Palin's "Mad as Hell" Speech

Outgoing Alaska Governor Lashes Out at Media in Resignation Address, But Will It Work in the Long Term?

(CBS)  This story was written by CBS News digital journalist Scott Conroy and director of political coverage Steve Chaggaris.

In a fiery speech that felt more like a partisan campaign rally than a formal transfer of power, outgoing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin reflected upon her administration's most significant achievements and shared her vision for the country's future. But the address was most notable for Palin's remarkably blunt swipes at her favorite nemesis: the media.

In her nearly 20-minute speech, which directly preceded incoming governor Sean Parnell's swearing in, Palin had only a few words to say about her successor, but she had plenty of advice for journalists.

"You represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy," she said. "Democracy depends on you, and that is why-that's why our troops are willing to die for you. So how about in honor of the American soldier, you quit makin' things up."

Palin did not elaborate on her accusation, which in borrowing from her former running mate, John McCain, she described as "some straight talk," but the crowd on hand rewarded the line with its heartiest round of applause.

Her now several weeks old public feud with David Letterman over the late-night comedian's failed joke about one of her daughters was apparently still smarting, as she leaned forward into the microphone and added angrily, "One other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family, too, so leave his kids alone."

The heated tenor that Palin employed to lash out at the press and others who she said were "hell-bent on tearing down our nation," was the exclamation point on a dramatic turnaround in her relationship with the media, which had once been something close to symbiotic.

During her 2006 gubernatorial campaign and throughout her first year-and-a-half in office, Palin was widely considered a media darling in Alaska, where her fresh face and bold ideas signaled a dramatic departure from the wildly unpopular incumbent governor Frank Murkowski. After her term began, Palin persuaded no less than seven Alaska journalists to join her administration, most notably two veterans of Anchorage's dominant KTUU station, Meg Stapleton and later, Bill McAllister, to head her communications team.

But the honeymoon with the Alaska media ended during the "Troopergate" investigation, in which Palin was accused of allowing subordinates to try to pressure Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire a state trooper who was also the ex-husband of the governor's sister. Palin's relationship with the press deteriorated further during her vice presidential campaign, and upon her return to Alaska, she has made her condemnations of the media something close to a daily ritual.

Judging from the positive reaction that her scathing criticism of the press received from the Fairbanks crowd on Sunday, Palin may have struck a chord among her fervent supporters. As she enters the national political arena full time, it will be interesting to see whether she continues to knock the media at every turn, or decides to pull back a bit, as several former campaign aides have advised her to do.

Of course, no one knows exactly what's next for Palin. "The world is literally her oyster," Stapleton, who remains Palin's spokesperson, told CNN shortly after the now former governor's July 3 announcement that she would step down.

Though the observation may be more figurative than literal, Stapleton has a point.

Yes, Palin's poll numbers have tanked since the heights she achieved after her resounding speech at the Republican National Convention in August of last year. Forty-four percent of Americans viewed her favorably in the CBS News poll taken then, while in the July 12, 2009 CBS News poll, only 26 percent had a favorable view.

But there is another number that should give Palin and her supporters hope that she may yet have a second life in national politics. A whopping thirty-nine percent of those polled in the most recent CBS News survey said that they were undecided or had not heard enough about her.

If a run for president in 2012 is in her future, and don't be so quick to count her out, she must focus on those 39 percent. After all, her most ardent backers will continue to support her no matter what.

Political strategists suggest she should spend the next couple of years immersing herself in the details of every domestic and foreign policy issue that she could possibly be asked to address.

But although she has actively sought the counsel of insiders like Republican financier Fred Malek and prominent Washington attorney John Coale, Palin has just as often dismissed well-intentioned advice as failed inside-the-beltway logic. After all, it was several of her former VP campaign aides who told her last November that she should focus on governing Alaska.

Sarah Palin's political instincts have been formidable in the past, and she continues to place her trust in them above all else.

She is set to hit the road in the Lower 48 and will be greeted by massive crowds wherever she goes. Palin will also raise money, make political friends, and help to ignite enthusiasm in the conservative base for Republican congressional candidates who are up for election in 2010.

