Chris Matthews On Palin Book Deal: "What An Embarrassment"

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On "Hardball" tonight Chris Matthews sat down with Mike Allen of Politico and Jennifer Donahue of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics to discuss the news that Sarah Palin has signed a book deal. The panel agreed that it's part of Palin's attempt to rehabilitate her image after a disastrous series of interviews during the campaign trail, and Tina Fey's indelible impression of her on Saturday Night Live, gave the public a decidedly unflattering portrait of her.

However, Matthews seemed upset that she had even gotten a book deal in the first place. He opened the segment with this statement:

What is Sarah Palin up to? She's got this book deal; she's obviously not going to write it, they've already announced somebody she's going to collaborate on it. What an embarrassment. It's one of these "I told you" books that jocks do... Why do they do it like this? She can't write; we got a collaborator for her. What do you make of this?

Matthews also worried that a book would "rip the scab off" all the drama that has surrounded her family. Mike Allen agreed with Matthews but said that Palin wants to revisit all those issues in order to put her spin on it. Palin feels she hasn't gotten a fair shake in the media and this is way to correct the record.

While Palin will surely be able to get huge amounts of press when her book comes out, Matthews makes the good point that the questions that haunt you are not the ones that you give an honest if unpopular answer to, but the ones to which you should know the answer but don't. Matthews thinks these will be problems when Palin does press for her new book because she'll be asked questions like "How did you write this book? Did you write it by long hand, on a laptop? Or actually did you not write this?"

Matthews' ultimate advice to Palin is to play to her strengths giving speeches instead of "pretending to write a book."

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Comments

[obama-bubble]

Why is everything just Pink coloured when it's about Obama?
I recommend to check the combination Obama - Bill Ayers and who wrote the book ' Dreams'.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/who_wrote_dreams_and_why_it_ma_1.html

[SimianNation]

"I recommend to check the combination Obama - Bill Ayers and who wrote the book ' Dreams'."

I recommend that you write a proper sentence if you want to entice people to read crazy writings.

[RuffNReddy]

Is it a children's book? With pictures???

[DanaHarper]

Matthews is the embarrassment. Such a shame. I used to like him.

[madisonhack]

Matthews doesn't like fakes and hypocrites. Remember the Michelle Bachmann interview? He roasted her, as he should have. This is no different.

[sippewissett]

The flaw in Palin's logic of using a book to "rehabilitate" her image is that unless her collaborator writes the whole d.mn thing and unless Palin cherry-picks the news outlets (i.e., bypasses the mainstream media) for her press tour, she will look as foolish -- and sound as foolish -- as she did last year during the campaign. Unlike the Straw Man in "The Wizard of Oz", Palin was not gifted with a brain since she uttered her most recent ad lib remarks -- that still meander both logically and syntactically. She will be the butt of SNL and YouTube all over again.

Harper Collins editors, what a crass "investment" in pulp fiction you made when so many worthy authors can't find an outlet for their creativity.

[zooboy]

Of course Palin is going to write her own book. She was a journalism major wasn't she. The real problem is going to be that she doesn't have anything to say that I want to read.

[dtghope]

Have you seen and heard her (mis-)use of grammar? Among other horrors --- her book will consist of just a single, seemingly never-ending run-on sentence.

[ZIRGAR]

Yeah, but then she'll just claim ther her single run-on senetence is a stylistic choice similar to the one by James Joyce for the last 40 pages of Ulysses, that's she's just trying to open up the novel form. Oh, wait. I doubt that she even knows who James Joyce is, or has even heard of Ulysses. Scratch that. Sorry.

[madisonhack]

Listen to her speak, unscripted. That, friend, is her writer's voice.

[Bigheart521]

Poor Palin!!!!!

[DCSuburb]

As an aside -- doesn't Liz Cheney look just like Tanya Harding? LOL

[JRD-FLA]

She'll sell more books on the first day than Mathews could sell in a lifetime. He knows it, he's jealous, and there's nothing he can do about it.
No thrill up your leg, now, Chrissy?

[452021]

Your comment is spot on

[Cye]

Yeah, but Matthews has more credibilty than she does. More intelligence. More experience. More respect. More political savvy. More talent.

But what am I thinking. I'm sure you're right: Matthews is just jealous.

[Huero]

More tingles up his leg.

[madisonhack]

Of course. The Christian Right will buy the book in quantity (as they always do) to push the NYT Bestseller rating up. By next year's end, this book will grace every yard sale in America.

[obama-bubble]

Correct, I believe we will hear much more 'good things' of Palin then ever of Chris Matthews. How can soulless creatures sleep by night.

[Virginia Plain]

"The Book of Revelations", according to Sarah Palin.

[pianojan]

It's the book of Revelation­..........­......NOT Revelations. But how could YOU have known that? So you mock Sarah Palin AND the Bible, yet you can't even get the name of the book right? Why am I not surprised?

[ChristianSociologist]

Wow- you told Virginia Plain! Let's burn them at the stake and save America!

[madisonhack]

But, the good news is that Jesus is coming.

[doodlefarbe]

"she'll be asked questions like "How did you write this book? Did you write it by long hand, on a laptop? Or actually did you not write this?" " ... "play to her strengths giving speeches instead of "pretending to write a book.""

I remember Mr. Matthews hammering on Senator Clinton with the same hardball-hitting questions about how she wrote her books, and advising her to stop pretending it didn't take a village to write her books, too.

[den1953]

Yes Palin's book will be as popular as Ann Coulturs new book what a smashing affect!

[aloha43]

Or the Joe the Plumber book that bombed! lol

[ChristianSociologist]

Joe the Plumber wrote a book? How did I miss it?

[Jesse rogers]

Hey Chris, did ya know that someone other than Hillary wrote her book?

[anti-phony]

So Mathews is still pimping for the Democrats!

[barra]

Yes, old "tingle legs" is nothing but a shill and completely irrelevant.

[DianeBkht]

Yeah... Just like Rush pimpin for the GOP...like HARD!!! Go Rush!!!!! He is doing a good JOB giving them a BAD name and bringing them DOWN!!! Good Ole Sarah is right beside him!! Let's hope M. McCain can save the day....she's good!!!

[Jesse rogers]

Sure. Of course. Whatever you say. I believe you! (pushes button to summon Security).No, seriously, I do (continues to press button for Security.) We will discuss it 1st. thing in the morning

[jane gutowski]

Yes, and he gets extremely agitated over any new story relating to Palin and I hope for his own state of health he gets over it before she takes on Obama in the next Presidential election.

[madisonhack]

We are counting on Obama running against some clown, any clown, that you Irrelephants come up with.

[pricespector]

Matthew's plug for her book probably just put a million copies on the wait list. Palin is probably thrilled!

[pricespector]

Matthew's comments smack of envy. What a lo ser. I'm sure he'll be really upset when it's on the bestseller list. BTW, nobody actually PHYSICALLY writes their own books these days.

[conservativelady]

Since Palin has a degree in Journalism she should write her own book. Palin shouldn't need to "collaborate" to write a book.

[lenoirlady]

Ah Yes, her degree in n journalism - - - - hmhmhmhm?

[TXOBAMAGIRL73]

The degree that took her 6yrs and 6 schools to obtain....Being that she was such the Rhodes Scholar this should be a Pulitzer Prize winning endeavor! You betcha!!!

[madisonhack]

Why do you think she changed schools so often? You don't have to go to classes to complete coursework or to graduate, but you do have to WRITE PAPERS. And then, there are those pesky blue book exams....