‘The Undefeated’ and Sarah Palin’s message for the GOP establishment
On Friday, metro Atlanta will be one of 10 spots in the country that will see the debut of “The Undefeated,” the glowing documentary of Sarah Palin.
The Palin movie will have an exclusive seven-day run at the AMC Barrett Commons theater complex off Barrett Parkway in Cobb County. Director Steve Bannon, a former investment banker turned filmmaker, is already in Atlanta and plans to be in Kennesaw tomorrow evening – possibly with a CNN crew.
"The Undefeated" director Steve Bannon/CRC Public Relations
We were able to catch Bannon for a brief chat this afternoon. The highlights are below:
Insider: The film is an hour and fifty-minutes long. Only at the 65-minute mark do you finish with experience as governor of Alaska. Why is that?
Bannon: Everybody comes into Sarah Palin’s story at the Republican convention, when she was selected [as the vice presidential nominee]. Here, you’re over an hour into the movie before you actually get to see that. That’s why the convention speech hits people that see it now so differently than then. Because then, we all thought it was performance art. Now, we see that she’s really telling us about herself.
Insider: I learned a lot about Alaskan energy policy.
Bannon: AMC and the distributor would have liked me to cut it down. But you don’t get the cathartic experience in Act Three until you have that level of granularity. The other thing was, I wanted to have a record. The reason I made this film was that I heard so many guys in Washington and on Wall Street denigrate this woman, and deride her for her lack of intelligence, her lack of capacity, her lack of capability.
And to be brutally frank, as you’ve seen this kabuki theater were watching this week on the debt negotiations – it’s all just a bunch of hooey. They’re not really talking about real cuts. They’re not talking about solutions.
….This woman is a woman of extraordinary confidence. Certainly, pound for pound, as good as the guys that were deriding her. And that’s why I wanted to make it. And in making it – that Act Two is like a Harvard Business School case study about a turnaround and a restructuring. And it’s complicated. But one of the points was she didn’t take on school uniform issues. She took on the tough, intractable, Gordian-knot issues.
Insider: I was most interested in the last 15 minutes in the film, where you outlined how Palin had been snubbed by the Republican establishment. One of the voices in the film, Andrew Breitbart, refers to the GOP hierarchy as “eunuchs.”
Bannon: It’s worse than snubbed. I think that’s why there’s a lot of seething discontent below the surface in the Republican party and the conservative movement. I tried to pull the camera back, [and] put Governor Palin and her career in some sort of perspective. I chose [Mark] Levin, Breitbart, and [Tammy] Bruce for a specific reason.
….There’s a big disconnect. There are certain of us in the conservative movement, in the tea party movement, that think the tea party movement is in direct lineage with Governor Reagan’s and President Reagan’s revolution. The Bush Republican establishment think [the tea party movement] stems directly from [1992 third-party presidential candidate] Ross Perot. And that’s why they’re so distrustful of it. The Perot fiasco is why Bush 41 went back to Kennebunkport four years early.
They see it not as a good thing, but as a thing that has to be controlled, a thing to be feared….
It’s very important, before we can take on President Obama, who I think has a very well-defined, progressive, liberal philosophy – I don’t think there’s a coherent, counter-philosophy on our side of the football. I think the Republican establishment, as they’ve proven in 2002 and 2008, is just a slow walk to the same statism. And I think that’s what the tea party revolt is all about. We need a primary like we had in 1976. We need a fight for the heart and soul of the conservative movement.
Insider: How much does the film represent Palin’s thinking?
