ABC News’ Santina Leuci reports that Palin respected Gingrich’s “ability to overcome the obstacle and still move up in the polls showed his ability to campaign and survive” and said Gingrich “is not one of the typical ‘beltway types” and that his campaign has “burst out of the political arena and touched many Americans.”

No word yet if the former Alaska Governor will soon make her own endorsement.

Developing…
(h/t ABC News)

RELATED: Sarah Palin To Hannity: GOP Candidates Have To Quit ‘Nit-Picking At One Another’

Fortunately, Palin is currently in the process of pitching a new television series, teaming up once again with producer Mark Burnett after the success of her TLC show Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Unfortunately, The Hollywood Reporter is sharing that she and Burnett are having a tough time finding a buyer, as TLC parent company Discovery Communications and A&E Networks have already passed on the reality series. Why? Here’s a possible hint: “…this one more focused on Palin’s husband Todd and his career as a championship snowmobile racer.”

RELATED: Bill O’Reilly To Sarah Palin: “Is That Presidential, You And Kate Gosselin In A Forest?”

Apparently, some “network insiders” feel that the show is having trouble getting picked up because Palin’s 15 minutes are up. And while, sure, she may no longer be at the height of her popularity with a media and a public hanging on her every word (…and hairstyle and article of clothing), this really might be more about a desire to “Stop Trying To Make Todd Happen.”

What say you, gentle readers? Would you watch a show about Todd Palin’s penchant for snowmobiling? Or would you go for my TV pitch: Sarah and Bristol in a (better) remake of Australia’s Kath & Kim? Let me know. In the meantime, I have to take this call with Every Producer Ever.

h/t The Hollywood Reporter

The woman’s well-played response? “Well, you go for the money, obviously. That’s what she did.”

Todd gamely hangs in there, but the confrontation ends with the woman walking away, yelling “Sell-out!”

Aside from being a tasty morsel of deep-fried viral junk-food, the exchange illustrates the true folly of the media’s (admittedly waning) fascination over the “will she or won’t she” question. Setting aside all of Palin’s pros (energetic supporters, megawatt charisma) and cons (insert your own list here), the minute Palin’s presidential ambitions morph from entertaining bustravaganza to actual campaign, the fact that she quit the governorship instantly settles the question.

The Chronicle also captured an impromptu Palin press gaggle at the Iowa State Fair and Ambient Noise Jamboree, including some Palin responses that were left out of This Week‘s Iowa clips package. Palin talks a bit more about the time frame for her decision, and says she would run an “unconventional campaign,” and would look to hire people “outside that political bubble.”

Palin also made a rare admission of a mistake, backing off of an earlier statement (and possible dig at newly-minted candidate Gov. Rick Perry)that Alaska’s constitution provided for “very, very strong governor’s office,” as opposed to Texas. Palin volunteered, “We want conviction and passion and candidness — even if through that candidness you make mistakes and you say things like ‘the executive power in Texas is different than the executive power in Alaska.’”

On her deadline to decide if she’s going to run, Palin told Jake Tapper, “I don’t want to be seen as stringing people along,” and, in explaining how the long wait would be unfair to supporters, spoke about the necessity of letting them know who they should support. After several recent statements in which she talked about her decision in terms of releasing her supporters to other candidates, though, it certainly is beginning to seem like those supporters are being strung along.

Here’s the clip, also from The San Francisco Chronicle:

(h/t TPC)

Ok, not really. But it was from the company and it is hilarious.

Here’s the original Palin quote:

“‘I was ticked off at Todd yesterday,’ she said. ‘He walks into a gas station as we’re driving over from Minnesota. He buys a Slim Jim—we’re always eating that jerky stuff—for $2.69. I said, “Todd, those used to be 99 cents, just recently!” And he says, “Man, the dollar’s worth nothing anymore.” A jug of milk and a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs—every time I walk into that grocery store, a couple of pennies more.’”

Obviously, there’s a lot of times politicians (be they Republican, Democrat, or Galactic Empire) tell little anecdotes like this where it can be assumed to be more allegorical than factual. Everything from describing “the little old lady from Main Street, South Kenkota” to Palin’s folksy stories (And could this be any folksier? I don’t think there’s any word in here that couldn’t be translated as “I’M JUST LIKE YOU! JUST LIKE YOU! JUST LIKE YOU!”). Still, Palin uses some hard numbers here and that’s asking to be checked up on. PolitiFact could have gone the easy route and just checked Slim Jim prices across the country, but they went all out, procuring this quote from the Slim Jim company:

“Still, national statistics alone can’t settle this question. So we went directly to ConAgra, the food giant that makes Slim Jims.

Teresa Paulsen, a ConAgra spokeswoman, said that ‘we admire Mr. Palin’s taste and appreciate his support,’ but added that ‘we haven’t raised the price significantly on any Slim Jim products.’

She also offered a possible explanation for the confusion. ‘Our iconic Slim Jim Giant Sticks are priced around $1.30,’ Paulsen said. ‘Mr. Palin might have been reaching for one of our Slim Jim Monster Sticks, which offers double the meat for $2.30, or our Slim Jim Kippered Beef Steak, which typically sells for around $2.65.’

