Palin Taking Over

Online Presence

Twitter: @SarahPalinUSA

         Tweets: 2,494

         Following: 137

         Followers: 1.13M

         Joined: August 2009

Her Twitter is connected to her Facebook, so it looks like yes she is posting almost everyday but they are posts from her Facebook page. It looks like she is retweeting things about herself every once in awhile and it looks like she participated in the “#IAFreedomSummit” but other than just a few tweets here and there she doesn’t look as active on Twitter as she should be.

Facebook: Sarah Palin Facebook Page

         Likes: 4,530,673

Her Facebook page picture is a nice picture of herself with mountains behind it (not wearing a suit or formal clothes). Her cover photo is an ad for her Sarah Palin Channel. She is very active on her Facebook more than her other media sites. She is adding links for videos and to articles about her while also adding her own opinion. Her page may be active but it does not look like it is active for any type of election yet. 

Instagram: None

         Palin may not have an Instagram account but her children do and the media has taken a focus to them.

YouTube: Sarah Palin YouTube Channel

         Subscribers: 5,156

Her YouTube channel has videos from her 2007 Governor State Address, 2010 Denver, CO Governor Speech, 2009 State Address. These videos were uploaded 4 years ago, then she has videos of what she has been doing and what she has accomplished. She seems to be lacking and letting her channel just sit there. She is not active much at all, her last video was posted 3 months ago. 

Pinterest: Sarah Palin Pinterest

         Boards: 5

         Pins: 34

         Followers: 21

         Following: 6

Pinterest was really popular in 2012 and is still very popular. Her 5 board names are “Mamma Grizzly and Her Cubs” this board is directed at showing us her family and gives us an insight about her life. “Fighting the Good Fight” this board is directed to show her stand on some issues and those that support American values. “Words I Live By” this board has many pictures that has quotes that she has said over time.

“The People I Fight For” this board is dedicated to American people and people who support her, like children, soldiers, and seniors. “Alaskans and our Home” is a board showing some pictures of Alaska and how pretty it is, since many people just think it is all snowy and cold. Each board has at least five posts in them, with captions and a little insight to what she stands for. She doesn’t seem to be as active on Pinterest but it does let us know her better.

Website: SarahPAC & SPC

         Her website is set up to give you information and it is appealing to the eye. It allows you to be interactive and share things with your social media sites. She has links to “about”, “her story”, “show your support”, “contact” and “contribute”. This allows you to keep up on all things Palin and keeps you connected with everything she is doing. It does not seem like she is as active on her site as much as she should be.

         Palin seems to be more active on her channel, she posts a lot of videos here and is active almost everyday. There is even a section “Sarah’s Picks” with a “quote of the day” which today is “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” – Francis Bacon. An image of the day, a word of the day, todays word is “Moxie- energy, pep, courage, determination”. Then she has a running clock of how many days are left in Obama’s Administration (700 days). Also a running clock of our national debt ($17,798,557,903,445.10) 

Tumblr:

         Palin is not have a tumblr account, but she is all over tumblr with gifs, quotes, and things that make fun of her more than support her. This could really hurt her campaign because there is such a negative view on Palin from all of this.

Overall:

         Overall Palin has many viral videos that her campaign staff did not post or create. Palin has become an internet meme, with her appearances on SNL and even her new “feud” with Taylor Swift. Everything she does or is involved in becomes known in every way. 

         For 2016 I believe that Palin needs to be more active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even Snapchat. If she really wants to connect with “our generation” she needs to get involved with social media. The more her name is coming out of peoples mouths the longer she will be around and be known. When people stop caring is when she will no longer be relevant.

Image and Issues

Public Image

         Sarah Palin’s public image was destroyed during the 2008 election. It was said that she was not smart enough to be in the White House, it was also said that she was “going rogue”. After it came out that Bristol (her eldest daughter) was “16 and pregnant” became an issue for her public image. It was also an issue of privacy and that families should be off limits. Obama had even said, “Bristol Palin’s pregnancy has no relevance to the governors performance.” There is no doubt that even now she is still under scrutiny. People are worried that she will make the Presidential race into a reality show. Palin will really want to focus on her issues and try to stay focused on what is important for her to be successful, not try to be everyone’s best friend and to keep a close eye on what is going on so she is not perceived as not capable or not fit to run.

