April 16, 2009
Friends, Foes Cash In On Palin
Politico: Alaska Governor Is A Fundraising Juggernaut For Both Political Parties
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during the Republican Governors Association Annual Conference in Miami, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. (AP)
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Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, right, speaks to supporters at a Reno, Nev., campaign rally Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Scott Sady)
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Timeline Palin's Path A look at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's life and career
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Photo Essay Sarah Palin Alaska's youngest and first female governor tabbed to be McCain's running mate.
Since the conclusion of the presidential election, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has largely avoided the political fundraising circuit. Nevertheless, she’s emerged as an almost unparalleled fundraising force, with both foes and fans minting money off the mere mention of her name.
The candidates and causes that have climbed aboard the Palin gravy train include, but aren’t limited to, abortion rights foes and supporters, environmental groups, and political committees supporting both Republican and Democratic candidates. It’s a testament not only to her star power, but to the strong feelings she generates among partisans.
For the most part, Palin herself is an unwitting participant in the burgeoning business.
“The only authorized thing out there at this point is SarahPAC. And the rest are just using her name and brand to draw attention and roll in the dollars,” said Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for SarahPAC, the committee Palin set up in January to raise money for her political staff, travels and contributions to like-minded candidates.
Aside from an early e-mailed solicitation from the group and a Thursday anti-abortion banquet in Indiana that the PAC will pay for Palin to attend, neither the governor nor her PAC have engaged in much in fundraising this year, due to her attempts to focus on Alaska’s legislative session.
But that hasn’t stopped others from seeking to fill their own coffers by pillorying her in direct mail, piggybacking on or her stances and symbolism, hinting she might appear at their fundraisers and sometimes even falsely implying contributions will go directly to Palin.
With some groups, it’s not entirely clear what the overarching goal is, other than to milk the Palin brand for everything it’s worth.
“Sarah Palin’s Defense Fund,” for instance, was the name of one curious entity until a sternly-worded letter from a Palin lawyer instructed the site’s proprietor to “remove all references to Governor Sarah Palin and/or her likeness from your site pending written approval.” That prompted the proprietor to replace that fund with another called “Sarah's War Chest” which seeks contributions “to encourage her to run in the upcoming elections.”
Last month, a different group called Americans in Contact PAC launched a high-tech, multi-state campaign seeking contributions to help re-elect Palin as Alaska governor in 2010, even though its own direct mail included puzzling fine print serving notice that all contributions “are only used in Federal elections."
Stapleton said that Palin’s virtual absence from the fundraising scene has created a vacuum that others have used to their benefit. But she asserted that continued intense interest in the Alaska governor will enable her to be a successful fundraiser when she does hit the rubber chicken circuit, regardless of how many groups have tapped her name to raise money.
“If we find that other people have had a chance at the dollars first, that’s O.K.,” she said. “We’re not really concerned about diluting any message. It’s just we’re concerned about people thinking the dollars are going for her or her vision or her philosophy or values when it may just be going for a big screen TV.”
Stapleton singled out an Americans in Contact PAC direct mailer that arrived at the Palin residence in Wasilla, Alaska.
“[Palin’s husband] Todd brought it to my house and said ‘you guys shouldn’t be doing this,’” Stapleton recalled. “And I said ‘Todd, that’s not from us.’ But it was quite tricky. And, gosh, I was fooled reading through it.”
That certainly wasn’t the intent of the mailer, said Gabriel S. Joseph, III, the treasurer of Americans in Contact, which on its website lists its mission as an effort “to identify social ad fiscal conservatives throughout America and engage them at the grassroots level in the political process of elections and legislation at all levels of government.”
“This is just an independent, altruistic, committed effort to do our part to help Sarah Palin get reelected governor of Alaska. Period. End of line,” Joseph said, explaining that the PAC is paying a polling, data-mining and fundraising firm of which he is the president, ccAdvertising, to prospect for likely donors by making so-called “artificial intelligence” telephone calls to a database of “13 million identified conservatives from previous efforts.”
Between September and the end of last year - the period covered by the PAC’s only Federal Election Commission filings - Americans in Contact raised $73,000, contributed $1,750 to candidates and paid $28,000 to ccAdvertising for “PAC surveys” and phone and administrative services.
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Joseph wouldn’t say how the PAC would spend the money raised from its Palin appeal (“Why would I want the enemy to know to know what’s going on?” he said). Instead, he explained that, generally speaking, “there is money spent in raising the money. But there is also money spent in accumulating the data of supporters for her that can then be generated and used in get out the vote efforts and otherwise.” She’s becoming the new Rush Limbaugh.
Christian Heinze, “GOP 12”More importantly, he said the data can be used “to identify more donors and more supporters potentially to build an army of supporters for Sarah Palin. Of Sarah Palin, not for Sarah Palin. Of Sarah Palin.”
Other conservative groups see Palin’s drawing power and pine for her to headline their fundraisers, with some reticent to take "no" for an answer.
“I can’t tell how many invitations I’ve seen with ‘Gov. Palin’ in 25-point font and ‘invited’ in 1-point font,” said Stapleton of SarahPAC.
The Palin pitch is proving irresistible for both sides of the abortion debate. The Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports female politicians who oppose abortion rights, began seeing its paid membership spike soon after Republican presidential nominee John McCain tapped Palin - a vigorous abortion rights opponent - to be his running mate, said its political director Joy Yearout.
“It’s invigorated us in ways that we could never have anticipated,” she said.