Finally, Paulsen said, ‘If the Palins want to try something that brings a little extra heat, we’d invite them to try our new Slim Jim Dare sticks. We’d love to know what a seasoned Slim Jim connoisseur thinks.’”

Oh, man. I love statements from companies like this so much. The ones where you can just feel the spokespeople going through every single syllable a thousand times to make sure they can protect the brand without insulting any demographic. And, if the statements include phrases like “Slim Jim Monster Sticks,” it’s even better.

Again, thank goodness for Sullivan and especially PolitiFact. My day has officially been made.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend the next three hours watching Macho Man Randy Savage Slim Jim commercials.

Throughout most of America’s history, the role of a First Lady has been necessarily limited. A First Lady was a Housewife in Chief, keeping the nation’s most important hearth warm, the belly of the nation’s most powerful man well-fed. As women throughout society progressed in acquiring better jobs for better pay, the First Lady slowly but surely was allowed more privileges than setting the table and keeping the kids out of trouble, though, as politics routinely lags behind organic societal evolution, First Ladies were never quite allowed the freedoms of the average housewife. While women were advancing in business and academia, First Ladies were still planting flowers and taking brave stances such as “drugs are bad.” It is only in recent memory that First Ladies have been allowed to be more than fashion icons, though such attempts– take Hillary Clinton‘s foray into health care reform, or even Michelle Obama‘s healthy eating campaign– have not been met with universal praise.

Much of the suspect thinking towards the First Lady having political opinions is, of course, the product of centuries of sexist thought– nice girls aren’t meant to play hardball politics, and First Ladies are meant to be the nicest girls of all. But there is another legitimate concern that transcends gender roles: no one votes for a First Lady. As Karen Peart explains in her Scholastic article “The First Lady: Homemaker or Policy Maker?”,

Most of the women who have filled the position were known more for their social skills, charm, and good looks than anything they ever said or did… many Americans say [the First Lady] has no business making official policy. “Americans don’t want a First Lady who gives the impression that she’s running things and making policies,” says Paul F. Boller Jr., author of Presidential Wives. “No one elects a First Lady, so pushing the idea of a co-presidency is seen as a betrayal.”

But for the most part, the role of a presidential spouse hinges upon roles defined by men, for women. Fortunately, this paradigm is destined to be blown apart within the next century given the increasingly visible presences of women in politics, but what will replace it has yet to be defined. What makes for a good “First Dude,” the title Sarah Palin proudly used to refer to her husband, Todd? The good news is that, unlike the definition of a First Lady, this responsibility falls squarely in the hands of the media, not preordained gender tropes. The bad news is that, unlike the definition of a First Lady, this responsibility falls squarely in the hands of the media, which have absolutely no experience in constructing such expectations. In fact, 2012 is poised to be the first presidential election year in which the media will get the chance to evaluate a serious presidential candidate’s husband, despite it being only the second presidential election year in which a woman has a legitimate chance to win the presidency (alas, fitting Bill Clinton into a box– any box– proved impossible).

Given the fact that Palin is neither considered a serious presidential contender nor actually running for president, Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s husband Marcus Bachmann has inherited the privilege of being the media’s guinea pig in this experiment. Politico is leading the charge with their profile of Bachmann published yesterday, where they explore what Marcus’s role in aiding Michele’s campaign is, and ruminate on what it would be like to have him in the White House. Most reports describe Bachmann as “mild-mannered” and “low-key”– with a campaign role Politico describes as “equal parts confidant, body man, image consultant, and political strategist.” Politico is also quick to note that being a candidate for “First Dude” and not “First Lady” means Marcus Bachmann, a mental health professional in the couple’s home state of Minnesota, brings an added weight to the campaign: “as a man, rather than a woman, he’s likely to face a different kind of intensity in the attack — how he and his wife respond to them will almost certainly have an impact on Bachmann’s presidential plans.” With that in mind, these are the most personal descriptions of Bachmann in the piece:

“Marcus has a very relaxed and calm demeanor that serves as a wonderful counterbalance to Michele’s impulsive and compulsive personality,” said Ron Carey, Bachmann’s former chief of staff, who now supports Tim Pawlenty for president. [...]

They even matched. He wore a yellow tie Wednesday to match her yellow dress, which she told a crowd was the same color as the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag that has been picked up as a symbol of the tea party movement.

So at least this medium has decided that, just like a First Lady, what a First Dude wears is fair game, and being relaxed and apolitical seems to be the way to go. Unfortunately, because politics routinely lags behind organic societal evolution, “relaxed and calm” with “a yellow tie to match her yellow dress” took very little time to become code words for “gay.” Gawker ran a “Marcus Bachmann is gay” Twitter roundup over the weekend that quoted Cher and Keith Olbermann as among those that doubt his heterosexuality, and this Wonkette Blingee is really all you need to know about what they think. Sure, some of the criticism could be said to be self-inflicted.

Any man who likens LGBT people to “barbarians” and marries someone who campaigns against same-sex marriage opens themselves up for the obvious “thou doth protest too much” jokes, but this isn’t about his beliefs– it’s about how he waves to a crowd, what he dresses like, and how he adheres to certain ideals of manliness or not. While Bachmann may be the first man to face such proper scrutiny, he does not get the privilege to set the precedent of what the ideal First Dude must be like– that honor went to the original “First Dude,” Todd Palin, who set the masculinity bar at unfathomably high levels. Todd Palin’s idea of a relaxing day out is killing things and racing across the notoriously feral Alaskan countryside. If he’s up for a challenge, he goes out and wins dog sled or snowmobile races. The one time he didn’t win, he still came in fourth in the world’s longest snowmobile race– despite having a broken arm. To paraphrase a line from Seth Meyers, Todd Palin could make Bear Grylls look like RuPaul, so it makes sense Marcus Bachmann may come off as comparatively effeminate.

America has proven in recent memory that it is not ready for another mouthy First Lady who thinks she’s entitled to public political opinions– the implosion of Teresa Heinz Kerry, which ultimately concluded in her shouting “shove it!” at a journalist, proved as much. Whether Rep. Bachmann’s campaign, unlike Sen. Kerry’s will in its totality be enough to override any spousal image issues is yet to be seen, but the heightened scrutiny around him raises a question that’s impossible to ignore: is America ready for a First Dude that doesn’t eat dirt-flavored nachos while watching the Super Bowl and bidding on Guy Fieri-style flame shirts on eBay?

In early May, I got the random call from Todd, apparently sounding me out about working on a potential campaign for Sarah (though I rarely knew for sure why Todd was really calling). By then, I’d already become convinced that she was actually going to run in 2012, so the conversation simply removed most of the remaining doubt. I actually considered it for a while as a Barry Goldwater-type campaign seemed fun—until I was reminded of all the frustrations that had been building since I was first jerked around by Sarah’s split-personality advisers back in 2008.

Ziegler, more than anyone, is responsible for creating the alternate history of the 2008 campaign upon which much of the current Palin brand is based, but he clearly feels burned by Palin, and fears that a Palin run could, in turn, burn the Republicans. While he still professes admiration and respect for Palin, the premise of the piece is a plea for her to “sit this one out.”

The piece is a behind-the-curtain look at Ziegler’s relationship with Palin and her people for the last several years, and while it will likely leave Ziegler without much of a constituency, he doesn’t pull any punches. Here are some of the highlights:

• After interviewing Palin for his documentary in January of 2009, Ziegler left the Palin residence with this needle-scratch of a parting shot: ““You have to know, you can’t beat Obama in 2012. The media won’t let you. They won’t let him lose and the narrative about you is too negative to correct in three-and-a-half years.”
• Shortly thereafter, Palin told Ziegler she was concerned about coming off as “whiny” about her treatment by the media, and Ziegler told her “George W. Bush didn’t like fighting back against the liberal media, either, and look what happened to him,” a lesson, he notes, that she has taken to heart with a vengeance.
• Ziegler joked with Todd about how his wife’s schoolteacher salary helped carry him through rough times while promoting his film. “‘So… you’re just like me,’ (Todd) said. He was joking—I think. Whatever, it takes balls to admit you’re a kept man.
• Ziegler talks about feeling burned by Palin when she accepted an apology from David Letterman, even as Ziegler was organizing protests to have the Late Show host fired over his joke about Willow Palin.
• Ziegler prepped Palin a rebuttal to a 60 Minutes “hit piece,” but says she “butchered the answer” on The O’Reilly Factor.
• Palin aide Rebecca Mansour landed in some hot water last month when some of her Twitter Direct Messages were revealed by The Daily Caller, some of which were critical of Bristol Palin. Ziegler reveals that there was much more where that came from, saying that Tucker Carlson told him he’d “actually had to redact many of Rebecca’s other remarks to protect the Palin family.”

One of the more revealing anecdotes from Ziegler’s story illustrates the loyalty Palin commanded from Ziegler, and the degree to which she returned it:

My relationship with Sarah hit another pothole early in 2010 when I advised her via e-mail that her upcoming speech to the Tea Party Convention in Nashville was creating controversy because the event was both expensive and for-profit.

She forwarded my message to her team, apparently forgetting to delete my address, with the comment, “If I have to suffer thru Ziegler’s e-mails, we ALL have to suffer thru.” Wow, that was a punch in the gut. Less than four minutes later, a panicked follow-up pinged into my Blackberry’s inbox: “John—pls [sic] know that was a joke! . . . you’re [sic] advice is very good, we have announced I will not be financially gaining from the speech, we need to get that word out there.”

Perhaps anticipating the media blackout proposed by WaPo‘s Dana Milbank for next month, Palin went all-in on some nationally obscure (but pervasive in Alaska) rumors that the snowmobile racer formerly known as the First Dude had somehow become entangled with a woman of the night who masqueraded as a massage therapist for the Palin campaign. The Enquirer reported, in typical non-John Edwards form, that the story could destroy both the Palin marriage and the Palin political juggernaut, since such well-respected sources as “political bloggers” and “thepalinmorals@hotmail.com” had chipped in information that said massage therapist got in the way of the former governor’s marriage. Silly as the story may be, it seems to have gotten under Sarah Palin’s skin, as she addressed the rumors on The Bob and Mark Morning Show this morning.

