Making Book on Palin

As deadlines near for filing to get on the ballot, the most peculiar Republican candidate of them all is running (or not) true to form-—in all directions.

The chief of Sarah Palin’s PAC is panhandling supporters by telling them time is “running out,” that “someone must save our nation from this road to European socialism” and she is “on the verge of making her decision of whether or not to run for office.”

In Palinspeak, this is either a last bid for bucks before the Tease ends with a retreat to Rupert Murdoch Moneyland (or not).

If it were anyone else, the decision to threaten Joe McGinniss with legal action over a book that he himself complains is dying for lack of media attention is odd for someone who is running and wants to put its nasty stuff behind her.

Palin’s lawyer cites an alleged McGinniss e-mail in which he tells his publisher that “nothing I can cite other than my own reporting rises above the level of tawdry gossip. The proof is always just around the corner, but that is a corner nobody has been able to turn.”

In the Palin circle, where the world revolves about her, this may be a compulsory denial for the faithful, but in reality, it only serves to call renewed attention to its “revelations.”

All this recalls other shoot-yourself-in-the foot moments such as Palin's complaint that that she was the victim of a “blood libel” after her rhetoric was criticized for contributing to the atmosphere that led to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona earlier this year.

But protesting too much is a hallmark of the Palin style so it’s safe to say that she is either running for President or not, suing Joe McGinniss or not, but certainly not retreating into monastic silence.