Fan Maintenance

by digby

So Palin appeared today at a motivational seminar in Houston after her Rick Perry rally. Evidently, a lot of her fans were disappointed. Not only was the event oversold, they scheduled Palin for 8am, while a huge number of people were still waiting in line outside to get in.

C&L has an exclusive report:

C&L had one of its friends at the seminar: Josef Jarod is a reporter in Houston, Texas with a background that includes work for Fox and CBS News. He presently is on a “mystery” assignment in the Bayou City.

Here’s Jarod’s report:

“I wasn’t motivated” one man said to me in the elevator as I left the speech, “she sounded un-prepared and erratic and focused an awful lot on her script.”

It was 9:30 AM, and Just half an hour earlier Sarah Palin had wrapped up a “motivational” speech about “achievement” at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston. Though Palin was to be the headliner of the all day business seminar which featured a dozen other speakers like General Colin Powell and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. She was the first to perform.

“I was also kind of amazed that they let her go first, I mean, we weren’t even all seated yet when she started.” Palin started her speech at 8:00 AM sharp, she was the first person out of the gates – there wasn’t even a Master of Ceremonies. And given the fact that morning rush hour in Houston was exceptionally bad today, it meant there were going to be a lot of unhappy ticket holders(particularly as some paid as much as two hundred dollars.)

“She already gave her speech?!” One man exclaimed in the lobby after arriving minutes too late, “What the hell, I was stuck in traffic… why wouldn’t they save the best for last?!” Several elderly women with Palin lapel pins who were trying desperately to hurry through security were also distraught when they heard the news, “Ohhh Noooooo! Nooooo!”

Read on to hear the details about the speech itself. It’s fascinating.

I think it’s clear that one of Palin’s problems is that she doesn’t have much of a work ethic or a commitment to deliver for her fans. Again and again we hear stories like this and it’s eventually going to take its toll, even among the faithful, if she doesn’t get her act together.

As I noted before, many of these people are country music fans and there is a ritual of fan worship and respect that must be adhered to.

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