There's a suspicion in some McCain loyalist precincts that Gov. Sarah Palin is beginning to play the Republican base against John McCain -- McCain won't let her campaign in Michigan...McCain won't let her bring up Jeremiah Wright... McCain doesn't like her terrorist pal talks....
Think ahead to 2010...2011...2012.
Palin is ambitious. Very ambitious.
And if she wants the job, she's easily the frontrunner to become THE voice of the angry Right in the Wilderness. She is a favorite of talk radio and Fox News
conservatives, and speaks their language as only a true member of the
club can. (Her recent Limbaugh interview was full of dog whistles that
any Dittohead would recognize. Including her actual use of the word
ditto.)
Palin will have plenty of time to become fluent on national
issues. She will easily benefit from the low expectations threshhold,
and will probably even garner positive reviews from the MSM types who
disparage her today.
Palin will be judged to be "ready" in four years.
George Will and David Brooks and Peggy Noonan will all swoon over her
once more. Ok, maybe not George Will.
Palin is an enormously talented politician. When she knows what
she's talking about, or even when she knows enough to fake it, she is
very, very appealing, and very good at redirecting questions to
whatever her message is.
Pro-Palin voices will begin to talk a great deal about how the only
person to ever come close to beating Barack Obama was Hillary Clinton.
Palin will seem to fit the Hillary mold for many Republican primary
voters.
With Republicans completely out of power, and President Obama
running what is likely to be a bigger government that spends more on
social programs, Republicans are likely to run the most
anti-government, anti-Washington campaign this side of Barry
Goldwater. Again, Palin is perfectly positioned for this campaign.
Republicans tend to pick the next guy in line. Strangely enough,
the next guy in line is now Sarah Palin, by virtue of her being the VP
nominee this year. She will have the benefit of being both an outsider
candidate and the natural heir to the nomination; indeed, the only
candidate who will have experience in a general election campaign.
Her main obstacles to the nomination are Mitt Romney and Mike
Huckabee.
The Republicans are going to want someone
willing to really go for Obama's throat, and be able to do it with a
smile. Depending on the outcome of the GOP's War of the Roses, the evangelical community might be a stronger force in 2012 than it was in 2008, at least when it comes
to dominating the GOP nominating process. They are a solid bloc of
voters and footsoldiers amidst a rapidly splintering coalition.
Palin will be the most well-financed candidate aside from Mitt Romney. She will raise gobs
of money from old energy interests (who will be running scared against
Obama's green energy initiatives), and will in turn raise gobs of money
from small donors online.
Of course, we must consider black swans and the like. We don't know
what will occur during Obama's first term, and he could have either a
historic high point (like Bush did with 9/11) or a historic low point
(like Bush did with Katrina). Or, he could have an unremarkable first
term.
We just don't know. That being said, GOP voters simply don't
nominate new candidates who came from nowhere. Therefore, no matter
what events transpire, we can safely predict that the GOP will nominate
someone who is already known to us today.
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If Sarah Palin is truly the best the right can do, they will wander in the wilderness as they did 1932-1952. 
As an Alaskan, I think her career as Gov. is pretty much done after this election. The Troopergate stuff may not play hard in the national media but it is a strong story up here. Her performance on the national stage has not place the state in a favorable light either. AK is easier to govern when oil is selling at record prices but with the price declining and all the enemies she made on both sides of the political isle, she's toast. Now, that may work well for her. She may decline to run for reelection and once her term ends, launch her exploratory committee, ala Howard Dean. I don't doubt her hubris will lead her to run for President, just that it will lead her to the nomination. You can only fake it so much.
That, plus the vast majority of the country has already determined that she is an idiot. She can never recover from that because the reality is, she just isn't very smart. As the main candidate, she would have to have press conferences, debates, and deal with the MSM. She can't withstand that, now or ten years from now. As a democrat, nothing would make me happier than the continued candidacy of Palin. But surely the republican party will come to its senses and find someone with electability.
The funniest thing about this post is that I think it is meant to be taken seriously. It is sort of like Saturday Night Fever in that respect. Seriously, John Cornyn has a better chance of being the 2012 nominee.
I agree with Cookie. I think she will have a VERY hard time, being re-elected AK-GOV in 2010. 1. She has made enemies with R-AK legislators. 'Cute' has a short half-life.
Sarah Palin is not only ambitious, but she is also dangerous. Despite her apoparent religious fervor, she appeals to some of the basest and meanest instincts of the electorate; she is a divider, not a uniter. While quite clever, she has not shown any depth of intellect in her understanding of the national and international issues of the time. She is not representative of what I like to think is a "real American," irresspective of political affiliation.
I think this is more important: -----Original Message----- From: David Plouffe, BarackObama.com Sent: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:13 pm Subject: Go where the fight is Condi? Is that your name at weekends, or does only McCain get to call you that?
Seems to me that her ideal play is that the Senator gets re-elected, convicted, and resigns. She can probably get his seat in a special election (if that's how Alaska does it), spend 4 or 8 years in the Senate, then be in a position to make another run with better qualifications. But, if the republicans aren't wild about her, maybe they run her out to lose to Obama in 2012 while they play for a more winnable 2016. Lots of assumptions there of course, but I could see it playing out that way.
Palin is an enormously talented politician. No, she's not, Marc. She's enormously flirty and sexy and chirpy. She's not enormously talented. Enormously talented politicians possess some combination of the following characteristics: 1) They understand stuff Palin is good at none of this. She is not an enormously talented politician. She's sparkly on stage, but that superficiality does not constitute "enormous talent."
This article is making a huge assumption; that being a win by Obama. The last pole I saw of likely voters (as opposed to registered voters) had him in a dead heat with McCain.
Sarah Palin speaks for untold millions of Americans who are just now realizing that our country is going to be run by the same shysters who have destroyed the inner city cultures. Big city bigots have won this round -- but decent people will prevail and you professional bloggers are going to be handed your hats in about 4 years. Oh, and when that dirty bomb (you're in a rush to enable) knocks out the grid and you can't go online to whine -- we in the heartland will be doing just fine with our wood stoves, hand pump wells and oil lamps. Got my religion and my gun, gonna be fun!
No matter what is done how does a candidate overcome the "stupid" moniker. She needs 10 years of education to get her beyond her current 5th grade status. I'm not an elitist but good lord she is too badly educated for the job of President.
Before I knew who Sarah Palin really was, I was excited to see something out of the blue that could shake up this election. I happened to be in AK at the time of her nomination. When I queried people on this, I received a very lukewarm response that puzzled me. As time has gone on, and I have had a chance to read about and observe her, my opinion has taken a 180 degree turn. She is great at repeating packaged rhetoric, but when it comes to original thought, she doesn't cut it with me. Anyone else with medium intelligence should be able to see through her facade. I am truly disappointed and can only shake my head in disbelief.
Wow. Brilliant. In other words, pretty much anything could happen during an Obama first term and then...anything could happen. Do the pundits ever get sick of hearing themselves talk (or write) about nothing? Who will pay for Palin's wardrobe to run for President?
One thing you have to ask is if Sara Palin gets nominated, does she have a chance to win? She has very, very low favorability ratings. So if she does win, she's likely to crater among those independents and democrats. People will see her up there and remember how awful she was 4 years prior.
I soooooo hope she runs in 2012, it will just ensure Obama will be re-elected. If she does run, then no more shielding from the press, no more double-interviews and best of all she will have to go against Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee who will tear her apart in the primaries. Not to mention she will get a good dose of the Republican slime machine as it doesn't not recognize friend from foe in the primaries.
I may have decided to respond to this post knowing for sure it was satire, but given that I don't, I'll just leave you with this quote: People Magazine: Have you traveled with the kids anywhere in the lower 48? Sarah Palin: Yes. Many, many, many times. Yes. Yes. We go to Hawaii often.
Sweetdough - I think you're right that Palin has the potential to be the nominee of dumb people, people who don't know anything about policy or the world and are sick and tired of being looked down on by people who do know things. That's just not fair! The ignorant deserve representation too, and they just may get it if dumb people are able to peel away from the Jerry Springer show and mobilize themselves in 4 years. Perhaps an anti-gay pogrom will do the trick.
Two words: Jeb Bush I'd love to see Palin come back in 2012. It would mean for sure that the GOP will get wiped out again if she were the nominee. Also, this time, she'd have to go against other GOP nutjobs in the primary. And if she thinks Obama's legion fought dirty, she ain't seen nothing yet!
The people at the top of the GOP don't care that she's an empty shell. They happen to like running things in the background, and Palin is the perfect puppet.
Marc, you're overlooking one HUGE aspect of a potential 2012 Palin run: her family. Bristol and Redneck will have their four-year old daughter. Track will be home from Iraq. Doing what? Will he become sort of a career military guy? The two little girls will be in high school, rambunctious as ever and perhaps even one of them will get knocked up like her sister. And then you have little Trig, who will be five, with Down's Syndrome. It will be an awkward family and, most importantly, it seems really chaotic. My guess is that the family will continue to sort of splinter at the seams, and that will look ugly in public. That's not to say that I really give a shit about Palin's family life - merely, if you think the optics of her Jerry Springer-like family dynamic is bad now, wait four years. Celebrity does not go well with lack of sophistication, just ask the Spears family.
Sorry, but I believe that anyone who tries to predict anything beyond the next week is either a fool or an idiot. Of course, it does fill space.
"The last pole I saw of likely voters had him in a dead heat with McCain." -- Mark Trenton Your problem is you are looking at poles instead of polls. Every poll with a reasonable LV profile has Obama in a near-landslide. Keep dreaming about your John-Sarah inauguration party, but it's not gonna happen.
"Sorry, but I believe that anyone who tries to predict anything beyond the next week is either a fool or an idiot. Of course, it does fill space." Score.
Sorry, but I believe that anyone who tries to predict anything beyond the next week is either a fool or an idiot.Well duh, this is Ambinder we're talking about. He makes Palin herself look like a genius.
She has no curiosity to examine the duties of a VP even after making so many gaffes on that question. Her lack of interest to raise her knowledge is capped by her absolute hunger for power. She is undoubtedly dangerous but the sad thing is that people's memory are short-lived and they will forget all her negatives, stupidity, connives, and cunningness by 2012.
Sara's best bet for the future is be a Commentator on Fox News or be on Joan Rivers Show discussing the outfits celebs wear.
Go to www.mudflats.wordpress.com -- an Alaska Blog site where you'll see that Palin's "base" is not as thrilled with her as she leads us to think. Perhaps, however she could go back to being mayor of Wasilla? I'm not sure that would get her back in the national limelight, but stranger things have happened. Bottom line: Palin's name doesn't even belong in the same sentence as Hillary Clinton. Palin is in it for Palin. Period.
Palin is a mental midget. Snarky, unethical, ignorant and dishonest. She makes GW seem intelligent. Palin for pres is suicide for the republicans. Not that that would stop them. That's about all there is to it.....
Talk to me when the woman gets through all of her criminal investigations in Alaska and avoids being convicted for her shenanigans. All it takes is conviction for a misdemeanor and this line of discussion is moot. I don't think Palin's going to have an easy ride in AK ... regardless of how Limbaugh feels about her. On a larger level, if the GOP is in such disarray that Palin becomes their elected nominee, it would indicate they are no longer viable as a national party - putting them in the same tier as the Libertarians or Freedom Party.
Sarah Palin, who has been running for VP for a couple months, recently explained the job of VP as "being in charge of the Senate." The depth of her ignorance is astonishing.
I disagree that she will have any trouble winning re-election. She is very popular in Alaska because that state IS the GOP base... But you are 17 different kinds of high if you think she will be the nominee in '12. 1. The GOP will realize that they have to run someone middle of the road in order to win. This is not a "Base Election"... there is no reason to believe that it will be next time either. (Congrats Mitt) 2. She will have to stand on the stage with a crowed field and survive 10-15 debates with others of her own party who will try and destroy her. (ask Hillary how easy that was) 3. The larger, public image of her is set. Sure she can "bone up" on the issues and will be better... but now people expect her to make a mistake, people are searching for it... And everyone makes mistakes. When she does the media will have a field day. 4. How will she ever reverse her Fav/Unfav rating? She would be much better served to NOT run for re-election, and instead host a radio and/or Fox News show. Think about it... it would make her rich, the people who do love her would be a faithful audience, and she would be the VOICE of the base.
It's funny how your predictions are the inverse of mine. Lets go state by state in the primary. In the southern evangelical states she splits votes with Huck. In the other (educated) states she has no chance against Romney because her poor debate and interview skills. The final outcome is loss of nomination. Her only chance is to make a deal with Huck. Ironic how he may give the nomination to Romney on 2012.
