The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Was That a Denial, Governor?’

Posted on | June 17, 2011 | 58 Comments

MINNEAPOLIS
“We are not having this phone conversation.” The phone call woke me up from a well-deserved nap here at the Hilton, site of the Right Online conference. Before I’d laid down for my nap, I’d posted a brief item at The American Spectator blog:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is expected within a week to make a decision on whether to enter the 2012 presidential campaign, according to one Republican source.
Vendors of campaign services who hope to work for Team Palin have been told that Palin, the 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate, will decide soon one way or another on mounting a 2012 campaign.

That’s what my source said. And here’s what Sarah Palin said:

To which I replied:

See what I’m saying? My source hears something, my source tells me, and I report it: a mere two sentences. Next thing you know, the governor herself is Tweeting a statement — which, I repeat, does not look exactly like a denial — and, I am told, both my post and Palin’s response are discussed on the radio by Rush Limbaugh. And then my nap gets interrupted by a phone call that’s so off-the-record I’m not even supposed to say I got a phone call.

Sigh. My apologies to all those reporters at the NYT, the WaPo and other mainstream media who are trying to chase down this story. Good luck. I’m going to try to finish my nap now.

UPDATE: Nap delayed again, because there’s a Memeorandum thread now, and I see that CNN’s Alison Harding takes Palin’s Tweet as a denial. But is it?

Did the governor say, “No, I’m not planning to make a decision next week”? Or, better yet, did she deny that her team have informed interested parties to expect a decision in that time frame?

Jim Geraghty at NRO has some helpful thoughts on exactly how long Palin could wait, noting that “the ranks of the unaffiliated staffers and volunteers grows thinner week by week.”

Geraghty also spots the key phrase in my AmSpec report: “vendors of campaign services who hope to work for Team Palin.” These are businesses. They can’t operate on the basis of maybe getting contracts from a potential campaign that may or may not happen. So it would obviously be in their interest to ask, “How soon will we know? When will a decision be made?”

BTW, I’ve talked to my original source twice since this story broke. And I’m standing by the story.

UPDATE II: Allahpundit also examines the timetable of a Palin campaign rollout (or not). But Allahpundit talks about an “announcement” and my source didn’t say anything about an announcement. No, my source was talking about a decision. An announcement and a decision are two different things.

UPDATE III: It is interesting to see some idiots try to depict me as being anti-Palin. Just FYI:

So, memo to Palin fans: Just because I’m a reporter doesn’t mean I’m the enemy.

UPDATE IV: Thanks, Rush!


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Category: Right Online, Sarah Palin

Comments

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  • http://www.leftbankofthecharles.com Charles

    My money is on someone stringing along a salesman who is desparate to close a sale before June 30 to meet his 2nd quarter quota. Yeah, we’ll make a decision next week. Next week it will be, yeah we decided to put off the decision, call me back in a cuple of months.

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  • jan

    I especially connected with your last paragraph, about being embarrassed by the reactions of Palin’s supporters.  It is getting to be almost an infringement of the 1st Amendment, the ardor in which Palin people attack, with such impunity anyone/everyone who even sneezes a molecule of anything but “she’s wonderful!” in their comments.

    What would it be like to question a Palin presidency, should she win such a position?  Would her followers take out their collective knives and kill off any questions people might have as to the quality of her leadership?  How then would a Palin presidency be anything different than an Obama one, except instead of being managed by the left it would be totally managed by Palinistas, no other person may respond or apply. 

    Extreme behavior is not fitting for the governance of this country, IMO.  Therefore, while  Obama should not be treated as a messiah, Palin should also not be given Prima Dona status by her circle of supporters.

  • Anonymous

    Yep.  She should just roll right over for you.

    And thanks for having such trust in Conservatives!  With trust like that, who needs leftists?

  • Anonymous

    I think they owe you a seat at the “first folks to know” table.

  • jan

    K_Bob  You exemplify my comment.  This isn’t about a lack of trust, but rather the ability to insert drawbacks to a Palin candidacy, that some people may have. 

    So far, the major problem is the ira drawn by her acolytes in expressing these concerns without a remark like, “with trust like that, who needs leftists.”  After all, Palin is not the only conservative fish in the pond, is she? 

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  • http://qwertyaltofuori.blogspot.com Red

    Extremism in anything should be avoided. I haven’t heard anything about Palin supporters getting physical but I have heard SEIU members throwing down and NBPP members getting free passes by our DoJ. Extremism is a product of zealotry and favoritism. Both make bad parents.

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