(Thumbnail image: Oprah)

“The campaign said ‘Right on, good.  You’re showing your independence.  This is what America needs to see, and it was a good interview.’  And of course I’m thinking, ‘If you thought that was a good interview, I don’t know what a bad interview was.’  Because I knew it wasn’t a good interview.” (CNN)

That was Sarah Palin talking to Oprah about one of her campaign lows, when she botched a big interview with Katie Couric.  The former Governor and VP candidate has been making headlines with her talk show appearances and some nasty accusations about campaign staffers.  But is all the coverage working for or against Palin?

We’re taking a look at perspectives from CNN, ABC News, FOX News, MSNBC and NBC News.

First, conservative commentator David Brooks said on ABC’s This Week that Palin’s more likely to host a chat-fest than a White House dinner.  

“Yeah, she’s a joke.  I just can’t take her seriously.  We’ve got serious problems in the country.  Barack Obama is trying to handle war.  We just had a guy elected Virginia Governor who’s probably the model for the future of the Republican Party, Bob McDonnell, pretty serious guy, pragmatic, calm, kind of boring.  The idea that this potential talk show host is considered seriously for the Republican nomination, believe me, it will never happen.  Republican primary voters are just not going to elect a talk show host.”

On CNN, liberal and conservative analysts disagreed over Palin’s readiness and future role in the GOP.

“In many instances, she was probably mistreated.  But the underlying truth of this that cannot be denied is she has no business around the office Vice President or President, and that was her problem from the beginning.  And now she’s mad at McCain and the McCain people.  They gave her the opportunity of her life.

“One thing to keep in mind with her is that she’s relevant.  It is unavoidable.  She is influencing the debate not only on health care, she’s influencing on candidates.  You saw the conservative party in the New York 23; she shed light on that.  She’s also raising considerable amounts of money.”

On FOX News, conservative writer Matthew Continetti says Palin’s media blitz is part of a large and successful strategy to win over moderate voters.  

“She’s already starting to do it and that’s by speaking directly to her supporters. Now the book is part of that.  She’s going to do the big name interviews and that’s going to humanize her a little bit.  But the real thing that’s happening under the radar are these direct communications on Facebook and Twitter.”

Over on MSNBC, the hosts of Morning Joe shared a laugh over a juicy passage in the former Governor’s book and a comparison Newt Gingrich drew between the Palin and Ronald Reagan.

“Preach sister, preach.  Dang I thought.  Divorce Todd?  Have you seen Todd?”

“You can’t compare her to Ronald Reagan.  Oh my god!  Ronald Reagan was forming his philosophy over 40 years.  Sarah Palin formed it over a pancake breakfast.”

But according to a pundit on NBC’s Today Show, Ronald Reagan could very well be Palin’s role model in her bid to be a 2012 presidential candidate.

“My hunch is that she probably has ringing in her ears those words ‘let Reagan be Reagan’ and trying to convince the American people that if only the McCain campaign had allowed Palin to be Palin, we would have seen a different side of her.  But in the end, I don’t know that she’s any Reagan.  My hunch is that she’s probably not Ronald Reagan and she won’t be able to meet that litmus test.”

So what do you think?  Will Sarah Palin be successful in shoring up support in moderates, or is she setting herself up to be a political joke?

Writer: Chance Seales

Producer: Ben Paul