Anyone who is even thinking about voting for Palin for any public office should read this book first.
If you don’t believe that Sarah Palin is a deceitful and un-Christian individual, then read this book.
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Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years
by Frank Bailey
This explosive, up-close view of Sarah Palin comes from an inner-circle confidant who shares surprising information about how Sarah dealt with staff and perceived enemies, and the discrepancy between what she said and what she did.
About the Author
Frank Bailey grew up in Kodiak, Alaska. He attended college at Capernwray Bible School in Carnforth, England as well as Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Frank was the Palin campaign administrator for the successful 2006 primary and general election campaigns. Once elected, Frank became deputy director of the Palin/Parnell transition team and later director of the State of Alaska Office of Boards and Commissions. Frank currently lives in Anchorage with his wife Janeen and their two children. He manages their small family business and serves as the interim music director for Rabbit Creek Community Church. Frank’s passions are his children and writing music.
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Frank Bailey formerly had a key role in Palin’s campaigns and while she was governor. His prior background includes two degrees from different Bible colleges. Early on Bailey tells readers that counterattacking anyone who opposed her was top priority for those working for her. Early on she came up with the ideas of preparing ghostwritten op-eds (some she wrote herself), rigged media polls, character assassinations, using ‘Fox News’ surrogates and friendly blogs, etc. His motivation for writing “Blind Allegiance” – Bailey was convinced that her priorities and personality would lead to a major disaster if elected to the presidency. Bailey also tells readers that he has no doubt desire for greater riches was the primary, possibly only cause, for Palin resigning as Alaska governor.
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The thing that makes this book so intriguing, is that every claim is backed up with quotes from actual emails. It’s a very telling account of the sleaze that exists in politics. The author at least admits how he was sucked in, and allowed to forget his own morals, and embark on the path of personal destruction. The most honest account I’ve seen as Palin’s short stint as Governor of Alaska.
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Justina
I was shocked to read this book. Yes, I expected “Blind Allegiance” to document the lies and crass self-aggrandizement of Alaska’s Sarah Palin. I did not expect such a beautifully written, well-documented and ultimately spiritually inspiring saga of the disintegration of one man’s moral integrity as he works for Palin. This is a journey of a well-meaning soul’s travail through hell and his ultimate spiritual re-discovery.
Initially,being a total new-comer to political activism, Bailey naively perceives Palin to be a self-less political reformer who expresses his ideals and warrants his help. In end, after five years of hard work at the expense of his family and reputation, he recognizes that he had sold his soul to a shattered idol.
As Bailey participates in Palin successful efforts to become a wealthy national celebrity, he begins to understand that she does not have the emotional stability or common sense that he assumed. He sees that she does not really care about the people who elected her or care about fulfilling her governmental responsibilities. He sees that his faith in her has been betrayed. She seeks not good government but good personal publicity.
Frank Bailey was a 35 year old political innocent when he was captured by the charm and apparent political courage of Sarah Palin. A Republican disgusted by the corruption of Alaska’s then governor, Frank Murkowski, Bailey signed on to Palin’s seemingly hopeless primary run against the well-funded governor with the willingness to clean the toilets of her shabby campaign headquarters, not with the goal of being Governor Palin’s chief of staff. But during his five year Palin career, he went from an innocent to a dirty political operative himself as he carried out the erratic, arrogant and unethical demands of his political idol — his “Reagan in a Skirt”.
Bailey documents his descent into Palin’s emotionally strewned nightmare with e-mails he received from Palin, her husband, Todd, and others in the their inner political circle, a circle which changed as old members were thrown aside and new members of the faithful recruited. With Bailey’s help, Palin got to the very pinnacle of Alaska’s government and then to the pinnacle of Republican Party national politics as vice-presidential nominee for John McCain’s run against Obama.
The chronicle shows that virtually Palin’s only political skills came in the form of marketing herself to voters through her physical looks and charm. Her skill set did not include knowledge of the real problems facing her state or her country, much less knowledge of how to actually run a government.
The majority of Palin’s time in office was spent putting her considerable power to use in demolishing anyone who she perceived to be an enemy. She included in her enemies her former brother-law, Trooper Wooten and anyone who dared to voice the slightest criticism of anything she did or said. Palin was ruled by her emotional whims not reason, and thus she ruled Alaska. “Off with their head” said the queen of public charm and vicious attack, while her minions, of which Bailey was one of the most loyal, immediately proceeded to sharpen their swords and attack. Many innocent people were badly injured in her forays.
Bailey was not innocent and it is not a pretty story to read of his own moral disintegration, but this chronicle of Palin’s rise to fame and fortune, is extremely well documented through e-mails sent to Baily by Palin herself, her husband, Todd, and members of the shifting inner circle. The writing/editing team of Ken Morris and Jeanne Devon is to be congratulated for this work.
It is an important book for all voters, everywhere, to read, as it shows how easily we can be fooled by physical and emotional charm, or the glittering words of potential candidates who seem to express our ideals.
