Yesterday was a glorious day for America's most famous cheerleader as she made her stunning debut on Late Night Television joining Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, left her political imprint all over the race for governor in Texas, and set her old nemesis David Letterman back in the ratings, all after being written off for dead by the liberal media. Sarah brought her message of hope for America and of compassion for Americans to the national spotlight.
It was a day the White House and Washington political fat cats should remember because she proved once and for all that Sarah Palin is here to stay and she keeps getting better and stronger all the time. Kudos to Jay Leno for landing her as it was her first appearance in the ratings war for late night television and if her record continues she will help Jay bury Letterman in the ratings.
It was not long ago when Oprah Winfrey, whose ratings were stagnant, was visited by Palin and saw her ratings double in some markets and increased her viewers by several million people. All because of the hockey mom from Alaska who survived one-sided vicious attacks from the liberal media and White House for over a year.
But that was just one aspect of what happened yesterday. Do you remember how the media made such a big deal of how the Republican winners in the New Jersey and Virginia did not want her help and barely got elected? Well in Texas they know something others don't.
Rick Perry was running for re-election against an established politician from Washington, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Perry was the first major candidate in a nationally watched race to ask Sarah Palin for help and she went in and campaigned with him, drawing over 6,000 to a political rally in Houston. As a result his standing in the polls shot from being behind by nearly 20 points to an astounding 20 point victory over the Washington establishment.
Palin Power is alive and well in America and look for a lot of other candidates to ask for her help in campaigning and fund raising. It's a role she has mastered. By the way, to show her independence she not only opposed the Washington establishment candidate in Texas but opposed another Tea Party candidate.
Perry crushed Hutchinson. This morning the liberal media were silent on the results and ignored the pivotal role Palin played in helping Perry to his amazing victory. What else could they do? I mean her ratings impact on television are 10 to 20 times the morning ratings for liberal TV shows and bury the prime time mouthpieces of the liberal leftists on MSNBC whenever she makes an appearance.
On the Leno show Jay let her be Sarah and the results were spectacular. In fact Luisita Lopez Torregrosa from Inside Politics Daily said it best in her article this morning. This is what she had to say.
And heeeeeeeere's Sarah!Posted:
03/3/10
At long last, what the world has been waiting for, Sarah Palin at night.
Those long legs, in blue jeans, stride with strong purpose across the polished floors of the stage of Jay Leno's new and shiny studio in Burbank, Calif.
Sarah Palin, she who must be mocked and adored, is making her first-ever appearance on a late-night show. The crowd howls, the band twangs, and Jay Leno, on the second night of his comeback to "Tonight," the show that is his by rights and ratings, shakes her hand and takes his seat behind his new stage desk. He knows -- look at that grin -- he has won the night.
It starts slowly. He asks her about the usual things she's heard over and over and she shoots back answers she knows by rote yet sounds spontaneous somehow. Does she mind being controversial? She smiles. "I'm not one to sit down and shut up...I'm not desiring to hunker down." She slings darts at the mainstream media without drawing blood. She talks about her wish to clarify many of her comments, but doesn't specify which comments, and to large applause, she says that the Tea Party movement is beautiful. Most of this is warmed-over stuff. She sticks to her guns, bless her.
Then, surprise! She gets up, slim as an athlete, takes center stage and does a stand-up routine, all by herself, confident and light, liking that spotlight. "I picked up a gig in Las Vegas at the Legends show...playing Tina Fey." The audience howls. She's got no stage fright, not that she would let it show. But comedy is not something she would want to pursue, but then, many would say, neither is politics. Her two-minute gig will be catnip this week for "Saturday Night Live" and the merciless blogosphere.
Here in New York, meantime, David Letterman, Jay's longtime thorn in the side, is on the run. He's got nowhere to go to flee the Palin tsunami. Dashing David, who made a big splash in the fall with his acknowledged serial affairs with female subordinates, had offended Palin months back, when he sort of insulted one of her daughters. What can he do now but book Mitt Romney, a seriously boring but legitimate contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012? Dave is too smart not to know that Mitt is going to put the audience to sleep out there in America while jazzy Sarah is keeping them awake and ogling.
On Monday night, when Leno ushered his first "Tonight" apres the firing of Conan O'Brien, he won hands down: 6.6 million viewers, according to early Nielsen's ratings, against Letterman's 3.8 million on CBS. But it was last night, with Palin, that Leno found his old familiar stride, letting her move easily in the spotlight.
Her sit-and-chat with Jay Leno was not her only appearance last night on prime time. A framed picture of her in a trademark red top and a copy of her book, "Going Rogue," were used as props and tease at the end of the hit CBS program "The Good Wife." There she was, Sarah Barracuda, doing a cameo without ever having to step in front of a camera. That is, like it or not, true fame.
For those of you who missed it,
Even The Guardian from England featured a story on Sarah and Jay showing her international appeal as well. They reported the following.
In a life lived in the public eye Sarah Palin has been a beauty queen, Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate. But last night, she basked in a new kind of media spotlight: the late-night talkshow interview.
It is a rite of passage for many American celebrities who endure gentle barbs and satirical proddings to tout their latest film, book or TV show.
Palin had only her own brand to sell as she made her late-night debut in California on Jay Leno's's Tonight Show. She passed the test with flying colours, delivering a now familiar folksy performance strong on self-deprecating humour and light on meaningful content. She even did a mock impression of Leno's famous opening monologues, delivering a confident stand-up routine at the end of her interview.
.