Bannon: Governor Palin has been on the record….saying she loves it, and she wants everyone in the country to see it. It energizes her. She loves the film and it speaks for her team. Though I’m the writer and director – every time someone asks her, she says she really agrees with what’s in the film.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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112 comments Add your comment
Frederick Douglass
July 15th, 2011
8:58 am
You might be onto something Rick Patel, maybe Palin could take her tired act to Bollywood, and while she’s there, she could restore peace, prosperity, and power to India. 14.5 minutes of Ms. Palin’s 15 minutes of fame has already expired in this country.
kc
July 15th, 2011
9:11 am
section9 would qualify for section 8 military discharge, and patel has got to be the dullest knife in drawer with his palin admiration….she’s nothing but a carny
td
July 15th, 2011
9:13 am
ByteMe
July 15th, 2011
6:10 am
“You don’t have to fear something to dislike it”
So what you are saying is that you and most liberals dislike all strong conservative women. I do not think the evidence shows “dislike”. The liberal media and bloggers sure are pretty vicious anytime a strong conservative woman steps onto the national stage. This would not happen if there was only a dislike. I think I will stick to my fear analogy because it is closer to the truth.
candi
July 15th, 2011
9:20 am
Hey, y’all, td has got to be kidding us. Nobody is that stupid.
TLamar
July 15th, 2011
9:41 am
Anyone with any education wouldn’t give this ignorant woman anymore money than she is already making off other ignorant undeducated people. I wouldn’t vote her to be a dog catcher or anything else for that matter. And for the President it’s only laughable at best that people will go to see this movie. And for all of you who want to take back the country are mad and you feel that the country has been taken by a Harvard educated Black man and you people still and understand how it happen. Well, allow me to explain how it happpen, we stood in line for hours and we will stand in line for several more hours and we will send money to his re-election campaign. Go OBAMA!
Michael
July 15th, 2011
9:50 am
It appears all the initial comments are by Rs complaining about how the Ds will criticize the liberal article even though the Rs evidently have not read the article. How Palinesque. Just bash the media. And in this instance, the liberal sister paper of extremist WSB Radio.
I swear Boortz used to be funny until he got nationally syndicated and then everything became about Pelosi, Washington, blah, blah, blah.
Ghost Rider
July 15th, 2011
10:18 am
TLamar:
“man and you people still and understand how it happen. Well, allow me to explain how it happpen, we stood in line for hours and we will stand in line for several more hours and we will send money to his re-election campaign. Go OBAMA!”
Yes, there are many of us who wonder how it happened. I would venture to say that many who voted for him never read his books thus didn’t realize his true racist nature.
From Dreams From My Father:
“I ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.”
From Dreams From My Father :
“I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s race.”
From Dreams From My Father:
“There was something about her that made me wary, a little too sure of herself, maybe and white.”
From Dreams From My Father:
“It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.”
From Dreams From My Father:
“I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself: the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.”
From Audacity of Hope:j
“I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
reebok
July 15th, 2011
10:35 am
‘undefeated’ is an interesting descriptive for a person who got her @$$ handed to her in the only national campaign she’s ever been in.
Julie
July 15th, 2011
10:43 am
How much you want to bet very few show up for the film, like in conservative Orange County. Palin’s a has been who’s trying to milk her over-extended 15 minutes of fame.
gooolllly!
July 15th, 2011
10:46 am
I’ve known plenty of mayors-good mayors. None of them would come close to having the ability to be president. Oh, I am sure there are plenty of community organizers who should be president either, Obama did serve time (albeit short) in the Senate.
Palin is the personification of “the Peter Principle”
John K
July 15th, 2011
10:47 am
Wait, what? She’s undefeated? Ok, I guess that’s technically true for the governor part, since she’s a quitter.
But I guess that means McCain is the radical leftist/socialist/marxist/Indonesian/Kenyan/Muslim/White-hating Christian and she’s the bumbling VP? (well, *that* part I can believe.)
huh?
July 15th, 2011
10:48 am
When she was being prepped for the debate with Joe Biden, the GOP staffers were shocked to learn that she didn’t know why there are two Koreas!
ByteMe
July 15th, 2011
10:51 am
So what you are saying is that you and most liberals dislike all strong conservative women.
Aw, td, reading comprehension much? You want to take a single opinion on my part and extend it to include everything you admire? Pathetic and silly.
