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Small Business Spotlight: Spartea, combines a day spa with tea parties – WBAL TV Baltimore

Small Business Spotlight: Spartea, combines a day spa with tea parties

Updated: 6:08 PM EST Feb 7, 2021

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COULD ARRIVE. SO KEEP CHECKING THE FORECAST. LISA: THIS IS SPAR T, THE PINK DOOR DAY SPA FOR GIRLS. THIS IS THE OWNER, SERRITA MURRAY. COME IN. WHAT A GREAT IDEA FOR A BUSINESS. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS? >> SO SPARTY ORIGINATED FROM 16, ALMOST 17-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER. I ADOPTED HER FOUR YEARS AGO. SO WE HAD TWO GREAT THINGS TO CELEBRATE. WE'RE CELEBRATING HER ADOPTION AND HER FOURTH BIRTHDAY. SO BECAUSE IT'S ME, I HAD TO BE UNIQUE AND OUT OF THE BOX AND WE DECIDED TO DO A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR HER. WE WANTED TO DO A SPA BIRTHDAY PARTY. ALONG WITH THAT, I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING UNIQUE. WE DECIDED TO DO A TEA PARTY. SO THE SPA, WE DID THEIR NAILS, THEY GOT PEDICURES. THEY MADE BRACELETS AND THEN AT THE END OF THE PARTY, WE ENDED WITH A TEA PARTY. HAVING SAID THAT, I THOUGHT THIS IS A GOOD CONCEPT. THE PARENTS DROP THE KIDS OFF TO MY HOME. THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. THE GIRLS HAD A GREAT TIME. I THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE ON TO SOMETHING HERE. >> SO YOU HAVE THIS GORGEOUS SHOP. SO WHAT HAPPENS OVER HERE? YOU GET DIFFERENT PACKAGES. THE GIRLS CAN COME IN -- >> SO SPAR-TEA, IF YOU LOOK AT THE NAM, IT'S SPAR AND THEN YOU SEE THE PAR, AND THEN YOU SEE THE TEA. ALL PUT TOGETHER, IT'S A SPA TEA PARTY. THE DIFFERENT PACKAGES, CANVAS PAINTING, YOGA, ZUMBA, SLIME, OR JEWELRY BEADING. AFTER THE GIRLS GET FINISHED WITH THE FIRST PART OF THE SERVICES, THEY GET LITTLE NANIS AND PEDDIES. WE DON'T DO CUTTING OF CUTICLES OR ACRYLICS. IT'S FOR LITTLE GIRLS. WE SOAK, CLEAN, POLISH. AFTER THE NAILS ARE DONE AND THEY'VE PAINTED AND DID SLIME OR YOGA, IN THE BACK ROOM WE DO A HAND AND FOOT MASSAGE, ALL PRETEND NO DEEP TISSUE. A LITTLE HAND MASSAGER AND THE GIRLS LOVE IT. THAT'S PROBABLY THE FUNNIEST PART FOR THE GIRLS. THEY'RE DYING LAUGHING, SCREAMING AT THIS POINT THAT THEY'RE GETTING A MASSAGE. AFTER WE GET FINISHED WITH EVERYTHING, WE SIT DOWN TO THE TABLE HERE AND WE DO A FRUIT AND VEGGIE PLATTER, FOLLOWED BY CUP CAKES AND TEA AND HAVE A TEA PARTY. LISA: SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF FUN. WHAT DO THE PACKAGES START AT? >> THEY START AT ABOUT 650 AND GO TO 675 FOR THE FULL BIRTHDAY PARTY. INCLUSIVE. WE DO EVERYTHING FROM THE INHAVE ITATIONS TO THE CAKE, THE TEE, THE DECO, ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGE. LISA: COME HERE AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO CLEAN ANYTHING UP. >> YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. WE DO IT ALL. LISA: IN THIS TIME OF COVID, HOW ARE YOU MAKING SURE EVERYBODY IS SOCIALLY DISTANCED. YOU HAVE A LOT OF MOMMY AND ME THINGS GOING ON NOW. >> SO, UNFORTUNATELY, WITH COVID, WE'RE NOT DOING THE VERY LARGE PARTIES LIKE WE USED TO. THEY ARE STILL AN OPTION IF PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO. BUT WE'RE DOING A LOT OF MOMMY AND ME EVENTS. MOMMY AND ANY SPA DAY. SOME MOMS COME IN, EITHER BEAD JEWELRY, MAKE SLIME OR CANVAS PAINT WITH THEIR DAUGHTERS AND THEY GET THE MANI AND PEDI. THE WHOLE TIME THEY'RE HERE, THEY'RE HAVING MASKS ON. WHEN THEY SIT DOWN, BECAUSE WITH THE PLAY DATE, AFTER YOU GET -- WHILE YOUR NAILS ARE DRIVING, WE SEND YOU LEMONADE IN A CHAMPAGNE FLAUT AND A SNACK. THEY'RE SITTING TOGETHER, DRINKING LEMONADE OUT OF A CHAMPAGNE FLUTE, HAVING SNACKS WITH MOM. THEY TAKE OFF THEIR MASKS, BUT WE KEEP OURS ON THE ENTIRE TIME. A LOT OF SANITIZING WHEN THE CLIENTS LEAVE BETWEEN OUR PLAY DATES. WE'RE MAKING SURE EVERYTHING IS CLEAN AND SANITIZED. >> ALL RIGHT SO PEOPLE JUST NEED TO GIVE YOU A CALL AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. >> ABSOLUTELY. GIVE US A CALL. COME IN. WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU. LISA: WHAT ARE YOUR HOURS? >> WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY BY APPOINTMENT. OPEN AT 11:30. CLOSE AT 5:00 DURING THE WEEK. ON THE WEEKENDS, WE'RE HERE UNTIL 6:00. >> SERITA MURRAY AND SPAR TEA. >> THE PINK DOOR DAY SPA. WE'VE HAD RED DOOR. WE'RE THE PINK DOOR. WE'RE LOCATED IN CROSS KEYS. LISA: THAT IS

