CNN knows full well that Sarah Palin is probably not going to run for president in 2012 and that there is no way in hell she'll survive even one GOP primary debate, but that didn't stop them from chasing her around like some celebrity with her bus tour and it didn't stop both John King and David Gergen from pretending like there's a reason to take her seriously as a contender for 2012 rather than someone who's just wanting to milk every bit of media coverage she can before she proclaims that the "lame-stream" media never gave her a real shot at the nomination.
And that didn't stop King from spending the entire first half of his show plus pondering whether Griftie-McQuitter-Snow-Billy Palin is going to possibly "shake up" the GOP primary race.
Lawrence O'Donnell already summed up very nicely why Palin is not going to run. Apparently CNN is more concerned about treating her story like some ambulance chaser would a bad car crash for ratings rather than letting their viewers know they're completely wasting their time.
The Gawker summed this up much better than Gergen did with his lame attempt to treat Palin with any credibility that she doesn't deserve -- Sarah Palin’s Bus Tour Confounds Reporters:
The Sarah Palin Grifter Bus Tour is officially underway, and it's currently spewing toxic fumes across the Washington, DC area. There are many questions surrounding this family vacation, but so few answers. People need to know.
Politico rattles off all of the places Sarah Palin has been in the last two days: On the back of a Harley. At Mount Vernon. Lurking around the National Archives. Making "unannounced visits to monuments and other landmarks." Saying stupid things to people. But she's not saying really stupid things to reporters (yet). Can you believe the gall of this woman? Is she running for president or not? Why won't she tell us? And where is she going on this tour? No itinerary? No briefings? No interviews? Even Greta Van Susteren is out of the loop. What the f**k is going on here?!
Instead, she's been telling people to check her website for information, which (gasp!) only comes after she's done something. Here's a thought: She's probably retiring to her bus each day, turning on the TV and laughing at everyone trying to figure out what the hell she's up to, then watching hits on her website go through the roof.
Transcript via CNN below the fold:
KING: David, I want to get to the president's poll numbers for a minute, but you were listening in the last segment and I'm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania tonight. Governor Palin is here. We're told she's out somewhere in town.
There are dozens of people waiting to see her here. I just want to get your sense. Is this as many Palin critics have been saying all day, the media being foolish or is there something about her that will have an impact on this race until we know for certain whether or not she is in.
GERGEN: Oh, I think it's something about her. She still has a sizzle, John, when a lot of these other candidates don't and that makes a great deal of difference. You know she's got a rabid following. She's a celebrity. But there's a difference between a celebrity and being a political leader.
And whether she can make that transformation back or not, we'll have to wait and see. But I think in the meantime, this woman, for all of her sort of you know questions about her policies, she has a knack, almost a genius for attracting attention, publicity, stirring people up. And there are a lot of people out here just like her. I mean she is friendly. [...]
KING: Well let's talk about that. Both the president's challenge and the Republican challenge when it comes to that, because we can judge it on how people view the president's handling of the economy or we can look at what is a very good historical marker to look at especially when you have an incumbent seeking reelection. Whether that incumbent is a mayor or whether the incumbent is the president of the United States.
How do people feel about what's going on in their community, in the case of the president it's the country. How are things going in the country today? Thirty-nine percent of Americans say they are going well, but six in 10 Americans, 60 percent say they are going badly. Again if you go back to this time in 1991, the last incumbent president to lose his reelection bid, George H.W. Bush, 53 percent then said the country was going well, things were going well David. So George H.W. Bush had a much better right track, wrong track we call it than President Obama does, but can he change the narrative about that and do you see anyone in the Republican side making a powerful economic case?
GERGEN: I don't know whether President Obama can change that narrative or not, John. He's -- the economy, there are all sorts of signs of the economy slowing again, fragile recovery, no serious expectation among economists that unemployment will get below eight percent by the time of the election of November next year.
We're likely to be in a heavy slog, continuing heavy slog. Whether the voters will forgive President Obama and say well it's not really his fault, I think only time will tell, but I see no indications that he's going to get a real lift on the economic front. But that does -- that still doesn't mean he's going to lose the election because you've got to come up -- the Democrats came up with a candidate and Bill Clinton turned out to be a very, very effective political candidate. So far none of the Republicans who is in the field has struck most voters at being another Bill Clinton. Someone, you know, who wins a couple of primaries, you know (INAUDIBLE) on the Republican side and they may be able to change that perception. But right now this Sarah Palin bus tour and the fact that we are all talking about it, and not talking about what Tim Pawlenty had to say this weekend, not talking about what Mitt Romney had to say this weekend, I think sort of underscores in our minds the fact that, you know, they're just not as interesting copy as we say in the news business.
They just don't have that kind of pull, that magnetic pull that brings cameras in (ph) and people want to hear what they have to say. They have got to sort of step up their game on that front.
KING: David Gergen live for us tonight -- David, I appreciate you insights as always.
Still ahead here another big shakeup in the president's national security team, does it mean a faster exit or stay the course in Afghanistan?
And next Sarah Palin says she is certain there will be new entries into the Republican presidential race. How does her road pitch compare to other Republican hopefuls out on the trail today?
