>> NARRATOR: For Republicans,
Sarah Palin ignited a new
political force.
(crowd chanting "Sarah")
>> Sarah Palin came out and
brought the house down.
She electrified that G.O.P. base
like no one I had ever seen, and
you recall, that was one of the
times where the prompter failed
and she just ad-libbed it.
>> I love those hockey moms.
You know, they say the
difference between a hockey mom
and a pit bull?
Lipstick.
(crowd laughs)
(cheering and applauding)
>> And people loved it!
She was almost a pre-Trump, in
the way that she just sort of
had this matter-of-fact, sort of
folksy, she wasn't too
high-brow, and so "real
Americans," you know, "regular
folks" could relate to her.
>> Well, I'm not a member of the
permanent political
establishment.
>> She was the beginning of the
shift where the people began to
believe that they could take the
power back from the elite.
>> I've learned quickly these
last few days that if you're not
a member in good standing of the
Washington elite, then some in
the media consider a candidate
unqualified for that reason
alone, but...
(crowd booing)
>> She tapped into a simmering
grievance in the country that's
real.
There's a rebellion that's taken
place in this country against
the elites.
>> Thank you, and God bless
America.
Thank you.
>> NARRATOR: For her
supporters she was heroic.
>> It's Saturday Night Live...
>> NARRATOR: But in New York
she was made into a joke.
>> ...Governor Sarah Palin.
>> First off I just want to say
how excited I am to be in front
of both the liberal elite media
as well as the liberal regular
media.
I am looking forward to a
portion of your questions, so
let's get started.
Yes, you.
>> You said that you like to
visit the quote, "Pro-America
parts of the country".
Are there parts of the country
that you consider un-American?
>> Yes, New York, New Jersey,
Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Delaware, California.
>> When you started to see the
shine come off that car was the
Katie Couric interview.
>> What newspapers and
magazines did you regularly
read before you were tapped...
>> Over time as the camera
usually does it brings out the
truth.
>> Um, all of them, any of them
that have been in front of me
over all these years--
I have a vast--
>> Can you name a few?
>> I have a vast variety of
sources where we get...
>> But most Republicans, who
already disliked the media,
blamed Katie for that.
>> It's kind of suggested, it
seems like, "Wow, how could you
keep in touch with what
the rest of Washington D.C.
may be thinking and doing
when you live up there in
Alaska?"
Believe me, Alaska is like a
microcosm of America...
>> Most Republicans looked at
that and said, "She was set up,
that was a gotcha' question",
and stood by Palin and it just
made them hate the media more.
>> I was reading today a copy of
the New York Times...
(crowd booing)
>> If you want to pinpoint the
moment when the right completely
rejected the left...
>> We have a scarcity...
>> I think it was over the Sarah
Palin nomination.
>> Now, this is not a man who
sees America as you and I see
America.
>> And for one brief, shining
moment, the right saw her as
everything they were looking
for.
Brash, tough, independent,
someone who said what they meant
and meant what they said, and
wouldn't edit it for anyone.
>> She's something else.
>> Sarah Palin has completely
transformed Republican Party...
>> NARRATOR: McCain and Palin
wouldn't prevail, but the
populist fervor would grow.
>> Boy, were you right about
this one, did you know how great
she is?