Doug Brady – C4P

Governor Palin’s new SarahPAC video has caused quite a stir today. We have compiled a sample of reactions from around the blogosphere and other, more traditional media outlets: Don Surber:

First she was Saracuda, the 5-foot-3 team captain of the state girls basketball team. Then she was the hockey mom, the pitbull with lipstick. Now, she is the leader of the Mama Grizzlies, the protectors of the cubs.

Ed Morrissey:

Sarah Palin’s PAC released their latest organizing-fundraising video today, and it bolsters Palin’s efforts to claim the female voter demographic as her own. [...] “Mama grizzlies” actually fits better in the Tea Party movement, which I’ve argued is driven in the main by activist women. These are women with families who aren’t focused on what government can do for them, but what government should be doing, period. They’re defending their turf rather than looking for handouts, and defending their children from expansionist government and the massive spending that their children’s children will have to repay.

Michelle Malkin:

Sarah Palin is out with a very savvy video capturing the spirit of the grass-roots conservative women’s movement — a phenomenon I’ve traced here since the mom-bloggers and young women bloggers and other Founding Sisters of the Tea Party movement first came onto the scene. [...] That said, there is something happenin’ out there — on college campuses, at Tea Party and 9/12 meetings, in school board and city council races, inside and outside the political arena. Everywhere I go, right-thinking moms who had never been involved in politics before have come up to me to let me know that their increasing concern for their kids’ future — their safety, their education, their debt — has driven them to get involved.

Michael O’Brien:

Palin warns of a “stampede of pink elephants” heading toward Washington this fall in a video that showcases herself, but also many of her female supporters who have shown up at rallies and speaking engagements during the past year, since the 2008 vice presidential nominee resigned as governor of Alaska.

Marc Ambinder:

Sarah Palin’s political action committee, Sarah PAC, has produced its first web video of the season, called “Mama Grizzlies.” As a rule, this column does not generally notice web videos, but this one is special. It’s … well, an advertisement, if you will, for brand Sarah, and the variant of brand Sarah that’s gaining currency in the Tea Party heartlands, her fiercely independent, common-sense conservative, not-gonna-let-the-government-win Mama Grizzlies. It’s a movement now.

Matthew Continetti:

Washington woke up this morning to the unthinkable — kind words from the establishment, in the form of Politico’s Mike Allen, for Sarah Palin. The former governor’s political action committee has released a video which speaks to one of Palin’s favorite themes: the rising tide of conservative women politicians in America. The video is also notable for the way in which it subtly links Palin to Ronald Reagan. It’s slickly produced. Palin comes off as attractive and positive. You get the feeling you are watching a campaign ad. And maybe you’re right.

Mike Allen:

This shrewdly choreographed montage may help yank Palin back toward the mainstream, and certainly will inspire some second looks from those unimpressed by her off-the-cuff moments. The emphasis on women could help expand Palin’s appeal toward the center, helping the Republican Party with its demographic peril. The elegant video should score with voters who liked Palin’s message but were cool to the messenger.

Greg Sargent:

One of the primary messages here seems intended for Republican Party officials across the country. By producing such a slick political ad with an undeniably strong political message, the signal is clear: Palin is a political force to be reckoned with. She’s got a growing power base that Republicans covet and that she has a unique ability to reach. And you shouldn’t dismiss the possibility that she really may run for president. It’s admittedly way too early to try to figure out whether she’ll run. This video is all about helping her get exposure and putting other Republicans on notice about her rising clout. But you can’t escape the campaign-like feel of this video.

Jim Hoft (Gateway Pundit):

Sarah Palin released her “Mama Grizzlies” internet ad today establishing 2010 as the year of the conservative woman. The ad seeks to build up the Palin brand as a fiercely independent mom who isn’t going to stand by and let the Obama-Pelosi Regime run her down.

Cubachi:

SarahPAC issued a new web ad where Sarah Palin articulated why it is the women of the Republican Party, the “mama grizzlies” that will rise up and protect their cubs (constituents and children) from the ever ferocious federal government. I love the ad. “I’m a Mama grizzly, hear me roar!” Is what I get from it. You see women of all ages at tea parties and Palin rallies going out of their way to participate in seeking a brighter and better future for their children and the country. I remember Rush Limbaugh on his radio show said it is the women of the Republican Party, particularly conservative women, that are putting their necks out there, and that have the gonads to go after Democrats, unlike the men. How very true. [...] We nor Palin have forgotten the conservative men out there worthy of mention. I remember discussing on Twitter with bloggers Sister Toldjah and Rebecca Mansour, what would Sarah Palin call great conservative men such as Steve King of Iowa, Joe Miller in Alaska, and Rand Paul in Kentucky? We all came up with “papa bears.” Heh.

Mary Kate Cary:

…I think there’s no debating that’s she’s got her finger on the pulse in terms of conservative women becoming more active lately. There’s definitely been a “mom awakening,” as she puts it, over the last year and a half–and the only question is how much of an effect they’ll have in November. I bet it’s going to be big.

And finally, no post such as this would be complete without the hearing from the obligatory unnamed “GOP media consultant”:

…brilliant…I wish I’d done it.

Of course not all the reaction was positive. PDS sufferers David Frum and Donnie Deutsch had truly bizarre takes on the video. Frum implied that the video was racist and Deutsch tried to make the claim that it was somehow “insulting to women“, something even the Obama chorus assembled at Morning Joe weren’t buying. Yes, according to the enlightened Mr. Deutsch, promoting the entry into politics by strong, independent women is insulting to them. You can’t make this up. Let’s take one more look at the video, shall we? Update: (H/T R.U.) Another reaction to Governor Palin’s video, this one by the Politico’s Andy Barr & Jonathan Martin:

It was nothing more than a two-minute self-promotional spot, a campaign-style production that any candidate with a little cash and a capable consultant could splice together, yet Sarah Palin’s newly-released video managed to drive cable news television chatter and blazed across the blogosphere Thursday. It was a remarkable display of force—and one that almost no one else in American political life can replicate. [...] …the effect reinforced the notion that she remains perhaps the most electric force in the Republican Party, and suggested she is taking steps to professionalize her approach and solidify her role as the conservative movement’s most prized endorser and fundraiser.