Blogging from Phoenix: GOP insiders are reporting, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney is making his anticipated bid for control of the Republican Party. Political insiders also claim he is quickly becoming the principle figure behind continued efforts to ramp up public attacks on Sarah Palin. The strategy to ridicule Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, is a tactic intended to discourage her from any attempt to seek National influence. She is viewed by the RNC establishment, as the most potentially dangerous threat to their hold on the infrastructure of the party. I am told by a source in the Palin inner circle of advisers and confidants, The old boys per usual are several fatal steps behind, the potential threat is already executing plans and circling for the kill shot.
Governor Palin wasted little time Friday in labeling as cowards those who make anonymous statements to the media. While current GOP office holders in party leadership positions attempt to present a unified public face, civil war is looming in the republican ranks, Ideologues’ are preparing to battle the entrenched establishment old guard. As a liberal blogger I do not have a dog in the fight, so my perspective is at least objective.
The most relevant fact seems to be the respected Rasmussen poll. It reports a whopping 64 percent of the rank and file is behind Governor Sarah Palin while former Governor Romney is only able to draw 11 percent of the party faithful.
And in an “Exclusive B.N.N heads up“, my friend in Governor Palin’s inner circle, revealed one substantive action coming out of Thursday’s conservative council of war in Virginia. The suggestion Sarah move quickly to establish a National media presence is under way this weekend. Those who tune into Monday and Tuesdays interview with the Governor on FOX will learn more of the detail. Governor Palin intends to pursue an agenda of informing not only the folks of Alaska but all Americans of how as Governor of energy rich Alaska, she can do her part to help move us towards energy independence and correct misinformation being put out against her at the same time.
From my political perspective, the continued attacks by establishment republicans to discredit the Alaskan Governor will have the same effect as the campaigns attempt to link President Elect Obama with terrorists; They will backfire badly and make her all the more a populist heroine amongst the evangelical social conservatives who comprise the single largest uniform block of republican voters.
From a tactical standpoint as a vice presidential candidate Governor Palin made more than 130 stump stops in a hundred plus cities in more than 25 states while running Alaska. John McCain had to call a campaign time out just to visit his Senate offices once, which demonstrates she posses the tactical savvy to stage a political coup. And I speculate based on my source in the Palin camp. The Greata Van Susteren appearance will be considered by most pundits as her shot across the bow of the establishment old guard and a chance for those who want to join her ranks to declare loyalty.
From the pure nuts and bolts standpoint of taking control of a party, Amongst Governor Palins first targets should be Mike Duncan the feckless national GOP chairman. And she ought to praise South Carolina State Chairman Katon Dawson who issued a public statement condemning the ridicule of the parties vice presidential candidate as the expression of disgruntled losers.
The long knives are out and the fight will be bloody. Pundits often speak of political capitol, Sarah Palin is adored by the most powerful constituency in the republican party, the rank and file Christian social conservative. Provided she moves quickly to dispel the notion she is an air head, they will rally in mass to her banner. I speculate by the time President Elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin may just be in practical terms the leader of the republican party.Â
That’s my view, yours may be different
psburtonÂ
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I don’t think anyone needs to be ‘behind’ the speculation that Sarah Palin is of shaky intelligence since she’s provided enough of that evidence herself; the last thing Republicans need now is a party leader whose intellect is questionable.
Now, while I don’t believe anyone is behind ‘rumors’ of her inadequacy, I would think the most likely person to be so would not be Mitt Romney, but Mike Huckabee. Team Huck has proven twice that they personally go after opponents who are in their way. Exhibit A is his extended stay in the primary even though he was mathematically eliminated before Romney got out–only staying on to continue to syphon ‘conservative’ votes from Mitt, foiling a mormon’s odds. Exhibit B was his team continuing the same effort to deny Romney the VP nod by virtue of that mysterious anti-Romney for VP group that just so happened to consist of overwhelmingly ‘former’ Huckabee folks. Now, Sarah Palin’s appeal doesn’t threaten to elbow in on people who are attracted to Mitt Romney. However, she’s a huge, destructive, checkmate threat to Mike Huckabee since they each speak to the social conservative and religious right factions of the base who aren’t so much conservative in politics than they are pro-Life crusaders and down-home culturalists. Palin is far more viable, nationally, than Mike Huckabee ever could be because her appeal to the same segment is of national relevance whereas the Huck was merely a regional name. Huckabee probably believes he has a chance in 4 years even though his choice to hire a Hollywood agent and do a Fox show isn’t exactly a smart way to keep your hat ringside, but sure as he would love to run again if for no other reason to thwart Mitt Romney again, he will have to eliminate Palin since the two of them would potentially water down the culturalist vote, yielding Mitt Romney the nomination, ironically.
So, if there’s a political personal destruction crime, I’d look to the one who has committed it twice already before looking to anyone else, especially when the victim is a threat to the criminal.
I saw Romney on TV defending Palin, even as many, many other Republicans were trashing her.
As far as 2012 goes, Romney’s appeal is far broader than Palin’s – he can speak to the economic, foreign policy and social conservatives. Palin and Huckabee are vying for that narrow slice of evangelicals who control the Iowa caucuses.
Mitt is a good man. He did far more than anyone else (certainly, far more than Huckabee) to help fellow Republicans get elected. I don’t know if he’s going to run again, but I’d sure like to see him in the race.
Thank you Kathy, Someone else is finally saying something about Mitt Romney’s vastly greater appeal across the spectrum of GOP voters. i worked on Mitt Romney’s campaign before and up to the NH primary and we had hundereds of people and give their time to help Mitt win the primary. most candidates either do well in NH or Iowa not both but he came in second in both primaries and was competitive in the North East, the west, The mid west and the south. he is the one to lead the party for the next four to eight years not Gov.Palin, as much as i respect and admire her.
If Palin is to come back she needs to rebrand herself. The whole Republican Party needs overhauling as well.
I find it difficult to imagine Mitt Romney behind the personal attack agenda. Frankly, though I’m a lifelong Democrat, I might have voted for McCain had he chosen Romney. I believe that Romney represents the future of the Republican Party, not the hate-mongering, narrow-minded, intellectually challenged Palin.
psburton is a numbskull. There is absolutely NO evidence that Romney is behind any of this. He defended her in a noble way right up to the election. He did NOTHING to cast doubt on her. Besides, she doesn’t threaten him for the evangelicals in the base, Huckabee had the lock on them. If she threatens anybody, its Huckabee. Of course that too is nothing but blog-ranting idle blather. The only one that seriously threatens Palin is Palin. The media should STOP reporting inuendo and un-sourced silliness. Instead, let’s have a serious and substantial look at Palin’s preparation, her record, her mastery of the big issues, and her behavior in public service. Let’s use facts and let’s review what she says and how she says it. Why not ask her tough policy questions on complicated issues? This is a complicated world. She doesn’t have a McCain script to follow now so let’s have her speak up with real ideas, not stump speeches and sound bites.
I would suspect Huckabee, rather than Romney, is trying to do in Palin. I think he ran the most mean spirited campaign of all of the Republicans and although I consider myself to be conservative, I just don’t like Huckabee. I sure know that we need better choices than we had in the past primary.
Personally, I’d like to see David Petreaus run for the office in 2012 paired with a governor. I still can’t believe we had to chose between two Senators in 2008.
And I hope Team McCain is bagging groceries. I can’t imagine who would want to hire them.
If the GOP wants to win in 2012, better not have Sara. If Repubs insist on Sara, it will be another DEMS victory. The Repubs needs someone qualified, intelligent, articulate, widely-read, knowledgeable, and most importantly, experienced.
Like always, first impression is lasting and Sara won’t recover from her flawed Katie Couric interview; that she appears to be ditzy. The American people will not choose a ditz for a President. That’s the bottomline.
It would not surprise me that Republicans would want her to run in 2012.
Unless a major earth shattering catastrophe were to arise in the next 4 years I find it hard to believe that a President Obama up for re-election would be hard to stop from being re-elected. People in general would rather let a person serve the 8 years than make a switch after 4 years. Obama would basically have to be in a Jimmy Carter situation to not get re-elected. So the Republicans will probably throw Palin under the 2012 bus because the only people she appeals to is the party base and Evangelical right. She would have a hard time winning but it would allow the GOP 8 years to regroup and regain strength. I think the next 4 years will be partly spent with a Republican civil war with all the factions at odds with one another. They’ll need more than 4 years to regroup.
Obama will be beatable in 2012 if he is still President and Sarah is the person to do it. Obama I hate to say it is unpatriotic. I believe plans are already being made by the military and neo-conservatives to determine if Obama is patriotic or not. That is how they will destroy his presidency. The military and hardline conservatives in the Pentagon will not stand for withdrawal from Iraq without victory assured. Joe Biden gave a hint to America that foreign leaders view Obama as weak. I believe Russia will invade Georgia and stage a coup. Also expect the military to manufacture an international crisis with Iran. Iran has already stated that it will shoot down any US helicopters that invade its airspace. Israel is also looking to flame the tensions with Palestine and Iran. Expect suicide killings among Hezbollah and Islamic extremist to reach record levels which occured during 2002 thru 2004. All these players will test Obama within his first year in office. If he fails these tests, he will be the 2nd president forced to resign from office. America will not tolerate an arrogant, unpatriotic president who doesn’t stand by the military. Obama is being set up to fail miserably by the 57 million people who voted against him and power elites in this country who believe he has no business being President. They did the same thing to JFK. Remember Bill Kristol who is a neo-conservative jewish american originally endorsed Sarah for VP. Sarah is like Ronald Reagan. The hard core Republicans want her and there is nothing the Rockefeller Republicans like Mitt Romney can do to stop her. Don’t believe me, did you see Mike Ditka standing beside Sarah at a rally in PA. Donald Trump doesn’t like Obama and endorsed McCain after initially supporting Hillary. Seventy six percent of Jewish Americans voting in Israel voted for McCain. This does not bode well for a President Obama.
Ron, interesting comments but I disagree strongly on one point. Sarah does NOT seem to be like Reagan. He traveled the country for many years speaking to growing crowds on the philosophies of the founding fathers and the inspired form of government that they gave us. He was not the simpleton that the media portrayed. Yes, the media portrays Sarah that way, but the American people had many years of knowing Reagan so they knew otherwise. In his prime he never faltered even in the most demanding interviews. Reagan knew the world and the struggle that dominated it. He knew about freedom and how it was won. He could explain in detail how it is surrendered by pandering to the masses. Yet he could still inspire and call the masses to be a better nation. He could give a reason for everything he believed. Sarah? Sarah is NOT Reagan.
Being an unabashed liberal, I do not have a favorite in the battle for control of the GOP.
I do observe fans of Mitt as well as Mitt himself, seem a tad vocal in pointing out he is not behind the attacks while in the same breath mention what superior across the spectrum appeal he offers over Palin, I guess I am just a cynical democrat.
Trailman, Ronald Reagan was not a policy wonk. He faltered in the first debate with Mondale in 84 looking like a dummy, although he recovered. Patt Schroeder who was powerful congresswoman compared Reagan to an amiable dunce. The problem was Reagan was a great communicator and was a man who was feared but liked. Sarah is well on the way to reaching Reagan’s stature. Sarah is not dumb, she was not ready to be President. Sarah was running as a moderate. She was hamstrung by the McCain operatives. She was repeating ideas that she did’t believe. Sarah doesn’t believe in embryonic stem cell research or the economic bailout. She believes in what Ronald Reagan believed in. She was not allowed to be herself and express her own viewpoints and philosophy. I do admit that she can never again allow a reporter to control an interview like Katie Couric even if it is a woman. This is a woman who pulled herself up by the bootsraps from a poor family. Katie Couric’s goal in her interview was to destroy Sarah. Sarah I admit was stumped on the Sumpreme Court decision question. Even if she had gave an answer I expected Katie to force her to explain the decision in detail to try an embarras her. Sarah will come back nastier, smarter, and better prepared. They question will be during the 2012 election is that is Sarah ready to be President. America will have already disqualified Obama. The answer will be yes. I expect Sarah to stay as Governor of Alaska and surround herself with heavy hitters in the political arena. Dick Morris loves her and despises Obama and she should hire him. Ed Rollins who ran Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign is gushing and wetting his pants to be her 2012 campaign manager. He knows Ronald Reagan re-incarnated when he sees it. Sarah needs to become an expert on foreign policy over the next 2 and half years. She can formulate her socio-economic policies in 2011. The 2012 election will be won on national security which Obama will fail miserably at.
psburton, I think the average Romney fan is offended by the cheap shots leveled against Palin. The second-hand “she said this…” is offensive and it gets in the way of the real discourse that is needed. Palin should be given a chance. Let’s get her on the road and ask her for to pitch her own views. Or let’s go to Alaska and let her show us her depth. Leave the stump speech home and sit down in real interviews and talk about substantial issues. What are her principles, how did she arrive at them, and how should we govern according to those principles? No media organization has done that yet and I haven’t read a single editorial or blog that speaks to this. That’s what bugs Romney people.
Ron, read “Reagan, In His Own Hand” by Free Press. You can see in his own writings who he was and what he understood. No, he was never a “wonk” but he had a masterful and in-depth vision of what America should be. You are definitely wrong in your understanding of him. Again, Palin is not even close. Maybe she can get MUCH closer but it won’t happen as fast as you wish. By all means, let her prepare and stretch herself. We certainly need more than sound bites.
Romney has shown himself over and over again to be a man of class and high morals. He is not behind this. I agree with the previous posters, Huckabee has the most to lose and thus is likely behind any effort to take down Sarah Palin.
What people and the MSM keep failing to understand about Sarah Palin is that although in her personal life she appears to be a champion of social issues, she does not have a history of pushing these social issues as governor.
The real Sarah is a bipartisan, get the problem solved, government reform, take down the old boy’s network, energy independence, fiscal conservative. Dems like her too in Alaska, although because she had to be Mac’s attack dog, there has been a temporary decrease in that popularity.
If the country club Repubs. understood this, they would embrace her. They don’t because they tend to be elitist, intellectual, lazy in getting the truth about Sarah. Articulateness and intellectualism are what are important to them.
Both sides need to get away from both extremes and get the true story on Palin. Analyze her work in Alaska to get an idea about what her philosophy is. She is NO knee-jerk paleocon. although she is a down to earth PTA/hockey mom. That may make you less intellectual, but don’t make you a knuckledragger either.
The real Sarah is actually a pretty charismatic person and nowhere near the right-winger the MSM and the GOP establishment portrays her.
Republican bosses to blame for Palin’s flop
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL RACE: The Republican vice-presidential candidate may have another way to get to Washington
By LISA VAN DUSEN
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Politics can produce some pretty nasty break-ups, but the ballad of John McCain and Sarah Palin is like something you’d hear on the jukebox at the Mug Shot Saloon in Wasilla at closing time.
He was a white-haired, silver-tongued former flyboy from Washington who strung her along with a lot of big talk about Neiman Marcus, moving sidewalks and unspecified Senate in-charginess.
She was a former Miss Congeniality who’d parlayed a head for up-dos and a knack for self-promotion into the executive mansion of the northernmost state of the union through sheer pluck and a breathtaking lack of self-doubt.
Seems like just yesterday they were mavericking their way across pro- America, with trusty Joe the Plumber in tow, spreading the word about not spreading the wealth.
Now, just weeks later, his friends are blaming her for running up the bills and going rogue and being a whack job; her friends are blaming his friends for caring too much about briefing and geography and for thwarting her presidential ambitions in favour of trying to win this election.
What Sarah Palin may be pondering, beyond the arguable reality of her own roguish whack-jobness and the vastness of Africa, is whether she should have said no.
When those fancy men in their sharp suits came a-calling about how she was on the short list to be John McCain’s lovely and talented assistant, she should have heard the whirr of that buzz saw just off stage right.
She should have known that, if it all went south, the very things they’d be barking out to the world about her would end up being spun into something else altogether: Maverick would become rogue, hockey mom would become hillbilly, gumption would become whack job.
Compared with the things the McCain camp has said about Sarah Palin in the past three weeks, some of the things the rest of us said when Sarah Palin was wheeled out about why they chose her seem downright flattering. The McCain campaign assured everyone that they knew better and that the naysayers should stop being so rude, disrespectful and negative and take their word for it.
A month ago, they were saying she was more than qualified to be president of the United States and leader of the free world and now they’re saying she’s a greedy, stupid, shallow diva. Which is a frighteningly belated way of saying, “It’s a good thing we didn’t win,” and that only confirms all the most unsettling predictions people made about the potential consequences of this pick.
Palin might have known better for her own sake than to sign up for a kamikaze scapegoat mission, but expecting her to just say no in the face of such an offer is like expecting a lottery winner to shrug and say, “Nah, never mind.”
From the moment she accepted, everything she did that had to do with her family, her record, her ability to make it through a network interview or even her spending habits was the campaign’s responsibility because these were the things they chose to overlook.
Presidential campaigns can’t be responsible for every stupid mistake made on their behalf and they can’t even be responsible for every gaffe or unguarded aside of a running mate. But to not vet Palin and then hang her for things that would have turned up in the vetting or that should have been headed off by aides — like the fake Nicolas Sarkozy interview with Mont-real’s CKOI, which has also pranked such other hillbillies as the real Sarkozy and Bill Gates — seems wildly self-serving.
Chances are, this stuff will gain her more sympathy than scorn among her fans in the Republican base, and it may also rally Alaskans, who could be electing a new senator to replace Republican Ted Stevens, who was convicted of corruption too late to remove his name from the Nov. 4 ballot and whose votes are still being counted.
If Stevens is declared the winner in that race and keeps his seat, but his conviction is upheld on appeal, Majority Leader Harry Reid has warned he’ll be expelled from the Senate.
That would create an opening for Palin to get to Washington on her own steam and take a seat in the Senate alongside John McCain. That could be a reunion worthy of a whole ‘nother song.
Trailman wrote:
“Dick Morris loves her and despises Obama and she should hire him. Ed Rollins who ran Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign is gushing and wetting his pants to be her 2012 campaign manager.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting…both of these people you recommend have ties to Huckabee. Morris with Huckabee during the Clinton years, and Rollins ran Huckabee’s presidential campaign. How’d that work our for Huckabee? After Rollin’s left the Huckabee campaign he stated that, indeed, Huckabee’s infamous cross commercial was done intentionally, despite Huckabee’s claims otherwise. I would never trust Huckabee, Rollins, nor Morris in a hundred years!
Romney 2012!!!!
Trailman, get over it Romney is finished. Obama would destroy him. Romney flip flopped on gay rights as Governor of Massuchusetts, he increased taxes on the wealthy. He was a horrible campaigner in 2008. McCain and Huckabee hated his guts because he acted like a spoiled rich guy. His speech at the convention was horrible. He looked like a spoiled brat who wasn’t given his allowance after Palin was anointed the chosen one. I do believe he is smart but he is a country club Republican. McCain wanted to pick Jindal but he was too scared to enter the arena and thought about his political future. The next alternative was Palin. McCain was being pressured by Rove and Bush to pick Romney. McCain is no fool and decided that Romney can’t be trusted. Also, his Mormonism is a turn off to Bible Belt conservatives as well as Hispanics. A majority of conservatives would stay home and Hispanics would vote 80% for Democrats. The 2012 race will be between Palin and Jindal. Palin is not going to do hostile interviews with Meet the Press/MSNBC/or ABC until she is comfortable talking about foreign policy which will probably be 2010. I am sorry if this dissapoints you. She will not asked tough policy questions by the MSM until she is ready. She will be handled correctly in order to rebuild her image. Her interviews will probably be with Greta van susteren, Sean Hannity, and CNBC. Ronald Reagan graduated from Euereka college with a degree in journalism or liberal arts I believe. George W Bush has a MBA from Yale but is as dumb as a tree. Mike Huckabee will enter the race only if Romney enters just to kick his behind along with Palin. Any woman brave enough to tell the American people the truth about Obama when she hinted Obama is unpatriotic is my kind of woman. Also, are you anti-woman?
Shelby, I agree with you but I didn’t make that comment. Your quote if from someone else.
Ron, get a grip. Re-read my last comment. Nothing about Romney. What’s up with your preoccupation? By all means let Sarah become the next Reagan! What I’m saying is that she is NOT Reagan now. Not yet. An ivy-league degree is not needed. She has a good start. I am NOT opposed to a woman filling this role. I blame McCain for the premature dumping of Palin on the public. Let her BECOME what you hope she is. But she isn’t there yet. Meanwhile, if you or anyone else thinks she is, let her have the interviews. Questions about the world are not “hostile”. They should be asked not to expose her but to reveal how she’ll lead and where she’ll lead us. We need real leaders. Let’s not pretend anymore. I think the party should call on Palin, and any other hopefuls, to rise to the challenge and show some depth and wisdom to go with their courage and tenacity!
Trailman, all I am saying is lets show the lady some courage and gratitude. Jindal was afraid to take McCain’s offer. Lieberman and Ridge were non-starters with the GOP base. Sarah gave the GOP hope. This is a tough lady and I believe she knows she let McCain down by costing him a couple of states like Ohio and Florida. But this lady is tough and she will come back with a vegeance. We must not destroy our own like the Dems and media did to Hillary Clinton. She is a sad sight right now. The Dems threatened her with her career if she didn’t support Obama after the primaries.
Palin allowed herself to become a laughing-stock, and trying to redeem herself on SNL only dug the pit deeper. The Quebec radio prank took it to another level again: and her people were responsible for that one too. No; she’s un-redeemable – and while she might be savvy at networking and making contact with an audience (skills she plainly has) Palin’s grasp of policy and of world affairs is glaringly missing.
Romney is a better choice as nominal leader of the GOP – his financial expertise is an asset – but his problem is his basic unlikeability. he really didn’t connect in the primaries, and was too busy trying to reposition himself during the unfolding campaign (who let the dogs out) that he lost his authenticity.
That’s what killed McCain. The choice of Palin was so patently wrong that her rpesence didn’t just worry voters (Palin as Pres?) but it damaged McCain’s authenticity. In the end he bowed to the party machine and the usual mechanics of finding a balanced ticket.
The GOP can surely do better than either Romeny or Romney. One’s a Mitt. The other’s a Mutt.
Sarah Palin is the greatest hope that the REAL
Republican party has in 2012. The country club, good old boys know that she is a mighty force and that’s why they are trying to destroy her. The Republican party has to evolve and unfortunately those past corrupt, porkers, spend-like-no-tomorrow, center left, guys have got to go. The only reason I voted for McCain was because of Palin. The party machine has broken down. It needs a new engine.
I love Sarah. I’m from MI and Mitt Romney is out of luck. Not even being from Michigan makes me choose him over Sarah. She’s the next Presidential nominee of the Republican Party – and they all might just as well deal with it. If for ANY reason she was NOT nominated… INSTANTLY a 3rd Party arises around her… and she’s STILL the nominee of THAT party. Moreover, THAT party would become a major party… and the Republican party would be relegated to 3rd position. Period. Those within the Republican Party who attack her are committing hari kari. No question she is the presumptive nominee of the people… and if they attack her to steal the nomination in any way or try to take headship – the 3rd Party rises. She can pull in Democratic conservatives. The ‘brand’ of the GOP being the GOBN (Good Ole Boy Network) for the rich might just as well end either way. Palin is a populist candidate… and she can forge a new party at will… and steal the Republican and Democratic bases from BOTH parties, perhaps… either way.
I love her. All the attacks on her from the general public are hatred directed at her personally for her cleer charisma and conservative positions.
People… grow up. Deal with positions… quit exhibitting Palin Derangement Syndrome.
She’s an awesome human being… just like so many people in our lives we know and love.
Duncan Stewart you are an idiot. You act like Sarah cannot learn foreign policy and develop as well as master a domestic or foreign policy agenda in four years. Her image can be redeemed if she breaks the myth that she is not competent. Obama was so bad as President that if will not be that hard to beat him. Ask yourself this, is Sarah Palin smarter than W. The answer is yes. Bush is as dumb as they come. I remember when Bush was campaigning against McCain in New Hampshire. The guy got on stage to give a speech and was so nervous that he was visibly shaking uncontrollably. No wonder McCain beat his butt in New Hamsphire. One thing Palin has is self confidence in her speaking skills. Bush was groomed to be the nominee for 4 to 6 years prior before running by Pappy Bush. Sarah will need only four years.
Mitt Romney is the most respectable man I have ever witnessed run for office. He would never make such disparaging attacks against Sarah Palin. I don’t understand peoples’ comments because conservatism does not need to be rebranded….it is not possible: it is what it is = freedom. On another note, true conservatism runs through Mitt’s veins, something that John McCain never could claim [e.g. McCain-Feingold, McCain Kennedy, do I have to go on?]. Mitt Romney has the intelligence, experience, and patience to deal with and fix any issue, regardless of the difficulty. Sarah Palin is a fine woman, wife, mother, and politician, but she, like many others, is mediocre at best. We need a dynamic and true conservative leader: Mitt Romney has all the best intentions and plans for America. All we need to do is encourage him to run again.
I just got my Palin eyewear from Kmart. It looks great. I also have snowmobile sunglasses in a Todd version. Now what was that about some female idiot trying to wrestle National Control of the Party.
I plan to vote Joe Plumber once he finally registers to vote and gets his plumber license. Sometime in 2024 I suppose.
Why are we still talking about her? She is so over. Don’t we have enough to worry about besides a right-wing nut job who won’t go away?
The ongoing destruction of Sarah Palin can be traced to a number of McCain’s operatives whose loyalties clearly lie with George W and Jeb Bush.
Nicole Wallace and her husband owe their careers to Jeb Bush and George Bush. Tracey Schmitt is also a product of Bush political patronage. Steve Schmidt was a lackey for Karl Rove, who destroyed McCain in 2000. Rick Davis was manager of Bush’s 2000 campaign, and his management of McCain’s campaign can best be described as sabotage.
Nobody hates John McCain more than George W Bush, and Jeb Bush is the invisible 800 pound gorilla in the room for 2012.
The “mismanagement” of Sarah Palin by Wallace and Schmitt is so complete that it cannot be assumed to be pure incompetence. Wallace set up the “hide Sarah” strategy, the wardrobe disaster, the Katie Couric debacle, the “diva” leaks, the “rogue” leaks, and now the “Africa-is-a-country” and “What is NAFTA?” leaks.
The blame of Romney on all of this seems like a red herring to me, a theory based on his supposed consuming desire to be nominated in four years. But Romney operatives are NOT in control of Palin. Bush operatives are. Wallace and Davis are likely the guilty parties because they are out mildly defending her, probably on orders from McCain.
Maybe blaming Romney is a smokescreen put up by the Bush brothers. Publicly smearing Romney with that tar will weaken another potential rival to Jeb Bush. George W Bush certainly prefers leaving a path to the Presidency open for Jeb in four years than to elect the hated McCain now and to set up a complete stranger as VP.
Sarah now will have filth and abuse rain down upon her from the liberal MSM, the Romney crowd, and, most importantly, the Bush family.
God Save Sarah Palin!
Sarah
Sarah Palin has won a major geopolitical economic war with Iran by establishing the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Iran was in the process of creating a natural gas world cartel that would have crippled the USA. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline thwarted that economic danger to the USA.
That’s intellegence.
Romney created a failed socialist health care system.
That’s moronic!
I’ll take Sarah Palin any day of the week!
This conversation is utter madness! We are talking about Palina and Jindal? Has Palin not proven her ineptitude enough already? She doesn’t know what countries are in NAFTA, let alone what NAFTA stands for, thinks Africa is a country and spend more money on clothes than most of her constituency makes in a year!
Jindal is a closet exorcist who performs religious ceremonies on people to cure or heal them. Do you think this young wacko has a chance? Get real!
Let’s settle it simply. Give Romney, Palin and Jindal the same IQ test. Who wants to make a bet that Romney scores over 130 and Palin and Jindal both score right around 100? Any takers?
Romney is intelligent and knowledgable about national issues. Palin and Jindal are not. Let’s stop talking about who appeals to conservetaives- they don’t elect the next President, Independents do! They went more than 2 to 1 for Obama! Why does anyone think Palin stands a chance against him in 2012? Everyone outside of Republicans hates her!
Romney 2012!
Ron, we may disagree, but neither of us are idiots. I just cannot believe that the GOP is best served by spearheading 2012 with a candidate who has managed to polarise not only America but the GOP itself. Go back to those exit polls – the voice of actual voters – and they tell us clearly that Palin was a significant drag on the ticket. At times like this the party might best be served by taking its time and looking around further than the candidates from 2008, (Palin, Romney, Huckabee etc) all of whom got variously rejected in open and free elections. Think forward.
Cheers.
Just watched Palin on Greta. Nice lady. I like her. But I realized as I watched that she reminds me of GW. Another nice guy that appealed to the average guy (or gal). That of course has been our problem. A candidate or president that appeals mostly to their own base and remains unable to persuade others to the cause. I’m not sure I understand the cry that we need to move away from the intellectual elite to lead our party, for a change. Are you arguing that GW is an intellectual? Seems to me we’ve already tried the common folksy type. It ain’t workin.
For my fellow Republicans who want to hand this party over to Sarah Palin on a tarnished silver platter, allow me to count the ways and reasons she will never get my vote:
1. She is, in fact, of questionable intellect. She speaks like a 14 year old girl obsessed with cell phones, boys and American Idol. Even her response to criticisms of her knowledge she responds that they are “immature” and “jerks.” Is this the response of someone possessing great wisdom? I think not. One who is comfortable with their intellect would require that it be challenged immediately and on the spot in order to decimate such a charge.
2. Religion. She is not a firm believer in the separation of Church and State. She believes that the Iraq war is “of God” and that God will open some cracked door for her to plow through. She is, in my opinion, a religious extremist.
3. Pro-life. I am pro-life and one would think that I would vote for her because of this. However, I would not. For one, it is not reasonable to ban abortion at this time, it may never be reasonable. I am not in favor of desperate women going to back-alley abortionists. For two, it is cruel to force a woman to endure a pregnancy that is no fault of her own. I’m well aware of the counter-argument, but consider it in actual practice. Of actually looking into the eyes of a rape victim and stating that they have no choice. I can’t do it. Can you? And finally, Palin lacks the gravitas to realize that being pro-life also requires you to be anti-preemptive aggressive war and anti-death penalty.
4. Foreign policy. Does she even have the experience or knowledge to have a cohesive foreign policy?
5. Economics. What is her stance aside from “drill, baby drill?” Is she of the Keynesian school? Austrian? Does she know what the various schools of economic philosophy even are? I doubt it.
6. Her gender. I share her gender and would be mortified if she was viewed as representing the best of Republican/conservative women.
