regular job. If she wants to become president four or eight years from now, it would make more sense to write the book, to give speeches so she can earn the big bucks, while staying on as governor nonetheless.
That is, if it wasn’t for the following:
But what kind of money could she command? Meredith Vieira apparently got $40 million over four years to co-host the Today show, but she’s an experienced television hand. Palin’s closest talk-show comparison in both brains and political leanings is Elisabeth Hasselbeck from The View, who we estimate makes about $5 million a year. Let’s split the difference: $7.5 million annually.
Unlike the cliché about people with a face for radio, Palin actually looks good on camera, but she might opt for the relative ease of a radio show in any case. She won’t command Howard Stern-like pay of $500 million over five years—young men like to look at Palin, not listen to her—nor will she command the $50 million that Rush Limbaugh pulls down annually. Palin is Rush-lite (in more ways than one), so let’s give her $10 million for this option. If Palin hits the airwaves, then—TV or radio—she could pull down $7.5 million to $10 million for her troubles.
And then there’s the option of a having her own syndicated column:
If Palin decides to put that journalism degree of hers to good use and become a syndicated columnist, she could be the right wing’s answer to Maureen Dowd. Both have senses of humor that enrage the other side of the aisle, and you can bet Palin would play just as well outside the Northeast as Dowd does within it. Jack Newcombe of the Los Angeles-based Creators Syndicate puts it simply: “We’d love to have her.” Estimated income: $250,000.
And:
If Palin is feeling short on cash even after all of the above, there’s always the licensing option, where she would lend her name to products, takes a cut of the sales, and lets other people take all the risk. A line of eyeglasses, perhaps? Frost-proof mascara? Or maybe she’ll roll out a line of Slutty Flight Attendant™ women’s wear. You have to assume that Palin would be as smart as Paris Hilton about licensing her image—or do you?—and could therefore conceivably bring in some $1.5 million annually.
In short, resigning would enable Palin to make up to $20.75 million – according to the Daily Beast at least – in the next twelve months. Not bad for a girl from Wasilla, Alaska.
Not only could she become very rich in the coming year, the activities listed above could also help her raise her profile and improve her image among moderate conservative Republicans and Independent voters. This is something she desperate needs. Recent polls show that although she continues to top the list of most likely Republican presidential candidate in 2012 according to Republican voters, she’s also hated the most. She’s a decisive figure; not only among Americans at large, but even among registered Republicans.
So this is my view, she resigned because:
1. She wants her supporters to “show [her] the money”
2. She believes she will improve her standing among key voting blocks by resigning as governor and focusing on national politics
Makes sense?
People lash out at things that they don’t understand and at things that scare them. It’s rather clear that liberals don’t understand and therefore are scared of Sarah Palin.
http://richardtgarner.blogspot.com/2009/07/palin-keeps-em-guessin.html
A sudden resignation like this suggests that there is something under the surface which is bound to be made public in the near future. Otherwise there would have been suggestions, floating of the idea, even just an apparent (if staged) presentation of her looking haggerd and worn out by all the criticism. This was all to quick for that.
I expect that within the next month, there will be something that comes up which would have derailed the Palin express. With the focus on Sanford, it might be something sexual that was about to be dug up. Hell, maybe Palin even had a tryst of some sort with Sanford (that would be a kick) – but regarless there is something there that made her jump ship before it wrecked itself on the rocks.
Sarah Palin is certainly entertaining. What’s puzzling, though, is that on every site with news about her, there are comments to the effect that liberals are “scared” of Sarah Palin. What does that mean? Is it so hard to distinguish between people laughing uproariously and people cringing in fear? Or does it reflect a wish? As far as I can tell, conservatives have been losing every battle they have fought for some time now. They get beaten over and over and over. Do they really think the people beating them are “scared”? Of what? Fancy pageant walking?
“I do not for one second believe that she resigned because of the ethics complaints against her. If she is a fighter – and I believe she is – unfair accusations encourage rather than discourage her.”
This seems to imply that the ethics complaints are unfair.