Though she appears to have settled on perpetuating her antagonistic approach to the media, most political strategists, including many conservatives, suggest that she would be better off cultivating relationships with the press, as she did to such a successful degree during her early political career.

"Palin had become so suspicious of the media that she rejected hundreds of requests by even friendly reporters to interview her," Ronald Kessler wrote on Newsmax.com earlier this month. "Her press aides say that before considering interviews, she insists that they comb through reporters' work, even if they write for a friendly, conservative publication."

Historically, successful national candidates have learned to work with (and even manipulate) the media, rather than shutting it out. Palin's conviction that she has been wronged by the press may be heartfelt, but it is difficult to see how the long-term benefits of constantly berating journalists outweigh the negative impacts.

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:12 AM EDT
"You are another who is conveniently forgetting that her son is one of those troops!"

so? as chitown said and I will restate "our troops have NOTHING to do with the fact that you consistently make a fool of yourself in front of the whole world. "whats this have to do with her son again?


I can tell you what this has to do with her son. Her son is in Iraq laying his life on the line just like every other troop there. It doesn't matter how he came to be there, either! The fact is he's there and he's risking his life and if, God forbid, he should be killed while he's there, he should be honored just like every other troop that is killed in the military! If he serves honorably he should also be given an honorable discharge when his enlistment is up and his criminal record should be cleared! He should also be shown the same respect that every other troop is shown and his mother should be shown the same respect that every other mother of a troop is shown. So far in these comments she hasn't been shown much respect in that regard and neither has her son!

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:38 AM EDT

a two fisted ignorant farm boy huh gee i would never have guessed that as you are so intelligent and well informed well I guess if your daddy could beat me up hat makes you and sarah palin right then..what a dingbat!


Incidentally there is something else you don't know about my father! He was a staunch DEMOCRAT! I loved him dearly, though, in spite of it! The discussions in our family did get very lively, though, sometimes!

[ladypirate2]

My dad was a Roosevelt era democrat who grew up during the Great Depression. He often said the American citizens would have starved to death if it hadn't been for Roosevelt's New Deal and the WPA. However, I don't think he would much approve of today's crop of democratic politicians and the direction that the democratic party has been going the last twenty years. My dad was just as much against abortion and was as pro-life as I am. He also absolutely hated it when prayer and Bible reading were taken out of our public schools! He wasn't perfect but family values were also very important to him. When he and my mother married they took their vows very seriously, especially the part that says "until death do part". He and my mother were married 53 years until my mother died!

[ladypirate2]

a two fisted ignorant farm boy huh gee i would never have guessed that as you are so intelligent and well informed well I guess if your daddy could beat me up hat makes you and sarah palin right then..what a dingbat!


My dad was a two fisted farm boy but he was anything but ignorant! He could do math in his head faster than most people can do it with a calculator!

And another thing, you shouldn't criticize or look down your nose at farmers or any other blue collar worker. They provide you with every bite of food that goes in your mouth and they are the factory workers, and the truck drivers that bring your food to the supermarkets. The blue collar workers are also the oil field workers who get the oil out of the ground and the refinery workers that turn the oil into gasoline that this country runs on. You "educated" people would starve and you couldn't even get to work on time without farmers and blue collar workers!

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:28 AM EDT
where in the bible does it say anything about ladypirate2? boy I dont think spelling is her only problem..not the one in danger of hellfire indeed! wow nunovyerbeezwax sorry i guess she won that one with the old hellfire standby..wow these palin supporters sure are backwoods loons


Yes, I did win that one because nunovyerbeeswax called me a fool and I gave him scripture and verse about what the Bible says about calling someone a fool. He also doesn't believe in God. I told him what the Bible says about that, too. If he, and you, can't take it it's not my fault!

