One of the most outspoken conservatives in the past few years has been Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska who was the GOP candidate for vice president alongside Arizona senator John McCain during the 2008 presidential election and a contributor on the Fox News Channel from Jan. 19, 2009, to Jan. 25, 2013, when she withdrew from the network staff to focus on “broadening her message of common-sense conservatism across the country.”
Less than five months later, the cable channel announced that Palin will return as a political analyst next Monday, a move that was hailed by Greta Van Susteren, host of the weeknight On the Record program, who wrote in an email to Politico.com that she is “delighted to have her back at Fox” because "it will drive her critics crazy!"
According to an official Fox press release, Palin will return to her role as a contributor to the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network’s daytime and prime-time programming. She will make her first return appearance on the Fox & Friends morning show next Monday.
Regarding the return of the feisty conservative, Fox chairman Roger Ailes said: “I’ve had several conversations with governor Palin in the past few weeks about her rejoining Fox News as a contributor.”
I have great confidence in her and am pleased that she will once again add her commentary to our programming. I hope she continues to speak her mind.
That's exactly what the former Alaska governor did on Thursday, when she released the following statement:
The power of Fox News is unparalleled. The role of Fox News in the important debates in our world is indispensable. I am pleased and proud to be rejoining Roger Ailes and the great people at Fox.
During her previous tenure on the network, her appearances became so frequent that the network built a studio inside her Alaska residence, with husband Todd often acting as cameraman and producer.
However, Palin's relationship with the news channel was rocky at times.
Her appearances on Fox began to dwindle during the latter half of 2012, which led Palin to complain in August on Facebook that the network had “canceled all my scheduled interviews tonight."
After Palin's departure from Fox News, she turned to the online social media to get her message out to the public. As a result, her influence did not diminish because she has never been ashamed of the conservative and Tea Party grassroots.
According to Tony Lee at Breitbart.com, Palin “still garnered much of the same coverage in the first four months of this year as she did in 2012” and without a Fox News contract.
From January to May of 2012, Palin was mentioned in newspapers; web-based publications -- such as CNN.com, Washingtonpost.com, Politico and USNews.com -- blogs and news transcripts, for a total of 901 times.
Lee also stated:
The move will be mutually beneficial for both parties, for it once again merges the most dominant network in cable television with the most influential figure to Tea Party conservatives -- who is also a guaranteed ratings draw.
When Palin returns to Fox, liberal Democrats will certainly throw everything but the kitchen sink at her because they fear her as a successful woman and the second woman to run on a major U.S. party ticket, as well as her message of limited government, support for the Second Amendment and abstinence as an alternative to abortion.