Small Business Spotlight: Spartea, combines a day spa with tea parties

Updated: 6:08 PM EST Feb 7, 2021

In this weeks Small Business Spotlight, we visit Spartea, a small business that combines a day spa with tea parties for young girls to enjoy special treatment. They offer birthday parties that include everything from getting nails done, to arts and crafts, massages and even the cake.

In this weeks Small Business Spotlight, we visit Spartea, a small business that combines a day spa with tea parties for young girls to enjoy special treatment. They offer birthday parties that include everything from getting nails done, to arts and crafts, massages and even the cake.

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Small Business Spotlight: Spartea, combines a day spa with tea parties - WBAL TV Baltimore

Toya Johnson Celebrates Reign’s 3rd Birthday With A Top-Notch Tea Party And Table Filled With Sweet Treats! – BET

Happy Birthday, Reign-Beaux! The daughter of Toya Johnson and Red Rushing turns three years old today. Toya took to her Instagram to send birthday wishes to her baby girl and share the fun details of Reign's tea party themed birthday.

"Wishing my little princess the Happiest Birthday! May your day be filled with sweetness, wonderful surprises and fun! May all your dreams come true! I love you@reign_beaux#happy3rdbirthday," Toya captioned the adorable photo.

Toya and Reign wore matching Dolce and Gabbana floral dresses for the adorable event while kids ate sweets and treats and sipped juice out of the cutest teacups.

Toya and Reign wore matching Dolce and Gabbana floral dresses for the adorable event while kids ate sweets and treats and sipped juice out of the cutest teacups.

Reign's big sister, Reginae Carter, also took to her social media to share an adorable photo from the pretty in pink tea party, which she captioned, "Happy birthday to my little mini-me ! I love you so much !! I can't believe you're the big 3 ! I'll forever be right there in front of you . if anybody wanna get to you .. they gotta get through me happy birthday to my reignyyyy@reign_beaux."

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Toya Johnson Celebrates Reign's 3rd Birthday With A Top-Notch Tea Party And Table Filled With Sweet Treats! - BET

LETTER: The move from the GOP to ‘very blue’ Posted Feb 09, 2021 – hays Post

I am a Democrat. I am a very blue Democrat. I am a very blue Democrat in a very red state, Kansas. I have a hard time making my vote count, but I dont give up. I have not always been a Democrat. I have only been a registered Democrat since August 2020, but my conversion started before that. My real awakening started long before the first impeachment of Donald John Trump.

The first election I was eligible to participate in was the August 1972 primary. I registered as a Republican at the same time I registered for my Selective Service card. I have never missed a primary or general election since. I did miss the draft. In all those years, I have only voted Democratic twice, and one of those was this past election. Ill let you guess the other.

