Sarah Palin

The marvelous paradox of politics is that it is the only field in which lack of experience is considered a job qualification. Or, conversely, in which extensive experience is cited as a negative. Consider Mitt Romney's latest line , a none-too-subtle jab at Texas Gov. Rick Perry: "Career politicians got us into this mess and career politicians can't get us out!" Sarah Palin took a similar swipe in Perry's direction, inveighing against a " permanent political class . " One could point out that Romney's critique is a bit odd coming from...

NEW YORK — A former adviser to Sarah Palin and an attorney with a long record of advocating conservative causes, will become the first spokeswoman for the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the USCCB announced Monday (April 29). The addition of Kim Daniels, who is a leader of the conservative media lobby, Catholic Voices USA, seems aimed at revamping the hierarchy's communications strategy, which many bishops say has been hampered by a lack of coordination and an...

The phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" is what your staff must have been thinking when choosing yesterday's front-page photo of vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin (R) and Joe Biden (D). Could you not have at least chosen a photo that reflected the article and headline ["Courting Middle-Class Voters; Palin and Biden State Cases for Changing Washington, Repairing Economy"]? Apparently not. Your photo shouted loud and clear the continuing liberal bias of The Post. The photo suggested a put-down, finger-pointing and intimidation.

At first glance, last week's Conservative Political Action Conference looked like a hot mess. On closer inspection, it looked even worse. Difficult though it might be, however, progressives should resist the urge to gloat. CPAC may have been a disaster, but the Republican Party is showing faint signs of brain activity and a fluttering pulse. Oh, what the heck, let's gloat just a little. The conservative movement's annual group-therapy session often takes place well outside the political mainstream, but this year it was in some...

Writing about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's resignation, Eugene Robinson ["A Starter, Not a Finisher," op-ed , July 7] was quite right to "feel sorry for conservatives who look to her as a champion, because she's going to let them down. " It has become popular for rural, anti-government types to imagine that conservatism boils down to protecting families from the temptations of a cosmopolitan, urban world rather than serving the nation with sensible ideas, strong public institutions and effective policies.

In the Sept. 9 front-page article "In Poll, McCain Closes the Gap With Obama," the polls show that a quarter of voters who supported Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president are now intending to vote for Republican Sen. John McCain. I don't think it's wrong to suppose that these voters switched parties because Mr. McCain now has a woman on the ticket. The big change in the GOP before and after the Republican National Convention has been the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the party's vice presidential nominee.

The Post asked political experts for their thoughts on John McCain's running mate. Below are contributions from: Michael Feldman , Newt Gingrich , Catharine A. "Kiki" McLean , Greg Mueller , Grover G. Norquist , John Podesta , Douglas E. Schoen and Lisa Schiffren MICHAEL FELDMAN Former senior adviser to Vice President Al Gore and founding partner of the Glover Park Group...

The latest trend in the media world is "trending. " That is, monitoring what people are buzzing about and directing coverage accordingly. Just as the unspoken sometimes reveals more than the spoken, what's not trending suggests more than what's trending. In all the many thousands of words written in the immediate aftermath of the Republican debate in Iowa , two words were scarce: Sarah Palin. But she wasn't even in Iowa during the debate, you say. Correct. Her "bus tour," idling since its last attempt to seize national attention, wasn't due...

In his Feb. 11 column, " Palin's populism: It just might work ," David S. Broder suggested that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is well suited as a "populist" leader and that she must be taken seriously and not dismissed for "writing on her hand. " In reality, Ms. Palin isn't taken seriously by a majority of Americans because she has failed time and time again to demonstrate an understanding of basic issues facing this country, articulate a coherent vision for how she would address our growing list of serious...

Kudos to Michael Gerson for his reflections on the release of Sarah Palin's e-mails [" Palin vs. the press ," op-ed, June 14]. He confirms my impression that Ms. Palin, as Alaska's governor, was very normal and pretty mainstream. I confess I was looking to the e-mails for something laughable or titillating but didn't find it. Mr. Gerson says the press deserves a large part of the blame for Ms. Palin's conversion to a caricature, but he recognizes that the blame goes deeper. The press dishes out what sells.

WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin is writing another book. This one focuses on putting faith and values back into Christmas. The former GOP vice presidential candidate is writing, "A Happy Holiday IS a Merry Christmas," in which she will focus on Christian values and criticize the "over-commercialism" and "homogenization" that have come to define Christmas. The Associated Press says the book will come out in November. "Amidst the fragility of this politically correct era, it is imperative that we stand up for our beliefs before the element of...

Sarah Palin has cut ties with Fox News Channel, ending an association with the cable network that had provided the most-visible forum for her conservative views. Fox confirmed that the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee would no longer be a regular on-air commentator but declined to discuss the circumstances of her departure. The Web site Real Clear Politics said Friday that Palin decided not to accept Fox's contract-renewal offer. "We have thoroughly...

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin — though derided on the left and recently dismissed by former vice president Dick Cheney as a poor pick in 2008 — is nevertheless proving her enduring power within the Republican Party in the most concrete of ways: She keeps picking winners. Each of five candidates she has endorsed this year who have faced primaries or other campaigns have won, including former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz, who Tuesday beat the state's well-connected lieutenant...

Former vice president Richard B. Cheney said the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008 was "a mistake" — the sort of mistake Mitt Romney should avoid. In an interview with ABC News, Cheney said Sen. John McCain's choice of the relatively inexperienced Palin was one "I don't think was well handled. " In choosing a running mate, Cheney said, "there are two lists. There is the big list. And it's got a lot of folks on it. " ...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Sarah and Todd Palin — the Barrymores of reality television — caused consternation among lamestream TV critics at NBC's Summer TV Press Tour party. The Palins are celebrating their fourth reality-TV series: Todd will compete on NBC's new reality series, "Stars Earn Stripes," in which celebrities — yes, Todd's one — execute military exercises. One of "SES's" executive producers, Mark Burnett, is the same guy who produced " Sarah Palin's Alaska " for TLC. And of...

July 10 on my calendar reads: "Doug Day — Five Years. " That is, five years ago, my friend Doug Marlette — Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, novelist, playwright, raconteur and cultural omnivore — died in a car accident on a rainy road between Memphis and Oxford, Miss. This is not to be maudlin, I feel compelled to say, which is also a way of apologizing for indulging a personal loss. But it is summer and this is what columnists do when they figure the Earth will continue to turn on its...

Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, is among those competing in NBC's new reality series "Stars Earn Stripes," the network revealed Tuesday. This is not entirely surprising, given that "SES" exec producer Mark Burnett also exec-produced Sarah's TLC reality series "Sarah Palin's Alaska. " And late last year, word around Hollywood was that Sarah and Burnett were pitching a reality series about Todd's career as a championship snowmobile racer. Apparently, there were no takers. Maybe more surprising, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, the...

As you might assume, being Bristol Palin means a life of continued anguish and suffering. In her somnolent Lifetime reality show, "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp," which premieres Tuesday night, we keep hearing about the painful glare of media attention that snapped on nearly four years ago when her ­values-preaching mother, Sarah Palin, ran for vice president on the Republican ticket just at the time a teenage Bristol was pregnant with a son. That...