Blogs and Stories
Palin's Jackpot
BONUS ITEM!
If Palin is feeling short on cash even after all of the above, there’s always the licensing option, where she would lend her name to products, takes a cut of the sales, and lets other people take all the risk. A line of eyeglasses, perhaps? Frost-proof mascara? Or maybe she’ll roll out a line of Slutty Flight Attendant™ women’s wear. You have to assume that Palin would be as smart as Paris Hilton about licensing her image—or do you?—and could therefore conceivably bring in some $1.5 million annually.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Add it all up, and it looks like the next year is going to be a pretty lucrative one for Sarah Palin, Inc. By our estimates, she’s going to pull in anywhere from $17 million to $20.75 million in the next 12 months. At the low end of that range, she's tied with Sandra Bullock and Serena Williams on the 2009 Forbes Celebrity 100, which measures wealth, fame and power. Williams just won Wimbledon for the first time in six years, while Sandra Bullock had a career rebound with The Proposal. Are those omens for Palin?
Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at New York magazine and a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. He is working on a book about Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, to be published by Simon & Schuster in the fall of 2009.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Amateur Hour at the White House
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Palin's Gold Mine
Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at New York magazine and a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. His book, Last Man Standing, about Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was published by Simon & Schuster in October.
Gross Vampire Product
Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at New York magazine and a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. His book, Last Man Standing, about Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was published by Simon & Schuster in October.
King of the Street
Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at New York magazine and a former contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio. His book, Last Man Standing, about Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was published by Simon & Schuster in October.
Not lost on anyone with a brain.
She's going to get
A hundred thousand dollars
To give a speech in Palinese?
Oy.
Palin to world: "Show me the money!"
This user is no longer registered.
So do you know if she will be wearing her bear skin?
How much extra will she charge to bring her family along, to be paraded around like accessories?
This is the higher calling she rambled about. Did God really give Alaska energy? Does God want her to make $20M in the next year? Is this the sign of the end?
While we are all getting incensed about Palin the Quitter,stop and think a minute,
maybe for once Sarah Palin is correct...Alaska IS better off without her. Somehow I don't think that's exactly what she meant, though.
What a total waste of time. This is yet another nail in the coffin of our Michael Jackson Economy, complete with 'Neverland' Ranch. Perhaps she should call her new TV Show 'Neverland Express'. Welcome to the world's new Wacko ... and a Politician no less. What a surprise ....what a genuine surprise.
I won't be tuning in, so count me out.
The best thing about televison and Palin is that it can be turned off or not watched at all. I don't fault Palin for cashing in, but, the people of Alaska deserve a complete and honest explaination for her early departure. I doubt that they will get it. This cashing in will come back to bite her during the next campaign. It is my hope that the Republicans remember this.
I betcha even the daily beast would line up to carry her column :>(.
cbl99201...the day that happens...will be a sad day for me not to read the db. I always get a warm fuzzy feeling from all the friendly encourageing comments that are delivered to one and all.
true..so true....
I've been saying this since she announced her resignation. She is doing it FOR THE MONEY. If somewhere along the line she manages to wrangle a nomination, she doesn't care! She has all those children. She has an infant grandson. She has a downs syndrome child.
She has the potential to make MILLIONS. What is the big mystery to everyone?
You are right. That is what's makes her reason so disingenuous. She is trying to make it sound like she is doing it for Alaska....B.S!
This user is no longer registered.
This morning, I heard Andrea Mitchell on my television:
"We showed up," Mitchell said, "at the Palin family camping trip deep in the Alaska woods."
And there were the reporters, traipsing through the muddy shores in their high heels with the flash bulbs popping and the Alaska wilderness as their backdrop.
Mr. McDonald: I don't think we could have picked a more poignant moment to exemplify why Sara Palin is stepping down.
No amount of money in the world can replace one's dignity, privacy or respect.
Your thesis is that Mrs. Palin is stepping down because she wants dignity, privacy and respect?
If Mrs. Palin wants dignity, she should begin conducting herself with dignity, instead of using every large or small (real or perceived) slight to bring the glare of spotlight upon herself, just so she can complain that the light hurts her eyes.
If she wants respect, she might have earned it the way others do: by keeping her nose to the (boring old) grindstone and seeing a commitment through to its completion. Even her commitment to being Mr. McCain's running mate unravelled. It quickly became all about *her* and *her vision* (for herself) rather than about her support of the party's duly-nominated candidate and his policies.
If she wants privacy, then she might consider not facilitating the media's "intrusion" on her privacy. She might consider stipulating to those high-heeled reporters that there will be no discussion of politics when she's doing "family time." On a fishing trip, she might just stick to talking fish (sans political metaphors).
"Golly, look at that one, wouldja. A whopper! That's going to be some real good eating tonight! Nothing like a day out on the water, hauling in salmon, to really make you appreciate what we have up here in the great state of Alaska!"
I see nothing poignant about Mrs. Palin. I honestly wish she would embrace this opportunity she's engineered for herself to gain some personal peace as a private citizen, spend time with her young children (she must realize how quickly they "grow up" by now) and stay out of the media spotlight.
No one should begrudge her the chance to become wealthy beyond her wildest imaginations of just a year ago. If publishers want to pay her millions for a ghost-written book, more power to her. If FOX wants to add her to its line-up of bombastic provocateur talking heads, she should go for it. If special-interest groups think her brainpower and opinions are worth big bucks on the "lecture circuit", it's their money, not mine or yours.
Who among us would turn down millions of dollars, just for being who we are?
But let's not feel sorry for her. She entered into her co-dependency with the "mainstream media" (and the blogosphere, too) the day she agreed to catapult herself into the national spotlight. And she fully intends to remain both *in* and critical *of* the media, now that she's had her taste of the potential profit awaiting her.
Kalikynos...couldn't agree more.
Exactly right, Kalikynos. I also think Tina Brown drew a great analogy betwee Princess Di's love / hate relationship with the media and fame, and Palin's. Didn't Palin -invite- the media along on her camping / fishing trip? Oh, gee, why won't they go away?
they were invited you know
Has anyone missed the irony of Palin writing a book?
Just the thought of her writing frightens me.
This user is no longer registered.
Whaterver she does,wherever she goes,she should make the millions,and she should be left alone.although,it will not happen.As the song says,"Every breath you take"....all media,journalist,reporters,this is for now the #1 story.If they hate her or they like her.
Palin could have easily gone back to Alaska and been left alone. She keeps herself in the spotlight. She was absolutely basking all morning. If she get all that money and doesn't self-destruct too soon, she'll be able to get that face lift. Old Granny Palin is showing all of her years.
I am so sick of the MSM BS she spouts and the cries to "leave her alone."
1. Palin is the one who came out swinging in her first real speech as nominee. She lambasted the MSM and then pouted when they attacked back. Why is Obama so nicely presented by the MSM - he didn't bite the hand that feeds him.
2. If you want to be left alone - don't run for public office, and don't seize every opportunity to garner press attention despite who it may hurt (her children) in the long run. Many of the week-long news cycles about her could have been much shorter had she not came back swinging. Any political analyst would tell her to follow Schmidts advice in a crisis - don't make it bigger than it is!
As Shirley McLaine said to her daughter in Terms of Endearment, "you're not that special". Same applies to Palin, she wasn't that special.
This user is no longer registered.
i love this crap. it's like if you can't make it in any form of legitimate media, then you can always turn to the rednecks. Sarah Palin writing a book? you think that the publishers asked her to do that because they care about her opinions? No, but they know that any ignorant right winger willing to shell out a little dough is gonna buy it.
just look at fox new's ratings. they are number one in total viewers by a lot. it's not because they are more accurate (obviously), it's because stupid people, most of which are hooked to a television, are being fueled by ignorance. It's the business of ignorance, and rush, fox news, and palin are capitalizing on it hardcore.
8 years of 'no child left behind' - the USA -does not even rank within the top 25 for education in the world.
Fox Show # 1
Rush Radio # 1
No question here.
By the way, Palin would have to get a degree in journalism before she could put it to use. After six years, she finally got a degree in communications.
This user is no longer registered.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.