I watched with rapt attention the Watergate hearings. I also followed closely the allegations surrounding Spiro Agnew, Nixons first Vice President. John Deans testimony, the Saturday Night Massacre, the secret White House tapes, the missing 13 minutes, all were captivating. The pressure placed on Agnew to resign or be charged with crimes; the members of the White House staff who were charged, tried, and found guilty. Then, the climactic act of members of Congress visiting the Oval Office and convincing Nixon that there was no saving his Presidency; that unless he resigned he would be impeached and he would be found guilty by the Senate. A corrupt administration was brought down.

I was very unhappy with the administration but I never once thought of leaving the party despite the dishonesty of the Nixon administration because I had developed a lot of admiration for the men who sat on the committees; Sam Irwin, Howard Baker, Daniel Inouye, (a WW II Medal of Honor winner of Japanese descent) to name but a fewstatesmen from both parties who put country before partya trait sorely lacking these days. I didnt realize it at the time, but I believe that the Nixon administration began the denouement of the Republican Party. It wasnt obvious at first, but slowly, things began to change. I admired Reagan, but the Iran-Contra scandal was a black mark that stained permanently and I believe it went higher than Ollie North.

The real spiral downward began with Newt Gingrich and the Moral Majority. Hardcore opposition became the byword instead of trying to find common cause and compromise. The party had forgotten its founding principles. It began to cater to the special interests and upper classes, yet I still hadnt had my fill.

The impeachment of Bill Clinton was another black mark in my book for the Republican Party. I considered it a private matter and nothing that other presidents hadnt done and more before. In my mind, it did not warrant impeachmentthe partisan games had begun in earnest.

I remained a Republican. I voted for W, but was somewhat bothered by the Supreme Court decision to halt the count in Florida before it was completed, thus giving the Presidency to W by a narrow margin. As a matter of fair play I felt the vote count should have been completed. I was bothered by the renewed conflict in Iraq. I felt it more to get Saddam for Daddy than a hunt for WMD. The hunt for Bin Laden I supported fully; the attack on the twin towers was inexcusable.

This was the genesis of the Tea Party Movement, which was too far right and too fiscally tight for me. I was living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metro area for part of this time. As a healthcare professional, I saw firsthand the need for the ACA and I supported it, but I voted Republican because moderate Republicans were nominated. A few years later, I was very proud of McCain for his thumbs-down on repeal of the ACA. It was during this period that to me the meaning of Republican = Obstruction, especially with Mitch McConnell as majority leader of the Senate came to be. Nothing got done that the Obama administration tried to enact. If it didnt suit Mitch, it didnt see the light of day, the Grim Reaper ensured it. Merrick Garlands nomination by Obama was held up for months with the excuse that a new president should have the honor of nomination of a Supreme Court judge for a vacant position. That was not rightGarland should have been given an Up or Down vote with that much time remaining in a presidential term. We would all learn how much that meant to the Republicans Senate in 2020 when RBG passed away just weeks before the general election.

First rumblings from Trump: birtherism; Obama was not qualified to be President, not a natural citizen, show us a birth certificate. It illustrated Trumps racism; not my cup of tea.

2015; Trump announces his candidacy. Like many, I wrote his candidacy off as a marketing and branding ploy, thinking it wouldnt go anywhere. I never cared for the man for what little I knew of him before his candidacy and the more I saw, the less I liked. To see him degrade women and make fun of the handicapped, well, how low can you go. A little man with a huge ego.

2016-Trump wins the nomination, then the Presidency. I listened to his acceptance speech after winning the election. Its better than I expected. There was no braggadocio and it was somewhat (for him) humble, so I thought maybe he will be ok, maybe hes finally realized the import of the responsibility, but then comes the dark and daunting inauguration speech and naming of a bunch of nobodies with little to no government experience to cabinet positions. Give him a chance, I told myself.The lies, the systematic dismantling of the administrative state, the cozying up to autocrats, no pretense of trying to unify the country upset me tremendously. The meetings with Kim Jong Un of North Korea were absolutely. It gave legitimacy to a rogue government. None of this was Presidential. It was during this time that the Lincoln Project was founded. It is a group of Republicans and former Republicans dedicated to defeating Trump and Trumpism. I joined the group in its early stages and remain a member. Meanwhile, in Congress, the massive tax cuts for the rich that opened the debt by a trillion dollars, tariffs that accomplished nothing, and a Senate that churned out right-wing conservative judges, several who were deemed non-qualified by even the Federalist Society, who vetted them for Trump.

