The Kiss of Death for Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin is still making headlines. Is it her candidacy for 2012 that we’re talking about? No, instead it’s the new attitude that the so-called “noble” press has taken about her. After the publication of Joe McGinnis’ book, “The Rogue,” a title which plays on Palin’s bestselling book, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” The New York Times has been quick in shooting down the nasty, caustic and inconsistent old gossip contained within. Is this the rehabilitation of Palin or instead some kind of underhanded strategy?

Hated and proud of it, Palin prospers because of the provocation and animosity that she generates in the media. She thrives on it; it’s what drives her. She attacks the traditional media, seeing it as tacky. She doesn’t give interviews, instead preferring to address the public directly through meetings, Twitter, email and Facebook. These platforms have been useful to her but have also been sources of ridicule for her. Her rise to the 2012 primaries has become a joke. Her problems only make you laugh.

Michele Bachmann has been through it as well. Since midterm 2010, she has been creating a credible side to the tea party, leaving Palin in the shade. Bachmann has, during the State of the Union Address, infiltrated the Republican Party by imposing her views of Obama on them. On behalf of the tea party, she has dug her groove. She has taken on the ultraconservative and anti-Washington views that Palin had previously embodied. She has been climbing the ranks to stand as a credible candidate for the 2012 primaries, being carried there by her views and her chic feminine appearance. It’s been an opportunity for the Republicans to show that they are not only an old boys club.

At the same time, Palin has been trying to stay afloat and released both a film, “The Undefeated,” and a book, “America by Heart,” in hopes of capturing public attention. Unfortunately for her, the film was avoided, and nobody really paid much attention to her book. Her audience continues to shrink, so is this the beginning of the end?

My theory? The recent defenses and leniencies by The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune have been a way of reversing all the bad they have been doing by opposing Palin since 2008, which gave her attention to thrive on. This even makes them look objective. The worst thing for Palin now is if the traditional media accept her, or even worse, begin to defend her.