Palin Considering White House Run
COOPER: Sarah Palin says she is considering launching a bid for the White House in 2012. She said it to "The New York Times" magazine and also in an upcoming interview with Barbara Walters. ABC News has released a clip of the interview. Here it is.</s>SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: I'm looking at the lay of the land now and -- and trying to figure that out if it's a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family, if it's a good thing.</s>BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: If you ran for President, could you beat Barack Obama?</s>PALIN: I believe so.</s>COOPER: Well, in "The New York Times" magazine article she yet again takes aim at members of the media, insisting she's as accessible as any other political figure. She told "The New York Times" magazine, quote, "I'm on television nearly every single day with reporters. Now, granted that's mainly through my job at Fox News and I'm very proud to be associated with them. But I'm not avoiding anything or anybody. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. I'm out there." "Keeping Them Honest" Sarah Palin is not exactly out there. She rarely takes questions from other reporters and even tells other politicians like Christine O'Donnell to do the same. You may recall this tweet she posted in mid-September directed at O'Donnell, "Time's limited", she tweeted. "Use it to connect with local voters whom you'll be serving versus appeasing national media seeking your destruction." So not doing interviews with reporters who might be critical or ask tough questions is absolutely her right. But to say you're not avoiding anything or anybody that's not true. Because you're on Facebook and Twitter it doesn't mean you're out there doing that either. Which is not to say that Sarah Palin isn't doing a remarkable job getting her message out, she certainly is. No other potential candidate is using Twitter and Facebook as effectively as Sarah Palin. And her new TV show on TLC brilliantly sells the Palin brand. The first episode had some five million viewers, many times more than have ever watched a program on TLC. It's not the kind of program her critics may want to see certainly. But her fans love it and others may form a positive opinion about Palin after seeing her out there and interacting with her family. So is Palin really ready to run? Joining me now Democratic strategist and Obama campaign pollster, Cornell Belcher; and contributor Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of RedState.com. Erick, you read the -- the interview in "The New York Times" magazine --</s>ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Correct.</s>COOPER: -- which was fascinating because it really focused on sort of her inner circle and -- and that the loyalty that they have to her and that she wants from them, very understandable. Do you think she's ready to run in terms of her organization?</s>ERICKSON: I'm not sure she's ready to run a national campaign in terms of an organization. You need many more people than who she has, but she has surrounded herself with some very bright and very loyal people, which is a starting point she's going to have to have. After 2008 I suspect she and her husband are both very skeptical of some of the people who may want to latch on to her, if only to make money for themselves and not to actually help the Palins. But she's going to have to have a lot of discernment going forward. A lot of people who say they're her friend really aren't.</s>COOPER: Even if she -- if she does get the right campaign staff, are they going to be able to -- I mean to operate effectively? Because just -- just given from what I read in the "Times" article, it seems a very kind ad hoc organization that she has, which, you know, her -- her supporters will say, look, it's -- it's worked effectively in terms of, you know, keeping her out in the public eye and reversing a lot of the negative perception of her after she -- she dropped out of being the governor.</s>ERICKSON: Well, you know that is one of the criticisms some on the right level is that she's very hard to get a hold of. Her staff is not very responsive. I'm not sure what that issue is. I don't have a hard time getting a hold of people in her organization and many others I know don't. But the criticism is there, and at some point there will have to be changes made at that level. To be more responsive to some of the interest groups who would like to get a hold of her. But again, she's not running yet and there are a lot of people right now who want to get their claws into her to make money for themselves, not to help Sarah Palin. And she's using some -- some discernment on that but at the same time I'm worried that she might over-compensate and -- and be overly aggressive in shutting some people out she can't afford to.</s>COOPER: Cornell, what is your take on -- on -- on Palin saying this, basically just being announced today, that -- that -- that she is seriously looking at this stuff?</s>CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, I -- I think Erick and I actually agree on this, that she does speak to something, the grassroots of the Republican Party in a way that none of the other mainstream candidates right now speak to. Look -- look, looking back over the year that has been the way she has turned the Republican establishment absolutely on its ear in primary after primary; I think you take her lightly at your own peril. I -- you know, I wouldn't be surprised at all if she -- if she ran right now, and looking at what the -- the effect that the Tea Party, that she speaks to, had on the Republican primaries this past year, I don't know why you can't -- you can look at what she's done and argue that she's -- she's not a formidable and credible candidate. Yes, you guys are absolutely right, she's going to have to get better with the infrastructure piece of this and you can't dodge reporters in -- in -- in Iowa and New Hampshire, you just can't -- you can't do that. But to a certain extent, she's out in front in a lot of different ways. But the new media stuff reminds me a lot of -- of Governor Dean, whose birthday it is today -- happy birthday governor -- who was out in front on all of this sort of stuff, sort of tapping into that early. But he couldn't -- but that campaign didn't transform it into sort of an organization that the way -- if she could tap into this new media and bring this to bear in an organizational way, I think she becomes even more formidable in the Republican primary.