The final straws for me came within a matter of days. The hearings for the phone call with the new president of the Ukraine seeking aid for the 2020 election in exchange for weapons to use against Russia, the firing of the Ambassador to the Ukraine, the Pentagon liaison officer all but finished it for me. The pettiness and the retribution, the denials in the face of hard evidence left no doubt. I would hold out, though to see what happened. Maybe there would be some statesmen to step up like there were in 1974.

I watched the entire hearing for the impeachment and the sham trial. The evidence presented at trial was overwhelming and, if presented in a court of law, would have been a slam dunk forconviction, but not in a partisan Senate where a 2/3 majority is required to convict. I realized the impeachment is a political process, but each Senator swore an oath to impartially evaluate the evidence presented and render a verdict. With one lone exception, none of the Republican senators had the spine to do so, using the excuse, let the voters decide.

It was then I knew I had to change my party affiliation, but I also knew I would hold off until after the August primary so I could vote against our 1st District Representative who was running for the Senate seat Pat Roberts was vacating. As soon as the primary was over, I switched parties and have not looked back. I worked on the campaigns for Barbara Bollier, Kali Barnett and the other Sunflower Sisters in their quest for Congressional seats.

The events leading up to the election, the only way we lose this election is if it is rigged, the continued repetition of the BIG LIE, the incitement and conditioning of his rabid followers to invade the Capitol have only hardened me to the fact that the GOP I once knew is dead. It has become the party of conspiracy and autocracy.

I urge all Republicans who feel lost to look within themselves and abandon the party as I did. Dont take as long as I did. There is not time. The Democratic Party may not be the answer to all your prayers, but I cant see how good people could support what the Republican Party is today. We almost lost something very precious and dear on January 6th. We may not be so lucky next time. Our democracy must not be taken for granted. We must do our utmost to preserve it for our future generations.

Mike Giess, Hays

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LETTER: The move from the GOP to 'very blue' Posted Feb 09, 2021 - hays Post

Toya Johnson And Reginae Carter Host Tea Party For Reign Rushing – BCK

Toya Johnson and Reginae Carter gave Toyas youngest daughter, Reign Rushing, a lavish tea party at Midtown Collective in Atlanta, Georgia, this past weekend. The event was held in honor of Reigns third birthday.

Bella Decorative Rentals and KSoiree greatly contributed to Reigns tea party. Roland Custom Cakes provided the cakes that took up an entire table at the event. My Fair Sweets and Talented Toya Sweet Studio provided the sandwiches and other treats for the occasion.

Best tea party we [have] ever been to, Yandy Smith wrote online after attending Reigns tea party. Just the cutest ever, the celebrity mom added. I absolutely love this, a BCK Instagram fan commented. The girls looked like they had a Ball. Happy Birthday, Lil lady.

Cake decorating was one of many activities at Reigns tea party. Guests also enjoyed a fashion show along with the abundance of food and treats. The slumber party was one of the main events at Reigns party. The sleepover was the first for Toyas daughter.

Happy birthday to my little mini-me, Reginae Carter wrote to her little sister this past weekend. I love you so much, the young adult exclaimed. I cant believe youre the big 3, Reign exclaimed. Ill forever be right there in front of you. If anybody wanna get to you, they gotta get through me. Happy birthday to my Reignyyyy.

Toya Johnson wrote, Wishing my little princess the Happiest Birthday! May your day be filled with sweetness, wonderful surprises, and fun! May all your dreams come true! I love you @reign_beaux.

Reign is Toyas daughter with her fiance Robert Red Rushing. The celebrity couple became engaged to be married last year, which was a precious moment T.I. and Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle viewers had the opportunity to witness during one of the shows episodes. Reginae is Toyas daughter with rapper Lil Wayne.

Photo: Reginae Carter/Instagram/@leslieandrewsphoto

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Toya Johnson And Reginae Carter Host Tea Party For Reign Rushing - BCK

For Donald Trump, Sarah Palins Fall Shows the Limits of Media Obsession – Vanity Fair

Back in the before times of January 2015, when I was a reporter for CNN, I did a weekend live shot from the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines, one of those political cattle calls where Republican presidential hopefuls take turns onstage professing their Christian faith before a crowd of people harvested from a Grant Wood painting, hoping to impress the states conservative activists. Most of the supposedly serious 2016 contenders had flown to Iowa: Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee. But the CNN anchor that day, Michael Smerconish, asked me a reasonable question about two attention-grabbing Republicans who were also there, Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, and whether they might run for president too. Like most Very Savvy political journalists at the time, I laughed off Trumps appearance as just another thirsty White House tease. And having covered Palin up close since she was chosen as John McCains running mate, I knew her best shot at the Republican nomination was back in 2012.