If they want to pander to their 'base', rather than realise their base has become a shrunken, hateful inbred shack, and have Palin as the ever shriller cheerleader as her looks start to fade, I would be delighted. It's all v similar to Conservatives in Britain 1997 - they had nearly ten years of self-destruction before they came back from the brink. Huckabee stands a genuine chance; all he needs to do is sit and smile and wait for Palin to self-destruct; preferably for him in a death match with Romney. And Marc, you are embarrassing yourself that she is a superb politician. It's your usual fetish for people willing to do and say anything to get what they want. She has that in spades; but NOTHING else.
Fair enough. But, when you argue: "With Republicans completely out of power, and President Obama running what is likely to be a bigger government that spends more on social programs, Republicans are likely to run the most anti-government, anti-Washington campaign this side of Barry Goldwater. Again, Palin is perfectly positioned for this campaign." My issue with that is: what if the nation is not fully recovered from this economic crisis (which seems almost certain), and folks genuinely need more governmental help and regulation? How could an anti-government, anti-Washington campaign be relevant? I think Obama's media advisers are talented enough, if he's even moderately successful in a first term, to create a narrative that Dems in office = lives getting better. I would counter-argue that Palin's hateful Limbaugh rhetoric will only get so far, and probably self-destruct if a majority of Americans understand that our problems will take longer than 4 years to be solved -- thus giving Obama some wiggle room. They are much more likely to put up a serious candidate in 2012. And, I just don't think voters will forget Tina Fey's comic deconstruction of her OR forget that Palin was the THE ONE who basically called him a terrorist sympathizer. You're underestimating how much people are rejecting the Bush paradigm. Or, how much she's embarrassed herself. Images are more powerful than the passage of time, I think.
On the other hand, there is a sizeable portion of the crazy right (Kristol, Mark Levin and assorted foaming clowns at NRO) who will blame McCain's loss on the fact that he wasn't conservative, angry, hardcore enough. These people may finally, truly have their shot with Palin - test the thesis. Run the most hardcore, raving, fundamentalist, ignorant, bombastic, extremist conservative candidate possible, see what happens. Only after they lose every state will they reconsider their assumptions.
Is this supposed to be a satire piece? Sarah Palin is awful. Now, I don't blame her entirely for her inadequacy as someone as new and unaccomplished as herself cannot have enough coaching to overcome her lack of experience. So the majority of the blame falls on John McCain for being stupid enough to pick her in the first place. But some things are inexcusible, such as her ignorance of the VP role in the Senate, and her inability to name even one reform McCain had fought for to lowly Katie Couric of all people. Had Mitt Romney been asked such a lightweight question he'd be able to rattle off a list of things McCain has prusued under the realm of reform. Sarah Palin, if she is to be a viable national figure and especially one with Executive Branch aspirations, will have to spend much of the next few years repairing her image. As of now she remains a lightweight cultural figure, an ideological nod to a base who needs no such incentive to vote against Obama, meaning McCain stupidly calculated he needed to shore up the single-issue-voters who wake up each day with their goal being to overturn Roe v. Wade, i.e. they would've even voted for Mormon Mitt at the top of the ticket since the alternative is a guy named Barack Obama. Anyway, Palin is but one of a few younger generation Republicans we'll be getting familiar with in the next 2 years. Thanks to McCain's nitwittery she got a jumpstart this cycle, though it looks like that jumpstart only thrust her into the wall in Turn 1. Another younger name we also know is Bobby Jindal, who has gobs more substance than Palin. Then the last of this group who emerged on the scene this cycle is Gov. Pawlenty. In addition to these three, Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor are the other names you should expect to see rise to national prominence as the Republicans do their soul searching starting in about 2 weeks from today. But make no mistake, 2012 is Romney's to lose.
This all assumes that Bobby Jindahl doesn't run. Jindahl could split half her base, and Huckabee could split the other. If that's the case, you might see someone like Romney win a divided nomination, much like McCain won despite being unpopular with much of the traditional base this year.
Makes me wonder about Sarah and Todd Palin's tie's with the AIP, and the video that had surfaced of the founder of AIP wanting Alaska to secede from U.S. Is Sarah Palin a manchurian candidate that AIP selected to somehow penetrate Washington? It also makes me suspicious that McCain somehow got conned into selecting her against his judgement and wishes because the Limbaugh/Hannity/Schmidt/Davis camp decided he didn't have much of a chance and decided to groom someone like her for 2012? I used to respect McCain and even thought of voting for him much earlier in the year, and I can't for the world of me figure out how that McCain has disappeared. I don't see any honor or honesty or integrity or love of country in this McCain. Does he even know what his own party has done to him?
Just one Tina Fey skit is enough to remove her from national politics. In fact, it already has.
Sarah is your typical hockey mon.
In four years, Palin is four years less hot. Hot is all she's got.
Yes, it doesn't hurt to recall that Sarah Palin's husband of many years, Todd, hates America. He hates America so much he wanted to seceed from it, to literally break the US up into pieces. That's how much he hates America. Good luck with the 2012 campaign, Governor.
Historically speaking, failed VP nominees almost never capture their party's nomination (Dole is an exception, but his presidential bid was almost twenty years after being Ford's VP-pick). Plus, she's already seriously scandal ridden with enormous negatives. She's likely to be blamed by many as one of the key reasons for McCain's defeat. The right wing loves her, and the next cycle may see them in the ascendancy within their party-- but if I were to place money now, I'd be making bets on Huckabee as the presumptive favorite, not Palin.
Palin is a moron. She does not even qualified to run a lemonade stand, much less be VP or Pres. Anyone who thinks she is more than that is even dumber than her!
No way. After this disastrous election, the repubs are going to break into 4 pieces, with the neocons blaming the theocons, who blame the market fundamentalists, who blame Main Street. In a few months the Republican Party will begin to resemble the Donner party.
The Washington elite is cominig out against her at this point. If you look at wall street, Our Car companies, and the government. They all have one thing in common. The so ccalled smart people are running them. I don't think we can afford to many more smart people. Lets just have a little common sense for a change. That's the change I'm looking for. Obama is one of the so called smart people. He will be a one term president. His term will be a disaster. AS for The Washignton elite. They can all kiss my very white American Ass. That would be Republican or Democrat. AS for most of you people on this blog. Your just stupid!
chance, it's: You're just stupid, not your just stupid.
"I don't think we can afford to many more smart people" "AS for most of you people on this blog. Your just stupid!" Hilarious. Please post more, Chance. We need to know more about the pro-stupidity demographic.
Ant, are you on crack? Huckabee has, for pretty much the same reasons, about much of a chance for 2012 as Palin does, rofl. Sure, he'll run. But the ticket will spring out of the following names: Romney, Pawlenty, Jindal, Cantor, Steele, Ryan, Petraeus.
Be careful. Be very, very careful.
You're high. Outside of the beltway and the 23%ers, she's a joke. She'd get destroyed in an actual primary. Someone who has *all* of her positives, plus a good relationship with media, plus national credibility is already the number two guy: Mike Huckabee. Sarah Palin might not survive the remainder of her governorship. Here's a protip: there are vastly more Republicans than there are Limbaugh fans.
Palin may be a crafty politician, however she has now developed a history of bad ethical behavior, abusive behavior towards those in disfavor and is now seen a a "taker" of taxpayer dollars while talking financial reform. The foundation is weak, regardless of how knowledgeable she becomes. Palin is a disaster in 2008 and 2012 holds more of the same a Leopards do not change their spots. Should she be a candidate in 2012 and lose, she is politically finished. Maybe the next step for her is the U.S. Senate and there maybe she will learn the Rules and become Minority Leader. The above assessment did not include Jeb Bush as a potential Republican "bright star."
As a conservative Christen Republican, I will never EVER support or vote for Sarah Palin. I would rather not vote than to support her. Should she become the standard bearer, the Republican party would seek to become the Big Tent party and revert to the party of white trash racists who are radical Christens that have an education level of 6th grade.
Marc, I think the analysis is generally correct. I think her 2012 ambitions were obvious right around the MI pullous and I wrote about it at the time: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/4/143718/237/320/620044 As a dem, I think this is great news. After years of cultivating anti-elitism as an organizing prinicple, Sarah Palin is the devil that the GOP has created and cannot stop. They would have been so much smarter to anoint Bobby Jindal, but they didn't.
You do realise though that this gives most of us nightmares....
WHY HASN'T ANYONE HERE ADDRESSED THE FACT THAT OBAMA AND BIDEN RUN OFF AT THE MOUTH CONSTANTLY WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE SAYING ANYTHING OF SUBSTANCE OR WHETHER OR NOT IT IS FACTS - TALK ABOUT PALIN ALL YOU LIKE - I WILL TAKE SARAH ANY DAY TO THESE TWO SOCIALIST DUDES. I DON'T LOOK FORWARD TO LIVING IN THEIR SOCIALIST-COMMUNIST COUNTRY. BIDEN HAS BEEN IN THE GOVERNMENT FOR THIRTY YEARS AND JUST LOOK AT THE KIND OF MISREPRESENTATIONS HE SPOUTS. I THINK SARAH HAS LEARNED MUCH MORE IN HER SHORT TIME IN GOVERNMENT THAN BIDEN HAS DURING HIS TIME. OBAMA/BIDEN WOULDN'T BE DOING SO WELL IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE LIBERAL COMMUNIST/SOCIALIST PRESS - CNN, NBC, CBS AND ABC. WE MIGHT AS WELL BE LIVING IN RUSSIA AND BEING FORCED FED THEIR PROPAGANDA. IF ELECTED PRESIDENT, I SUPPOSE OBAMA WILL GET ALL HIS ANARCHIST-MARXIST BUDDIES ALLIGNED FOR MORE PROPAGANDA AGAINST FREE AMERICA.
Fox will pick her up, give her the blonde make over and she will become just another Fox bimbo. Mark my word!
Joseph, I sincerely agree with your assessment of Obama's machiavellian M.O. That's why I think he'll be hard to beat in 2012 b/c for that to happen his misdeeds or mistakes will have to show up in a major way during his first term. I think he'll move to the center, a la Bill Clinton, and so he'll have a much easier re-election than he would if he actually tried to appease all the idiots who support him b/c they'll be along for the 2012 vote no matter what he does or doesn't do. But I sincerely disagree with what his machiavellian nature will prompt him to do. If he wants to get re-elected, Sarah Palin as the GOP nominee in 4 years will be exactly who he wants to run against. I mean, either she or Mike Huckabee, but since he's as insignficant as he is, there's no way Obama can pull the strings to run against the Huckster, so he'd gladly settle for Palin whom he'd beat much easier than he will McCain in 12 days. Face the music guys, the democrats have admitted that the person they feared most was Romney. They spent far more money attacking him over the rest of the republican field in ads and campaigns during the primaries, the DNC launched far more negative press releases and statements about Romney than any other Republican, and if the smoke wasn't evidence enough to you the chair of the DNC itself even came clean and said so after Romney got out of the race. Many of us have a bad taste in our mouths for what the McCain-Huckabee alliance did to Romney this election and we kept an open mind until McCain didn't forgive his own grudge and invite Romney on the ticket, which would be only the sane and sensible thing to do since both men have strengths and talents to address our two most pressing issues: war and economic catastrophe. Had McCain truly been Country First, there would be no alternative to Romney as VP. Since he's either too petty or too stupid (likely both) to do so despite all the evidence from the primary race and the GOP delegate straw poll to pick the VP overwhelmingly favored Romney, McCain has us believe that if he goes down in his 70s like his dad and grandfather each did, then we're better off with Sarah than Mitt Romney? Pathetic. So many of us pulled up the ladder after giving Palin about 2 weeks to get her act together b/c this ticket stinks, it's a big fat loser, and so the best road to recovery runs through the intersection of McCain Defeat and Obama Victory in 2008. That means we're not voting for McCain. Some of us are simply not voting at all, some are writing in Mitt Romney, and some are even voting for Obama if they happen to live in battleground states just to ensure that McCain doesn't get to slide into the Oval Office and make another mess as big as Bush has made.
Honestly I hope and pray you are right because then we can virtually gurantee an Obama second term.
Two words: New Hampshire. I don't think she wins the primary there if there's a serious challenger out of Iowa. In fact, it might not even be close.
A woman being the head of the party of angry white males? Come on... You think Romney, Giuliani, Gingrich or Huckabee are gonna let that happen? How about Jeb Bush? My sleeper is Mel Martinez. Especially if they lose Florida and get wiped out with the Hispanic vote. She was always a gimmick. The base supported her because she was thought to give McCain the best shot at winning. If she can't do that she'll go right back to Dan Quayle obscurity.
God, as a Dem I PRAY that Palin gets the nod in 2012. She'd get blasted in the neighborhood of 75% - 25%. Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease!!!!!!!!!!
"Pro-Palin voices will begin to talk a great deal about how the only person to ever come close to beating Barack Obama was Hillary Clinton. Palin will seem to fit the Hillary mold for many Republican primary voters." Well the only person to ever BEAT Se. Obama was Congressman Bobby Rush. Does the GOP have any former Black Panthers hidden amongst their ranks somewhere?