While it makes sense for her to trick more people into giving her money in the vain hope that she has anything in common with them, I find it a bit worrisome that she couldn’t wait to the end of her boring, ordinary governor’s office before jumping to venues where she can serve and encourage people more effectively and profitably. I mean, if not even governorship is suitable for her ambitions, what is? Well, she continues to drive the republican impulse to profile yourself and your opponent (and blame the media when you inevitably fail) rather than attract voters with actual substance and non-ideological solutions. So I wish her the best of luck considering all the donations she’ll attract won’t amount to anything.
The right wing’s answer to Maureen Dowd? She has yet to prove she can speak a coherent sentence let alone write one. Call me when Sarah has a Pulitzer Prize of her own.
As far as I can tell, conservatives have been losing every battle they have fought for some time now. They get beaten over and over and over.
The GOP bashed the Democrats to the point that they were all wandering around questioning everything they did for years. They were beaten. Haggard and lost. Even when the GOP was in power and things were going good they were bashing Hillary Clinton non stop whenever they could get a jab in edgewise.
Why?
1. They hated her and everything she stood for.
2. They feared her and believed that she had the power to capture the White House.
I’ll never forget listening to Rush Limbaugh one day back during the primaries when Hillary was still winning but Obama was coming on strong.
Paraphrasing here….Obama mania will burn out. They cant sustain this amount of hype and enthuasim for long. The Obama flare will burn out. Hillary however is the democrats nominee and Hillary is the one that the Gop should be focused on and worrying about.
Yes. The democrats fear Palin, because they know just as Obama Fired up the base and the independents to a win….Palin has that ability to fire people up and get them excited…so yes the Democrats fear Palin…..and rightly so.
Michael;
I read the linked article at the Daily Beast. Seems like an awlful lot of speculation, both about plans and the dollars involved. There’s certainly been much mention of a possible book deal. However, that’s as earth-shaking as saying the sun rose in the east today. I’m not trying to excuse anything but the article did seem to have a lot of “well of course!” attitude to it.
why don’t we try this: think of her as Fred thompson (only without the Watergate and Senate experience) WE can discuss a little about why the candidacy didn’t pan out, what the “behavioral issues” were, maybe even throW in a litte “appealing to the red meat crowd” for the benefit of our liberal friends. but we won’t have the heartbroken boyfriend attitude (“she broke my heart”) and we won’t have the b*tchy cat fight anger (“she’s an empty-headed christianist”)
My guess is that it was all of the above in terms of the factors weighing into her decision. I don’t know how you can discount the effect of the multiple frivolous ethics complaints against her, or say that she should have just fought them. She did attempt to take that route but it was going to lead to bankrupting her family and it was a major distraction from her ability to govern.
So, when considering that, did she and her family consider the not inconsiderable sums they could raise if she was no longer constrained? I imagine I would, and I imagine they did.
The situation really was not unlike what Clinton faced when in office, but as president there are numerous layers of staff to handle a lot of the complaints and investigations, and probably even more importantly, he had a lot of wealthy donors to help out his legal defense fund. It seems to me that Palin felt forced to free herself from the constraints of office in order to raise the funds herself, and then probably also rationalized that the state would be better off without her as a distraction and that she could also participate in politics better as an activist at this point.
To me, the take home message is that we need ethics laws which also hold the accusers liable for frivolous complaints- so that the accusers would have to pay legal fees if the charge is dismissed or found unwarranted.
One snarky addendum to my Clinton comparison: unfortunately the office of governor of Alaska didn’t allow her the opportunity to offer pardons to wealthy felons in return for hefty donations to the legal defense fund.
Michael: I have no problem with people wanting to go after the money, but there is something to be said about realizing the responsibilities that come with elected office, namely, serving out your term.
I mean, come on. It was another year and five months. She’d have almost another two years to raise funds, campaign, and write books and columns if she wanted to. Even if you think she’s going to try for president in 2012, she would have had at least a year before the serious campaigning began.
I think you’re right that it’s a possible reason, but I wonder a little about her commitment to the office she holds if money is the sole reason she’s left.
This liberal is not scared of Sarah Palin and doesn’t know many who are.
I don’t think it’s a money thing. They were alreay into 6 figures before she became gov. This is Alaska we’re talking about.
true that
Yup – but looks like they put that For Sale sign right back up on the front lawn of 1600
Well, sure it makes sense if you assume she’s a liar. But I don’t, so I’ll stick with the reasons she’s already given.