Soon after the segment aired, CNN president Jeff Zucker, who is always watching, emailed me and a few other producers demanding that we not cover Trump or Palin, explaining that both Republicans were carnival acts, attention-seekers, two unserious distractions from the real presidential race to come. At the time, few in politics would have disagreed. I think about that moment from time to time, and not just because CNNs position on covering Trump so famously changed once he actually became a candidate, delivering ratings galore. But the Iowa story is worth remembering, too, because of the way Trump and Palin were lumped together by the smart set as little more than a sad and desperate right-wing sideshow, when in truth, they were two of the most consequential political figures in American history.

These days Palin has receded to a historical footnote and a punch line for a news media thats become even more cocooned in its urban bubble since 2008, with Trump now receiving most of the credit for upending the presumed order of national politics. But it was Palin who opened the door for Trump, the first politician to fuse together backlash politics and anti-elitism with the mighty American power of celebrity. The impact that she has had on rejuvenating almost the Republican Party, its been unbelievable, Trump said of Palin in 2008, soon after she was picked from obscurity to join McCain on the ticket. After McCain lost, Palin resigned from the governorship in Alaska but continued to gather strength as a fixture on the conservative political circuit, publishing a best-selling memoir, headlining Tea Party rallies, joining Fox News, and coming close to running for president in 2012. And she did most of it while bypassing the lamestream media by posting her musings and rants on Facebook for an enormous community of die-hard fans.

Like Trump, Palin had powers beyond the campaign trail: She wore a celebrity halo rarely seen on a politician. Her traveling circus in the fall of 2008 proudly embraced redneck America, Hank Williams Jr. and Gretchen Wilson, hunting and fishing, Carhartts and Walmart. Her crowds were rapturous. Rural Americans and working people who didnt go to college saw her as one of their own, while liberals and journalists loved to mock her lack of sophistication and manner of speaking. It was a partisan culture clash that only gave Palin more strength. Tina Feys scornful impression of Palin on Saturday Night Live was only the beginning. After Palin came on the scene, as Nancy Isenberg recounted in her book White Trash, a history of class in America, Hollywood unleashed a crop of new TV shows that played off the redneck trope that Palin ushered into the mainstream: Swamp People, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Redneck Island, Duck Dynasty, Moonshiners, Appalachian Outlaws. Her family dramas became tabloid favorites. And Palin would go on, fittingly, to star in her own reality show, Sarah Palins Alaska, produced by Mark Burnett, Trumps beloved reality-show producer.

Barack Obama later wrote in his 2020 memoir, A Promised Land, that Palins explosive rise was a sign of things to come, a larger, darker reality in which partisan affiliation and political expedience would threaten to blot out everythingyour previous positions, your stated principles, even what your own senses, your eyes and ears, told you to be true. More than any politician that came before her, Palin made politics purely about cultural identityand there would be no turning back. Obama left readers to draw the obvious comparison to Trump. Whether Trump was watching closely or not, Palin carved out a new path to power. And now, in his postpresidency, Trumps future might also look a lot like Palins. Out of the White House and essentially deplatformed from Twitter and Facebook, Trump is inhabiting something of a media time warp, now much more dependent on traditional media for attention. Hes still the hottest story in the world, but Palins moment in the sun, which began more than a decade ago, offers a possible glimpse into how the next few years will unfold for the former presidentand how his hold on Republican politics and the media, which seems overpowering today, will fade with time.

Between 2009 and 2011, Mitch McConnell might have controlled the official levers of GOP politics in Washington, but no Republican occupied the public consciousness more than Sarah Palin. The country might have had its first Black president in office, grappling with seismic economic distress, but Palin was the entertainer in chief. Her face was splattered on magazines, on cable and broadcast news, on Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, on Oprah and CBN, on Facebook and Twitter, on weirdo fan blogs and international news sites alike. She was inescapable. In 2009, my colleague Michael Calderonewrote for Politicoabout the Palin-media codependency, noting that Andrea Mitchell had hosted her MSNBC show from a Barnes & Noble in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Palin was scheduled to stop on her book tour for Going Rogue. That year Andrew Sullivan blogged about Palin more than 24 times in two days for The Atlantic. National Review launched a blog dedicated solely to observing Palin. The Huffington Post helped usher in the outraged fact check genre, with The 18 Biggest Falsehoods in Palins book driving plenty of clicks. Palin sat down for a big exclusive with Barbara Walters, with ABC dripping out teaser clips across Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and Nightline. She was inescapable.