[ladypirate2]

For your information, I am not uneducated! But, considering the way you type, you must be! You think just I'm uneducated because I'm a conservative Christian republican and a Palin supporter! Well here's the news! Not everyone in this world is going to agree with you and that doesn't mean that we are any more uneducated than you are! It also doesn't mean that you are more right than we are or vice versa!

[ladypirate2]

I meant to say that you think I'm uneducated because just because I'm a conservative Christian republican and a Palin supporter. I apologize for the mistake. I misplaced the word just. I am a big enough person to admit my mistakes and apologize for them!

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:38 AM EDT
So did my dad! He was a two fisted farm boy who grew up fighting with seven brothers and one sister. He grew up using his fists and he did hard manual labor all of his life. His hands were large and calloused. He would have rammed his big fist down your throat in about two seconds!

a two fisted ignorant farm boy huh gee i would never have guessed that as you are so intelligent and well informed well I guess if your daddy could beat me up hat makes you and sarah palin right then..what a dingbat!


You are another one who doesn't even know how to use capital letters, periods, and commas, and, yet, you have the nerve to call me a dingbat! Also if you had bothered to read all of nunovyerbeeswax's messages to me you would understand my reason for writing my meesages to him. I suggest you go back a few pages and read his messages to me. I think then you will have a different opinion of me.

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:55 AM EDT
thats the first thing youve said that even halfway makes any sense to me..your much more interesting talking sincerely about yourself than threatening others with hellfire


I don't threaten them with it! The Holy Bible does! If you can't take what the Bible says, then so be it! I'm only the messenger!

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:20 AM EDT
wow.. she read it? are you sure? the whole thing ? thats how she "knew" to vote against it? otherwise she might not have? wow cool


Yes she read it and all of it and, no, she read it because unlike the rest of the governors and politicians, she doesn't sign anything without reading it first! She doesn't sign anything just because someone tells her to sign it!

[ladypirate2]

by digbrush July 31, 2009 6:13 AM EDT
she has the right to speak and we have the right to tell her to shut up


She doesn't have to listen to you though!

[digbrush]

by ladypirate2 July 28, 2009 4:30 PM EDT
crouton55: If I as a white woman used the phrase "scared, stupid black people", you would call me a racist! Aren't you being just as racist against whites? What gives you the right to call us stupid white people if we can't call you stupid black people? And another thing, not all Palin supporters are white people! She has supporters among all races in the United States, even blacks!

hey how do you know crouton is black? with your thoughtless riposte of "we can't call you stupid black people?" ...scared stupid white person sounds right to me and im white and crouton could be too..you are simply proving the point ..dont think there are to many black palin supporters btw..nope most of them are in fact scared stupid white people and yeah the stupid black people like sharpton as crouton basically pointed out she not saying all whites are stupid just the stupid palin supporting whites

[ladypirate2]

Look who's calling us stupid! You don't even know how to use capital letters or the proper use of periods, commas and punctuation marks! You also use the non-words nope and yeah, which are not really even words, and then you have the nerve to call us stupid! Go back to school and get an education and learn the proper use of the english language and how to use capital letters, periods, commas, and punctuation marks and then you might have the right to call someone stupid!

[mshood2009]

I am sooooo happy that this killing machine is out. Now maybe the Grizzly bears and Polar bears will have a chance of survival without being shot at from a helocopter chasing them down. All the wild life in Alaska were at risks with this B---h at the helm. Even the rabbits didn't have a chance.
God answered my Prayers. God was in my favor the day she stepped down. I don't even like saying her NAME.

[ladypirate2]

by iamproteus July 29, 2009 4:13 PM EDT
Sounds like a very loving, compassionate family...all born again Christians such as yourself no doubt.


Yes, they were a very loving and compassionate family! You shouldn't criticize them if you didn't know them! They were a very close and loving family! They may have fought among themselves sometimes, that happens in a large family, but if an outsider criticized or hurt one of them, they had the whole family to fight! Also their fighting was never serious. They may have lost their tempers and punched each other sometimes but they never tried to do serious harm to each other. They loved and respected each other as brothers and sister. They always eventually made up, too, and resolved their differences. When things got rough and push came to shove, they bound together as a family! In short, they were not much different than most other large farm families of the time. They were a little rough around the edges but, make no mistake about it, they were a family and they loved each other!

