With decision looming, Sarah Palin braces for tell-all treatment

Sarah Palin was on TV the other night, chatting with Fox host Greta Van Susteren about the latest GOP debate and the president’s new jobs plan. As usual, Van Susteren tried to nail her down about the future.

What, finally, was Palin’s timeline for deciding whether to enter the presidential race?

It was clear from Palin’s answer that even Palin is getting tired of her indecision.

“I still have that same old dopey, same old answer that I’m sure you guys are getting sick of hearing, and that is I’m still thinking about it, praying about it, contemplating, talking to my family,” said Palin. “I’m sick of giving the same answer, believe me. I’m anxious to give an answer and get on with life one way or the other.”

No matter what she decides, the next couple of weeks will bring a barrage of unwelcome publicity to the former Alaska governor. Two books and one documentary by a well-known British filmmaker, none sympathetic, are on the verge of release.

A New York Times review posted ahead of the embargo date for journalist Joe McGinniss’ book was not kind: “Although most of ‘The Rogue’ is dated, petty and easily available to anyone with Internet access, Mr. McGinniss used his time in Alaska to chase caustic, unsubstantiated gossip about the Palins, often from unnamed sources like ‘one resident’ and ‘a friend.’”

The second book, “Deer in the Headlights,” is by Levi Johnston, the ex-boyfriend who won’t go away. Johnston is the father of Palin’s grandson from a high school romance with her daughter Bristol.

Meanwhile, filmmaker Nick Broomfield spent some months in Palin’s hometown last year disguised as Elmer Fudd, walking around in his flappy hat and plaid shirt with a boom microphone trying to get Wasillans to dish on Palin.

Broomfield befriends Palin’s parents, Chuck and Sally Heath, and seems to think that Chuck Heath, whose dumb-like-a-fox act is obvious to everyone but Broomfield, will put in a good word with Sarah for an interview.

It never happens, especially not after Chuck Heath gets wind that Broomfield is talking to people that don’t like his daughter.

“Sarah Palin: You Betcha!” is a kind of bookend to “The Undefeated,” Steve Bannon’s recent uncritical documentary about Palin’s record as governor. Broomfield mostly ignores Palin’s work as Wasilla mayor and governor.

He interviews neighbors-turned-enemies and wounded former staffers who feel they’ve been thrown under that now-clichéd bus. None of her non-estranged friends or former high school classmates would talk to him. In fact, Broomfield has to go all the way to Alexandria, Egypt, to find a former classmate willing to chat about Palin.

Broomfield builds a case that Palin is a product of an ultra-religious small town given to robust fight-picking, a trait she has not shed as her fame has grown.

He describes Troopergate -- the catch-all phrase for Palin’s efforts to get a former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper-- as “a family feud that took over her governorship” and says “the Heath-Palins had so many feuds going in the community it was hard to keep track of.”

Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s chief strategist who championed Palin as McCain’s vice president, and has since clashed repeatedly with her, also turns up.

“This is a person that’s literally in the middle of 40, 50, 60 different feuds,” Schmidt tells Broomfield.

“She’ll fight with anybody. That this is the character of someone who aspires to the American presidency, I find spine-chilling.”

Through a spokesperson, Todd Palin issued a statement on the claims in McGinniss’ new book.

“This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife. His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo, and smears,” he said, also citing the New York Times’ review.