Sarah Palin vs. Karl Rove: Is he right that she's thin-skinned?
Is Sarah Palin too sensitive? That鈥檚 what GOP guru Karl Rove said Wednesday to Greta van Susteren on Fox News.
The exact phrase he used was 鈥渢hin-skinned.鈥�
鈥淚 would just recommend that she get a slightly thicker skin, because if she鈥檚 got this thin a skin now ... how is she going to react if she does get into the campaign and gets the scrutiny that every presidential candidate gets?鈥� .
First, a little background.
Last weekend, the aforementioned Rove said he believed the ex-governor of Alaska would announce a presidential bid around Labor Day. Ms. Palin's schedule 鈥� unveiling a film about herself in Iowa, visiting the Iowa State Fair, addressing a big Sept. 3 Tea Party Iowa rally 鈥� was that of a candidate, not a celebrity, said the former Bush political adviser.
For some reason this made Palin unhappy. She fired back in a message posted on her PAC website, denying that she plans to reveal her plans over Labor Day weekend.
鈥淎ny professional pundit claiming to have 鈥榠nside information鈥� regarding Governor Palin鈥檚 personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American people,鈥� .
OK 鈥� first off, 鈥減rofessional pundit鈥� is an oxymoron. The word for an amateur pundit is 鈥渂lowhard.鈥� Second, Rove clearly did not claim any inside information. He was making a prediction. And as to willfully misleading the American people 鈥� that鈥檚 a little harsh, isn鈥檛 it? Maybe Rove has some plan whereby predicting a Palin presidential bid will embarrass her and boost some other candidate, but we think that鈥檚 a bank shot that鈥檚 a little complicated to pull off, frankly.
So yes, Palin, or whoever wrote the message for her, is being too thin-skinned in this instance. She should learn from the example of fellow tea party favorite Michele Bachmann, who generally stays on message and does not get riled even when folks are trying to rile her.
That said, Rove and Palin have a history, and now they appear locked in a genuine feud. They鈥檙e like Jerry Seinfeld and Newman, only they don鈥檛 appear in an old sitcom. We鈥檒l call it 鈥淭he Battle of the Fox News Contributors.鈥�
Rove in the past has said that Palin鈥檚 appearance on reality shows is a sign she lacks gravitas. Palin has said that Rove is the symbol of the GOP old guard against which she is going rogue.
It takes two to tangle, as grade school teachers across America will be reminding their charges this week. While Palin may have been thin-skinned, Rove seemed to be piling on. If you watch the full exchange from Wednesday you鈥檒l see that Ms. Van Susteren kept trying to steer the conversation in the direction of 鈥渁ren鈥檛-the-media-silly-for-focusing-on-this,鈥� but Rove would not let up.
鈥淚f she鈥檚 not interested in being a candidate, why does she keep going back to Iowa?鈥� he concluded.