My friends, now is not the time to cast your vote on a godless communist muslim arab terrorist. Obama will not cut taxes for the rich, he will only cut taxes for those making less than $250,000. This is less, my friends, than the dress Cindy wore to my convention. We need the McCain, Palin team in Washington to fight those liberal fat cats who attack our poor Wall Street executives and their compensation and bonus packages. I will continued the inspired policies of our great leader, George W Bush, or Dubya, to his friends like me! And did I mention Obama is a Negro?
Let's not forecast 2012. A lot can happen in four years. At this time in 2000, it was plausible to think a Bush win would mean a relatively moderate, inclusive Republican administration focused on domestic issues. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Where I purchase all those gorgeous jackets after Sarah Palin is washed back up to Alaska, I will only pay resale value:-) Go Smart People! Democrats will rule again.
Strange I as it may seem, I'm kind of with you on this one Marc. The party faithful love her and that what wins primaries. That said, John Thune might upset her applecart.
Unfortunately, I think the GOP could nominate her in 2012. We have a puppet in the White House now. Maybe the GOP likes an attractive, tow the party line mouth piece with the people in power behind the curtain like the "Wizard of Oz".
McSame's bimbette is a flop now, and she CERTAINLY will be in 2012 also.
Steve Atwood writes: "Should she become the standard bearer, the Republican party would seek to become the Big Tent party and revert to the party of white trash racists who are radical Christens that have an education level of 6th grade." Have you seen any of the Youtube clips of the knuckledragging mouthbreathers at McCain-Palin rallies? Evidently the Repiglican Party is already fitting your description.
Opal, Your CAPS LOCK is on...
Sarah Palin is the future hope of America, especially if we get Barack Obama as president. Obama is the Hugo Chavez of the United States, pushing socialism, massive welfare for those who will not work, and government control of everything. It was Bill Clinton's moderate liberalism that led to the backlash that gave Republicans both houses of congress and made Newt Gingrich speaker of the house. Just immagine the backlash that Obama's extreme liberalism will provoke. The current backlash against Bush is because he is NOT a conservative. Bush has grown the size of government and the national debt as bad as any democrat. After Bush's betrayal, this election will be truly winning year for real conservatism. Conservatives win if we elect McCain-Palin, or our victory will become clear when Obama's policies destroy liberalism forever. It is the Right, not the Left, that is on the side of history.
If Palin became the nominee she would lose. The social conservative base may love her, the anti-intellectual you-betcha attidude devoid of any actual substance does not play well with moderates and would be demonized by liberals. Even if McCain were to win and decided he only wanted 1 term, The democrats have the likes of Mark Warner, Evan Bayh, and Hillary Clinton in the wings. She could be declared ready by the National Review, but it would not make her electable.
Given that Obama is using the Hugo Chavez/Castro blue print for govenment overthrow.... ..Long before 2012 (With a Majority in both houses by demo-marxist, and a few more Ultra-Lib Ginsbergs appointed to the Supreme Court) he will be allowed to stay unopposed as "Dear Leader" for life, with any challenger to his authority being locked up or 6 feet under.
Dog-whistles, eh? The phrase is shibboleths. But then, I guess we're all dogs, so you're ok. When can we expect to be "put down," Marc?
Count me as another voice for the "Republicans will destroy Palin" argument. Either in the Alaskan Gov election or the primaries Palin will be demolished by whomever runs against her. Also, if she's on the top of the ticket how does her campaign hide how extreme she is on social issues (as McCain's has effectively done)? The Republican primary may shift to the right, but the top-line "versus Obama" numbers will be available, and does anyone really think that Obama v. Palin will look at all competitive given her desire to ban abortion completely, etc.? This is silly. Palin is feverishly liked by a small number of people. And yes, they are likely GOP primary voters. But don't confuse that rabid following with being the GOP's frontrunner. She's been a large part of a GOP debacle and both Jindal and Huckabee fill the 2012 role she'd fill without the flashback-inducing negatives.
Are you serious! I was hoping for this but I dare not say it out loud for fear it wouldn't happen. She's taken your best shot and you have not even laid a glove on her. The mindless Democratic Party member, the ones that do not follow issues only live to hate the Republican Party, like The Atlantic, will always hate a personality that attract people. But in 2012 Obama will actually have a record people can review. You can not hide it like this election. Marc you may actually have to report on your expertise, Politics.
I've got news for you, Sweetdough. I live in a tiny mountain town (less than a thousand people) that's pretty isolated in the winter. We have a well and a woodstove and a genny. We own a rifle and a shotgun. My husband served his country proudly in the Navy and volunteers for the rural fired department. We know all of our neighbors. I guess we live in what Sarah Palin calls "Real America". Here's the news. Not only are we voting for Barack Obama, but so is everyone I know in my little community. No one I know wants the kind of hate-filled, divisive administration the McCain/Palin ticket offers. We may be small town folk, but we are not small minded or stupid.
Forget Palin. Huckabee is way scarier than Palin. He's polite, funny, warm, smart and about as firmly entrenched in his religion as any Islamoterrrorfascist. And he has dimples.
She will be out of politics in 2 years and make a LOT of money as a FOX talking (empty) head.
You're all missing the point here. Sarah Palin will be the Vice President for the next four years. The only way she's running for President in 2012 is if McCain doesn't run for a second term.
What I find funny is that you liberal's are pretending to know anything and everything about Alaskan politics. Before this election, I am willing to wager 99% of you had no idea who the gov. was in Alaska and yet, here you go, predicting a resounding defeat for the most popular governor in the entire US. The difference between the Republican party and the Liberal party is that the Republican party tends to have values and morals. Liberals have shown that anything and everything goes, including infanticide. When America's jobs are cut, 401k's dwindle to nothing, and the socialistic attitude of the left is realized, Palin will win in a landslide in 2012. Liberals literally hate President Bush today, but wait until 2012, America will be willing to throw Obama under the bus. Mark.My.Words.
Interesting as the Alaskan who says she is taost is probably also a Berkowitz and Begich supporter. This Alaskan (yeah I am an Alaskan too) thinks you are talking out our butt! Did you send back that 1200 Check that Palin gave to all the Alaskan Citizens? I doubt it.. you probably spent it on a New TV. FYI there Cookie, maybe you should get out more and look into the two Democrats trying to take two positions. Begich raised Bonds and Taxes on HOUSES here in Anchorage.... he is NOT liked here by those who think about the amount we are paying on a house or condo under 210K. Also, Berkowitz is a loser whom only gets things down if Les Gara is holding his hand. You may not like Palin, but she sure did a hell of a lot more then Murkowski or Knowles has in YEARS! Get you head out of your butt... the methane is killing your brain cells.
Sounds like the formula for a Mitt Romney nomination, and a second Obama term. If Palin and Huckabee both run, they'll split the evangelical vote and Romney will cruise to the nomination as the "serious" candidate -- but Obama, barring something unforseen happening, has already locked up the "serious" brand. Romney will be nothing more than a "me-too" candidate, a weaker shadow of Obama's policies similar Alf Landon in his failed runs against FDR. Oh, and Mark Trenton, a "poll" is a statistical model of likely voter behavior. A "pole" is what Sarah should be dancing on.
"That, plus the vast majority of the country has already determined that she is an idiot. She can never recover from that because the reality is, she just isn't very smart." And you know this how? Have you ever met her? The reality is, most who have met her, even her opponents, seem to disagree with your baseless assessment. "You can only fake it so much." Obama has proven that you can 'fake it' at least nearly, if not all of the way to the White House.
SILLY SARAH, THE POSH PALIN?????.....It Looks like a new book is coming entitled: The Emporess's New Clothes!
You Liberal lunatics are shameless liars. You will pay. I hope all of you get fired. I'll drive by and spit on you as you stand in the Obama Government Soup Line.
As far as Jindal goes, the only way he runs is if the economy stays in the dumps into 2011. He's smart, if the economy is on an upward swing Obama will likely be unbeatable in 2012, let the Palin, Romney or Huckabee be the sacrificial lamb. Jindal in his mid 40's in 2016, and will be the hands on favorite to win the primary and the general.
Obama will overreach and Palin (who governs center-right like Reagan) will win. Obama is Carter's second term. He will assume a mandate that isn't there and there will be no republican's to blame for a bad economy. It will all be on the dems next time. Beware of the swing back to the right lefties. After he taxes the rich, watch the rich give him a 4 yr long recession. After Palin cuts the riches taxes, economic boom time. Bank on it. HAHA I said "bank on it" to democrats...nice job on the banks btw.
meh. In four years, she'll be fading; a shadow of the pretty face she is now. She knows that. She doesn't want to run in four years; she wants a gig on Fox within two years. Pays for pretty clothes. And it will get her and Todd to hell out of Alaska, which is kind of cold when you get up over 45. She's not aiming for the White House, she's aiming to replace Bill O.
Sarah Palin is the future hope of America? Bush is is NOT a conservative? Dude, will you pass me some of whatever it is you are smoking? That has got to be some amazing stuff.
Sarah Palin is even less intelligent than George Bush, and I didn't think that was possible. Hate and stupidity will only carry any candidate so far without actually having the Supreme Court steal the election for you or using the national color-coded terror alert to scare just enough people into voting out of fear.
Sarah Palin is a literal Godsend to those of us in the Republican Party who had all but despaired of John McCain's will to win. We don't want honorable defeat. We want candidates willing to fight, to take it to our opponents, to reveal Obama as the old-school socialist and corrupt machine politician he is. And Sarah Palin has done so, playing the attack dog role of the VP candidate with verve and gusto. Implying she is playing Machiavellian games, backbiting McCain in order to position herself for a 2012 presidential bid, is assigning to her motives simply not born out by her actions. So make up your mind, MSM: is she chillbilly hick or devious Queen of Republican Darkness?
I honestly think Palin disappears from the national scene after this election; the Republicans still need to win voters outside of their base, and Palin isn't going to be the candidate to do that. I think an insurgent/Dean like campaign upsets the ranks in the next election, with the Republicans throwing out an old warhorse (think Dole, Kerry) who runs a relatively honorable campaign with an outside chance of winning. I guess the old warhorse was supposed to be McCain but he certainly didn't run the campaign that way.
Regardless of who wins this election, it will be Palin vs Clinton in 2012. Neither Obama nor McCain will be able to run for a second term. Not with these two powerful and ambitious women waiting in the wings. The next four years will be a challenging time for either man. Both parties are deeply divided. Obama's base is the far left wing of his party, but he will have to move toward the center to govern effectively. He can't move far enough toward the center to be successful. By the end of his term he will be as unpopular as George W. Bush is today. McCain is a centrist who is barely tolerated by the right, and only because of his war record. It will be a very trying four years after which he will be ready to retire. Either way, it's Palin vs Clinton in 2012. If you think this election has gotten bitter and nasty, just wait four years. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Such short memories... Her male political dopplegange, Dan Quayle, was also next in line after Bush lost his reelection bid. He was also a very clear base-conservative voice. He had benefited enormously from his experience and was a confident and much better spoken politician. Nobody forgot "potatoe". He went nowhere. Ditto (as Rush's lemmings would say) Ms. Palin and her Putin flyovers. She's going to drift out of politics and start her own business, based in some way on selling the Sarah Palin image. And it's going to be very successful.
Actually, you people are wacko. She's the most popular Governor in America, that won't change... That being said, she's not going to be returning to Juneau, she's gonna be living in the Vice-Presidential mansion come January 20th... I know you all hate her, but she truly is one of the best things that has EVER happened to politics in America... So, you all better get use to her, because she's gonna be around the national landscape for about the next 12 years!!!
lol Word up Palinbots.
Mark, I was surprised by the harshness of the reaction to Sarah Palin. Personally, I found her totally unimpressive and I don't think she's a good public speaker at all. She has no sense of humor, apparently. But I didn't have that reaction that she was being presented as a sex goddess until I talked with my brother. Now, I see it: the tight jackets, tight short skirts that she tugs on, the high heels, the boots - yeah, the RNC bought her those clothes to make her look sexier. Those aren't the kinds of clothes she used to wear. I think its a mistake because women don't like it. And she's 44 years old now so how does she keep up that look as she ages, anyway?
What a bunch of leftist crap in these post.You all know that liberalism is a mental disorder.
FWIW Ambers, you really tend to attract the nutjobs around here. Does Freeper link to your blog?
I hope the republican party is stupid enough to nominate her in 2012 so Obama can whip her sorry butt back to Alaska a second time. This is a dangerous person and has no right to be considered to lead the United States of America. We're already in trouble. We don't need Sarah Palin to make things worse!
This is a joke, right? There is no way this article can be 100% serious. This woman is going to be lucky if she is re-elected Governor of Alaska. Some ambitious and INTELLIGENT Alaska Republican is going to challenge her in the state primary come next election up there.
