Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.’ It seems Sarah Palin is listening to the latter half of this quote.

Palin launched her 2012 campaign-I mean book tour-this past week for her new book ‘Going Rouge.’ She has been interviewed by Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and even attained the godsend of all book tours, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ Her appearance on Oprah received the highest rating in two years.

The New York Times reports that ‘Thousands had lined up overnight, starting nearly 24 hours before she was to begin signing books, camping out in 39-degree weather’ to be part of Palin’s book tour.

I haven’t seen that kind of spectacle since the Harry Potter books came out, or the last ‘Twilight’ premiere.

Palin’s book tour is a wondrous, populist public relations campaign. It is meant to put the 2008 presidential campaign behind her and to look into the future of her political career.

Why is Palin still popular and not a political pariah? I remember the Republican National Convention last September when she appeared on stage. The news cameras focused on the family of the ‘hockey mom’ and the screaming crowds as she said: ‘Politics isn’t just a game of competing interests and clashing parties. The people of America expect us to seek public office and to serve for the right reason. And the right reason is to challenge the status quo and to serve the common good.’

It was the type of moment that would make you want to sing ‘I’m proud to be an American.’ I think many Americans admired her spirit, drive and also her executive experience as governor on the ticket. Indeed, poll numbers agreed. The McCain campaign would have won the election if it were held in early September.

But then came the economic crisis, the Katie Couric interview, the parodies on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ daughter Bristol’s pregnancy, and the resignation as governor of Alaska. The resignation was the nail in her political coffin. As a voter, I would never elect someone to office for them to quit when the going gets tough.

On the Oprah show Palin said, ‘It was a point where my state… was being hampered by my presence there, being shackled behind a governor’s desk. I wasn’t able to get out there and talk about issues that were important to me.’ I’m sorry, but that’s not good enough for me. If you are a politician, you finish your job.

‘Going Rouge’ is Palin’s first step into a new campaign, but after her resignation, I see her as having no political future. She draws conservative supporters, but to be elected President, you have to appeal to the middle too. Palin does not have those characteristics.

Her book may have put the past in its place, but her political future looks dim.

Andrew Swab is a sophomore magazine and international relations major. His columns appear weekly. He can be reached at ajswab@syr.edu.

Published on November 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm