Maybe Sarah Palin Doesn't Want to Be President

(April 16) -- In politics, as in many other competitive endeavors, money talks. Sarah Palin's words this week have rekindled speculation about a White House run, but several commentators say the numbers in her latest financial report suggest a different career strategy.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee fired up crowds at Tea Party Express rallies, calling the results of President Barack Obama's policies "un-American" during a stop in Boston on Wednesday. She also raised eyebrows when she said at the event that teaming up with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to unseat Obama in 2012 "sounds pretty good."

Palin later told the Boston Herald she was "serious" about the idea -- although she wouldn't say who should be on top of the ticket. The reaction from Hot Air's Ed Morrissey was skeptical: "Something tells me Sarah was having some fun with reporters."

The tea party hoopla drowned out news about how much money Palin and Romney have raised and spent so far this year. Records show Romney's political action committee way ahead among Republicans in the first quarter, with more than $1.4 million in contributions -- compared to about $400,000 for Palin. SarahPAC Treasurer Tim Crawford told CNN the organization will be "far more aggressive" in seeking donations as the mid-term elections approach.

Even more striking is the difference in how they spent what they raised, noted Newsweek's Andrew Romano.

"In my view, Palin's current financial patterns -- the focus on personal money over PAC money; the meager campaign donations -- suggest that she's not interested in running for president (at least not yet)," Romano wrote on The Gaggle Blog.

Romney gave $53,000 to a total of 22 candidates. Palin donated $7,500 to five candidates and $1,000 each to a pair of PACs backing veterans running for Congress. She also spent $243,000 on consultants, $16,000 on hotels and $14,000 to de-ice her private jet, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. (Palin's team told Hotline On Call the de-icing cost was mistakenly listed twice and was actually $7,300.)

Romney is spending like a presidential candidate, said Romano, while Palin is "spending like a political celebrity."

Besides the financial signals, Palin's sharp rhetoric has convinced pundits such as Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post she's not running for president.

"That she refuses to hide away for even a month for a crash course in Republican and conservative ideals, programs and solutions tells me that she's more interested in being an entertainer than an accountable politician," Capehart said after Palin's speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last week.

He isn't the only one to comment on the increasingly snarky tone of Palin's speeches.

"Sarcasm rarely plays well in politics. ... For Palin to move beyond her comfort zone of Republican base politics and into ground as a serious candidate for president in 2012, she will almost certainly have to significantly scale down the sarcasm in her speeches," Capehart's Washington Post colleague Chris Cillizza wrote on The Fix. "Of course, if Palin has decided (or does decide) not to run for president then her current rhetorical style virtually ensures further commercial success for her books, speech and the rest of the growing Palin Inc. empire."

"For me, it's not just the sarcasm of her speaking style that's noticeable; it's the intended targets," added The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder. He said her attacks on Washington political and media "elites" are "understandable, to a point" -- given her belief that she was mistreated during the 2008 campaign. "But Palin's sarcasm often joins up with a less desultory sentiment: personal victimhood."

That, Ambinder argued, is why Palin "wins over crowds, but she has low favorability ratings and doesn't win straw polls."

Romney finished first in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll -- one vote ahead of Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Palin tied with Newt Gingrich for third place. She was also third in a recent CNN poll of Republicans, which put Mike Huckabee on top with Romney second. A New York Times/CBS News survey of tea party supporters found that although two-thirds have a favorable view of Palin, 47 percent don't want her to be president. And in our unscientific poll of more than 52,000 AOL News readers, 72 percent weren't surprised by that.

"She is in 2010 what Jerry Falwell was from the mid-1990s until his death -- a conservative cartoon inflated by media," David Brooks wrote in an exchange with Gail Collins on the New York Times' Opinionator Blog. Brooks acknowledged that his fellow conservatives like to talk about Palin because "she drives liberals insane." But, he added, "she is a half-term former governor with a TV show. She is not going to be the leader of any party and doesn't seem to be inclined in that direction."

Collins also predicted Palin wouldn't throw her hat into the ring for 2012.

"Anyhow, Palin is having a great time right now. I don't think she's ever going to want to trade it in for a hard, unremunerative, grinding political competition," Collins said.

Andrew Sullivan -- a frequent Palin critic -- warned on his Daily Dish blog against writing her off so quickly.

"Yes, many tea partiers do not think Palin is 'qualified' to be president. But primaries are won by enthusiasm and star power. Palin has both. And she has money. And, most important, she has a media machine dedicated to promoting her outside of any real scrutiny or questions," Sullivan wrote. "All of this makes Palin the most potent force in American politics since Obama."

Indeed, a recent piece by John Knefel on True/Slant compared Palin to Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Slate's John Dickerson likened her to another political personality "influential, polarizing, and not likely to be president" -- Al Gore.

But in light of ABC's report this week that estimated Palin has earned at least $12 million since July -- through book sales, speeches and deals for shows on Fox News and the Discovery's TLC -- Politico drew a comparison to another media superstar who blends celebrity with politics: Oprah Winfrey.