Even if McCain wins, Palin is the favorite to be Republican nominee in 2012. But when he loses the narrative will be (bizarrely) he didn't fight hard and dirty enough. Palin will sell McCain out November 5, saying she always wanted to go after Wright and will be the darling of the RIght. If Romney couldn't beat McCain this year, he won't beat Palin in 2012. Pawlenty will be outspent. Jindal could run but he'd have to compete with a much more famous and well-funded Palin in order to take on an incumbent. More likely he'll bide his time for 2016. The media will want a Palin-Obama race and will slam any other Republicans to make it happen.
Very well reasoned argument, but the republican primary is going to be terrificly vicious next time. I do think they will re-hab her image enough to make it a possibility, but there is no guarantee. Four years is a long time - someone mentioned her family. I hate to say it, but what might seem quaint now, won't in 4 years. We all know there is something not quite right with her husband's over-involvement in her governorship. She has only been in office about 18 months and is already involved in scandals, and has been found to have abused her power (regardless of if she admits it). What else is coming? Again, four years is a VERY long time. As a Floridian, I LOVE Jeb Bush, but I don't know if the country would go there. I think it will be a governor - no one in the Senate is even remotely decent. But I hear you Marc, it makes sense - the optics would call for it - that it would need to be a woman - a white woman - to go up against Obama. The issue is which one will get the chance?
A whopping 60% of women under fifty reject Palin.
This is an easy call. Think back to the Republican primaries...each contender is in line ahead of Sarah. After Nov. 4th, Sarah quickly becomes nothing more than an odd footnote in history (as a failed McCain publicity stunt).
Ambitious? Well Obama is either an ultra left wing terrorist sypathizer and America hater and Jew hater (re: Rev Wright, Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said, Bill Ayers) or not, in which case he is so ambitious that he is willing to cavort with those destestable folks just to get elected. You decide
A question: She would be sworn in for a second term December 2010 and the following month begin a presidential primary campaign? I have to guess she does not run for a 2nd term as governor.
Sexism, sexism, sexism... Most of the college educated women I know are morons... GO SARAH GO!
Reading the comments from the McCain/Palin supporters is what terrifies me for the future of this country. The hatred, fear, vitriol, threatening gestures ("You will pay."), and disrespect is disheartening and demoralizing. This is the best we can do as Americans? Rip each other to shreds? I am all for political dissent, it's what makes a democracy great, but the apoplectic, spit flying, hatred aimed from one American to another speaks to the very worst of our human nature. If we can't function as a nation of individuals, then we don't deserve to carry on the mantle of the Constitution or march beneath the Flag. It's One Nation Indivisible. Remember? What a waste of a Revolution.
Why do the people who clearly support Palin think they have the right to criticize what Obama might do if elected President? Not that all of them (that would be a presumptive generalization - something these supporters tend to do...quite often) supported GW Bush. But, if you did support Bush and his policies you really don't have a great track record on picking people who can effectively govern and lead. Let;s face it, you made one colossal mistake that has impacted the 49.999999999% of the country that didn't vote for this failure. Instead of regurgitating media sound bites from pundits and right wing entertainers, you should really do some research and come up with your own independent ideas. I mean, do you really want to be someone else's puppet and walking marketing machine? This is the land of the free and that includes thought.
She may be able to grab the nomination because of extreme right wing's love for her but remember few things here: 1. Palin is a polarizing figure. She is to the nation what Hillary was few years back. 2. A polarizing figure will only win if Obama screws up badly. 3. Obama is a smart man and he will govern as a moderate reformer. He wants to do 'pay as you go'. So what is Palin going to run against? A polarizer against a uniter? 4. The other ambitious republicans like Huckabee and Romney will destroy Palin in the primary by using all the mud that Obama/Biden never touched. Huckabee and Romney will use all Palin scandals from per-diem scandal, troopergate, flying kids on taxpayer diem, clothes, lack of foreign policy experience. 5. The biggest thing is running against a popular incumbent. Obama is very very smart to do all the right things and stay popular till 2012 and would gain even more new voters! There will be even more non-white population by 2012. There is no chance in hell that Palin will be able to achieve her ultimate goal in 2012.
Why do the people who clearly support Palin think they have the right to criticize what Obama might do if elected President? Not that all of them (that would be a presumptive generalization - something these supporters tend to do...quite often) supported GW Bush. But, if you did support Bush and his policies you really don't have a great track record on picking people who can effectively govern and lead. Let's face it, you made one colossal mistake that has impacted the 49.999999999% of the country that didn't vote for this failure. Instead of regurgitating media sound bites from pundits and right wing entertainers, you should really do some research and come up with your own independent ideas. I mean, do you really want to be someone else's puppet and walking marketing machine? This is the land of the free and that includes thought.
Another dark horse could be the next in line in Bush dynasty.. Jeb!
The political landscape seems to be covered with bodies of people who underestimated Sarah Palin. She is a delight!
Those of you dissing on Palin are making the same mistake many on the right have done with Obama. I also love the Palin is divisive stuff. Its always interesting to watch your ideological view and who is divisive and who is a uniter. Beyond Obama's soaring rhetoric can anyone give me any proof of him being a uniter? On any reasonably tough issue can you show me where he has worked across the aisle and not voted along the party line???? I didn't think so. Being a uniter or divider goes beyond mere rhetoric alone, but actions. So keep yucking it up Palin haters, its what got you 8 years of GWB. By the way, before you decide what the next 4 years will bring, lets live them first. The Democrats looked dead 6 years ago. Now people want to write the Republican's obituary. Fortunes can turn on a dime. The chickens can come home to roost when you least expect it if you get my drift...
Palin will not get the nomination in 2012. An important reason will be that McCain will endorse another candidate -- while being careful not to admit explicitly that he screwed up by picking her.
Vetting Smetting. She would go down in flames. There are so many skeletons in Ms. Palins closet that there isnt any room for her new $150K wardrobe. Google: Palin Chryson
Well....I think the GOP may well use Palin as cannon fodder in 2012, since like The Ambinder says, it will take an external event to damage Obama. He is simply too smart to govern himself into a Bush style pit.
"Sarah Palin is the only truthful voice in this elections" What truth? The truth about how she was found to violate state ethics in the troopergate report, which she somehow says cleared her of all wrongdoing. The truth about how she padded her expense accounts to fly her family on state business? The truth about her long-standing support for the Alaskan Independence Party, commending them this year for their good work (that would include their mission to succeed from the union)? The truth about her clothing budget, even as she castigates the elitists? The truth about her experience as mayor, including her decision to make rape victims pay for the kit? The truth about her family values? With that said, she is my candidate for the Republican nomination.
Matt, I agree with your analysis.
Palin's chances could increase if her husband gets his head turned by the bright lights of celebrity and has an affair. His options in that line must have improved over the past 2 months. So then Palin gets to add the sympathy vote to talk-radio-Corner land. It IS the real America you know -- I think the stats show that more than 50% of married people cheat.
I am supporting Obama because i am absolutely sick of this war BUT 4 years is a longtime. just visit a blog like Dailykos...they are just waiting for an Obama presidency and their progressive aganda. Obama has to move to the middle and history may well repeat itself Bill Clinton style when the excesses of political correctedness went overboard and liberal became a dirty word. Look, the right is very good at choosing winners. They nominated mccain even though they hate him. Mccain actually was doing well in a democratic year: it was the wall street mess that completely did him in. The country is fundamentally center-right. My bet is that 4 years is a long time; public memory is short; and 2012 will be just right for Jeb Bush. Even Quayle got redemption. Jeb Bush/Palin or Jeb Bush/Jindal will be a very hard ticket to beat. The extreme left will find Nader to screw themselves up again.
I notice that most of the pro-Palin posts are full of misspelled words and confusing syntax. I guess that's just a coincidence. Just as I noticed that Sarah Palin's insistence on carrying through a pregnancy with a Down's Syndrome child, after already accumulating an unseemly large family (in this horrifically over-populated world) just may be coincidental with Alaska's SOCIALIST program of paying each resident merely for existing.
Palin may stay on the national stage somewhat, but the CW will be that McCain lost because of picking her as VP. Not a career building resume.
Troopergate? Pleeaaase!
J. Jordan, one question.....has Trooper Wooten been either charged or convicted of a crime?
Palin is the new voice of conservative American and she is just getting started. She has 4 years to hone her skills and she is tremendously talented. IF BO is elected he will face a huge uphill climb to make anybody happy after the initial hoopla that a black man was elected. He will be a one term president and then here comes Hillary and Palin in 2012. The groundwork of anti-misogyny and pro-women is already laid. These two women will have 4 years to perfect it.
Palin is great. I like her story and think she shows a toughness neccessary for the Presidency. You all have under estimated her. I like her and Jindel. I'd prefer Jindel. We have some other young talent not mentioned Jeff Sessions, DeMint, Mike Pence as well. As for Romney it depends on what he does over the next few years - he would be great - but he has a problem connecting with people passionately. He doesnt fire them up or at least doesnt get enough of them...
It's a shame when benefiting from low expectations, an ability to fake it, and a talent at avoiding questions are considered positive points when talking about a possible future presidential candidate. It doesn't really sound like there's any concern regarding who would be the best leader for the country...it just sounds like beating the other team at all costs. Very patriotic.
Look in the mirror, matoko. Palin was not convicted of anything. Your referring to findings of an investigation headed by a Democrat opponent. Yeah, no bias there.
This is a joke right? Enormously talented politician? Are you not reading the polls starting to show that she is actually part of why McCain is sinking? On second though, yeah, bring her on in 2012 - we'll get another win for Obama and more good SNL skits in the process!
oh wow.....epiphany time. I couldn't figure this out... The shamans of the GOP are preserving what they can control about Palin's image so they can expend her a shock troop in the culture wars again, in 2012.
Folks, if she is serious about running for President in 2012, she doesn't run again in Alaska in 2010. That will be the first tell.
J Jordan, read the report.
zomg, this all makes sense. lol, how Rovian.
Sound argument, Marc. I would add to your calculus militant-right control of state party machinery (look at Iowa and Virginia this year). Agree with several commenters, though, that Palin could face trouble on her home turf -- Alaskans are getting into the habit of overthrowing corrupt politicians, and recent reports of Palin's questionable perks and power plays make her look like (dare I say) more of the same. The 2012 election, however, is going to be even more about economics than 2008. The housing/credit-driven economy will have crashed for good, but its replacement (infrastructure, alternative energy, whatever) will not be up and running yet -- we'll still be deep in the hole. That's going to stoke blue-collar and fixed-income retiree anger, which could benefit Palin, Huckabee or some other populist. But it could also boost a Republican who can present some plausible future-tense economic scenario -- Romney, Gingrich or some articulate corporate dark horse. One thing you don't mention: We don't know how voters will be informed four years from now, but we can make a pretty good guess. MSM are in steep decline, cable and Web information sources are growing more ideologically slanted, and the Obama campaign's model of intense direct communication with supporters will be picked up by everybody. The next presidential race could be conducted almost entirely in unmediated echo chambers. That presumably would benefit the most strident partisans.
I have to agree with those who think that Palin will not be successful in future, nationwide campaigns. Look at those "negatives" in recent polling. Too many Americans recognize her as an ambitious, but intellectually incurious, narrow minded, evangelical idealogue. Katie Couric and Tina Fey have doomed Palin as an attractive, yet insular, simple-minded "celebrity." While she might give any Republican a run for their money in conservative primaries...the majority of Americans don't want a first family that is satisfied with a simple high school education. Additionally, I think many Alaskans will feel that she abused taxpayer money with per diem and travel expenses. Wait for the construction of her home to further investigated. She has been milking the system, not reforming it. That moniker will be lost. And, her insessant lying will gain greater exposure over the next four years. The best thing she could do is run for the US Senate and wait 'til 2016.
That presumably would benefit the most strident partisans. Except if your party is the minority...
I'm late to this conversation, but I was thinking Palin in 2012 as well. She's got style, an ability to communicate with audiences, whether using a teleprompter or on the stump. Conservative audiences love her. She looks and sounds authentic. All she needs is to get serious about policy. Learn the issues. Potentially she could merge Hillary's brain for policy with her own charisma. She'd be dangerous. That's what I was thinking ... until I heard her answer just the other day to the oft-repeated question: what does the vice president do? THE WOMAN STILL DOESN'T KNOW! Palin is dumber than a bag of hair, and all the designer clothes and high-end makeup is not going to change that fact.
Oh Sweet Jesus, pleeeeaaaase give us Palin in the Republican presidential primaries in '12. Just imagining her getting savaged by her own kind is making me giddy with anticipation...:))))
Thx to the conservatives for saying that are NOT voting for the horrible ticket. THAT gives me hope more than anything. NOW I know American of all stripes are thinking, thank god.
Describing this woman as an "immensely appealing" candidate is based on what? Bill Krisol's adolescent fantasies? This walking cipher in heels will never amount to a political leader of any consequence.