Note that I only claim there’s one (possibly two) grifters currently in the race and that Palin would be the third. I’ll give you a hint: none of the grifters in the race are women at this time.
Rob Woodall Has Always Gotten His Healthcare for Free (but Paid By You), Yet he wants your grandparents to forgo food to pay out from their fixed income for healthcare
July 15th, 2011
10:52 am
Perhaps ‘The Unwilling to Complete’ is a more appropriate title.
Bailing on her term as governor… her bus tour….U of Hawaii at Hilo…. Hawaii Pacific U….North Idaho College….numerous speaking engagements
Someone above commented that Palin was the best public servant of our generation. That’s insane!!!! What were her compelling successes as Governor of Alaska, VP Candidate (although that’s not really serving) or Mayor of Wasila that impacted her generation? She’s a paid talking head like Mike Huckabee or Keith Olbermann. They’re not providing a public service, they are entertaining for big bucks.
Besides everyone knows that Larry “Wide Stance” Craig is this generation’s greatest public servant (rim shot)!!!!! Thank you..remember to tip the wait staff…goodnight everybody
JD
July 15th, 2011
10:56 am
Sorry FreedomLover241, Sarah Palin is not a public servant and I seriously doubt you spent any time perusing her work as mayor of Wasilla and the partial term she served as Governor before giving up. The person you, and 99% of America, knows is a political celebrity character that makes tons of money off of people like you buying her ghost-written books and attending her hate-rallies for $25 a ticket.
Yeah, some public servant.
carla roqs
July 15th, 2011
11:06 am
@Rick Patel
July 15th, 2011
8:31 am
“Bold, brilliant, movie-star beautiful Sarah Palin is strong, savvy and sensible enough to restore this country to peace, prosperity, & unprecedented power as President.”
run sarah, run. run newt run, run gospel singer run!! vote people, vote!
The Snark
July 15th, 2011
11:22 am
This is so typical of the delusional nature of the extreme right wing. Sarah Palin is anything but “undefeated.” She lost in 2008 — in fact, she may have cost McCain a huge part of the independent vote — and she quit partway through her one and only term as Governor. Palin can rightfully claim to be many things, but posturing as “undefeated” simply isn’t one of them.
double
July 15th, 2011
11:26 am
I would think the strongest woman out there would be a liberal,and should have been president.As for the conservative women I think Elizabeth Dole is still around.
TRUTH
July 15th, 2011
12:07 pm
Stop it, I say. Andrew Breibart, Levine?? These are the voices of reason??!! What’s funnier, its showing in COBB COUNTY!! That’s a bastion of open thinking. Why not show it in Buckhead?? Oh, my bad, just a bit liberal there…
And you folks are still waiting for $arah to announce her run for the Presidency, because she can win, you betcha.
Nancy: former republican
July 15th, 2011
12:07 pm
Never in my life have I had so much dislike and contempt for a fellow party member.Palin is the most ignorant,clueless,uneducated,stupid,manipulating,money hungry,lying,no-class,dumbbell, I have ever seen.She is the reason I switched partys.Anyone that could endorse the likes of this Moron truly does not deserve to be elected to ANYTHING. Hey Obama!! wait up
geez
July 15th, 2011
12:14 pm
I agree–I think Sarah Palin is prettier than Obama!
Buckhead Boy
July 15th, 2011
12:27 pm
I suspect that the devotees of Mrs. Palin cannot be deprogrammed through critical comment or reason. They have faith in her, just as Mrs. Palin had faith that merely counseling abstinence could prevent a teenage pregnancy in her family. Its sad that so many Republicans of today have abandoned Reagan’s “trust but verify” for polivangelism.
kc
July 15th, 2011
12:31 pm
nancy and buckhead, how true…..it’s like these folks are moonies or something
reebok
July 15th, 2011
12:31 pm
OK, I will concede that Palin is better-lloking than Obama. You win.
Clinton "Skink" Tyree
July 15th, 2011
12:36 pm
Ol’ TD would argue with a telephone pole. And, probably lose.