We need to look at candidates’ deeds, their actual experience in governing, before we allow them election to critical offices. We only just missed electing Palin to the second highest office in our land, as vice-president to the 72 year old McCain, by a few million votes. We can’t allow effective political marketing of shallow candidates to over-ride effective governing, and this applies as equally to the Palin-bots as the Obama-bots.
Read this beautifully written book!
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Whether politically you lean right or left, this book is impossible to put down. Bailey’s story paints a vivid picture of life and community in Alaska. After reading this book, there is no way to dismiss Bailey’s convictions as genuine and humble. The man literally gave up everything to follow his heart in supporting Palin, who time and again displays a complete lack of regard for her closest allies, and utter contempt for her enemies. The book is less a bashing of Palin and more a story, supported by facts, of how Palin’s thirst for attention compromises her relationships with her supporters, friends and family. To deny Palin as a megalomaniac, by definition is refusal to accept the facts substantiated in Bailey’s recollection of Palin’s rise to power. Put simply, from page to page her facade comes crumbling down as you see her touting her evangelical principles from one side of her mouth, while manipulating the citizens of Alaska, including her children from the other. Regardless of your political affiliation, it is impossible to complete this book and not feel compassion for Bailey’s pure intentions and inevitably come to an obvious conclusion: Sarah Palin is a monster. Well worth the read.
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This book, written by a campaign, and later, administration insider, offers a look into the workings and personality of Sarah Palin and it isn’t a pretty picture that emerges. Starting with the days when he was a campaign novice until the time after he quit and returned to private life, he describes the tactics and techniques used to win, as well as the personality that is really Palin.
From the beginning, it is obvious that the author was somewhat “star struck” by Palin and was a willing participant in almost any activity she asked of him. He believed that she could be a new face for Alaska politics and cannot be blamed for wanting the state to have better management. However, he missed what was right in front of his nose…..that she was no different from any other politician and possibly much worse.
The campaign used a number of dirty tricks that, while legal, are certainly unethical. For instance, if the major newspaper in Alaska ran a poll about Palin or some policy she had, they would use automated computer programs to automatically vote in the way that either Palin wanted or that would make her look good. He also describes her as self centered and vain and without feelings for anyone other than herself. For instance, she doesn’t need the glasses she wears on a regular basis….they are a prop to make her look smarter. She had corrective eye surgery years ago. Also, the campaign and later staff had a system set up to warn them about what mood she was in prior to her arrival at the office. Her temper was mercurial and no one wanted to cross her when she was really angry.
He confirms that much of what was believed to be true about Troopergate was not only true, but that things were much worse. The First Dude was heavily involved in asking for action to be taken against the trooper and it actually sounded like Todd pulled the strings on the whole situation. He called the author on numerous times to ask the progress and would not accept that there had been an investigation and resolution, but for personnel reasons, the file was sealed. I guess following the law only applied to others.
What makes this book believable is that the author used e-mails he received during the entire time and quoted them verbatim in the book. Also, he comes across as a good Christian who realized that he was involved in questionable actions that needed to be exposed. In addition, he felt that Palin was not ready for a national office and wrote the book to warn people about who and what she really is.
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Bailey’s account is backed up by NUMEROUS personal emails between himself, SP, TP & others on the team, spanning the yrs he was with her. What is fascinating is Bailey’s internal struggles with his own moral slide, as he short changes his family, his values; becoming what he wanted to fight against, and the slow realization that the woman he had hoped would be the trigger for so much change was in fact worse in many ways than her predecessor.
He witnessed 1st hand her shallowness, her lip-service ‘faith’ ( except when in front of voters), her intellectual bankruptcy ( his listening to when SP was ‘punked’ by a Canadian radio show-she was so ignorant it’s painful), her actual on the job laziness ( she was looking for ways to ditch being Gov for 4-6 mos before she found her mechanism- she likes the spotlight, just doesn’t like the ‘roll up your sleeves, get to work’ part-contrary to carefully crafted public image) & her absolute narcissim. …
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This book was helpful to someone like me who never got her appeal; it definitely showed her ability to charm like-minded people. And of course, I ended up feeling terribly sorry for Frank Bailey and others in Palin’s inner circle, DESPITE all of the horrible things that they had done on her behalf. She truly is a manipulative, emotionally abusive woman and it pains me to think of the national forum she now apparently has (although so few actually take her seriously).
What sets this book apart from others is the fact that it’s backed up with fact instead of conjecture, rumors, and unsourced allegations. Simply put, the emails prove the case. Sarah Palin is unhinged and seriously unfit to be in any position of authority. Her own words show this.
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Anyone who has been closely and open-mindedly following Sarah Palin’s career has already realized that as well as being beautiful, charismatic, motivating, and ambitious, she is also emotionally unstable, self-absorbed, power hungry, ego-driven, manipulative, obsessive, and vindictive. I might add that adherence to truth is not her strong point.