Ambinder types a lot of words here but doesn't make a convincing case because all he talks about are Palin's supposed positives, while completely ignoring the negatives. Are Republicans really interested in nominating a 1-time loser with huge negatives? Someone who proved herself Bush in a skirt in so many ways, beginning with her willful ignorance? Her embarrassing ignorance of just about every national issue? Her multiple scandals, including Troopergate and now FashionGate or whatever they're calling it? Palin might have her fans, but to think that other ambitious Republicans won't have ample material to totally eviscerate her in the 2012 debates seems willfully blind. How about the fact that Palin isn't being taken on by her opponents? There's a very, very stong case to be made that Obama/Biden have written her off as not worth fighting for the most part, and have simply let her hang herself. This has worked brilliantly. But in 2012, what Palin learns between now and then isn't likely to help her when she has to take on fellow Republicans. Remember how nasty McCain and Romney got with each other? You think Mitt isn't going to tear Palin up? If the Chrisitanist base of the Republicans was so strong, how did McCain get nominated this year? Because Republicans want to win, and Romney, Huckabee and Rudy all smelled like losers. Not that the Chrisitian Right isn't strong in the party, it's clearly their strongest faction. But they alone couldn't elevate Huckabee, or stop McCain. And they certainly tried. Anyway, what's obvious is that the Republicans don't have ANY good choices right now. Say what you want about Huckabee and Romney and Palin, but sorry, those three are totally UNELECTABLE! And the Republicans that are smart know this. Only Romney speaks to the Wall Street Journal crowd - the fiscal conservatives - and all have their bases, but nationally, they are a joke. The Republicans better start looking for some new blood, because if they're going to reply on Huck, Mitt and Palin, 2012 is gonna look like 1984 all over again.
I much prefer Mitt Romney, but it doesn't mean she won't be a force in the Party.
"The political landscape seems to be covered with bodies of people who underestimated Sarah Palin. She is a delight!" Kind of like Stalin! Lovely!
I did read the report. Please pay attention.
"Kind of like Stalin! Lovely!" As I mentioned earlier: Thanks for sticking with the play book, Joel.
When your grandchildren ask you where you first heard the news, you will tell them you heard it from a guy on Ambinder's blog: Palin/Doocy 2016. This is the ticket, you will tell your grandchildren, that made the Canadian Intervention necessary.
Reading the comments posted by Obama supporters, it occurs to me we Republicans might actually win this thing. If Obama was inevitable--the landslide, shoo-in candidate you present him as being, right now you folks ought to be basking in the promise of your forthcoming socialist paradise, but you aren't. There is a shrill, desperate quality to the anti-Palin headlines and stories. I'm guessing it's the crowds Sarah Palin turns out, the numbers she generates every time she makes even the briefest television appearance--and not only the numbers, but the sheer enthusiasm she fuels among the base. Weren't we Republicans supposed to be disheartened right now? Weren't we supposed to think the election over before it was over, and not bother to turn out at the polls? Wasn't that the strategy? Sorry to disappoint. Looks like the race isn't over, not yet. Meanwhile, would one of you please senselessly attack another working man or woman who has the temerity to ask Obama a difficult question? Even better: get Joe Biden on prime time television, unscripted. That's Republican gold, right there.
Each one of you leftists.Post YOUR governor's approval ratings, their budget surplus/deficit, the number of employees MANAGED efficiently, record of going against thier own party and record of governance that reflects the will of the people RATHER than the governor's personal beliefs.Dont bother lying or spinning, her ACTUAL records are on the books(quite the polar opposite of Obama's record of perpetual "present").This basic exercise will plant you squarely in the "partisan hack" category, and mabey this whole politics thing isnt for you.All this umbrage you have towards her, is not because of her lack of intellect or ability that YOU cast on her;its her positions, vituperations that shatter the illusion that only those women and minorities that carry the loadstone leftist ideology can make it.Oh and by the way, dont bother responding unless you do as i ask, in regards to posting actual empirical evidence of how much better YOUR governor is doing.So spare me petulent children of Marx.This feigned elitism you build your pedestal from, will be the petard you hang from....I guess its off to the local leftist haunts to eviscerate them in debate, show them the ignorance they weild is in direct correlation by magnitudes to the bigotry they have towards those who do not think like them.:::shakes head:: Lenin could not have been more accurate when he described American leftists as useful idiots, who supplant emotion for objectivism.And true intellect hindered by the basic principle of leftist dogma;you are all equal, and the lowest common denominator determines the extent of that commodity.
Uh, Aaron? My govern's not running, buddy. Yours is (I gather). And she's a clown. She has the highest negatives and the lowest positives of any of the 4 candidates. That's real 'Mericans talking, not the pointy-headed elite who think they're special because they know things. That's real "objectivism" for you. You're a good example of the politics of resentment. Just brooding with resentment, aren't you? The main job of an Alaska governor is to mail welfare checks to citizens out of the Alaska Permanent Fund. That's pretty easy to handle when oil is $150 a barrel. At $50 a barrel, not so much.
SHUR HER UP! LOL in Miami
While odds look like they are in Senator Obama's favor, let's not go and predict 2012 before 2008 is settled. That being said, don't count Governor Palin out. I have many friends and acquaintances who are smart, caring, charitable, and industrious people who think that Sarah Palin is the best thing to hit the American political scene in ages. I don't get it. All I do know is that they don't care about Troopergate or Palin's lack on knowledge in many areas. They know that she is pro-life, a Christian, and a conservative. And that is all they want.
Wow, such twisted humor. Let's see, Palin is stupid, awful, a hick, unethical: I'm sure I missed some - my apologies. Sure sounds a lot like whistling past the graveyard to me. The antidote to all of these notions is the truth. The public is fickle, and so is the media. As Vernon Jordan once said, "let us see what time will tell us".
I see little chance that Palin could make a serious run in 2012. I think the GOP establishment will totally abandon her if McCain loses, and she will have serious trouble raising money for a race. Unless she can run an Obama-style fundraising campaign with lots of small donations from supporters, I don't see any big GOP donors getting behind her. She also has a terrible split in the department of positive perception vs. negative perception. Even in a GOP primary there are people who simply dislike her. The Wall St corner of the party will never warm to her. If the GOP loses this one, by 2012 she will be a historical footnote. Think Quayle and his presidential campaign in 1996- except he actually was VP for 4 years.
I'm sure Dobson and the Religious Right are setting their ducks in row anticipating the 2012 elections. What Republicans are infamous for is considering themselves to literally be at war against the opposing Party. A war for which they are taking no prisoners. Immediately upon the transference of power they will unleash a battalion of lawyers, and agents in full force to disrupt any reform measures the Democrats intend supporting their ideas. The Atwaterian Republicans are well known for their Machiavellian methods where as the end result sparing no expense justifies the mean; reflecting a secular sense of relativity. The Dobsonian Republicans, (Palin) are beholding to a higher order that doeesn't suffer from relativism, and is justified by an invisible all powerful absolute hand. I see their Achilles vulnerability explained as their inability to adapt to the maxim in the, "Art of War", your friends draw them in close, your enemies even closer. Unfortunately their insolence will result in them unwittingly taking no prisoners as they descend into the creation of their own disintegration.
The rabid GOP base that desires some kind of superstar to rise from their ranks and dispel the torpor brought on by several years of Bushevism not to mention the general discrediting of much of it's free-market theology is so, so hoping for a resurgent Ms. Palin to somehow develop on what they hopes are the sidelines of a marginally successful Obama presidency. They are blithely unaware that the precepts of the world in which they ruled for so long have changed. I'm afraid that the fracturing of the party by the extremes will not be glued together easliy by a Sarah Palin 8 years older no matter how good she is on the stump. I mean, let's face it, her appeal is largely cosmetic and is very much rooted in this particular election cycle. Take away the knee-jerk sex appeal that so revs up the likes of Rich Lowry and Pat Buchanan and you're not left with a whole lot regardless of her "native" intelligence. Sorry, but In depth policy speeches on globalization and international trade are not gonna be any more effective when delivered in her folksy manner punctuated by winks with intermittent shout-outs to Joe the Plumber, especially by a Sarah Palin who has lost that "oh so fresh feeling". No one is being very honest about the appeal that fuels the excitement for the Governor. None of her rabid followers that populate her rallies is really interested in a competent, well-informed speaker. They want a flamethrower. One in a skirt that can poke the democrats in the eye what with their support for "equal rights and multiculturalism", damnit!
Is Palin that ambitious, or is this just some cleverly disguised piece of GOP propaganda? Think about it. The right, knowing that she's become somewhat of a hindrance to the McCain campaign, suggest that she's a serious possible contender for 2012, even though they don't really believe she is. This idea implants in peoples minds that she may not be that unqualified for VP now, thus boosting the McCain/Palin tickets credibilty.
Sully gets it.
Reginald Morris, above, wrote, 'Unfortunately their insolence will result in them [Republicans] unwittingly taking no prisoners as they descend into the creation of their own disintegration.' lolwut? Remember, Reginald: syntax is your friend. For my part, I can't predict with any certainty what will happen in 2012. Real-world events driven by a million unforeseen variables have a way of skewing prognostications. The one thing I do know is Obama's platform of higher taxes--including a capital gains increase--establishment of protectionist tariffs, and restrictions on energy supply because of misguided, green-minded energy policies will push an already shaky economy over the brink. I do know draw-downs of military preparedness and appeasement of dictators and rogue states invites aggression. I do know--based upon all historical evidence--socialism does not, cannot work. And I know however bad things might get, the press will not be able to gloss it over, nor will it ever regain its credibility. Should Obama win this election, those aren't predictions; those are certainties.
Instead of speculating about a scenario that bears little potential for coming to fruition, why not look at what could actually happen in 2012? Don't let the social con faction of the party distract you. Palin is DOA, and was never more than eye candy. The one to watch is Petraeus. He's not going to budge on withdrawal from Iraq. When Obama pushes the issue, he'll be forced to either dump him or accept a letter of resignation. Petraeus will return into the arms of a dispirited GOP, and if he's smart he'll help resurrect it. Things will not get better in Iraq or Afghanistan, regardless of whether we withdraw or not. Things will not get significantly better re: the economy between now and the next election. Anger at Wall St., an uptick in acceptance to govt. intervention in the economy, and the let down that will come with the Obama administration will create an environment that's highly amenable to a Petraeus candidacy. Acts of terrorism perpetrated against the US by foreign and domestic terrorists between now and 2012 will also create an environment ripe for a Petraeus ascendency (it will only take one or two incidents). He'll be a law and order candidate, a father figure to guide us through troubling times. He'll likely pair with someone who's strong on the economy, maybe Romney. Stop fighting the culture wars, and stop dangling Palin out there. She's a distraction, and so is the GOP's "nutty base." Christians and hippies scream and shout about who poses the biggest danger to democracy, and both make for an interesting media show, but neither group or their political reps will ever be anything more than a marginal force in American politics. The fiscal cons are temporarily discredited. If the GOP makes a comeback, it will be on the back of Petraeus.
(sing to the Brady Bunch) Here's a story of a lovely lady The Palin Bunch
Palin should shave her head and do Sinead O'Connor impressions for the next four years. It would be a better use of her time than what she's doing now.
Er, Petraeus 2012? You're engaging in wishful thinking. General Petraeus, insofar as I can tell, has never announced political party affiliation--as is proper for a high-ranking military officer. I've read he's interested in advancing one day to Chair of the Joint Chiefs, which is a natural progression given his stellar career path to date, so I strongly doubt pinning presidential hopes on Petraeus is a good idea, at least within the next four years. Further, although she is pleasant to look at--and being camera-friendly is a distinct advantage, btw--Sarah Palin is no piece of fluff distraction. Should McCain/Palin win this election, she's the heir-apparent by default. Should Republicans lose, she'll remain the strongest contender in an emerging field. My idea of wishful thinking? Palin/Jindal. Hope and change, you betcha.
What a fool. She's not even going to get re elected in ALASKA my friends. Haven't you hard all that bragging about going against the good old boys and corruption back home? This woman has no chance in national politics. Period.
Maybe if she ran naken in 2012, the RNC could save some money, and Joe Six Pack to make a toast.
Um, wow. I didn't know there were people delusional enough to think that anyone in the Democratic Party (much less Hillary Clinton) would try to primary a sitting Democratic president. I guess you learn something every day on the blogs.
I just caught Jean's comment up there more or less condemning Sarah Palin for bringing her Down's baby to term. Stay classy, Jean. And that remark about 'this terribly overpopulated world'? Nonsense. The problem isn't too many people. The world has ample resources and the means to feed and shelter many billions more. The problem is corrupt, inefficient, usually socialist governments and the equally wrong-headed policies they implement. Europe, Canada, and Japan have birthrates far less than the replacement rate, dooming them as cohesive societies in the longterm. But hey, no worries: Europe resolved its population problem and maintains its various socialist systems not by making babies but by importing labor from peoples who do remember how to make babies. Of course, those pesky cultural differences about things like freedom and individual rights go by the wayside, but the French will still have their summer vacations, amirite?