Asked by the hosts whether it “hurts your heart a little that you’re treated harsher in Alaska than anywhere in the country,” Palin cited those rumors as an example of what really did hurt her, politically and emotionally. “Look at this recent b.s. about Todd being all caught up in this prostitution ring in Anchorage,” she noted, wondering why no one came to him– or her– to ask about the rumors. “Heck, somebody all they needed to do was to ask him ‘Hey, Todd, have you been hanging out with hookers in Anchorage?” she laughed.

Turning serious, she called the rumors a “waste of time,” as they caught the attention of the media and turned it away from political issues the matter, and repeated that she did find the rumors “hurtful,” especially because they came from Alaskans. Nonetheless, she added graciously, “Todd and I and our kids know that we’re extremely blessed,” and those who should feel legitimately hurt in life are those who are having trouble with jobs, “or maybe have a sick child or are having health troubles of their own.”

Listen to her statements from the Bob and Mark Morning Show below:

[h/t ABC News]

Walters, like so many others, tried to get an answer out of Palin as to whether she’d run for president. Like so many others, she left without a concrete answer. Palin more or less stuck to what she’s said so far, saying, “I will run for president if I believe I have the best shot to win the race.” For now, she says she’s just “looking at the lay of the land”…though she did say she thinks she could beat Barack Obama.

Palin also took plenty of shots at the media, as she is wont to do. “I hear the comment out there that’s made often that I’m polarizing,” she said – and she thinks it’s because “the media has shaped that persona.” Additionally, she said the media perpetuates “a misconception…about what my values are, and what the positions are that I support.” She also said the media “ginned up” the idea that she’s uninformed in a portion of the interview released earlier.

Walters also asked about accusations that Palin, by supporting candidates with little chance of winning, helped cost Republicans the Senate. Palin responded:

“Aren’t these boys just silly with their accusation that Sarah Palin, the hockey mom from Wasilla, cost the United States Senate power base?”

The “boys” part is interesting, of course (reinforcing the “boys’ club” attitude in politics that presumably needs changing), and the “hockey mom from Wasilla” line is doubly smart. Palin knows how to promote her brand, and her runaway success in that area is one major reason she’s as fascinating as she is.

Eventually, Todd Palin came out for part of the interview. The two laughed off rumors of marital strife (as they’ve done before), and he said his wife is “definitely qualified to be president.” He also offered an…interesting response to Walters’ request to describe Sarah Palin in three words: “great wife, good mother, loves her country, and she’s such a great example for our family and other families.” (19 words, if you’re counting.)

Sarah Palin’s response to the same request was, of course, much more polished: “determined, patriotic, faithful.” Certainly, this interview did nothing to change the image of the Sarah Palin you either love or hate, and enough is still up in the air for the next year that we fully expect her to be on the Most Fascinating People of 2011 list as well. Video of the interview, via ABC, below.

Bristol may yet get a chance to confront Olbermann in person. In the second part of the interview, spurred on by Media Malpractice filmmaker John Ziegler, Bristol displays a willingness, even an eagerness, to appear on Countdown and let Olbermann take his best shots at her.

In case you missed it, Olbermann named Bristol Palin the “Worst Person in the World” on Monday’s Countdown for a weeks-old abstinence and safe sex PSA starring Palin and Jersey Shore’s “The Situation.” Olbermann’s criticism was based on the notion that unplanned single mother Bristol sets a poor example as an abstinence spokesperson, ignoring her obvious value as a cautionary figure. He also made a tone-deaf comparison to George W. Bush and 9/11 in the process.

Palin displayed a light touch in the radio interview, but the hosts employed a heavy-handed comparison of their own, likening Bristol’s situation to that of the late Yul Brynner, who famously appeared in an anti-smoking PSA, urging viewers from beyond the grave not to end up like him. While Bristol Palin’s status as a single mother certainly gives her standing to speak on the issue, she’s miles away from Brynner on the worst-case scenario spectrum.

Later in the interview, filmmaker John Ziegler joins the chorus of Olber-bashing, and when he reiterated his $100,000 challenge to debate Olbermann, Bristol chimed in that it would be “hilarious, sitting at that table with him, having a conversation. I just want to know why he would say that, though. What facts does he have behind that, and what have I done to deserve that (Worst Person) title?”

This isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. Such a meeting would undoubtedly draw huge ratings, and would fit in nicely with his recent offer to have Michele Bachmann on the show. Perhaps he could do a theme night, adding Ziegler and Michelle Malkin to the roster.

Elsewhere in the interview, Bristol also quashes rumors that former First Dude Todd Palin might appear on Dancing with the Stars.

Here’s the full interview, from KWHL:

O’Donnell may yet regret that decision, however, because when Acosta asked her if Sarah Palin is qualified to be President, O’Donnell couldn’t bring herself to respond in the affirmative (cue angry email from Todd Palin). The rest of the interview wasn’t much better. (h/t TPC)

What was O’Donnell’s response to the Palin for President question? “Is she running for president? Again, hypothetical.”

Ouch! Any Palin-backed candidate who’s reading this, repeat after me: “Is Sarah Palin qualified to be President? You Betcha!”

