The Week: Palin Up; Obama Down

Former Governor Sarah Palin has had a smashingly good week.

Her 432 page memoir Going Rogue: An American Life has taken the #1 sales spot at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble almost since the moment its publication date was announced. Going Rogue is still a month and a half from release, but lack of a finished product ready to sell has not hurt sales.

Palin has given no interviews on the book--or on anything else. Just the bare mention of the book's November release date fueled a flurry of interest and buyers sufficient to overtake all the other books on the market.

This success follows hard on the heels of Palin's well received speech given less than two weeks ago in Hong Kong--her first as a public speaker since leaving the governorship. The speech received widespread coverage in the press even though the event was closed to the press and Governor Palin gave no interviews.

Compare that with President Obama's week. He's everywhere--even flying to Copenhagen (with Michelle--though on separate planes) to woo the International Olympic Committee. You name it--he's doing it. And he is the president of the most powerful nation in the world.

What does he have to show for the effort?

Chicago came in dead last among the Olympic city competitors. It was, as The Washington Times noted, "a very public humbling experience" for President Obama:

President Obama's failed Olympic gambit Friday was a blow to his image on the world stage and a very public humbling experience for a man who has grown unaccustomed to losing elections.

After carving out 20 hours to try and secure the games for his hometown of Chicago - about 15 of them spent in the air between Washington and Copenhagen, where the International Olympic Committee ultimately voted for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Summer Olympics - Mr. Obama emerged sheepishly from Marine One Friday afternoon and loped, head down, across the South Lawn.

(But President Obama was a good sport. Obama called the winner, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, twice from Air Force One to congratulate Lula. The second call came after the first call went dead because of air turbulence.)

Then there's the health care bill. This week the Senate Finance Committee rejected two amendments to include a government-run public health insurance option. Committee Republicans were joined by moderate Democrats in the vote. This despite President Obama's high powered plea last month in a rare presidential address (aside from the president's annual State of the Union address) to a joint session of Congress.

And, of course, despite Obama's $787 billion stimulus package signed in February to jump start the economy, it was announced Friday that the nation's unemployment rate has now risen to 9.8%--highest it has been since June, 1983.

A great week for Governor Palin without any effort. A very bad, no good week for President Obama despite a whirlwind of activity. Maybe she could beat him in a race.