Palin is about as ambitious as Joe-the-Plumber. JTP doesn't have a license to practice plumbing, yet he says he wants to buy his boss's plumbing business. Call that ambition? I call it wishful thinking. The man hasn't even gotten his license! Palin doesn't have the credentials to run for national office, yet she says she wants to be in charge of the Senate and president of the USA if so be it. Most of America has looked into her twerpy eyes and seen...nothing. Four years from now the electorate will be 4 years smarter. JTP is a hoax, and so is Palin. Karl Rove's Eliza Doolittle? No, Eliza Doolittle was a lot smarter. If Sarah Palin had any ambition, she'd be out talking to the press FOR HERSELF. Prez Palin in 2012? In your nightmares!
Her other big problem in 2012 will be that she's not really a fiscal conservative. Alaska is practically a socialist state. You want wealth redistribution? What do you call taxing your biggest industry to distribute cash to the citizens? You want pork? Alaska is the king of pork. How about financial ethics? While she may be less corrupt than Murkowski was that's not setting the bar very high.
Did you sense from his recent comments that even Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't seem to think that Palin is his intellectual equal? Good luck coming back from that.
Cadmus: "The best thing (Palin) could do is run for the US Senate and wait 'til 2016." The problem is that to do so very soon, she'd have to take out an incumbent Republican in a 2010 primary - ironically, it's Lisa Murkowski, the daughter of the governor that Palin primaried in 2006. Lisa, unlike her father, is a moderate Republican with a pretty clean reputation. That primary battle would quickly get nasty, and open the door wide for a strong Democratic challenge. Otherwise, she could run for re-election to the governorship in 2010, and despite Alaskans learning all sorts of stuff we didn't know... she'd still be heavily favored and be a very tough candidate. Her next opportunity to run for Senate wouldn't be until 2014 - which is a possibility, because if Ted Stevens wins re-election it will certainly be his last term, which opens that seat up. Otherwise, she'd be challenging Mark Begich. Of course, there's the possibility that Stevens wins re-election, dies in office sometime later... and Palin appoints herself to his Senate seat.
"Actually, you people are wacko. She's the most popular Governor in America, that won't change... " It will if teh price of oil slumps and the state welfare checks (I mean alaska permanent fund checks) get smaller.
Troopergate will be the key, and I think the news there will not be good for her. I predict she'll be impeached, and maybe sent to jail. Palin is right about having ruffled some feathers in Alaska, and ruffled chickens have an odd way of coming home to roost.
It amazes me that pundits who make this argument blind themselves to the following facts: (a) Palin is the most unpopular vp nominee in the history of polling (b) Almost all the Obama endorsements have cited McCain's selection of Palin as a prime reason for their endorsement. She's a laughingstock except among her core supporters. And I suspect a lot more conservatives are privately cringing than we've been hearing. To top it off, it is rare for a party to nominate someone who previously ran for vp on a losing ticket. FDR is the only president who had previously done an unsuccessful vp run (in 1920). How the most notorious vp nominee in memory could pull this off is almost unimaginable.
I think you are right about her ambitions for national office...I'm sure this isn't the last we'll here about the "Six Million Dollar Hockey Mom" in the Lower 48. Her future political career in AK may be in doubt, as others have noted, but that does not preclude her from assuming a higher profile among the party elite. She clearly enjoys the patronage and support of its more vile cheerleaders (Limbaugh, Kristol, etc.). As long as she pops up now and then to speak with a friendly media outlet or in front of a sympathetic audience, she'll be well positioned to throw her hat in the ring in 2012. That being said, don't expect other Republicans to let her take the crown without a fight. It'll be interesting to see how she holds her own in those cage matches. Who knows, she may emerge as the Republican nominee, but I wouldn't count on it. Even if she does, she'll have an uphill battle getting into the White House unless Obama totally blows it in his first term, which I don't expect.
I hope America is wising up to what should no longer be tolerated in this country. The people who are trying to divide this country need to be persecuted and never again be in any position to run for office. Sarah Palin is one of those people that should never run for office unless its for a racist and divisive group. You've already seen whats happend to Michele Bachmann after her divisive comments. The future of America cannot afford to tolerate any of these individuals and need to dispose of them quickly. Sarah Palin will go the same route once the real truth about her governership in Alaska is exposed. She represents everything that is terrible about this country. She is not a role model, but would be a great Right Wing Nut Radio host. The conservatives love her,but that is not the type of person that will be able to get elected to office in the future. You will need someone like a Bobby Jindal who is both smart,has shown good judgement and is more right center than conservative Republican. He appeals to both Republicans,Democrats,and Independents. I'm surprised you didn't mention him in your article. He is going to be the real formidable opponent in 2012 for the Democrats.
I can hear it now: "That McCain took that poor small town girl and dressed her up in $150,000 duds and didn't let campaign like she wanted..." Of course, the Republicans already threw him under the bus once.
Mike Huckabee makes for a far more likeable and saner candidate for Republicans in '12, than Sarah Palin. Sure, he doesn't do the flirting and winking stuff, but he manages to be Christian conservative, appeal to middle-class and blue-collar workers, without turning off middle-of-the road types -- or the MSM, for that matter. Best of all, he has a real sense of humor and can and can come across as folksy without being stupid. The conservatives who railed against him during the primaries over economics will be laying prostrate at his feet after one term of an Obama/unified Democratic Congress.
Palin 2012? You mean for the newly sovereign Republic of Alaska I suppose?
Nate Uchida writes: "You will need someone like a Bobby Jindal who is both smart,has shown good judgement and is more right center than conservative Republican. He appeals to both Republicans,Democrats,and Independents. I'm surprised you didn't mention him in your article. He is going to be the real formidable opponent in 2012 for the Democrats." Uh huh. I'll believe that the GOP base will nominate a dark-skinned former Hindu the day after it's revealed that Dick Cheney is undergoing a sex change operation.
Troy: 2) Palin's unfavorable ratings with independents outweigh her favorable ratings. The probability that a folksy fundamentalist who isn't even out of hot water in her own state is going to suddenly appeal to the media and indies she's been turning off is ridiculous. She's DOA - and always has been. What's left of her rep will be decimated in the GOP primary in 2012. 3) Petraeus was promoted above the zone to command CENTCOM for political reasons. He has never hesitated to help Bush make a case for prolonged occupation in Iraq, and he's an incredibly astute "politician" in addition to being a military professional. He's demonstrated an uncanny ability to navigate the CENTCOM political/military worlds without letting Iraq bring him down, and there's no reason to think that being a military professional would preclude him from seeking higher office. For past examples of military professionals who showed few signs of later seeking elected office I'll refer you to Jackson, Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower, and MacArthur. 4) The Christian social conservatives are out of step with the course this country is on in terms of both demographics and policy. Rove and Penn were wrong. Micro-trends and niche identity politics will not provide future national political leaders with an electoral edge. Social cons scare the bejeebus out of the rest of America. They occupy minority positions on abortion, gay rights, the environment, and more importantly they pay too little attention to the issues of most import to voting Americans. While the Evangelicals within the GOP are an essential component for GOTV efforts and electoral success, they don't make the tent any bigger, have never driven the bus and never will. Furthermore there's no reason to think they wouldn't happily support a Petraeus ticket. He would appeal to their "inner authoritarian" by virtue of being a former military commander. 5) Petraeus represents a solid choice for the GOP. Should Obama not live up to the expectations the nation has for him, Petraeus will be perfectly positioned to represent an alternative in 2012, especially if he can stand in opposition to Obama on something truly substantive like foreign policy and national defense. Petraeus is the one official in the Bush admin who has retained his good rep. Fiscal/business cons, social cons, and defense cons would all gladly rally around him. He's not deemed a nut, and the military is still one of the most respected institutions in the US. If Obama significantly drops the ball (and for the record I hope he doesn't) Petraeus will be able attract indies in a way that a mere politician won't be able to. If Obama gets burned, then so do all of the other charismatic political change agents - including Pawlenty, Palin, and Jindal. Folks will be ready for a seasoned military professional.
All of this venom and vitriol aimed at Sarah Palin by Obama supporters on this and other blogs and boards confirms my first take of the woman, based largely upon intuition and first impressions: she's the real deal. Although she was not his first choice as VP, McCain would not have been swayed from his friendship and commitment to Joe Lieberman had he not sensed the quality of her character, too. I've noticed, too, how you on the Left impute to Obama attributes you want him to have. He's a blank screen upon which you project your hopes and ideals. It is different with us. Palin is who she is and we like her for who she is, not what we want her to be--especially we 'Christianists' (lol). As I wrote previously, I suspect we Republicans may yet pull this out. I also suspect you on the Left thought Republicans would only put up token resistance in the face of an inexorable Obama juggernaut. Sorry. We didn't come for a show. We came for a fight.
Dear Troy; Thus the flexibility of ideas always commands content over context, substance vs. sarcasm, by which hopefully we leave with more than we brought. The same certainty you allow for yourself, based on, "all historical evidence", I allow for me. Evidence would have it that Republicans, seeing Peace inexorably linked to conflict, would see meeting without conditions a common denominator of appeasement, equaling a zero sum equation. I see it as the possibility of actualizing a promise that may materialize as one of those "unforeseen variables", you mentioned, equaling a non-zero sum result....Am I half full, or completely empty! Tradition is like a a bowie knife or a corral. It not only can cut for you, it can cut aginya; it not only keeps things from gettin out, it keeps things from gettin in.......How's that for syntax.
petraus 2012, I'm familiar with the numbers and have at least a rough idea of the odds. I also know one of the strongest weapons available to any given campaign is demoralizing the opposition, instilling in them a sense of hopelessness and futility. I refuse to be demoralized. Should Obama win, I'll grit my teeth, accept him as my President, and get on with the business of living, as we all do. Until then, I can't encourage the candidates I support to keep heart while I'm losing mine. We play until the game's over.
I must be reading The Onion, no?
It will be tragic if Palin gains the kind of prominence in the next four years that the article talks about. It will mean that the GOP will have lost itself to its fundamentalist id.
Hey, I found this amazing Sarah Palin calendar online today, they are just $15.95, and will make a great gift! They are on amazon.com or you can go to sarahcalendar.com, check them out, they look awesome!
If she goes back to Alaska, she will be able to improve her knowledge of foreign affairs by viewing Russia with a telescope. If she does that for four years, she will say that she focused and mastered Russian-US relations.
I could definitely see a decent-sized portion of the GOP base going all-out to try to get Palin nominated, but could she really win the primaries? As much as the GOP base doesn't trust McCain, they knew he was their only shot at winning this year. Would they really be foolish enough to nominate the rightwing McGovern?
I was heading from the Atlanta airport to a conference this summer in a taxi. The cab driver had on an "urban" radio station where the two DJs were chatting politics. Let me just say that the callers comments were radical and appalling, saying comments like "We'll see how Americans like it when the White Hosue becomes the Black House!" and "The country will see what its like when we sit in the big chair". Be careful what you "hope" for America. Tell me again one thing Obama has changed in his life?
Prediction: She won't be able to win reelection to her current office in Alaska. We, thankfully, will never here from her again!!!!
Marc, you make some interesting points. There's no denying that Palin is very ambitious. She doesn't even see the VP job as anything other than the stepping stone it is to become president, which is her ultimate goal. Should Obama have a disastrous first or second term, and should she (predictably) study up and polish up on her ability to mix it up with the press (I'll tell you that it will NOT go over if she were to pull that stunt again), she'll be back. However, I think you've got it wrong in one respect: I don't think there will be a Republican Party the way we know it. I think that there will be a schism in the next two years that will split the theocrats from the intellectuals. Palin/Huckabee on one side, Romney on the other. I predict there will be two parties by the time 2012 rolls around. People in 2008 would be wise to remember the way she repeatedly lied and lied and lied throughout this campaign, and document everything she says and does over the next four years. Do not think for a moment that we will never hear from her again.
Palin is the real deal for many Republicans, no question. She's the candidate for those who think George W. Bush has done a heck of a good job. Such people are still around.
I sincerely hope Sarah Palin continues to remain the spokesperson of the Republican Party for the rest of her life. She is, after all, their true voice. ;-)
I see General Patraeus as perhaps another General Clark--looks good on paper, but can he connect with voters from the stump? Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't get too excited about him until he shows a bit of ground game with the voters. I'm a bit surprised no one here has yet mentioned Secretary Rice. Have the republicans so thoroughly decided to throw Dubya's administration under the bus? I think Rice is a likely VP candidate for 2012 after keeping a low profile for the next four years. She's a rare combination of relative youth with credible experience AND not seriously having a shot at the #1 slot. In contrast, I don't think Romney or Huckabee or Jindal would be satisfied with #2. I think the 2012 nomination will go to Jindal/Rice. If the opponent is Obama, then the republicans don't have to worry about white racists voting for the other guy based on race. This could make 2012 Jindal's best shot. Adding Rice beefs up the foreign policy angle. Speaking as a Dem, Jindal is the opponent I fear most. He's popular, smart, charismatic, energetic, and authentic. He's been tested in crisis and shown confident steady COMPETENT leadership. Only Huckabee comes close, but I think republicans will like Jindal's conservative views and record more.
