Is Sarah Palin sending mixed messages in her Newsweek article?
| Washington
锘縅ust when you thought Sarah Palin was fading from view, boom, she鈥檚 back. On the cover of Newsweek. Looking distinctly unpresidential in a gray hoodie that says 鈥淓dge Fitness,鈥� hands on hips, hair blown back.
In a Newsweek interview, the former governor of Alaska says she believes: that she can win a national election, that the field of GOP hopefuls should be bigger, and that she still has months to decide if she wants to enter. So what will she do? 鈥淚鈥檓 still thinking about it,鈥� she told Peter J. Boyer.
鈥淚鈥檓 not so egotistical as to believe that it has to be me, or it can only be me, to turn things around,鈥� Palin said. 鈥淏ut I do believe that I can win.鈥�
Palin has a ready-made reason not to run 鈥� her family. Three of her children are still at home, including three-year-old Trig, who has special needs.
Says Palin: 鈥淚f it came down to the family just saying, 鈥楶lease, Mom, don鈥檛 do this,鈥� then that would be the deal-killer for me, because your family鈥檚 gotta be in it with you.鈥�
We already knew all of that. What鈥檚 striking about the Newsweek feature is the photographs 鈥� not just the cover, but the two-page inside shot of Palin standing in a field of flowers, hair down, wearing a pink hoodie, hands in the pockets of loose-fitting work pants. It鈥檚 the Garden of Sarah.
Maybe the photos are Palin鈥檚 way of saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 not running.鈥� Time was when a politically ambitious woman would agree to be photographed only looking 鈥渄ressed for success鈥� 鈥� usually in a suit, 脿 la Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton鈥檚 Newsweek cover earlier this year. Or the way Palin usually dresses on Fox News. But in this latest iteration, the vibe is more 鈥淪arah Palin鈥檚 Alaska鈥� than 鈥淲est Wing.鈥�
It all reinforces two other things we already knew about her: She is anything but conventional, and she knows how to keep the media interested. But what about the voters?
Palin launched a 鈥淥ne Nation鈥� bus tour up the East Coast on Memorial Day, and then, less than a month later, suspended it as abruptly as it began. Though most polls show her at about 10 percent among GOP voters, some of her fans are starting to wonder if she鈥檒l ever decide. Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who leads the House Tea Party Caucus, has caught fire among conservatives. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another tea party favorite, says he鈥檒l decide whether to run in a matter of weeks.
If Palin decides in several months that she wants in, will the money and top-tier campaign talent be there? Maybe that鈥檚 not the right question. Many Republican operatives assume she鈥檚 not running, and believe that with each public act, she鈥檚 burnishing her image as an icon and a kingmaker 鈥� not a candidate. Maybe the question is, when Palin announces she鈥檚 not running, how will she keep us interested?
