'ROGUE' CANDIDATE'S BOOK TOUR
Palin book tour launches in Grand Rapids
Mark Hornbeck / The Detroit News
Former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has chosen Michigan to kick off her book tour.
The lightning rod politico, who's often listed in the 2012 Republican presidential field, will sign copies of "Going Rogue" at the Barnes & Noble book store at 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at 3195 28th St. SE in Grand Rapids.
Some political observers say Michigan is a natural place to open her tour. Recall that Palin took issue with John McCain's presidential campaign last year when it decided to pull staff and ad dollars out of Michigan in early October and concede this state to then Democratic candidate Barack Obama. That was the first time Palin publicly challenged a McCain camp call and was seen as "going rogue."
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The tour will take Palin to friendly territory, including Republican-rich West Michigan. Obama won Michigan by 14 percentage points, but McCain ran nearly even with Obama in Kent County.
Other stops for Palin include Roanoke, Va.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Sioux City, Iowa; Noblesville, Ind.; Washington, Pa. and Fort Bragg, N.C. Stops notable by their absence include major media markets such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago (although she will do an interview with Oprah Winfrey).
"She wants to be unconventional. She is unconventional," said Tina Andreadis, publicist for HarperCollins, Palin's publisher. "She feels like this is where her fans are and Harper feels this is where she'll sell the most books."
Palin's already selling plenty. "Going Rogue" has been at or near the top of Amazon.com's bestseller list for weeks.
Grand Rapids also will be a stop on former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's 64-city book trek. He'll be at Schuler Books on Nov. 17 signing copies of "A Simple Christmas."
mhornbeck@detnews.com (313) 222-2470
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