Before “Going Rogue” was written by Sarah Palin, a friend of mine, who is a GOP strategist that advised the McCain-Palin campaign, told me that he repeatedly suggested that the campaign run ads about Palin extolling her virtues as “the most popular Governor in America” – she had an 88% approval rating in Alaska – and highlighting her background and strong family. This, he said, would best introduce her to the American public.

Unfortunately, the campaign balked at this idea. My guess is that they didn’t want Palin overshadowing McCain anymore than she already had with the mammoth crowds she was attracting during the campaign.

After “Going Rogue” was published, I shared this information with Palin’s spokesman Meg Stapleton. We both agreed that “A View from Alaska” written by Alaskan Dewey Whetsell (that appears at the end of “Going Rogue”) was exactly the information the public needed in order to know the real Sarah Palin.

Whetsell, a retired firefighter, nailed it in describing Palin’s achievements. Even though he had never met Palin, he felt compelled to write about her accomplishments on his blog. He was angry about how she had been smeared by the media, so he wrote the truth as he knew it. It quickly went viral in the Alaskan blogosphere and ended up in Palin’s mega, best-selling book “Going Rogue.”

However, because there had been no TV ads about Palin during the Presidential campaign, the media had an unopposed opportunity to portray her as they saw fit. Thus, in the end, their perversions beat out the truth. But now, Stephen Bannon’s biographical documentary titled “The Undefeated” is set to reverse these lies and give the truth its rightful place once more by introducing the real Sarah Palin to Americans who may have bought into the media hype.

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Since her national debut in August 2008, the mainstream media has been determined to destroy Gov. Sarah Palin. Journalists flocked to Alaska to dig up dirt. They spun smears about book bans and rape kits. Some even indulged conspiracy theories about the birth of her son. They showed no interest in her outstanding record.

They kept going after her long after the 2008 election, blaming her for the Tuscon shootings–and attacking her for defending herself.

But now her assailants must face reality. After poring over thousands of emails from Palin’s term as governor, the mainstream media has been forced to concede that Palin was a conscientious, transparent, and effective public servant.

The pending release of Steve Bannon’s documentary on Palin, The Undefeated, bolsters that narrative. Above all, Palin’s mere persistence has forced some journalists to realize that their strategy of smears has failed.

So the mainstream media has invented a new meme with which to attack Sarah Palin. It started with Joshua Green’s article in the Atlantic a few weeks ago, in which he lamented “The Tragedy of Sarah Palin.” (more…)

Sarah Palin will have a strong impact on the 2012 race, whether she runs for president or not. She will continue to rally conservatives, and Democrats and journalists will continue to target her as a proxy for Republicans as a whole.

A new film, The Undefeated, will highlight Palin’s achievements as governor of Alaska–which are often overlooked in the media, where the focus has been on her departure from office.

It’s also important to acknowledge the role Palin has played over the past two years. She rallied the opposition to President Barack Obama during a time when opposition seemed impossible, when even conservatives wondered if Obama’s election marked “the end of a conservative era” and the beginning of a “revived liberalism.”

Palin in Madison (Credit: Christopher Tollefson)

She did more than support candidates, provide new ideas, and comment on TV. She led a revival.

Sarah Palin served, unofficially, as the “Leader of the Opposition”–a powerful position in many parliamentary democracies, even enjoying constitutional status in some of them.

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