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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The Undefeated

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  June 6th, 2011 at 05:01 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Steve Bannon and the fine folks at CRC Public Relations sent me an advanced copy of The Undefeated to watch over this past weekend.

I curled up in a comfortable chair in the home studio and fired up the movie.

To give you a sense of the movie — more a documentary — the film came about with Governor Palin’s desire to give a full account of her tenure as Governor of Alaska and beyond without the all too frequent anti-Palin bias that exists within parts of the media.

Already, some leftwing bloggers are others are comparing it to Hitler’s Triumph of the Will (yes, I realize Leni Reifensthal was the director).

The Undefeated, as if anticipating this, opens with clips of a lot of Hollywood nuts and other lefts bashing Palin. Many do so merely because she breathes. In some parts of the world, nothing Palin can say or do will win her praise. The film makes that clear.

One of the most surprising aspects of the film is repeatedly highlighting how Palin transcended party while in Alaska. She frequently worked across the aisle with lots of Democrats, a number of whom still sing her praises today before entering the Witness Protection Program for doing so.

The film concludes with a comparison between Ronald Reagan and Sarah Palin. Just as the Republican establishment attacked and tried to shut down Reagan, they are doing the same to Palin. I’m not sure I buy the extent of the comparison and issues within the conservative establishment highlighted toward the end, but I have frequently said myself that Palin taps into something with conservatives that no one since Reagan has done.

The film will make its official debut in Iowa. I’m left with the conclusion that Governor Palin is seriously considering a run for the White House, but I think the jury is still out on whether or not she does actually run.

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COMMENTS

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  • mspector

    “Triumph of the Will” was by Leni Reifenstahl. It chronicles the Nazi Party congress at Nuremberg in 1934. It boggles me how anyone can compare this or any other American candidate’s movie to this propaganda piece.

  • http://www.leehernly.com LeeHInAlexandria

    ‘If you can?t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.’ – Ronald Reagan

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    But wasn’t it Hitler who commissioned it?

  • Change Jar Conservative

    I think that Palin will at least check her negatives after the film airs in the “big four” and see if they have moved down at all … if her negatives move down then I think she’s in.

    She might still be in, but I think she knows that her current high negatives would be a problem in the general.

  • azaeroprof

    all along? Tack right for 2+ years after the ’08 election to shore up her conservative base and Tea Party creds, then as the ’12 nomination fight (and general election) approach, highlight her independent streak in Alaska and her ability to work with Democrats there to accomplish things.
    I suspect this was not deliberate, but if it was and it is successful, she’s much smarter than even I give her credit for.

  • Tbone

    The world is full of pretty women. Palin hasn’t gotten as far as she ‘s gotten without being pretty smart.

    Her detractors never seem to answer how is it:

    She got elected a Governor?

    She got nominated for VP?

    She has withstood the voracious onslaught of attacks without ending up doing a Dan Quayle disappearing act?

    Made $millions?

    Can dictate a national question or concept?

    Is viewed by millions as a legitimate contender to run for President of the United States?

    Yep, a real dummy.

  • davidmadeira

    …appropriate. Both have a strong set of core beliefs that guide their decision-making process. Both are incurably optimistic to the point of seeming disconnected from reality to those who have no ability or desire to be hopeful, both are good looking and smile a lot, both were able to be “bipartisan” but not compromise, and both know how to make the media follow them, not the other way around.

    @Tbone – right! You left out her track record for picking/making winners in the last election.

  • momofthecastle

    to bet that she, like Reagan, writes most of what she wants to say, instead of letting someone else write a speech that will sound good.

  • finnmccuill

    Thank you kindly for pointing out these things. This Lady knows what’s going on — think she may be considering whether she wants to dive into the cesspool called “campaigning”, or not.

    She knows what she’s doing; she’s a very savvy Lady! I’ll vote for her in a heartbeat! Mrs. Palin fits the definition of “self-made”, often offered as some sort of qualification for some of the grave-robbers in our federal government. For her, it’s true!

    Learned long ago that a determined woman is like a force of nature. Best just get out of the way, and hang on tight! A man is blessed if he’s lucky enough to have found a woman who thinks he’s worth the trouble!

    Blessings on all in your house.

  • aesthete

    who got elected to public office. Not a one.

  • aesthete

    who got elected to public office. Not a one.

  • aesthete

    Is it indies? Because a) I highly doubt that most indies would sit through 1-2 hrs of Palin hagiography, and b) depending on the conservative take of the filmmaker, various premises and boogeymen (liberal MSM, culture wars, etc) might seem contrived.

    Is it conservatives? Because I doubt that highlighting her bipartisan record in AK would go over well with most conservatives, especially when the accomplishments that resulted were not particularly conservative.

    Is it her base of supporters? Because I’d say they’re already plenty whipped up.

    I predict that this will be a flop, largely for the same reasons that Atlas Shrugged was one: people want to be entertained when they watch films, and a documentary about a subject that most don’t think deserves serious treatment just ain’t it. Palin would have better luck doing the talk show rounds and talking about her record, IMO.

  • Tbone

    evidently. :-)

  • acat

    but don’t actually like to read.

    Clearly, Palin is doing her own thing here, and I don’t see how it hurts anyone.

    I also don’t see how it significantly helps her cause … unless the film is put on the internet in bite-sized pieces that her supporters can use to refute some of the nonsense charges.

    Heck, even if only her supporters see it, just getting them onto the same narrative would do wonders for her campaign…. Kind of an expensive way to go about it, but .. again, no harm in it.

    Mew

  • acat

    Nice to see you’ve not mellowed.

    Mew

  • azaeroprof

    This is Bannon’s project, self-funded as I understand. Didn’t cost Palin a nickel, and from what I’ve read, she had little or nothing to do with it. She wasn’t even interviewed for it, it just uses background video.

  • lineholder

    of film preview yesterday. One stated it was wonderful. The other said it was horrible.

    The one “for” said that there is a lot of info about Palin that most people don’t realize included in the movie, particularly in regards to her record.

    The one “against” said that there was a bit too much “Palin-gets-unfairly-treated-by-the-media” meme included in the movie for their taste. And that in a couple of cases, the clips make Palin look like a true politician (and it wasn’t meant as a compliment either).

  • acat

    and – please also note – Bannon could get some heat if the Palin campaign uses it .. it has to be some kind of political-contribution-in-kind .. and those get interesting tax-wise.

    Mew

  • azaeroprof

    what Bannon hopes to recoup. He may just be a true believer who wants to get the message out.

    From what I’ve seen, Palin is happy to let Bannon run with this for now. Perhaps, if she runs, she’ll get excerpted versions of it from him later and consider those contributions. I really don’t know.

  • Christian

    Hitler’s name even appeared in the opening titles.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will

  • aesthete
  • aesthete

    I didn’t catch them the first time around.

  • lineholder

    Both were at HA at the time, but have since been moved forward. I’ve tried to backtrack and find the two I’ve mentioned. I think these are the ones…

    http://hotair.com/archives/2011/06/06/film-review-the-undefeated/

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/palin_tzxGDgOqUn8eJ4vtmjUv9M

  • lineholder
  • mboyle1988

    want Rick Perry as the nominee, and he won’t run if Sarah does, so…hoping Perry gets in. Otherwise, I’ll have to vote for Mitt…ughhhhhh.

  • paulnashtn

    I?m sure your being facetious because the word Algore immediately comes to mind

  • goetzliedtke

    but by all reports, Palin did not commission this film. She didn’t discourage it and is gratified that it was made – but it apparently started without her and she didn’t pay for it.

  • bk

    The left brays that she’s a complete moron, but in the meantime you have all these leftwing press scumbags who are playing like the paparazzi tailing Princess Di, whining that by not telling them her plans for the day it’s forcing them to break all sorts of driving laws and pee on the side of the road.

    Uh, who are the idiots??

  • bk

    We know how conservatives love to rewrite history. ;-)

  • goetzliedtke

    …I was struck, back in 2008, with the resemblance between the stage settings at the Democratic Convention and the Ehrenhalle at N?rnburg.

    The crowd scenes didn’t help.

    G?tz