[digbrush]

thats the first thing youve said that even halfway makes any sense to me..your much more interesting talking sincerely about yourself than threatening others with hellfire

[MrsK2926]

Why doesn't Sarah Palin just fade into the background like all other former LOSING vice presidential candidates?

[Truckman09]

I love Sarah Palin

[digbrush]

is she your valentine?

[noloyalisti]

When you have an ignorant, bimbo, evangelical republican that close to the Presidency (another idiot one), it is extremely disturbing just how many brainless people there are in this country. Sorry to say that but we must face it.

[ladypirate2]

She only got close to the presidency but a real MORON got in and people like you voted him in! So what does that say about you? I would much rather have Sarah Palin as president than the MORON that we have! I think in a year or two you'll say the same thing too!

[Rodney_Hart]

I hope she does Playboy! That would be the greatest seller of them all.

[mgpm-2009]

Stick a fork in Palin. She's done. If she can't "work" the media, she'll never get anywhere. In our tabloid society, it just isn't possible to flip the press the bird and expect to get anywhere.

[DSW358]

Palin is a cute gal, but that's it. She's not even Governor material anymore? What would she do if the going got tough in the White House? Quit that too? Hate to say this because I was proud that she had gotten elected as Alaska's Governor, but Palin is nothing but a "loser," period.

[Bearcat57]

As I read thru these comments I am surprised to see how intolerant the Left or democratic opinion and I am befuddled because they are the party that boost tolerance.
Imagine if you will you are at a school play with your 16 year old daughter is the lead. The man setting next to you leans over and say I bet the star and the lead actor go back stage during intermission and ... well you get the picture. Now imagine he said it over the loud speaker and everyone laughed everyone but you and of course the young girl that also heard it from her vantage point.
Please practic what you preach.
Take care of each other and be nice to each other
All the programing on TV is very hateful and I am at a loss as to when the man of the family became the one that is taught a lession by children. CHANGE THE CHANNEL!

[noloyalisti]

The problem is that it is very hard for progressives to be tolerant of people who actually try to support this poor excuse for a human. Almost all of her ignorant views are wrong. She is a spokesperson for the party of No, No Hope and Nope. There is no excuse for supporting big, greedy, rich and uncaring corporations. There is no excuse for being Republican. They are wrong about EVERY policy both domestic and foreign

[digbrush]

personally im not a democrat, or a "progressive" nor do I claim to be very "tolerant" especailly with those who are themslves intolerant and ignorant like Palin and many of her supporters but do agree with you about one thing letterman (if thats what you are refering to) was way out of line..and not even funny..i think maybe he is losing it

[RIPLEYANN]

I'D BE MAD AS HELL ALSO, WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WITH NO EXPERIENCE AND PALIN HAS BEEN GIVEN HELL FOR NOT HAVING EXPERIENCE, AT LEAST SHE WAS A GOV. I BET ALSO SHE WOULD BE BETTER AS A PRESIDENT THEN MR. GIVE MONEY AWAY TO THE WRONG PEOPLE. WHERE THE HELL ARE THE JOBS? ALSO I WANT THE SAME HEALTH INSURANCE AS THE SENATORS, CONGRESS AND MR PREZ AND FAMILY GETS NOT SOME CRAP THAT DOES NOT WORK IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

[ladypirate2]

I feel the same way! The democrats have the nerve to call Sarah Palin an idiot when they voted a moron into the white house! They think he's a genius just because he has some law degrees!

[iamproteus]

Sarah wasn't able to earn even ONE degree even though she spent so much time going from college to college in an effort to find one that had standards low enough.

[digbrush]

YEAHH ALL THEM OTHER COUNTRIES HAZ THAT CRAP CAUSE I SAW IT ON TV AND THEY SAID SO IN THAT AD I SAW AND IF I TYPE IN ALL CAPS THAT MAKES ME MORE RIGHT