Sarah Palin never said, “I can see Russia from my house.” (That was Tina Fey impersonating Palin on Saturday Night Live.) But Palin did say, “[The Russians] are our next-door neighbours, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska” in response to a question about her foreign-policy chops.
LESSON: Export markets are closer than you think.
Sarah Palin’s apprenticeship for vice-presidential candidacy consisted of four years as a city councillor of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 10,256), and six years as its mayor, 20 months as governor of Alaska (pop. 686,293) and — er, that’s it.
LESSON: Don’t grow too big too fast.
Asked by Katie Couric which magazines and newspapers she reads, Palin said she consumed “any of them that have been put in front of me all these years.” Pressed to name a few, she claimed to draw from a “vast variety of sources.”
LESSON: Clearly, it pays to stay well informed.
Palin’s sudden resignation from the Alaska governor’s chair this past July was announced in a rambling speech that left many political observers scratching their heads over the true motives behind her departure. Said Palin: “I think of the saying on my parents’ refrigerator, the little magnet that says, ‘Don’t explain. Your friends don’t need it, and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.'”
LESSON: Don’t be afraid to leave your business on your own terms.
Palin’s recent appearance on TV’s Oprah was ostensibly to promote her new autobiography, but the question on everyone’s mind was whether she’d throw her hat into the 2012 presidential ring. “I don’t know what I’m going to be doing in 2012,” she said. “[Running for president] isn’t on my radar right now.”
LESSON: Always keep the competition guessing.
