Martin Eisenstadt’s Blog

I was looking through Sarah Palin’s book Going Rogue today, and one thing struck me: When she’s talking about going for a run at the Sedona debate prep, there’s a very blatant and specific product placement reference to her Japanese-made ASICS shoes (”I couldn’t wait to slip into my ASICS and work up a sweat.”).  In fact, the whole page sounds more than a little lurid.

Sure enough, she’s wearing ASICS shoes in those Runner’s World pics (including the now-controversial one on the cover of Newsweek, which Runner’s World now denies giving to them - apparently they came from Rapport, the photo agency who reps Anchorage photographer Brian Adams).

Then I see this - ASICS wins a Runner’s World “Shoe of the Year” award from just two weeks ago.

Follow the money.  Is Sarah on ASICS’ payroll as a sponsor?  Is that why she did the Runners World photo shoot in the first place (which at the time struck me as bizarre anyway).  Was she paid by ASICS while she was still governor? Remember, she only made $1.5 mil from the book deal - she must have gotten money elsewhere to make it worth her while to quit being governor. And through Todd and the snowmobiling thing, she’s no stranger to sports sponsorship. And if she never saw a dime, then she really IS an idiot.

As for Runner’s World, I suspect that their editorial staff is more than happy to please an advertiser and wouldn’t have been shy about quids, pros, or quos. The issue is if they paid the photographer, then they would have owned the rights and not given the photo to Newsweek.  They claim Newsweek got the photo from Rapport.  So the real question is… who owns the rights and who paid for the photo shoot?

And here’s the best part. The Anchorage photographer who shot the RunnersWorld pics of Sarah also shot a photo spread of Levi Johnston (no, not for Playgirl), but one for London’s The Guardian (aka, the Playgirl of serious British newspapers). And one of the pics also shows up on the inside pages of the same Newsweek.

At the end of the day, this might just be the case of an over-eager ghost writer (Lynn Vincent) who wanted to puff up the running story with a detail about the shoes that she picked up from the original Runners World story itself. At the very least, this is an example of a book rushed to publication for Christmas sales and never vetted… which is kind of what happened to Sarah herself.

Sarah’s book opens with a touching dedication that begins with the words: “Dedicated to all Patriots who share my love of the United States of America.” And by Patriots, I take it she means “Japanese.”

UPDATE 11/19: Word now breaks from AOL’s Daily Finance site that Runners World claims photog Adams breached one-year embargo to reuse photo.  Still begs the questions of who owns the photo, who paid for the photo shoot, and why does Runner’s World care?  Are they being pressured by their big advertiser and Palin booster ASICS? Or maybe by Palin or her rabid fans themselves? Or maybe they just can’t handle all the attention and name recognition they just got? Look, I don’t know the answers, but I do know something’s hinky going on, and that I was the first one to report it.

On Thursday night, I was at Lou Dobbs’ going away party and snagged his advance copy of Sarah Palin’s new book Going Rogue. The book may have a lot going for it, but an index apparently isn’t one of them. Now I don’t like to be meanspirited, but despite Sarah’s school-marmish good looks, I can tell you she does not have the library science or alphabetizing skills of say, Laura Bush. This is one of many issues I address in a video I shot in Georgetown with my assistant Danny Sadler.  Maybe in Alaska with those long winter nights, people have time to read books, Sarah, but not here in Washington.

I also responds to her claims in the book that the rumor about her not knowing Africa was a continent was taken out of context and leaked by McCain loyalists (”I never said you said Africa was a country not a continent; I said you said Africa SHOULD be a country not a continent”).  And yes, I reveal that the reason the RNC paid for silk boxer shorts for Todd Palin during the Palin’s $150,000 shopping spree is because he’s “hung like a walrus” and needed the extra wiggle room.  For those of you who have already read my book, I Am Martin Eisenstadt: One Man’s (Wildly Inappropriate) Adventures with the Last Republicans which just came out from Farrar, Straus, Giroux, you’ll agree that much of what I say is alluded to in my book (which does have an index).

As an early advocate for war against Iraq and an original member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI), I’d be the first to admit that President Bush may have unveiled the “Mission Accomplished” banner a bit prematurely. There was still a lot of work to be done. But now that work is done and we might as well celebrate.  As of yesterday, our true mission for war in Iraq has been accomplished.  Exxon beat out Chinese and Russian consortiums for the contract to develop Iraq’s largest oil field, one of the biggest reserves on the planet. Thank you to all who sacrificed so much for this great achievement.

What an exciting day it was for me today.  While visting old colleagues on Capitol Hill, I bumped into my dear friend and mentor Senator Joe Lieberman. As readers of “I Am Martin Eisenstadt” can tell you, Joe and I share a special bond since it was Joe who suggested that I write my tell-all memoir in the first place. And it was Joe who put in the good word with John McCain that secured me such a prominent position in his campaign. So imagine my sense of kismet when I spotted Joe coming down the hallway while I exited Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska’s 7th floor office in the Hart Senate office building.

Just prior, I had been sitting in Ben’s study autographing a copy of my book when a bevy of “moderate” democrats looking all stern and secretive came barreling in. First Lincoln then Landrieu. After shooting me a dirty look, Landrieu reminded Ben that this pow wow was private. Apparently, Mary still hasn’t forgiven me for mistaking her for a street walker that overcast Mardi Gras night some years back. In my defense, I had been imbibing since the morning  and my drinking buddy David Vitter was egging me on. Not wanting to ruffle any feathers, I politely excused myself.

After departing Nelson’s office, I stopped to take a picture of myself for my blog. Which is when my good friend Holy Joe rolled through my frame on his way into Ben’s office.  Knowing my proclivity for spreading rumors, Joe put his finger on his mouth and instructed me not to tell anyone about this behind closed doors Blue Dog rendevous. When I asked Joe why all the secrecy, he winked, pinched me on the cheek and whispered “Wouldn’t you like to know? But that’s why I’m the Senator and you’re the pundit. I know. You guess.” So dear readers, allow me to guess. The “moderate” democrats met today behind closed doors in Ben Nelson’s office without press or staff to craft a healthcare “compromise” (Translation: kill the public option). You heard it here first. The Blue Dogs have made their decision: The public option is unacceptable for a democracy since one of the cornerstones of a free society is that if there are no losers, what’s the point in being a winner?