This country is in real trouble. This just might be the start of our end as a super power in the world. The American people will get what they deserve in the end. I remember Clinton lied about not having sexual relations with that woman. I hated that he lied about it to the Americn people. That lie however cost no one his or her life. Bush stood before the American people and lied about WMD and went to war on that lie. To date, that lie has cost over 4,000 young American men and women thier lives. Look deep
A party that has declared itself to be in God's hip pocket is seriously delusional when its best operative is a woman who is only passingly familiar with truth, accepts no personal responsibility for personal and familial misdeeds, and calls others elitist while sporting a wardrobe that costs three times as much as the average annual salary. Add that to the amazing fact that this late poll surge is due to the rallying effect of a scofflaw who is delinquent on his taxes and you have a party that should be in Chapter 13 for moral bankruptcy. I guess the new Republican motto is: "I "heart" the military, but I don't "heart" paying for it."
Having her run in '12 would be pure win, entertainment-wise. Somebody tell Tina Fey to keep practicing the pageant walk.
Palin is charismatic, no question. And that counts for something. But, if she does run in 2012, her primary opponents will give her a much tougher ride than has Obama/Biden. And she has a lot of vulnerabilities that could be exploited much better by a conservative culture-war Republican than by any Democrat. I suspect that this race has made her more vulnerable in Alaska as well. My impression is that she didn't run for governor as a culture warrior, and I wonder just how well that will play in Alaska, which (except for their dependence on government oil checks) has a strong libertarian bent. This campaign has unearthed some unattractive stuff about Palin that might well have stayed buried had McCain not picked her. Lastly, there have only been two presidents defeated in re-election bids in the past gazillion years, and one of them (GHW Bush) was running for a fourth consecutive Republican term. Obama would have to be at least as inept as Jimmy Carter to lose in 2012 - and he's not.
Palin 2009 2010 2011 2012 So what happens to Sarah Palin after the disastrous defeat of the McCain-Palin ticket in November, 2008? While Governor Palin has managed to keep the lid on information about her, two things we know for certain: she's ambitious and she's impatient. She also has star quality, a fanatical following, and she's enjoying every minute being the center of attention. On November 5, she ain't going to want the party to stop. Within months of losing the election, Governor Palin will start showing up as a special news commentator, probably on Fox News Channel. We'll see her regularly on Letterman, Leno, and of course, SNL. She will, of course, be in huge demand for magazine covers and endorsements. By summer of 2009, her book, "Who, ME?," (actually, probably something like, "Country First") published by Harper Collins, will top the New York Times list for twenty weeks (I'll bet you a $150,000 wardrobe shopping spree that the contract has already been signed and the ghostwriter assigned). By then, she'll be firmly ensconced on the speaking circuit at 10K or 20K a pop. And, yes, her family will be flying with her first class and staying at $700 hotels, but the tab will be taken up by the host, not the hapless taxpayers of the great state of Alaska. The troubles are just starting in Alaska, of course. Troopergate and children-fly-on-taxpayer's-moneygate and Trig-is-actually-Bristol's-son-gate and a few more -gates will garner national, nay, worldwide attention. This will measurably reduce her popularity as a governor and, alas, that career will shortly come to an end either at the barrel of a legislative gun or the hard swift kick of a ballot box. Don't fret it. The ink is already dry on the contract giving our good governor a Fox News series, Palin Place, that may even rival Bill O'Reilly in popularlity -- she's that good. Long before 2012 becomes an issue, Mrs. Palin will be happy, wealthy, popular, and on TV every week to tell us what a hash the socialist-America-last Democrats are making of the country. She'll still have a quarter million dollar wardrobe, but this time, she'll buy it on her own AMEX platinum card. Palin for President? Please. She'll have cashed in all the chips (and I mean CASHED in the chips)long before then. Thank you Fox News, Harper Collins, SNL, and all those folks who are going to pay Governor Palin big, big bucks for speaking at their leadership or make-money-in-real-estate conferences for making Palin 2012 just another impossibility. As Joe Biden says, mark my words. You heard it here first, folks.
Palin will be judged to be "ready" in four years. Maybe the Rs are suicidal enough to nominate her. God knows I hope so. But the chances of Palin winning a general election for President in 2012 are zero.
Please oh please run Sarah Palin again in 2011! At least we would have a nice bum to look at......
As a Democrat planning to vote for Sen. Obama in 2012, I have already voted for him in 2008, I would love to have Gov. Palin challenge him in the 2012 election.
Troy Riser writes: "As I wrote previously, I suspect we Republicans may yet pull this out. I also suspect you on the Left thought Republicans would only put up token resistance in the face of an inexorable Obama juggernaut. Sorry. We didn't come for a show. We came for a fight." Really? Well, you're getting your sad little asses kicked. And Sarah "Shit For Brains" Palin is a major reason why. She's a national joke and so is your party.
http://3d.justleapin.com/palingram?i=3uo79
Richard Hooker, You forgot to note that Mrs Palin will be living in the back country in Greenwich,CT probably in one the soon-to-be empty hedge-fund manager mansions, or Leona Helmsley's old place. It will give Todd lots of space for his snowmobiling while an easy limo ride to the News Corp studios in mid-town.
The thinking conservatives should say "No, thanks," to a Sarah Palin candidacy. Barring a QUALIFIED Republican woman,they should band together behind Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. He was on McCain's short list until he let it be known he would say no. His resume is at least as thick as Palin's, and he has handled the governorship very well. He was also smart enough to stifle his ambitions in 2008. He could be a formidable candidate in 2012. If it's true that nothing can prepare one for the presidency, then it comes down to intellect, judgment and temperament. A Jindal-Obama race would actually give voters a choice between two good candidates, both of whom would govern from the center (where most Americans live), instead of playing to the fringe. WOW. What a concept.
Palin's main obstacle is she doesn't have the intelligence to cover her own a** and learn the little things like the very short job description of the Vice Presidency in the Constitution. She has rampant self-interest but no real competence to capitalize on this incredible boost fate has handed her. That's where the Palin effect bogs down - between her ears.
Lastly, there have only been two presidents defeated in re-election bids in the past gazillion years, and one of them (GHW Bush) was running for a fourth consecutive Republican term. Obama would have to be at least as inept as Jimmy Carter to lose in 2012 - and he's not. I agree, and I've been explaining this to many people. Carter is actually the only president in U.S. history to lose a reelection bid after winning the popular vote against the incumbent party four years earlier. And as inept as he was, it took a Reagan to defeat him. Very likely a weaker Republican opponent would have lost. Right-wingers like to compare Obama to Carter, but it's pure delusion. I say this without having to make any predictions about what sort of president Obama will be. It is obvious that Obama is a far, far more skillful campaigner than Carter, who in 1976 managed to shrink a 33-point lead down to a virtual tie then win in a squeaker. Even if Obama is a complete disappointment as president (and I don't believe he will be), he is likely to be reelected.
Just curious, Marc - Who do you like in 2016?
So you're pretty much assuming that Obama's going to win the election? Better count your chickens before they hatch.
You know, America is the only country that is so divided between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden. The top 17 largest countries (in terms of GDP) all voted in favour of an Obama administration - in a landslide. 17 out of 17. In total over 70% for Obama. Why is it that America can't see it? The rest of the world is laughing at us. Enough of this McCain/Palin business. They're both horribly bad choices to represent our country. For those who are still too ignorant to open up their minds, go back to school and get yourself educated.
• A famous writer once said about HORTICULTURE " You can lead a WHORE to CULTURE--but you can't make her think"
Watching Mad MAc and Mad cow Palin is like watching hitler and Mussolini in tight underpants.
Mel Martinez wasn't born in the USA. He's an immigrant. All the big time GOP Latinos are immigrants.
Palin in 2012? Like a dream come true... to this Democrat. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
My crystal ball shows Sarah will be lucky of she's not in prison in 2012. Her constituency is going to go batsh*t under a Democratic party government and domestic terrorism will be the greatest threat to our country over the next four years. The crazies went underground after the Oklahoma City bombing, but they are still out there and they've been stocking up on weaponry throughout the Bush years. When they attack, what's left of the GOP will have to exorcise them.
SARAH IS MORE EXPERCIENCE THAN JOE BIDEN AND BARACK OBAMOTSSSSSSSSS..OBAMA PROPOSE CHANGE , BUT CHANGE HIS STYLE AND CHANGE HIS TIE.IF HE IS ELECTED, THE WHITE HOUSE BECOME DOOM AND UGLY.I PREFER HILLARY TO BE PRESIDENT THAN OBAMA BIN LYIN..SORRY FOLKS,,GOT TO GO..MACAIN/PALIN 2008(HONEST PEOPLE)
Liberal are dirty and ambitious. if someone think sarah palin is ambituos well thats not the case.i cant believe obama lying to every american as i read today at WSJ.im democrat but im not voting to obama,his liar, as well his wife what a fucking ugly face...i cant watch them,,make me sick and throwing up..
Sarah Palin is like the gift that keeps on giving. I hope she's the nominee in 2012, Barack will win at least 45 states.
Jesus, she's the biggest burden to McCain's campaign, everyone in GOP knows that she's actively repulsing everyone from the doorstep of the far right. It'll be hard pressed to for her to appear on the national stage after this debacle if you don't count grocery store tabloids As for Rush Limbaugh's appeal to the general American public, how many people take pictures of themselves smoking cigars and going on about their Learjet? He's got more in common with Jay-Z than Joe the Plumber
"SARAH IS MORE EXPERCIENCE THAN JOE BIDEN AND BARACK OBAMOTSSSSSSSSS..OBAMA PROPOSE CHANGE , BUT CHANGE HIS STYLE AND CHANGE HIS TIE.IF HE IS ELECTED, THE WHITE HOUSE BECOME DOOM AND UGLY.I PREFER HILLARY TO BE PRESIDENT THAN OBAMA BIN LYIN..SORRY FOLKS,,GOT TO GO..MACAIN/PALIN 2008(HONEST PEOPLE) Posted by Charley Fox | October 24, 2008 1:36 AM Liberal are dirty and ambitious. if someone think sarah palin is ambituos well thats not the case.i cant believe obama lying to every american as i read today at WSJ.im democrat but im not voting to obama,his liar, as well his wife what a fucking ugly face...i cant watch them,,make me sick and throwing up.. Posted by EBOL | October 24, 2008 1:43 AM " There you go, folks. That's the intellectual base of the Repiglican Party.
Come November 4th, the GOP needs to tell Grandma Palin to exit stage left! I’m a diehard conservative and I believe all this talk about Palin in 2012 is being pushed by the media not by the GOP. Palin has made so many verbal gaffes, has been found guilty of abuse of power, misused 150-thousand dollars on clothing, possibly had an affair while married, declined numerous interviews, and let’s not forget 55% of Americans believe she’s not qualified to be President. You think that number will just fade away in 3-to-4 years. Give it a break. Tell me, who are the conservatives shouting Palin 2012. The media should at least attempt to support this claim. I know hundreds of conservatives who feel she has no shot of being on the national stage in 2012. She’s embarrassing for the entire party. Combine 15-20 extra pounds to that screeching voice and she not nearly at tolerable. If we can't do better in 2012 then that speaks volumes.
I think Palin's appeal to the Republican base stems from its discomfort with McCain at the top of the ticket. Their excitement for her is the result of their suspicions about him on social issues. I don't know if it carries her quite as far on her own without McCain. While Palin has obvious talent, I think that Huckabee has more, and he will be more effective at energizing this base and reaching out beyond it. I don't think she beats Huckabee in the primaries if the Republican party looks substantially like it does today. Of course, what the Republican Party will look like in four years is anyone's guess.
Marc, marc, marc, patterns in your reporting and articles are so historically sexist. Why is it that you always critique women's motives as if it is wrong to be ambitious if you are a woman? I for one am are tired of your misogynistic tendencies and your need to prop up your male demagogues. PS. I am voting for Obama/Biden.
Getting our asses kicked, Moe? Not likely. Republicans win even if we lose, albeit the consequences of losing now will be severe for the country in the short-term. If your halo-encrusted Saint Obama wins, your Party is intent on eliminating 401K's, taxing small businesses into oblivion, driving up energy prices in a ham-handed attempt at green social engineering, and imposing protectionist tariffs--and that only addesses the oncoming Obama economic disaster. Let's talk about the foreign policy ramifications of the Obama policy of appeasement and surrender. And what about social and cultural issues? Government-funded abortion on demand? Elimination of restrictions on late-term abortions--a practice bordering on outright infanticide? Implementation of the Fairness Doctrine, as well as 'hate speech' laws intended solely to stifle criticism and squash public debate? Do those things, sport, and you and yours won't see another Democratic Party president for another two generations, guaranteed.
With all the ethics problems, possible back taxes and misuse of state funds, she may well be in the federal pen in 2012.
