Palin in Grand Rapids: Newsweek photo was 'quite cheesy'

The Detroit Free Press had a reporter blogging on the scene when the governor arrived for the first stop of the Going Rogue tour:

Palin comes out of the bus, clad in a red and black jacket and black skirt and carrying her son Trig. She tells the people gathered outside that she was thrilled to be back in Michigan.
"Alaska and Michigan have so much in common with the huntin' and the fishin' and the hockey moms," she said "This is the heart of industry in America."
She also answered random questions from the media as she made her way from the outside stage to the bookstore. She said she thought the new mammogram guidelines set a dangerous precedent.
And she also said that the Newsweek cover photo of her in a pair of shorts was "quite cheesy. I never would have posed for Newsweek like that."

Notice that Palin is actually good at handling "random questions from the media," which goes back to the idiotic decision of Team Maverick to seal her inside a bubble during the campaign. When I first went to see her on the campaign trail in Ohio ("Sweetheart of the Heartland," American Spectator, Sept. 10, 2008) everybody in the press corps was asking, "Will there be an availability?" -- which is campaign lingo for a candidate press conference -- and we were told no.

That decision made no sense whatsoever. I went out three times to cover Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, and on two of those occasions -- Greensburgh, Pa., and Shepherdstown, W.Va., there was a press availability.

Why GOP operatives try that stupid "hide the candidate" game, I don't know. It's supposed to be about "message discipline," but it always seems to backfire by turning the media against the candidate. My theory: Most GOP "media strategists" have never worked a day as a reporter, and thus can't see things from the reporter's perspective.

It's very difficult for reporters to cover a campaign if all they get are press releases, scripted speeches and statements from campaign staffers. If they never have a chance to get spontaneous fresh quotes from the candidate, reporters begin to resent the campaign they're covering and that resentment will inevitably come out in their coverage.

At any rate, if and when Palin next goes on the campaign trail, I hope she'll make sure to avoid the "bubble" approach.

Michigan gets Palin-mania!

Sarah Palin's Going Rogue book tour brings her to Grand Rapids today. Her book-signing begins at 6 p.m., but WWMT reports that people are already lining up:

People were lining up early in Grand Rapids for their chance to meet former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. . . .
She's kicking off her book signing tour Wednesday at Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids.
It is expected to be a packed house at Barnes and Noble in Grand Rapids and if you want in on the action workers say you'll want to be there early.

People lining up hours before the book signing? "Packed house"? Gee, you'd almost get the idea that Palin was popular or something.

Meanwhile, William Jacobson notes that flying pigs have been spotted near the offices of Media Matters.

Palin fans in Indiana and Ohio might want to grab your sleeping bags and start camping out now in front of bookstores. Hoosiers will get their dose of Palin-mania Thursday when Sarah comes to in Fort Wayne (noon) and Noblesville (6 p.m.), while Buckeyes can catch the fever Friday in Cincinnati (noon) and Columbus (6 p.m.).

UPDATE: Detroit Free Press reports that 500 camped out overnight in the freezing cold, and there were 1,500 in line at 7 a.m. when the Barnes & Noble staff started handing out wrist bands. ("What is this, a Phish concert?") Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Most authors would be pleased to get 1500 people in total to show up for a book tour. (Heck, most authors would kill to sell 1500 books.) Even the Lord of the Rings openings didn’t attract 1500 fans for a 7 am show. Star Wars didn’t get this kind of response.

Her popularity drives the media crazy.

UPDATE II: The Blogprof observes that the MSM seem reluctant to show photos of the crowd in Grand Rapids. Fortunately, my Twitter friend Insider7 is on the scene:

But . . . Palin is so unpopular! The MSM have polls that say so! In related news, Dan Riehl says he wouldn't camp out all night to date an 18-year-old cheerleader. (But they'd camp out for a date with Dan.)