Yes McCain put her on the national stage when he announced his choice for his VP running mate. I don’t honestly believe that McCain wanted Palin on the ticket, but she was a female, she had, at the time, high approval ratings as Gov. of AK, and she was big on energy and for drill here drill now.

If it weren’t for Palin, Obama would have won in a major landslide in 2008. Yet, from the get go, McCain’s team treated Palin as though she really was what Tina Fey portrayed, I can see Russia from my porch. Much of that story came out after the election, long before Palin wrote anything about it in her first book. She was handled, and not allowed to shout her conservative message, and to take the gloves off against Obama, who McCain said at the time would be a fine president, and no one had anything to fear with him as president.

When Palin left her position as Gov., half way through her term, I didn’t have as much of a problem with it as many others did. I really believed that she would begin to work on a plan to mount a real challenge to Obama in 2012, and that she needed the mobility to do so. Man, was I let down. What she managed to do was to make herself a pop celebrity, with documentaries about herself, a few of them. She went on reality TV in a series. She was the star showing up at Dancing with the Stars when her daughter competed there. She was hired by Fox, but rearly appeared, and when she did it was another celebrity shoot, featuring the star, rather than her talking about conservative issues and ideas, deconstructing the positions that Obama was taking, in an intelligent and meaningful manner. She was played by Roger Ailes and became nothing more than a ratings getter.

I understand that many believe that Palin owed McCain, when she endorsed him for his 58th Senate run. But, Palin didn’t just endorse McCain, she very actively campaigned for him in AZ. She held rallies for him, knowing that she could draw the crowds. She asked everyone to please vote for her good friend John McCain, because he is the greatest, and must be sent back to Washington. The choices for that race were bad and worse, but after all the treachery and disappointment from McCain over the years, I would have voted for a box of milk duds before I would have been a part of sending McCain back to Washington. He is part of the problem, and we all know it. My thought at the time was that if Palin was willing to sell her conservative credentials down the river, just to pay someone back for her celebrity status, she would also sell her conservative positions down the river in the snake pit that is Washington. The pay-back game flourishes in DC, and Palin decided to participate in it. The squishes. That’s just how I feel about it.

So yes, I absolutely can see Palin endorsing anyone who she thinks will benefit her personally. Hey, maybe a cabinet position in a Gingrich or even Romney administration would be the ultimate pay-back, and she wouldn’t have to be ready for that 3AM call. Remember back months ago when so many of us thought she would surely endorse Perry, as they were such good friends, and they seemed to be so ideologically alike? At this point I couldn’t care less who Palin endorses, or doesn’t endorse. To me, Palin has become a conservative of convenience.

that he was going to have a big hill to climb. He said that if Gov. Perry won the presidency, many many of those in Washington would be out of a job. With Perry’s release of his plans to reform Washington, cutting the pay of the Senators and House Reps., cutting their time in half, hence cutting the lobbyists time in half, making it illegal for those in Washington to enrich themselves through insider trading (now being presented as legislation in Wash.), and taking a sledge hammer to the cess pool we all know it is, has not gained him many friends in high places.

Rush particularly, and I’m sure Levin and Hannity, and most of the talking heads all know several people in Washington. They have access to inside information, they are invited to the big bashes and parties and events. They are cozy with many inside the beltway. I am very honestly wondering if those inside DC haven’t gotten the ears of the talking heads to downplay Perry so as to keep their cushy jobs.

Look at what Fox has done to Perry’s campaign. Every single Fox host, and the majority of guests either ignore Perry, or say his name begrudgingly with a sneer on their faces. When he released his plans for tax reform or for energy, those plans got very little play on Fox, if they were even mentioned. Yet we were nauseated with hearing 999 over and over, even though once studied, 999 is the least favorite of the tax plans proposed by any candidates in polling. I would bet big money that Cain has had the most appearances on Fox since he started his campaign. He has been on with every host, and in every time slot. Even Ron Paul has had much face time on Fox, especially with Cavuto. That was as of a few weeks ago when I was still watching Fox. Like so many others, I never thought I’d see the day that my TV resided on the CNN channel, if I have it on at all. I turned the radio off the day that Pat Gray, filling in for Glenn Beck, knocked Perry really badly, and said that he has done enough to seal the border, or to cut down on the illegal immigration problem. It was as though he forgot that the federal government even existed. I turned Rush off before that when it became a 3 hour a day, 5 day a week Cain love fest.

If there is anyone powerful enough to have so much control over the media, they have been wildly successful in a Perry blackout, while keeping the rest in the field so fluid and on a roller coaster, annointing one flavor of the week after the next, which will result in what appears to be the ultimate goal, Romney by default. Rather than helping to narrow the field so the best conservative could rise to the top with overwhelming support, they have been complicit in the game of keep the field split. The leftists debate game has also contributed to that phenomenon, in that there has been no weeding out, and it’s free advertising for those short on campaign cash.

Thinking about the 2010 primary races, Palin endorsed some only after she saw a clear path for a win for them. Fiorina and Ayoette come to mind.

Was it you who said you emailed Baier about those leaving over the unfair treatment of Perry, and that he replied that Fox ratings were going up? It seemed that shortly after that, Perry did in fact appear on Fox at least three times with Cavuto, O’Reilly and Hannity. Since then crickets again.

Because the radio talking heads, and the TV channels all thrive on ratings, it would be wonderful if there was a concerted effort by the masses to boycott their programs until they start actually being more fair and balanced on the coverage of all of the GOP candidates. Right now it appears that all of those considered to be more right wing, and with a microphone, want to pick and choose the winners and the losers. I thought at first that the radio guys were just coming out against the leftist hit pieces on our candidates, but, by their actions and promotions of one candidate over the others, Cain for one, they are playing the same dirty games as the left.