Even if you don’t believe it, just mutter “President of poop!” under your breath. This ain’t rocket science creationism.

Acosta also asked O’Donnell if Palin gives her advice. Great shot at damage control, right? “She gives me ‘You go, girl’ advice.”

As The Political Carnival points out, O’Donnell doesn’t think much about much, although she does offer up the threat of a Hillary Clinton candidacy to scare President Obama off of a health care repeal veto.

It definitely could have been worse, though. O’Donnell’s megawatt charm certainly does shine through, and she manages to successfully recite some GOP boilerplate. She’s most successful at answering for the parade of Bill Maher clips that have been trotted out to embarrass her, speaking about her youthful enthusiasm for a “new-found faith,” and saying that she saw the show as a “ministry opportunity.”

O’Donnell may have a witch’s chance in Salem of winning that Senate seat, but her camera-ready persona could have her casting a spell on cable news audiences for years to come.

Here’s the full interview: (printed highlights here)

Holy cow!

Interestingly, despite yesterday’s hullabaloo, Miller showed very little interest in ‘clarifying’ his feelings on the subject, merely saying that he was not interested in engaging in some media generated feud with the Palins (longtime family friends) and when pressed by Kelly (I’m not interested in your talking points”) went so far as to admit that yes, under the law Sarah Palin is totally qualified to be president. Maybe that could be her campaign slogan: Under the laws of the land I am qualified to be your President! Watch below.

Some background first from Mudflats:

In May, the then dark horse Republican/Tea Party senate candidate Joe Miller gleaned an endorsement from long-time friend Todd Palin, followed on June 2nd by an official endorsement via Facebook post from Sarah Palin. Miller’s subsequent stunning upset over Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski may have had more to do with a ballot proposition calling out social conservatives, but has been widely credited, at least in part, to the Palin nod.

Then a few weeks back Miller appeared on Neil Cavuto and when asked if he thought Sarah Palin was “qualified” to be President responded that there were “a number of great candidates out there.” The email exchange below is what followed.

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:13:06 -0800
Subject: Fwd: Sarahs letter
From: [Joe Miller]
To: [Aides]

Just found this in my inbox. This is what we’re dealing with. Note the date and the complete misconstruction of what I said.

Holy cow.

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 10:45 AM
Subject: Sarahs letter
To: Tim Crawford, Joe Miller , Thomas V. Van Flein

Joe and Tim,

Hold off on any letter for Joe. Sarah put her ass on the line for Joe and yet he can’t answer a simple question ” is Sarah Palin Qualified to be President”. I DON’T KNOW IF SHE IS.

Joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works, is it to be completely one sided.

Sarah spent all morning working on a Facebook post for Joe, she won’t use it, not now.

Put yourself in her shoe’s Joe for one day.

Todd

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Holy cow! (I sort of suspect that ‘holy cow’ was more about losing another Facebook endorsement than the tone of the email.) But evidence that Palin is running for President? I’m doubtful. As I said, I think she’s more interested in having people subscribe to the idea it’s possible and let her continue on her merry, Facebook-wielding way.

In reality, the incident isn’t so one-sided, and will likely act as a sort of Palin Rorschach test, confirming whatever the viewer already feels about Palin. Taken together with this video from a few weeks ago, however, a pattern of passive-aggressive behavior toward the Palins’ fellow Alaskans emerges. (h/t The Political Carnival)

It is important to note that this clip begins outside the airport, and the Palins are not surrounded by security. It is a vulnerable spot. We also have no idea what the Palins are seeing. Hawk could be wearing a “Travis Bickle for President” t-shirt, for all we know.

When Palin asks “Hawk” what his name is, he pauses, then says “What’s your name?”

Was he trying to be funny? Perhaps. But at this point in the video, many will identify with the Palins. Hawk’s understandable nervousness translates as kinda creepy here. This seemed to set the tone for the rest of the encounter. While Sarah Palin amiably tries to draw him out, Todd understandably starts playing the part of protector, snapping “Hawk’s” picture and asking him to repeat his name.

As provocations go, Hawk’s actions seem fairly innocuous. While the Palins aren’t required to be flattered by the attention, some will assert that they ought to at least be able to ignore a minor annoyance like this. Instead, as Hawk follows them into the airport (at what seems to be a somewhat respectful distance), Todd circles back to get in his face, asking “Why you shaking so bad?”

This is bad optics, to be sure, but most people can forgive a husband an occasional overprotective lapse. It’s the end of the tape, where Todd runs into the guy later, that really looks bad for him:

According to Hawk, here’s what happened toward the end of the tape:

10-15 minutes later, in a different part of the airport:

My camera is still switched off, and next thing I know, right after my wife walks off, Todd runs right into the back of me, so I flip the camera back on, spin around and there he is with his camera right in my face again. Unfortunately, it took a few seconds for the camera to turn on, so I didn’t catch the first thing he said to me which was “Why are you videotaping my wife?,” Which I wasn’t. I was leaving. I never saw him sneak up this time either, but here’s the rest that’s on tape.

Me: Why do you have a problem with it?
TP: Why are you doing that?
Me: I didn’t stick it in your face. I was never…
TP: Why did you stick the camera in Sarah Palin’s face? Why did you do that?
Me: I wasn’t within 10 feet of you guys.

