Tell-All Book About Sarah Palin Sheds Doubt on Former Aide's Christian Values
A former aide to Sarah Palin says his tell-all book is the story of his spiritual journey as a backslidden Christian and family man. But the book seems to carry a judgmental tone towards the former Alaskan governor whom he says needs to "own" her indiscretions.
Frank Bailey, once a part of Palin's staff, said releasing his tell-all book, Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin, Tuesday is a healing experience.
Once publicly embroiled in a scandal over the firing of Palin's ex-brother-in-law, Bailey said he made a lot of mistakes as an aide and did things he is not proud of. He details those misdeeds in the book as a precautionary tale of sorts.
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In the book, Bailey writes that he let his aspirations for Palin as a reformer against a corrupt political landscape get the best of him. Looking back on it, Bailey said he strayed away from his Christian faith while working with Palin. The book, he noted, is a warning to others.
"There are a lot of things that I'm not proud of that I talked about ... about myself," he told The Christian Post of his experience. "There were things that I later came to believe that I should not have been a part of, things that I took way too far, hurtful things to other people."
The author told CP that he "take[s] full responsibility" for his actions. However, his book also chastises Palin whom he says changed after receiving media attention into a politician who cut corners to get ahead and told supporters one thing and did another thing.
When Bailey met Palin in 2005-2006, she was a "fresh-faced" candidate who was not afraid to roll up her sleeves alongside common folks and to speak with them plainly and honestly. In the beginning, he said he had high hopes in Palin as a gubernatorial candidate. That hope led Bailey to leave his life as a stay-at-home dad and become a volunteer in her campaign. He said they had very little money to work with, but they successfully won the primary and later the general election.
However, as Palin began to garner media attention, he began neglecting his wife and children to devote himself to her political career.
"I shed all of my family commitment and everything to basically put to this one person I basically put on a pedestal," he said.
He turned his career with Palin into an idol and began to do things such as bashing candidates with made-up blog names and manipulating online polls in Palin's favor.
According to Bailey, Palin was aware of what he was doing and even sent him the polls so that he could rig them. Palin also did things that were illegal and dishonest, he claimed.
During the investigation of Palin's alleged firing of a police commissioner because he wouldn't fire the trooper who had bitterly divorced her sister, Bailey said, "I sat in her office [with] other cabinet members and told her flat out I have being talking to the department of public safety about your brother-in-law," he said.
He said Palin then released a press release the next day saying that she had no knowledge of Bailey's involvement in the firing.
"That was flat out dishonest and put me in an awkward spot," Bailey said of Palin's actions.
His message for Palin in his book is: "As I am doing daily, [she should] own it and to take a look in the mirror and try to find that person from 2005.”
“I believed she strayed far from who she was in 2005."
Bailey's political career ended in 2009 when Palin left office as governor.
He said he and his family were rescued by the church. He is now a small business owner with a few Alaska coffee shops. He is also a praise and worship leader in the non-denominational Rabbit Creek Community Church in Anchorage.
Some conservatives have already begun to question Bailey's Christian character because of the nature of his tell-all memoir.
Gregory Gorski, a commenter on Sarah Palin’s Facebook fan page, wrote, "This Baily [sic] guy must have some personal issues to deal with. How do you 'shed your family' to work on a political campaign for a family oriented candidate? I guess the [money] was the driving force with this 'tell all' book."
Becky Dean Boyer wrote, "What a fine Christian example he's setting, using the framework of faith and the church to hurt a sister in Christ ... if he is indeed 'in Christ.'”
Responding to the comments, Bailey remarked, "People who say this is a disgruntled, sour grapes person. I would point them right to the book. Decide for yourself."