DW
July 15th, 2011
12:43 pm
TD is a total d0uchebag that should only be used for comic relief
blue_moon
July 15th, 2011
12:43 pm
Should be titled the ‘Undesired’
RGB
July 15th, 2011
12:43 pm
There’s your sign of someone who has trouble with facts. A 40% increase is not “doubled”.
That someone would not be troubled with a three-year, 40% increase in all the debt accumulated since this nation’s founding is reallytelling.
Re-elect Obama.
His next slogan: “America: The Next Greece”.
Romola Eaton
July 15th, 2011
12:52 pm
If Sarah Palin is so great,why does she exploit her children . Bristol is a prime example of what young girls ought not to be.
BJH
July 15th, 2011
1:06 pm
I didn’t even bother to read your blog/article Jim. Nothing against you, I just can’t stand Sarah Palin. I think she’s a pathetic excuse for a human being.
And no, I’m not a democrat.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
July 15th, 2011
1:07 pm
A cardboard cutout of Palin is more intelligent than Obama will ever be.” I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” Enough said
Frederick Douglass
July 15th, 2011
1:33 pm
Hasn’t this woman saved up enough to buy that two story double wide in the Wasilla suburbs yet?
Alabama Communist
July 15th, 2011
1:41 pm
More Breaking News On Big Palin Flick To The Masses……..In Kennesaw Georgia some preview fans saw the flick and said they were impress with the special effects where 1/2 Governor Sara Palin fights off the escape Alien Lizards from Area 51 and saves the day for the Republican Paradise to come…….
ByteMe
July 15th, 2011
2:01 pm
said they were impress with the special effects where 1/2 Governor Sara Palin fights off the escape Alien Lizards from Area 51 and saves the day for the Republican Paradise
Too bad that the people who believe this are also the same people who would have seen the movie anyway… conservative adolescent boys (not described by age, but my level of maturity).
ByteMe
July 15th, 2011
2:02 pm
Correction: …but BY level of maturity.
Sigh. Who switched the letters on my keyboard?
carla roqs
July 15th, 2011
2:18 pm
those conservative adolescent boys switched the letters on your keyboard, dear
Ghostrider
July 15th, 2011
2:30 pm
Palin is a complete idiot…she is such a moron
td
July 15th, 2011
2:38 pm
I see I must have hit a sore spot with some of my fan base. Like I have said a couple times on this blog in the past, the 2012 election is going to be won or lost on the vote of the white suburban women. They are the ones that fell for “Hope and Change” and now they will get to decide if what we have been given was the hope they wanted and the change they wanted.
Mike
July 15th, 2011
2:38 pm
Below is something somebody sent me months ago. It fits Sarah Palin very well.
Come ‘n listen to my story ’bout a gal named Palin
A poor soccer mom tryin’ to keep the jocks from nailin’
And then one day, she was shootin’ at some moose
And up through the ground come some septic tank sluice
Alaskan politics, Republican TEA
Well, the first thing you know, Sara’s a millionaire
Kinfolk said, Sara, move away from there!
Said, POX News is the place you oughta be
So they loaded up the truck and moved to the City
New York City. Movers. Shakers. People who read.
Well, now it’s time to say goodbye to Sara and all her kin
They would like to thank you folks for kindly droppin’ in
You’re all invited back again to this locality
To have a heapin’ helpin’ of their hospitality
Hillbilly, that is, set a spell, take your snowshoes off
Y’all come back now, you betcha!!
Mike
July 15th, 2011
2:49 pm
To Section 9 – When George Bush took office the US had a surplus. In his administration the national debt rose by $4.1 billion and Congress voted SEVEN times to raise the national debt limit. Why weren’t the Republicans complaining then?
td
July 15th, 2011
3:05 pm
Mike
July 15th, 2011
2:49 pm
Many Republicans complained each and every time. You obviously never listen to Rush. Just for your information and contrary to what the media would like you to believe, the Tea Party was formed after the 2006 election to fight against bankrupting the country.