Now it looks like he’s filming me one-on-one with his camera phone, he’s got it stuck in my face but it’s not taking pictures and he’s following me with it. Todd advances closer and closer to me and I keep backing up to avoid a confrontation. At this point, you just now see Sarah and Greta coming down the hallway towards us. They had been no where near me.

Me: Do you have a problem with me being here with a camera? (Evil eye from Todd at this moment…..)

Then the little brunette who I believe was a member of Greta’s Fox News team jumps in and says “No.. There’s no problem.. there’s just nothing to see here.”

Me: My wife is getting on that plane…I am just here.

That’s when she starts hitting the front of my camera with her notes.. I just say “niiiiice” and they all finally wander off to the loading area. Sarah turns around for one last stare at me.

Between this and the Kathy Gustafson video, the “First Dude’s” PR efforts are building a “Sarah Palin vs. the Lamestream Citizenry” narrative that likely doesn’t help their relationship with the media. While Sarah Palin exercised restraint in this clip, she’s still the one who will reap whatever press results from it, good or bad.

We’ve noted before that if Palin has people working for her in an advisory capacity she is mum about it. Currently she doesn’t even have an official spokesperson. All of which begs the question: who is writing Sarah Palin’s Facebook notes?

From time to time once could believe it is Palin, herself. But when notes like yesterday’s — and these long missives are getting more frequent — pop up, it’s hard to suspend the disbelief long enough to envision Palin (or really, most politicians) just casually spending an afternoon in Wasilla composing it of her own accord. So who is doing the dirty, smart, and incredibly influential work?

The most likely candidate is obviously fellow Fox News contributor Karl Rove. From Bush’s brain to Palin’s! It doesn’t seem like such a far-fetched theory. But there could be others. Since we lack a direct view into Palin’s study we thought we’d put it to a poll and see what you think.

Fences are built by people who want to keep their privacy or keep out the sight of their neighbors’ unsightly yards.

So the call from “Today,” quickly followed by a similar call from ABC news, seemed curious. The day before it was another national news outlet wanting to know if we had a photograph of the fence. There was an e-mail from Outside asking if the Palins were in compliance with city code. Another note suggested we assign someone to trace every move McGinnis makes while here and write a book about him to counter his about Palin.

Maybe we’re out of step here, but the unanimous consensus of the newsroom is that we don’t really care if the Palins want some privacy from what they worry might be prying eyes.

I can’t decide whether their capitalization of ‘Outside’ is intended to be ironic. Regardless, one gets the sense a successful journalism career could be launched this summer by some intrepid up-and-coming Wasilla reporter. However it’s this last bit that Joe McGinniss might want to pay particular attention to.

Finally, those who are fond of Joe McGinnis might remind him (if he doesn’t already know) that Alaska has a law that allows the use of deadly force in protection of life and property.

This is true. The paper said they meant it in good humor. But I suspect Joe McGinniss may be looking over his shoulder a bit more frequently these days.

Joe McGinniss

McGinniss gave an interview from the controversial home to the Washington Post‘s David Weigel, who won “Funnest Email Bag” for the week ending May 28 after defending McGinniss and calling Palin’s reaction to his move “strange, unprofessional, and paranoid.” Mostly, Weigel writes, McGinniss seems offended because he expected the Palins would be more open to talking:

“I would term this hysterical,” said McGinniss. “The mayor said to me, when I chatted with him in his office a couple of days ago, ‘You know, if Sarah had the brains that we like to think she has, Todd would have come back and said, do you know who’s living next door? This son of a bitch McGinniss who wrote that Portfolio piece. He’s writing a book about you. Sarah should have baked a plate of cookies, and come around the fence, and said hi, and laughed about this.’ I would have happily accepted a cookie, and then in my book I would have had a lovely scene about how gracious she had been.” McGinniss sighed. “She is, in many ways, a very gracious person.”

Instead, he relays later, Todd Palin came to visit him and told him that a piece he wrote critical of the Palins in Portfolio was “a bunch of lies” and “got increasingly hostile,” when the actual situation is that, he argues, McGinniss was given the property because the owner was certain that he would not be stalking the Palins the way, say, a National Enquirer reporter would. McGinniss also claims that he can’t hear anything happening on the property or see most of the land, and the last thing on his mind is writing minor details about the lives of the children:

“These little kids, I couldn’t care less about them,” said McGinniss. “I have my own kids and grandkids to care about. I don’t have any interest in Palin’s kids. I’m not going to write, oh, I saw Trig run across the lawn, and I saw someone else change his diaper. I haven’t been writing for 40 years to wind up on that level. I’m just very offended by this.”

Despite the ordeal and the insistence that he is not there to do any stalking, the interview ends with McGinniss admitting that the move at least taught him something about the Palins he didn’t know, which could be useful in the future for his career: “By being here I have learned things, and I’ve gotten an insight into her character, into her ability to incite hatred, that before I only knew about in the abstract.”

McGinniss told Weigel not to expect him to make the media rounds, but that he does have one interview planned on NBC’s Today Show next week. Since the interview dropped at 10:30 PM last night, the Palins have not yet responded, but we will be closely monitoring Facebook this Memorial Day weekend just in case.