As the Tea Party movement forced its way into the national conversation, she emerged as its de facto standard-bearer. Political pundits were at once confounded and bewitched. Matthew Continetti of The Weekly Standard placed Palins defiant anti-intellectualism in the tradition of American populism. Maureen Dowd wrote that Democrats would be foolish to write off her visceral power. Matt Taibbi, in Rolling Stone, celebrated her ability to trigger know-it-all political reporters. Any of this sound familiar? Her arrival in politics came just as the legacy news media was succumbing to its current social media addiction, but Palin held attentional singularity, commanding clicks and TV ratings alike. In 2010, my colleague Gabriel Sherman wrote in New York that no politician in history had marketed herself over multiple platforms with the sophistication and sheer ambitiousness that Palin has shown. Every time she appeared on Fox News, where she signed on as a contributor in 2009, ratings shot up 10-15%, Sherman reported, a phenomenon that repeated itself at MSNBC. Fox even sidelined one of its own reporters after she delivered a tiny morsel of Palin criticism on air. With a $100,000-a-pop speaking fee, TV contracts, and a best-selling memoir, Palin was monetizing the whole time, making upward of $12 million in the year after leaving the Alaska governors mansion, out of power but more powerful than ever.

Palin leaned into the media chaos with a smile and not an ounce of restraint, giving her limitless political abilities. When Palin coined the phrase death panels during the fight to pass Obamacare, it became the Tea Partys signature rally cry, repeated endlessly despite being a falsehood. Her appearances at conservative conventions and Tea Party rallies, often while wearing jewelry festooned with American flags, were aired in full on cable news, with reporters assigned to follow her every move. Her ability to raise small-dollar donations from grassroots conservatives was unparalleled. In 2009, when Palin was waffling about speaking at a Washington fundraiser for Senate and House Republicansa D.C. micro-drama if ever there was onethe back-and-forth was covered exhaustively by NBC News, CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and dozens of other outlets. Republican elites were sick of her: The National Journal conducted an Insiders Poll of 85 GOP strategists in Washington, and Palin was the top response when asked: Which voice in your party would you most like to mute? Of course those insiders only uttered their concerns on background, fearing a GOP base that felt differently.

When Palin started picking favorites in GOP primaries during the 2010 midterms, she instantly became the most coveted endorsement of the election cycle. With her small-staffed political outfit, SarahPAC, Palin didnt bring much of a political machine to the table, but a single social media post could generate enough media coverage and fundraising dollars to flip the direction of a primary overnight. In May 2010, when Palin endorsed Nikki Haley just before South Carolinas four-way gubernatorial primary and appeared with her at a rally in Columbia, Haley was left for dead in last place. A few weeks later she was the Republican nominee. Former Haley adviser Rob Godfrey, who was then working for a rival candidate, told me at the time that Palins endorsement was an earned media blowtorch. The Washington Post launched a Palin endorsement tracker to follow along. Some of Palins picks were conspiracy lunatics and helpless eccentricsRepublicans like Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine ODonnell in Delawarewho won their primaries but went on to lose in November, infuriating Republican strategists in Washington who saw their more electable candidates swamped by a single Palin tweet.

Its memory-holed now, but Palins stardom continued unabated all the way through late 2011, a full three years after her arrival on the national scene. Her flirtation with running for the 2012 Republican nominationnever ruling out a bid and allowing supporters to build an operation for her in Iowakept her in the headlines. While dancing around a bid of her own, Palin threw carefree darts at declared candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Her newest adviser, a filmmaker named Steve Bannon, helped position Palin as a populist alternative to the crony capitalism that had infected Republican politics. Advisers to the Republican candidates all groused privately to reporters about Palins headline-grabbing ways, but on the record, they politely welcomed Palins possible endorsement and shied away from criticizing her. In the summer of 2011, she announced a One Nation bus tour of historical sites up the East Coast, making stops at Fort McHenry, Gettysburg, and Bunker Hill, teasing a presidential run with her telegenic family in tow. Local TV news choppers chased the bus driving up Interstate 76 to air live coverage. ABC News, clearly interested in service journalism, added a helpful interactive map of the Palin bus tour to its website. The only event that managed to push Palins bus tour off of cable news was the hacked picture of Anthony Weiners junk that surfaced on Twitter. But some two months later, Palin was back at it, drawing a horde of press during her visit to the Iowa State Fair.

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For Donald Trump, Sarah Palins Fall Shows the Limits of Media Obsession - Vanity Fair