This book sheds light on how the negative aspects of her personality eventually trumped her better nature, the one that originally drew author Frank Bailey to her side as right-hand `go-fer’ man in her campaign for the Republican candidacy in the 2006 Alaskan Governor’s race. Like many of those with “victim mentality,” Sarah draws “enablers” to her side, and Frank – a good man desiring to bring positive change to his beloved Alaska – eventually became one of those enablers.
Frank’s tale of his awakening to what he had become and finding a way out of it should serve as a good warning to us all about how easily we can fool ourselves – by not acknowledging the truth in front of us even when it stares us in the face and causes us pain. By way of recounting his experiences in the Palin camp, a very unflattering portrait of the real Sarah is revealed, one which illustrates how completely unfit she is for any elective office in the land. In addition to her pronounced psychological problems, she simply doesn’t have the substance for it; she is all image & fluff.
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If you don’t believe that Sarah Palin is a deceitful and an un-Christian individual, then read this book. It’s the story of a man who was so pathologically devoted to her that he neglected and practically abandoned his family to engage in very deceitful plots to push Palin into positions of power. It gets boring with one scandal after another, but you keep reading in hopes that he will walk away from behavior that he knows is wrong.
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This is an excellent, well-written book which pulls together everything I have heard about Sarah Palin over the last two-something years. She is indeed the self-absorbed, phony, vindictive, shallow, manipulative, etc., etc. woman I believed her to be. I highly recommend this book to anyone who either may be leaning towards her or who wants to see if what they have heard already is true. It is truly an eye opener and well worth the $$. The author appears completely credible. The book flowed well and was a page-turner. This woman is truly scary and maybe this book should be listed under the “horror” section of Amazon.
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I was shocked at just how vindictive this woman was. She couldn’t let any criticism of her pass and the depths to which she would go to extract vengeance was astonishing. Her vendettas against Chuck Thoma and Jim Minnery, and her delight at David Kernell’s plight were sickening. This book paints a picture of a woman more interested in marketing herself and extracting retribution from her “enemies” than a woman interested in the business of governing.
What was also startling was her complete disregard for the people who had helped her along the way. The number of people she threw under the bus when she had no further need for them….
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Maybe if SP didn’t view everyone outside of her family as disposable this would not have had to of been written. She is a quitter, complainer, spotlight hog and paranoid about everything. When someone in your entourage bails on you and then feels the need to rat you out says something major about her lack of experience. So much double speak from SP, her husband creating Tasergate and wasting taxpayer money following around a decorated peace office just because he divorced Sarah’s sister. SP does not care about Country, God or anyone but herself. Prank phone calls, botched interviews one right after the other, and worst of all – no inclination to ever learn more about her country, surroundings or the real truth. Just a career politician who vainly still clings to her ‘beauty pageant days’. Keep posing in bikinis with guns, Sarah! That’ll get you to the white house. If SP gets elected to anything after people read the truth in this book, I’m moving to Canada.
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Just finished reading “Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin,” what an awesome read, I couldn’t put it down. Although I gained valuable insight into just what a non-starter Palin is as a viable politician, what I was most compelled and intrigued by was Frank Bailey’s decent into the vindictive, jealous, gossip-mongering, and backstabbing world of of Sarah and Todd Palin, and his journey back from SP Hell. Once Frank realized where he was and the dear price not himself but his family was paying, hitting rock bottom as nearly everyone close to Sarah does, his ability to turn it over to God (amazingly enough the same God that Sarah’s hypocrisy allows her to believe in) is what set him free. You did the right thing Frank, not only by writing your book, but also by sharing your amazing adventure into SP Hell and back.
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This is an eye opener about the behind the scenes drama created by Palin during her (half) tenure as governor of Alaska. It is a believable, first-hand account by a former follower and believer of Palin’s who was at first lured by the charm and outward appearance and who wanted to make a difference, but who was later disappointed by the behavior of both Palins. She represents a textbook definition of a true narcissistic personality, who is totally wrapped in her image to the extent that she wears glasses without a prescription in order to sell herself as more intelligent and competent. The book gives an insight as to why she resigned after only 18 months in office. For anyone considering her a viable candidate for the White House, this is a must read. …
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Anyone who is even thinking about voting for Palin for any public office, should read this book first.
I like what an earlier reviewer said: “Palin’s only political skills came in the form of marketing herself to voters”. This sums up a major thread of the book. Also, the details of her underhanded way of destroying the lives of those who criticized her were frightening. I’m certain that Bailey had to think long and hard before writing this book. (I even had to think if my public profile would accompany this review in case she came after me. In fact, I went back and edited my profile to delete the city, state before publishing. Sad.) His honesty regarding his own responsibility in the wrongdoings was believable and a refreshing account of repentance and redemption. Highly recommended.
PS In light of the tactics outlined in this book, I am expecting a legion of Palin-bots writing scathing reviews of this book. I can see that there are already several.
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