McGinniss has apparently rented the house next door to Palin’s in Wasilla, Alaska in order to research his new book, and has been taking the view from over the fence; something Palin does not fail to make sound slightly creepy. This is how Palin greeted him on her Facebook page:

Spring has sprung in Alaska, and with this beautiful season comes the news today that the Palins have a new neighbor! Welcome, Joe McGinniss!

Yes, that Joe McGinniss. Here he is – about 15 feet away on the neighbor’s rented deck overlooking my children’s play area and my kitchen window. Maybe we’ll welcome him with a homemade blueberry pie tomorrow so he’ll know how friendly Alaskans are.

We found out the good news today. Upon my family’s return this morning from endorsement rallies and speeches in the Lower 48 states, I finally got the chance to tackle my garden and lawn this evening! So, putting on the shorts and tank top to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure, I looked up in surprise to see a “new neighbor” overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in…

Joe announced to Todd that he’s moved in right next door to us. He’s rented the place for the next five months or so. He moved up all the way from Massachusetts to live right next to us – while he writes a book about me. Knowing of his many other scathing pieces of “journalism” (including the bizarre anti-Palin administration oil development pieces that resulted in my Department of Natural Resources announcing that his work is the most twisted energy-related yellow journalism they’d ever encountered), we’re sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he’s penning. Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom, my little garden, and the family’s swimming hole?

Welcome, Joe! It’ll be a great summer – come borrow a cup of sugar if ever you need some sweetener. And you know what they say about “fences make for good neighbors”? Well, we’ll get started on that tall fence tomorrow, and I’ll try to keep Trig’s squeals down to a quiet giggle so we don’t disturb your peaceful summer. Enjoy!

- Sarah Palin

Maybe McGinniss will write a book about the Facebooking of Palin. Even better, however, would probably be if Palin just collected her Facebook “notes” and published them. Steve thinks it would make millions. In the meantime, one can only hope McGinniss opens a Twitter account.

Mr. Heath said he was careful about nudging his daughter toward the things that interest him.

“I don’t want to push the wrong button with Sarah,” he said. “Besides, she doesn’t make the decisions. Let me retract that. I’m sure she thinks them over and she has a lot of say as to yes and no.”

Which begs the question: who is making the decisions? Under normal circumstances a politician — even as nebulous a one as Palin — would have a group of reasonably well-known, accessible people who surround her: advisers, consultants, managers. As it stands, publicly anyway, Palin does not. Her well-known spokesperson, Meg Stapleton, made a well-covered departure months ago and no replacement as yet been made…or at least announced. Meaning, among other things, the press’s only route of access to Palin is either through her powerhouse Facebook page or Fox News. Meanwhile, you don’t get the sense Todd Palin is, er, wearing the pants in the family…metaphorically speaking! So, again, who is making the decisions?

It’s entirely possible Palin’s father, whom the article also reports has not seen her in a month, just is not intimately familiar with the structure of her operations. But still, the fact that no one seems able to answer the simple question of who is running the Sarah Palin show strikes as the most alarming result yet of Palin’s reluctance to submit herself to the press.

[h/t Ben Smith]

We can only hope that HBO’s Richard Plepler can make that happen, though that would be a very dear production cost to line up that level of talent. As Halperin pointed out, it will take some real acting range to portray both the public and private personae of the politicians featured in the book.

So, here goes our suggestions of who, ideally, should play each role, and what better place to start than the first family:

The Obamas:

Barack Obama – Will Smith

Nobody is “cooler” than Barack Obama, with the possible exception of Will Smith, who has demonstrated amazing acting range and experience playing real life persona in Ali. Sort of a no brainer here.

Michelle Obama – Nia Long

This one is tough – Angela Basset has the gravitas and acting chops, but Nia Long wins in the likable category, and gets the part.

>>>Next up, the McCains>>>

Wallace did praise Todd Palin, the former governor’s husband and the so-called “first dude.” Todd Palin was an “extraordinary spouse,” Wallace said, adding that he will be a “great model for what the first husband will look like.”

– That would be Nicole Wallace, by the way. The McCain adviser who came under a great deal of fire in Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue and then leveled some of her own in the aftermath.

Wallace was speaking at a panel discussion for WaPo reporter Anne Kornblut’s new book Notes from the Cracked Ceiling during which she also made the rather alarming admission that with regards to Palin being tapped as McCain’s running mate “we were never ready … no one was prepared to defend her. Nobody knew anything.” Meaning I guess, that where Palin was involved everyone was just hoping for the best. Including John McCain.

As for Todd being a great model for a first husband, you know what? There’s probably some truth to it. Of all the Palin’s we’ve heard from and/or about in the last 16 months the worst that can be said about Todd is…what? There’s really not much. The man apparently knows how to keep his nose clean. And of all the nice things one might say about another potential first husband, good behavior is not the first thing that comes to mind.

What we did not get was any questions about death panels, Tina Fey, her current relationship with John McCain, or her views Obama’s policy decisions, or how she feels about her current role in the GOP (which is extremely powerful). Granted, this was not Meet the Press, but considering Palin almost single-handedly derailed the health care bill this summer with false death panel assertions, it’s reasonable to assume Oprah might address her penchant for public exaggeration of policy decisions. No. Instead we basically got what felt like a long infomercial for Palin’s memoir Going Rogue. As Rachel Sklar noted at the end of our live blog: “Things more interesting and compelling than this Oprah interview: Finding things that rhyme with Oprah. Shmoprah. Gloprah. Froprah. Thxleweoproprah.”

Related: You Betcha: ‘Sarah Palin On Oprah’ Live Blog

More from the AP piece below, you can read in full here. Also, released today some clips from Palin’s interview with Oprah, during which she only had nice things to say about Levi Johnston (video below excerpt).

**Update via Marc Ambinder:

Without having read the book, and without knowing precisely what the AP is summarizing, it’s hard to know what this charge entails. (Note: the AP originally reported that Palin was given a bill for $500,000.)

It’s not legal for general election matching funds to pay for pre-emptive legal defense; the McCain campaign did not believe it was legal for GELAC funds — a separate account that paid for fundraising complaince — to pay for the investigations either. But vetting is a poor word to choose. The McCain campaign footed the bill for Art Culvahouse’s investigation of Palin before she was elected. Palin was urged by campaign lawyers to set up a legal defense fund to pay for the investigations and ethics complaints that had nothing to do with her presidential bid.
“I can confirm that she was not billed for any vetting costs by the campaign,” said Trevor Potter, the campaign’s general counsel. “I do not know if she was billed by her own lawyer for his assistance to her in the vetting process, but from the excerpt that has been read to me by the AP, it sounds as if that is what she is describing.”

From the original AP story:

Written with Lynn Vincent, “Going Rogue” is folksy in tone and homespun. For example, Palin says her efforts to award a license for a massive natural gas transmission line through Alaska was turning a pipe dream into a pipeline. She writes in awe about how the McCain campaign had hired a New York stylist who had also worked on Couric.

Taken aback by all the fussing, she wondered who was paying for the fancy clothes — family members were told it was being taken care of or was “part of the convention.”

Palin shares behind-the-scene moments when the nation learned her teen daughter Bristol was pregnant, how she rewrote the statement prepared on her behalf by the McCain campaign — only to watch in horror as a TV news anchor read the original McCain camp statement, which, in Palin’s view, glarmorized and endorsed her daughter’s situation.

Palin laments that she wasn’t allowed to bring up loads of family members to the stage while McCain gave his election night concession speech, the vice presidential candidate having found out minutes earlier that she wouldn’t be permitted to give her own speech.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Related: Filmmaker John Ziegler has personally interviewed Sarah Palin and has a much different take on Going Rogue and the AP report about it. Read it here.

Willow, Piper, and I are in Chicago and just wanted to let you know that I had a great conversation with Oprah today. We taped the show for Monday, November 16th, and enjoyed it so much that we went way over on time. The rest will air on Oprah.com. Oprah was very hospitable and gracious, and her audience was full of warm, energized and (no doubt) curious viewers.

Sounds promising. Meanwhile, Oprah posted her own update on the “interesting” interview via video (below), noting that “lots of people didn’t want me to have her on, lots of people did. Lots of her supporters didn’t think she should come here, but she did.” According to Oprah, the subjects covered include the campaign, Bristol, Trig, the Palin marriage, and Levi Johnston. Says Oprah: “We talked about everything, there’s nothing we didn’t talk about.” (Maybe she used our earlier post as a primer.)

It will be interesting to see what tone this interview takes. Oprah can be tough when she wants to, but I wonder if she won’t also demonstrate a great deal of empathy to Palin as a powerful woman seemingly under siege from a number of sides. It will also be interesting to see whether Palin makes any fresh headlines over the next few days now that the interview has been completed.

Palin has done only a handful of interviews since she and McCain lost the election last November, most recently appearing on the Today show in June with Matt Lauer to respond to David Letterman’s late night joke about her daughter. But it’s been a while since she’s been on the hot seat (read: Katie Couric) and there’s certainly plenty to talk about! In an effort to help Oprah prepare for her interview we’ve compiled a top ten list of of outrageous questions about Sarah Palin that will need to be addressed.

>>>NEXT: Baby Daddy Levi In The Centerfold

The apparent path to an elusive Vanity Fair cover byline is now clear: impregnate the daughter of Alaska Governor months before she’s named Vice Presidential candidate. Oh, and this also will get you “quality time” with Kathy Griffin and the glowing attention of the media-savvy gay community. But what other thoughts and admissions of Levi Johnston can we expect to see in his piece? Here are our predictions:

• John McCain had a weird “old man” smell when he met him on the tarmac.

• Plans to go to Hollywood – maybe work out a little and become an American Gladiator.

• Knows deep down inside that Kathy Griffin totally “gets” him.

• Never understood why Sergei Rachmaninoff wasn’t considered part of the Russian Five.

• Would do just about anything for the right amount of money.

• The “first dude” Todd Palin is such a tight-ass. Seriously, that dude can bite him.

• Loves the “Loaded Biscuit n’ Gravy Bowl” from the Hardee’s breakfast menu.

• The media is totally stupid for covering me.