Conservative blogger Erick Erickson over at RedState is having a lot of fun with what they’re calling “P-Day.” That’s the blog’s term for the last day of September, the final day Sarah Palin has said would pass without her making an announcement one way or another about her presidential campaign.
Obviously, no announcement has come, leading to mocking by the RedState gang. Palin’s fans, to put it mildly, are not happy.
Here’s the video of Palin talking with reporters at the Iowa State Fair Erickson cites when declaring P-Day, posted first to the San Francisco Chronicle:
At around 2:42, Palin has this exchange (transcribed by Erickson at RedState):
Palin says, “”I have said that that August to September time line is important for a number of reasons.”
I believe it is Jake Tapper in the blue shirt who then asks her “So by next month?” which would be September.
Her response?
“I think that practically speaking that would have to be it, that drop dead date. Also, in fairness to supporters who are standing on the sidelines, this is what I’ve told Todd over and over again, I don’t want to be perceived as stringing people along.”
Taking that line literally — and the the day’s date in hand — Erickson began putting up short posts like this one: “It is 11am ET. It’s 7am in Wasilla, AK. Still no Sarah Palin announcement.”
And there doesn’t seem to be one coming. If anything, Palin appears to be backing farther away from a campaign than ever. On Fox News the other night, she openly worried if running for president would “shackle” her and prevent her from being “a maverick.”
In the interview, Palin said she was still considering her moves — but acknowledged, “For logistical reasons though, certainly, decisions have to be made. You have to get your ducks lined up in order to get your name on ballots.”
As my colleague Benjy Sarlin has reported, Palin doesn’t have long to make a decision — she’ll pocket veto the whole thing if she stays out much beyond Oct. 15 or so.
Nevertheless, Paliniacs were not happy with Erickson’s reminder that P-Day is upon us. From his post entitled: “BREAKING NEWS: PALIN SUPPORTERS CLAIM SHE NEVER SAID IT OR MEANT IT OR SOMETHING”:
Palin supporters want us to know that despite Sarah Palin saying that she’d decide by the end of September and despite Sarah Palin fan sites at the beginning of the month saying she’d announce by the end of the month, it wasn’t actually Palin talking in “voice of God” talk, but rather a non-binding advisory opinion. On the same day she said September was a “drop dead date” she told David Brody it could be October.
“This must be like when the Pope says something, but doesn’t require that all Catholics go along with it and the Pope himself can change his mind,” Erickson writes.
