Palin’s popularity in her adopted home state has been in steady decline ever since she was chosen as John McCain’s VP candidate. There are many reasons for this, many of which have nothing to do with her. I saw the extent of this erosion of support first-hand when we screened “Media Malpractice” in Anchorage last spring and it was why I asked Palin about resigning well before she “shocked” the world by doing so.
I also know that some people pretty close to her in Alaska who feel as if she has gone “Hollywood” (my words, not theirs) and that the “real” Sarah Palin may be on the verge of being lost forever. There is no doubt that a documentary of this type, which will bring enormous exposure and probably tourist income to Alaska will restore some of her “ice cred” and popularity there.
Why is this important? Well, it isn’t because of Alaska’s three electoral votes. It seems to me that at least part of what this path provides is the possibility of running for Alaska’s currently Democrat-held U.S. Senate seat in 2014. Under this scenario Palin leads the GOP to victory in 2010, immediately gets out of the way of the other contenders by announcing that, for the good of the team, she is not running for president, and then, after Obama wins reelection she declares herself for the Senate seat. This way she avoids an inevitable defeat and emerges tanned, rested and ready (and, in the minds of many people, more experienced/seasoned) to be the frontrunner for the 2016 nomination in a year that looks like a slam-dunk for Republicans.
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