Obama is a Muslin Socialist who is plotting the downfall of our beloved country. Real Americans will rise up, take to the streets, and reclaim our nation (by force if necessary). All of you liberal, blame America first haters will be the first targets in my rifle scope.
Well, it seems not one leftist here could post specifics on how much better another governor is doing comparatively;indexed against Palin's record of accomplishments...Or what ever is equivalent to the bastard sons of state sanctioned mediocrity. Mabey I have this all wrong about the Palin/Obama Of course those very apriorisms answer themselves;No I am not wrong.You leftists ascribe to her these unjustifiable derisions because you disagree with her on policy and opinion.And because the leftist,THC plaqued mind, cannot fathom thought that dare exist outside the collective.Believing only those who think as you do can think at all.Those who do not attend the proper schools are impugned.Those who have read and understand the Constitution are impugned.Those who can delineate cultural,racial and societal ills are impugned.Those who hold belief in a higher power than the state are impugned.And lastly, the cardinal sin to the collectivist, those whom do not conform must be destroyed. But lest not i leave without a reminder.Of some figures in history,whom all meet the criteria;of your impugnment. i could go on and on.I guess what im saying is:because of your bigotry, you are blind to the genius of others....even if you dont agree.
LOL, fail-troll: '...my rifle scope'? At least make an attempt at matching writing style. Or--revolutionary thought--you can try to engage me directly, and beat me with wit, will, command of the issues and mastery of reasoned debate. No? Okay. Smear away, I guess.
Palin..."fits the Hillary mold?" Please, no way, no heaven, no how! Talking points: I can't wait till Election Day when Palin will go back to Alaska...that is, if they still want her there. She fits a certain mold alright--the bacterial kind.
Regarding the big stink some liberals are making of "Trooper Gate" let me put it in perspective for you. The great Ted Kennedy whom your Democratic Party worships KILLED SOMEBODY!!! Drove a woman into a creek, watched her drown, and did not report it for several hours. Given this, your hypocrisy makes me want to vomit.
Sarah Palin has shown no ability to think on her feet. At all. How is she a talented politician when she is unable to answer a single spontaneous question?
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bobby Jindal. He's smarter (much smarter) than most of the GOP (Palin included) and he's a right-wing fundie. And unlike Palin, he really is extremely popular in his state. In a repub primary, I place my bets on Jindal beating Palin, especially because he has much of the right-wing fundie base in love with him too. Add a split fundie right-wing base with the moderate republicans and true fiscal conservatives, and Jindal should win in the primary. And it's probably almost certain that he'll run. Even as a democrat, I would enjoy Jindal winning over Palin, even though Jindal would prove to be a harder fight for us. But it's gotten to the point that i'd rather see anyone other than Palin's dangerous idiocy masked as folksy populism as a GOP contender.
If the election is as much a blow-out as anticipated, Palin has no chance. The Republicans are going to have to take a long, hard look at what they stand for, and what kind of vision they can offer to the American people. As polls have shown, Palin has been a drag on the ticket. Her divisive and hateful rhetoric will most likely cause McCain the election. She will probably have a career as a high-priced Fox commentator or talk-show host, which is probably all well and good with her anyway. All she ever seemed to want is the fame, caring not a bit for the principles of government or governing. Good riddance.
Obama would easily beat here again in 2012! After what the GOP did raiding our 401k's it'll be a long time before the elections swing back the other way. War and greed have bankrupted the country.
She would never make it past the primaries. The first time she openly debates against other Republicans with a solid background in either foreign policy or US National economics, she'll get slaughtered. Ron Paul alone would school her. Imagine a panel of debaters. No chance.
She won't be able to run in 2012. She will be busy dealing with the end of the world! According to the teachings of evangelical Christianity, the Rapture is coming probably in 2012. So as one of God's chosen, she may need to stay home in AK to prepare the state to receive all those believers coming "home"
MattG wrote, 'Sarah Palin has shown no ability to think on her feet. At all.' Er, hey, Matt? Were you aware Palin's teleprompter failed while she was giving her big speech at the Republican Convention? No? It did. She completed the most important speech of her life without a hitch--a speech given in front of millions of people, without anyone but the technicians and those near the stage knowing any differently. I'd call that an example of thinking fast on her feet. It gets even better when you compare her to Joe Biden. That gaffe-prone windbag is the gift that keeps on giving. A few more of his 'rhetorical flourishes' and you'll start suspecting he's a Republican plant. Truth is, we Republicans are starting to suspect Biden is a Republican plant.
emcd? Keep up the anti-Christian invective and encourage all of your like-minded friends to do the same. I mean, get downright vociferous about it. Use the term 'Christianist' a lot, too, and be sure to go to every Democratic Party rally waving signs blasting believers for the idiocy of their faith. FYI: Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are avowed Roman Catholics. Obama also claims Christ as his Lord. Yeah, the whole deal: virgin birth, raising of the dead, water-into-wine miracles, resurrection, and--get this--His return. Can you imagine? So you go, emcd! Give those Bible-thumping Christianists what for, and how!
You're sick, Sweetdough. My Bible says nothing about carrying a "gun" or any other weapon. In fact, Jesus said quite the opposite. Where you religious fanatics get the idea that combining religion and violence follows the teachings of the God you purport to revere totally baffles me. I was raised in the Church and that is not what I was taught. So proudly carry your gun and stoke your wood fire, until the wood runs out like it did on Easter Island, but don't proclaim your religion to be anything but worship of violence.
Dianne (or Sam Livingston or whoever you are), you wrote, 'Where you religious fanatics get the idea that combining religion and violence follows the teachings of the God you purport to revere totally baffles me.' I'm not sure, but I think you're referring to me--more specifically, to the troll who used my name and went on about taking up arms and putting his/her enemies in the crosshairs of his/her 'rifle scope'. (lol--that 'rifle scope' reference gets me every time.) Secondly, what in the world do wood-burning stoves and Easter Island have to do with anything? Who needs wood stoves with all of this global warming going on? Oh, my bad: I mean 'climate change' since those heavily touted climate models showing unprecedented warming since the dawn of the Industrial Age have been proven to be junk science. Lastly, these attempts to tie the Christian faith to mindless violence and mass murder don't wash. You want mindless violence? Look to secular, atheistic states such as Stalin's USSR, Mao's China, and Pol Pot's Cambodia. Those godless monsters had mindless violence down.
If Kennedy killed someone and we are called hypocrites, then what do you want to call those of you who have supported Bush? Torture (McCain's words), illegal wire-taps, giving billions to companies who supported his campaign (Blackwater USA, Halliburton, et al.) and invading a country that was known not to have WMD, (by the way, N. Korea which HAS weapons-grade plutonium was never invaded and is now off America's terror list - and we didn't invade that country – talk about redefining the narrative), refusing to truly go after Osama, redefining the constitution to suit their needs (not the needs of OUR country)...are some of the many, many, many indecent things this administration has put upon this country. In some ways it's understandable only the fringe fanatics will continue to publicly support Bush, but the rest of you who supported this failure and now want to distance yourself from him only to support someone like Palin...who is very much like Bush...not a great orator, less-than-average intelligence (when your teleprompter goes out in the middle of a speech and you can finish the speech - that is NOT the definition of intelligence) and is willing to use public funds to further her own interests and the interests of her family (she could have politely said “thanks, but no thanks, I have my own clothes”)...I fear for my country! If we can't learn from our past mistakes, we are doomed to continue to elect them.
siberia9 wrote: "I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bobby Jindal." Do a text search on this web page for "Jindal". He's been mentioned many times. In my post, I speculate that the 2012 nomination will go to Jindal/Rice. I think Jindal will try 2012, rather than wait for 2016. He might not win in 2012, but he's gotten where he has by going for it even when everyone thinks he has no chance. Jindal did a lot better than everyone thought he could in his first attempt at Governor. Even though he lost, he came back in the next election to win a landslide. Jindal knows that even if he loses in 2012, he can still win in 2016. And to all of you who are dreaming of Palin/Jindal or anyone else/Jindal...Bobby Jindal is not a #2 guy.
Sarah Palin is nothing but a Stepford VP wired to say and do whatever the strategists say. The good ole-white boy Republicans have dressed her up and used her like a prostitute, and she has allowed it. She will go nowhere in national politics after this because she is so conservative, she scaring the conservatives. I do see her moving to her college roots and working in journalism for Fox or CBN. Those are the only two that might have her because neither cares about reason or intelligence.
Serious scuttlebutt about Palin's surreptitious marriage to Putin. They met via binoculars. Keeping eyes on each other. But they have a plan for the new Pangea.
I believe the short list for 2012 will be Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and Bobby Jindal. I truly believe Obama presidency will be the second term of Jimmy Carter, and it will bring all the ills from his first term. Palin right now already has a strong following in the conservative movement. The MSM has been trying to manipulate the facts and claim that Palin is a drag on McCain. If anything Palin is the only good feature of the McCain ticket. Sarah Palin right now is what Barack Obama was four years ago at the Democrat National Convention. She is the rising star and the torch bearer for the party moving forward from the Bush era. Now that Palin has a taste of how the MSM acts towards conservatives, especially female conservatives. She will have nothing but time to prepare for 2012. Palin won't have the problem also of having to be an unknown trying to raise money and identity presence in a crowded Republican primary field. The money is going to flow her way.
[something messy] Michelangelo - exaults his small town upbringing,did terrible in school,saw nature as an enemy that had to over come,known for his domestic squalidness(tuscani trailor trash) i could go on and on.I guess what im saying is:because of your bigotry, you are blind to the genius of others....even if you dont agree. Posted by Aaron | October 24, 2008 10:32 AM
I wish I had the small town upbringing, at least - sitting at the table of Lorenzo il Magnifico, discussing philosophy or whatever was the theme of the day with Marsilio Ficino and other great scholars of the time... in the lazy town of Florence which happened to have a thriving cultural and intellectual life. From your abuse of innocent language I guess that you didn't do too well at school either, from the general content I'm bound to deduce that gentleness and mild manners are not what you'd be known for. Yet you dare and challenge others performance in these. Your critical skills and ability of insight go only to a lousy wikipedia entry combining dry data with heaps of historical gossip and anecdotes but have you written one decent sonnet? Drawn a decent figure? If yes, then preach about others' school performance. Should all your folks be like this, then God take pity on the U.S.
You say: Palin will have plenty of time to become fluent on national issues. How old is she now? Old enough to know the name of at least one newspaper. Old enough to have read the Cliff's Notes on the Constitution. More to the point, she was selected for the VP position by Bill Kristol and other neocons many months before McCain was forced to announce her as his pick. She's already had plenty of time to prepare herself. So she either doesn't care about the facts and therefore won't learn anything in the next four years or she is pretending to be a moron to appeal to the working-class morons who vote against their best interests. Either way, don't expect her to appear any better informed next time around.
Jindal/Palin 2012!
I find it hard to believe that the Republicans would even consider Sarah Palin as a 2012 runner for the Presidency. Let's not forget, there is also Hillary Clinton to try again in 2012. And Palin is no match, nor will she ever be, for Hillary. I have tried to listen to some of her speeches (if you would like to call them speeches). There is nothing but hate that comes out of her mouth, and what she says never makes any sense. She's would be better off giving us a recital on her flute. The woman has no intellect of any kind. I definitely am not worried about her running for President in 2012!
So far I have yet to see evidence or a reasonable argument as to how or why Sarah Palin is an "idiot." Seems to me there are many threatened by her, and the natural thing to do is to spew out demeaning comments. I'm a 20 year old college student, and I know more politics than many of you. So for the future, let's stick to the facts...GO PALIN 2012!!!!!
The 2012 elections will be marked with a record "minorities vote". President Obama will get another 95% of the black vote for his re-election bid not matter what. Be certain that Sarah Palin will run for president. The moment is now. But she will have the strong competition of Bobby Jindal. Forget about Giulliani, Hockabee or Romney. The GOP wining program in 2012 is not going to include a "white male" on the top of the ticket. Not with an incumbent black president.
I believe Sarah Palin would do very nicely in office. But I feel as there are better options. Such as Rudy/Jindal or Hutchinson/jindal 2012.
If Sarah Palin were to get the nomination the choice would be very tough for vice. I do agree someone from pensilvania would help but, perhaps palin should pick Rudy but make Jindal secretary of state. I know secratary of state is not really veiwed that high. But I feel Sarah Palin should really market secretary of state, perhaps give them there own debate.
If Palin runs for President in 2012, at least she has name recognition going for her... but, at this point, that may not work in her favor
I think she is dangerous. The While house does not a right wing religious nut in control.
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I'd suggest the one thing missing from your calculation is that she doesn't survive up in Alaska.
Sticking taxpayers w/the bill for her kids travel, letting The Todd strong arm other government employees, and, oh yeah, isn't she being deposed today or tomorrow by the state ethics cmte?
There's nobody better than this in the GOP?
Posted by Cookie Puss | October 23, 2008 9:45 AM