7. She is not truly conservative. Conservatives believe in keeping money in the hands of those who earned it, in free markets and in keeping the government out of the affairs of individuals. Do I really need to explain why she isn’t?
All that said, I do like her stance on the 2nd Amendment, though, like her shaky understanding of the 1st Amendment, I doubt she understands the philosophic reasoning of our forefathers behind it.
Even if she did nothing but spend the next 4 years studying history, economics and philosophy, I doubt she’d be prepared to be much more than a delegate. (No disrespect to delegates intended.)
Georgia, Because I am a confirmed liberal, It’s not my place to steer comments as conservatives and republicans debate Sarah Palin’s future in the party.
But the points you make seem based more on what those with an agenda would have you think rather than the individual.
psburton:
Your criticism is unfounded. My belief is that liberals like you would love to run against a candidate like Sarah Palin because she would never win. So, keep on trying to prop her up!
Looks to me like the only people excited about Palin leading the party are the following: 1. some core followers in the base, 2. some other republicans that only want a winner and think she might be the one because of the fervor of a few, and 3. some “confirmed liberals” that really, really hope we promote Sarah as the party leader.
Everybody should stand back and remind themselves of the election. Polls demonstrate that a great many undecided independent voters who were still considering McCain, voted for Obama instead BECAUSE OF PALIN. Not only did she NOT attract people to the conservative cause, she actually scared many away who might have otherwise been persuaded. That is what we should be debating. This is already a tested and proven fact. Palin can’t do it for us. We should be discussing the why’s instead of pretending reality were different.
While 64% is enough to nominate a candidate, it is not enough to win an election. As a Republican, I won’t vote for Palin. She lacks significant experience working with Democrats, business experience, international experience, economic experience, etc.
psburton said:
“Georgia, Because I am a confirmed liberal, It’s not my place to steer comments as conservatives and republicans debate Sarah Palin’s future in the party.
But the points you make seem based more on what those with an agenda would have you think rather than the individual.”
I’m sorry, but that makes absolutely no sense. What would my agenda be? My admitted agenda is that I hope for the Republican party to return to their true conservative roots, rather than pander to neocons or the religious right.
Honestly, my party did not put forth any great candidates in the primaries. I respected a lot of Ron Paul’s views, but he’s simply not presidential material and was viewed as too extreme. Of course, GWBush wasn’t really either.
Jackie said:
“Your criticism is unfounded. My belief is that liberals like you would love to run against a candidate like Sarah Palin because she would never win. So, keep on trying to prop her up!”
I believe you may be right about psburton. Palin would never get more than the far right’s support, along with a smattering of neocons of shaky character such as Bill Kristol, Rush Limbaugh and that sort.
If the GOP wants to continue to alienate moderate “intellectual” Republicans like myself, George Will, Peggy Noonan, Colin Powell et al, then they’ll pick Sarah Palin, and I’ll switch to Independent.
Just finished reading all these posts. I’m afraid I agree with most views that Palin is not up to the job. She is a remarkable person. And, I think she should continue her political career. She just is not presidential caliber. I agree with another post that her shallow depth reminds me of Bush. I think he’s an honorable guy but was never up to the whole job. Palin’s ability to overturn the semi-corrupt good ole boys club of Alaska in no way prepares her for Washington or the World for that matter. Stevenson and his ilk are minor toads. Why can’t we have someone that has lived an honorable life, can speak intelligently, who has persuasive skills, who can inspire, who can demonstrate in their life story how they believe what they say they believe, and who has a reasoned depth of understanding of our heritage of freedom and the problems that face us today?
True conservatives do not really like Sarah Palin: they tolerate her. The true conservatives love Mitt Romney’s character, experience, intelligence, and crystal-clean family. Obama is more of an elitist than Mitt: even though Mitt has mega millions, he doesn’t flash it around. He isn’t too good to be true, and he is our best chance to take back the White House after Obama ruins it (after all Mitt cleans up all of the big messes). Mitt honestly cares about America more than his political future (something that 99% of politicans could never justify).
The allegation I am speaking well of Governor Palin because it serves the interest of the democratic party would I concede be credible criticisms.
Provided of course I had not posted similar observations prior to the election.
The fact is on this Website, DAILY KOS, WORDPRESS and SALON. I was slammed for doing just that. A couple days after she was nominated.
So Oops, like McCain’s brilliant campaign advisers, your slurs tend to bounce back and expose you as shills for establishment hack candidates.
Romney/Jindal 2012!!!
Please sign the petition. We need Mitt.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/romneyjindal/index.html