Ghostrider
July 15th, 2011
3:05 pm
Why would anyone in their right mind, with a half a brain pay to see this movie.
Rob Woodall Has Always Gotten His Healthcare for Free (but Paid By You), Yet he wants your grandparents to forgo food to pay out from their fixed income for healthcare
July 15th, 2011
3:09 pm
Some dope posted: “”A cardboard cutout of Palin is more intelligent than Obama will ever be.” I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” Enough said”"
I’m not certain I understand what is “non-intelligent” about Obama’s statement about standing with Muslims if things turn ugly. I would expect that statement and behavior from any leader of the free world. If the lunatic fringe started spewing the hate towards Muslims I would expect a leader to lead and to denounce the hate speech, i.e., stand with the Muslims. Similarly I would expect it if there was Mormon-bashing, dropping of N-bombs, etc…..
Didn’t George Bush defend Islam as a religion of peace?
Didn’t Colin Powell ask “is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that is not America”.
Trying to paint Muslims with a extremist broad brush is at best uninformed but most likely they are assuming their audience is bigoted and they are catering to the lowest common denominator.
Clinton "Skink" Tyree
July 15th, 2011
3:19 pm
@td — The Tea Party was established when the super wealthy got together with a few of the Old Guard zealots and put together a plan to mobilize an army of disillusioned and naive “believers” that they could play like banjos, under the guise of a grassroots patriotic movement, to bring about the establishment of a plutocracy.
The middle class will soon be on the endangered species list!
And, so it goes. . . . . Pass the Kool-Aid and let them eat cake, too!
td
July 15th, 2011
3:41 pm
Clinton “Skink” Tyree
July 15th, 2011
3:19 pm
My friend you have been so brain washed that it is not even funny. You really believe it. You really need to broaden you horizons instead of watching MSNBC all day long.
kc
July 15th, 2011
4:11 pm
td you are so wrong again….tea party was developing long before 2006 because repubs knew W was unravelling the party….and my guess is that many middle americans support SOME of the tea party issues but are not as fanantical about it as apparently you are…and anyone who watches tv knows fox is a total sellout and msnbc a half ass sellout. but commenatators on msnbc gotta be smarter than the fox crowd….except maybe rove, dr evil’s twin brother
Mike
July 15th, 2011
4:15 pm
To Clinton “Skink” Tyree: What is so bad is that the Tea Party is holding the Republican Party hostage. The Republican Party is so scared of the Tea Party, it is just pathetic. The division between these two parties are going to bring both parties down. Just look at all the Republican idiots we have in the race for president. The Republican and Tea Party want the middle class to be an endangered species so that the millionares and billionaires will have more wealth to spread among themselves.
Clinton "Skink" Tyree
July 15th, 2011
4:30 pm
@td — I don’t need to watch TV or listen to AM radio to form my opinions.
In an era when employee salaries have remained static and even lost some gound over the past ten years and at the same time CEO compensation has escalated to a point where they make over 500 times the salary of the median employee, if you include stock options, then you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to realize something is severely out of order.
A disproportionate share of the nations wealth is being held by a small uber-wealthy ruling class. Something is wrong when Warren Buffet has a lower tax rate than his secretary — and that is the case because most of his income is taxed at a capital gains rate while the secretary is taxed an an income tax rate that is higher.
And, the ironic thing is the middle class has become advocates for this injustice and seek to enhance the advantages of the uber wealthy to the neglect of the middle-class. If you guys think a high tide raises all ships you need to look at the last decade and recognize the devastating trend that is taking place in the transfer of wealth in this country — and it’s not going to welfare moms, but to corporate and CEO welfare.
sfbllump
July 15th, 2011
4:56 pm
You have them scared to death, Sarah. They know you will beat Obama in a landslide.
are you kidding me?
July 15th, 2011
5:12 pm
anyone who pays to see this is an idiot. This country is truly effed-up.