Analysis

         Strengths, Palin has many strengths because she is widely known and she can connect with women and the mother demographic easily because she is a mom. She has become a household name which gives her the power to be more influential if used the right way. Her influence was illustrated when she boosted and endorsed dozens of successful congressional candidates.

         Weaknesses, with strength comes weakness, now since her name is known the more people know it seems the less they like about her. Her public missteps in response to the shooting in Tucson and President Obama’s State of the Union have further eroded her public support.

         Opportunities, Palin has many opportunities, because we have now had a Democrat in office for 2 terms, so people want change which can help her. It is also the right time for women to be elected to the White House so this could also help because we are looking for change.

         Threats, while there are things that could help she also has to deal with her image and what is going around in the public, yes many people love her but there is also a big group that does not like her. She will have to overcome this to be elected.

Issues

         Palin will need to cater to the minorities and a different sector of people if she wants to do well in this next election. She already has the support around her, she just needs to expand and gain those other votes. We all know that when it comes to gun control that Palin is just like the Texans, we are all about our right to be able to protect ourselves. She has also made it clear that she will want to overturn this because “young people are ObamaCare suckers: they must pay the bill”. Palin will also look for tax cuts, and try to get something done instead of just having people say they will do it but actually put a plan in place. Of course she will also run on family values, because she is a mother and is big into family, which will be a big point in this election also.

References: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-01-palin-daughter_N.htm

Get To Know Sarah

Background

            Sarah Palin, born February 11, 1964, in Sandpoint, Idaho. At the age of three months she moved to Wasilla, Alaska. Not only did Sarah graduate from Wasilla High School in 1982, she played basketball for the schools state championships team. After graduating she wore the crown of Miss Wasilla in 1984 and was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska contest. Sarah then went on to earn a bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. Palin eloped with high school sweetheart, Todd Palin, on August 29, 1988. They have five beautiful children together: Bristol, Willow, Piper, Track, and Trig.

Political Background

            Sarah entered the political arena in 1992 running on the Republican ticket, winning a seat on the Wasilla City Council by opposing tax hikes. Four years later she was elected mayor of Wasilla, knocking off three-term incumbent John Stein. As mayor she cut property taxes and reduced spending. In 2002, she ran her first statewide campaign for Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, but lost by fewer than 2,00 votes. Alaskan Governor Frank Murkowski appointed Palin to chair the states Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003, but she resigned a year later in protest over what she thought to be “lack of ethics” of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders. In 2006, Palin won the Republican primary for Governor and went on to win the general election November 2006, 49 percent to 41 percent. With this election Palin made history as the first female governor, as well as the youngest governor of Alaska. As governor she focused on education, public safety and transportation. John McCain picked Palin to be his Vice Presidential running mate on August 29, 2008; Palin became the second woman to run for Vice President on a U.S. major party ticket, and the first Republican female to do so. After they lost the presidential election Palin returned to Alaska and resumed her duties as governor. After a year she resigned as governor, and there were speculations that she would run for the 2012 Presidential campaign. July 2014 Palin created her own media enterprise, The Sarah Palin Channel.

Presidential

            As we have seen Palin was picked as the 2008 Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. From this we see that she has major potential to be in the White House. After stepping down she became associated with the Tea Party movement, which endorsed reduced government spending, lower taxes, and a closer adherence to the original U.S. Constitution. While also endorsing a handful of successful Tea Party candidates in the 2010 mid-term election. Palin also launched the “Pink Elephant Movement” to endorse female GOP candidates. As we have been told Palin has shown interest in the 2016 Presidential election, stating that she wants to see a female in the White House.

Reference: http://www.biography.com/people/sarah-palin-360398