The group used Palin in fundraising emails during the campaign, and it’s continued raising money through a passive appeal on a free social networking site it established called “Team Sarah,” that boasts 65,000 members, said Yearout.
Palin appears to be just as effective for groups supporting abortion rights.
An anonymous viral e-mail asking abortion rights supporters to contribute to Planned Parenthood “in Sarah Palin’s name” generated more than $1 million in contributions in the month after the Republican convention, according to spokesman Tait Sye.
And NARAL Pro-Choice America used direct mail and email solicitations targeting Palin to boost its fundraising “significantly” in 2008, said spokesman Ted Miller.
“Although she has taken a somewhat lower profile now, if she chooses to reemerge and take on a more public profile in either attacking President Obama or pushing anti-choice policies, our members will respond in kind,” Miller said.
Another group that saw its fundraising soar by opposing Palin was the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which raised more than $1 million to air an ad in swing states blasting Palin for supporting aerial wolf hunting.
The ad, which was reshot after the election to feature Ashley Judd, continues to boost the group’s membership and fundraising, said fund president Rodger Schlickeisen.
“In this age, when a lot of the donors out there look at thi administration and this Congress and incorrectly conclude that [on] environment and conservation [issues], their worries are over, it is very beneficial to us to be able to point to Alaska and Palin,” he said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee apparently agrees since it sent out a pair of fundraising appeals blasting Palin last month after the Republican House and Senate campaign committees prematurely announced that Palin would be headlining their June fundraiser.
“They have her. We have you,” read an emailed DCCC solicitation with Palin’s picture.
Another DCCC plea for cash, this one from Democratic consultant and commentator James Carville, suggested Palin should “get back on that bridge to nowhere.”
It hardly mattered that Palin ended up backing out of the GOP dinner, said Christian Heinze, whose blog “GOP 12” obsessively tracks every mention, movement and statement of prospective 2012 Republican presidential candidates.
“She’s becoming the new Rush Limbaugh,” Heinze said. “I get emails from people all the time saying ‘when is Sarah Palin going to go away?’ But neither side wants her to go away. She’s benefitting both of them. They seem to be getting pretty equitable bang for the buck off of her.”
By Kenneth P. Vogel
Copyright 2009 POLITICO
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See all 49 CommentsAlso it wasn't that Sarah didn't know what she reads because she certainly does. She didn't answer the question because the question was insulting! It implied that people in Alaska don't read! Also none of the other candidates were asked that question so why should she be? She should have been shown the same respect that the other candidates were shown!
So, since you're sore, and since the guy you voted for WON, that makes you the sore winner. And what was it you said about sore winners?
Posted by slownewsday05
Hey Slow, have I said that the other party is the party of hate? Do I go around blaming one party when I know both parties are at fault. Do I talk about Palin and say she is the witch of alaska knowing Obama's preacher is not any better?
NO, so do us all a big favor and stop thinking you know me, you don't. You have not been right about me one time
by actornaught
www.msnbc.msn.com
Posted by TPS2 at 7:33 AM : Apr 17, 2009
Show a link to such a claim.
Oh gee- no I don't work over time - I quit at 5:00. It's not a hard job though- she does all the work for us.
Where was THAT guy during the campaign last year?
Posted by dj292009
sorry loser!
Posted by lucasnico
First off, It is better than a soar winner. secondly you should be proud
Posted by dj292009
Gee, that's funny, DJ. You voted Obama, didn't you? Any of the room regulars know that.
So, since you're sore, and since the guy you voted for WON, that makes you the sore winner. And what was it you said about sore winners?
Great summary of Olberman's talking points
Posted by Stuart2560 at 5:42 AM : Apr 17, 2009
The guy currently in office is a pretty close second and behaving like he's ready to assume the lead.
Posted by cs4466 at 8:25 PM : Apr 16, 2009
Apparently she has yours as well.
Posted by TPS2 at 8:37 PM : Apr 16, 2009
It's a little like watching a train wreck, hard to take your eyes off it.
Posted by rbstrcklnd
WOW!!
I'm impressed. The last Palin supporter I talked to thought the Secretary of Defense was third in line.
Posted by rbstrcklnd
It's called comedy.
Posted by oftencensord
The video of Palin on stage with her preacher having the "Witches" exorcised was not a Tina Fey skit... it was real. The interviews she did with news commentators where she couldn't name one publication she reads was not a Tina Fey skit... it was real. And the list goes on and on. Sarah Palin is the epitome of the dumb republican.
Posted by dj292009
PLEASE keep thinking that way, and PLEASE convince all your republican buddies to think the same.
BTW you called me a liar based on my last post??? Sarah Palin DOES believe in witches (it's documented on film), her sister-in law DID get arrested for burgulary (Todd's sister), and Levi's mom WAS arrested on drug charges. How did I lie?
She is now to busy to run Alaska. Well Alaska, Trig Trip, Bristol and who ever the rest of her children are: Just because she is your mother or you elected her doesn't mean that she has to do a good job. She has to have time for herself. You know, children are just going to grow up and get pregnant and leave and voters are going to just have to stuff it. For heavens sakes - She is Sarah Palin. Who else out there had a mother like this? They should have been sterilized. Her interest is only in herself.
Posted by dj292009 at 10:00 PM : Apr 16, 2009
You can't see past the end of your nose pinocchio we voted against your mickey and minnie in the election.
narcissist.
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