</s>COOPER: Erick, I mean, I -- I'm fascinated by her, I think, obviously she's a fascinating figure, and whether people like her or not and -- and you know obviously, things are very divided, I mean, you can't -- you can -- I don't think any -- I think as -- as Cornell said, you underestimate her at -- at your peril. Have you ever seen a -- a candidate or a potential candidate who makes their critics' head explode, heads explode in a way that Sarah Palin does? Because it does seem like those who oppose her -- it's kind of --</s>ERICKSON: Right.</s>COOPER: -- they seem to go nuts about it.</s>ERICKSON: Oh it's -- it's hilarious.</s>COOPER: -- because -- because the more they criticize her, the more successful she becomes, among those who support her, and that just makes the critics go nuts even more.</s>ERICKSON: Look. If as much energy was spent into reviving the economy as was spent in trying to discern the criminology of typos she makes in her Twitter feed we would probably all be very rich right now as a nation. It's -- it's amazing to me the amount of time and energy people spend on things like that. You know, I -- I hate to use this comparison because people will read into it more than I'm trying to say but the -- the last guy that I can remember doing this was in '76 with Reagan when you had critics on the left and the right say who is this actor? He's -- he's done nothing. Never mind that he was the governor of California. And people were very dismissive of him in '76. Now, he didn't go into win in '76 but he did go on after that and -- and win in 1980. And a lot of people, not just Democrats, but a lot of Republicans wanted to know who was this guy, what qualifies him to run and he was tapping into something that people didn't understand at the time.</s>BELCHER: Erick, did you just make her into Reagan, by the way? I think you just made her into Reagan.</s>COOPER: Cornell, I want to play for our viewers something that Palin said in an interview yesterday. Because it's the kind of thing that for those who don't like it, don't like her, it makes their heads explode. So let's watch this.</s>PALIN: And we know that Obama wasn't vetted through the -- the campaign, and now, you know, that some things are coming home to roost, if you will, with his inexperience and his associations. And that ultimately harms our republic when a candidate isn't -- isn't vetted by the media, that cornerstone of our democracy.</s>COOPER: So obviously her critics will say, you know those who still have their heads, will say, well look, she avoids, you know, a lot of national media. She's very selective in who she talks to and -- and you can make the argument that that she hasn't been vetted. Her supporters will say, well, look, she's been vetted very closely by a lot of people who have their knives out for her.</s>BELCHER: Two things, one is it's kind of hard to argue that Barack Obama wasn't vetted given all the things -- sort of the way the news media came -- went through -- through his stuff but also -- the -- the most skillful political operation in the last decade being the -- being the Clintons and the primary vetted him very well. So it's -- it's kind of hard, sort of that stand up and he certainly didn't run or dodge, from -- run from reporters. But the other part about this is really interesting to me, because -- because you know, there comes a point in this where, does she look like a victim of the -- of the national media and the establishment. And if she starts to sort of looks like the victim of that, particularly with a -- with a female candidate, there is something there to sort of rally her supporters even more around her. So to a certain extent I think sort of her positioning herself as a being victim of - of -- of the -- the lame stream media sort of helps her strategically with a lot of her key supporters.</s>COOPER: No doubt about that. Erick -- Erick though, her critics say that she plays the victim.</s>ERICKSON: Yes, you know Anderson, let me actually go back to something Cornell said that answers your point as well, and -- and that is you know the interesting thing about a statement like this is there are a lot of Republicans who don't like Sarah Palin but when they hear a statement like that and what Cornell just said they immediately want to start screaming at the TV, where are his college transcripts? Where was his medical file? He only sent out a letter. Where are the constituent letters from when he was in the state legislature? Where are the case files from when he was a lawyer in Chicago? It drives people in the right mad about things like that and a lot of people who aren't necessarily Sarah Palin fans rush to her defense on that. And she plays it very, very well, intentionally or not, simply because this polarization that has developed around her and this great disconnect about who she is. I mean, we're talking about "Dancing with the Stars" and whether or not her celebrity is impacting her daughter on that show. I can't remember a candidate ever, including Ronald Reagan, who had something like that happen.</s>COOPER: Just in our own defense we have not discussed that on this show, though. Tomorrow -- who knows --</s>ERICKSON: There you go, it's good.</s>COOPER: -- now that you brought it up. I think we've talked enough about in ways that will both -- that will make people's heads explode on both sides of the aisle in this last segment. So Cornell Belcher, I appreciate that and Erick Erickson as well.</s>BELCHER: Thank you.</s>COOPER: Guys thanks. All right, coming up keeping the governor of New Jersey honest over the controversial video that got one former hero -- a teacher suspended. And the man police say took a shotgun, blasted a hole in his TV -- what he was watching that apparently drove him over the edge. Erick Erickson sort of hinted at it. That's next.