Palin to media: Leave my kids alone

updated 5:58 p.m. ET Jan. 21, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, is going on the offensive against news organizations and bloggers she says are perpetuating malicious gossip about her and her children.

But political observers say Palin can't have it both ways: trotting out the children to showcase her family values, then trying to shield them from scrutiny.

Palin's criticism also raises questions about her motivations because she has said she is open to a presidential run in 2012.

"I think she's positioning herself. She's attacking the media as a way to generate support among a base she hopes will support her," said Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communications at American University in Washington and an expert on the presidency.

Palin shied away from interviews during the campaign, although her children often accompanied her on her travels, including her oldest daughter, Bristol, who was pregnant at the time.

Disputes 'high school dropout' label
But in recent weeks, she has personally reached out to media outlets such as People magazine and The Associated Press to complain about information she claimed is wrong.

She slammed reports that 18-year-old Bristol Palin and the teen's fiance are high school dropouts. The governor insists the two are not dropouts because they enrolled in correspondence courses.

The couple last month had a son — the governor's first grandchild.

The governor said she is speaking out to set the record straight, not because of any political aspirations.

"It's all about the family," she said. "I'm wired in a way that I can take the criticism. I can take the shots. But any mother would want to protect their children from lies and scandalous reporting."

In a Jan. 5 interview with conservative filmmaker John Ziegler, Palin also questioned whether Caroline Kennedy's quest for a New York Senate seat was as heavily scrutinized as her vice presidential campaign.

When her comments were reported, she chastised journalists for taking her remarks "out of context to create adversarial situations."

Trying to keep her name in the spotlight?
Steinhorn and other experts believe the first-term governor is engaged in a campaign to keep her name in the spotlight. A newcomer to national politics when she was nominated, Palin energized the Republican base but also attracted intense criticism that she had little substance.

"I think she's exploiting and cultivating the anti-intellectual and anti-elitist side of the Republican party," Steinhorn said. "She's trying to salvage her reputation, so she attacks the messenger."

Palin's grievances include what she calls "false stories" such as a talk show host's suggestion that she helped Levi Johnston get a job in Alaska's North Slope oil fields, circumventing eligibility rules since he does not have a high school diploma.

Johnston's father, an engineer for an oil-field services company, has said his position accounted for any help Levi received in getting the apprenticeship job.

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Bailout for Main Street instead of Wall Street? Accepting peace prize, Obama defends war Analysis of Obama speech: Take that, Cheney Full text of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech Lawmakers move to block mining of Rx data 'Framework' for climate bill unveiled Stolen e-mails embolden warming skeptics Jeweler says gate-crasher’s watch a fake Unions pressure Dems on health insurance tax Internet users lured to oppose health bills Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: