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Jeff Feingold	December 23, 2009 Jeff Feingold is Editor of NH Business Review's print and on-line editions. He has been a business journalist for more than 25 years, and recognized by the Small Business Administration as National Small Business Journalist of the Year.

Sarah’s geography lesson

You may remember the last time Sarah Palin, that roguish (or is it rouge-ish?) former governor of Alaska, was in New Hampshire. It was October 2008, and by many accounts she didn’t really want to be here in the first place. Nevertheless, she took one for the team (which team is a matter of debate) and found herself in Laconia on a fine Oct. 15 day, where the friendly crowd eagerly awaited her every word.

She didn’t disappoint, although you could argue she disappointed her middle school geography teacher.
“I like being here,” she told the crowd, “because it seems like here and in our last rally too -- other parts around this great Northwest -- here in New Hampshire you just get it.”

Fast-forward to October 2009, and apparently the ex-governor doesn’t particularly care for us Granite Staters anymore. How else to explain the demands her people have come up with in order to procure her appearance in the spring of 2010 up here in the Northwest?

According to Mark Halperin of Time magazine, a New Hampshire organization made an inquiry about booking Palin next year. The organization was told by the agency that arranges her appearances that she would require:

• $100,000, plus first-class travel for two, and coach for one, and lodging expense
• No media would be allowed to cover the speech
• No taping for archival purposes, unless Palin herself personally approves it.

There is a happy ending to the story, however. Apparently the New Hampshire group was told that Palin wasn’t snubbing New Hampshire – she had thus far not scheduled any events in the northeastern United States. So look on the bright side: She finally figured out where New Hampshire is.

Email - Jeff Feingold
Editor, New Hampshire Business Review