Opinion: Palin book tour will look a lot like a presidential bid launch ... Hmmm, a coincidence?

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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin plans to launch her book tour next week with an appearance on ‘Oprah’ and a book signing at a Barnes & Noble in Grand Rapids, Mich.

With a memoir called ‘Going Rogue,’ Palin returns to the place where she earned that title, parting company with the decision by Republican John McCain‘s presidential campaign to write off Michigan, conceding the economically depressed state to Democrat Barack Obama.

Like any good presidential campaign, Palin’s book tour will be conducted from a bus painted with the cover of the book and will be making two to three stops a day.

The rest of the book tour mimics an announcement schedule for a presidential candidate, taking Palin to places she is likely to attract friendly book buyers -- and voters. The highlight reel: Roanoke, Va.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Sioux City, Iowa; Noblesville, Ind.; Washington, Pa. and Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Big city voters? Forgetaboutit. No L.A., no N.Y., no Chicago, no D.C.

‘From Michigan, the ‘Going Rogue’ tour will cover as much of the country as possible,’ Palin said this week on her Facebook page. ‘I’ve decided to stop in cities that are not usually included in a typical book tour.’ Translation: places with pockets of red-state voters, oops, make that readers.

‘These are the places where she had her biggest fans and where we think we will sell the most books,’ said Tina Andreadis of HarperCollins, owned by conservative Rupert Murdoch..

Speaking of presidential campaigns, the Detroit News reports that Palin could just miss crossing paths with another candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The day before Palin’s book signing, Huckabee will also be in Grand Rapids, at rival Schuler Books, pitching his book, ‘A Simple Christmas.’

-- Johanna Neuman

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