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Posted on 10/27/2010 3:38:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Karl Rove, the former senior adviser to George W Bush, has cast serious doubt on Sarah Palin's viability as a White House candidate, questioning if the American people thought she had the "gravitas" for the "most demanding job in the world".
Expressing the strongest public reservations about the conservative star made by any senior Republican figure, Mr Rove said it was unlikely that voters would regard someone starring in a reality show as presidential material.
In two weeks, the former governor of Alaska launches a cable television series exploring her home state's wilderness.
"With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office'," said Mr Rove, who remains a considerable force on the U.S. political scene.
He added that the promotional clip for Sarah Palin's Alaska could be especially detrimental to any political campaign. It features the mother of five in the great outdoors saying: "I would rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office."
Mr Rove also implied that Mrs Palin lacked the stomach for the rigours of a presidential primary campaign, which will begin early next year before the first polls in 2012.
Mr Rove was asked if 46-year-old Mrs Palin, who is among the front-runners for the next Republican nomination, would be a wise choice if the party wanted to seize the White House from President Barack Obama. He replied: "You can make a plausible case for any of them on paper, but it is not going to be paper in 2011. It's going to be blood, it's going to be sweat and tears and it's going to be hard effort."
He said Mrs Palin had done a "terrific job" in 2008 when Senator John McCain took her from near obscurity to the vice-presidential nomination, but added: "Being the vice-presidential nominee on the ticket is different from saying 'I want to be the person at the top of the ticket'.
"There are high standards that the American people have for it [the presidency] and they require a certain level of gravitas, and they want to look at the candidate and say 'that candidate is doing things that gives me confidence that they are up to the most demanding job in the world'."
After losing with Mr McCain in 2008, Mrs Palin resigned as governor to write books, become a television pundit - on the same Fox News network where Mr Rove is an analyst - and an influential supporter of Tea Party-backed Republican candidates in next week's mid-term elections.
Thanks to her staunch conservative views, Mrs Palin remains a highly divisive figure with high negative ratings. Many Republican strategists think her selection as nominee would almost guarantee Mr Obama a second term.
But such is her popularity among the grassroots of the party, few in Washington are prepared to stick their head above the parapet.
No major figure in the party has yet to come out in support of Mrs Palin, including Mr McCain, who refused to endorse her yesterday.
Mr Rove's forceful comments signalled his confidence in his own standing and track record as the architect of Mr Bush's two election victories. She could face further attacks from within the party's hierarchy in the coming months as the competition for the nomination heats up.
All the indications are that Mrs Palin will run for office. She has delivered a speech in Iowa, where the first caucuses are held, quietly accumulated members of staff and has a sizeable pot of money.
But Mr Rove suggested that "outside of the true believers", most Republican primary voters were still watching the race and would choose the candidate most suitable for the role. "They are going to be saying 'the person who can win is the person who proves to me that they are up to the job'," he said.
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It's not as simple as that. For you not to understand that Rove is pissed about her influence in the party and in the media, in spite of her not being amongst the republican elites like him is kind of sad. He wants to set himself above her as the smart intellectual leader of conservatism......she is a threat to him and he's going to do a lot to damn her with faint praise, and undermine her whenever he can.
I like Marco Rubio so much better for President.
Sarah Palin is just a nice, likable Alaska housewife.
People don’t crack jokes about Rubio, he is respected.
His lack of influence in Delaware compared to her, and his total three days worth of melt down after his candidate lost bitterly criticizing O'Donnell on every show he could put his mug on might have given you a clue.
He has a petulant and defensive persona when his turf is taken over, and she's simply taken over as the most wanted endorsement from any conservative politician. He doesn't like being yesterday's consultant, and unfortunately she put him there with her positive endorsements and excellent campaigning for this election.
He's also a Romney backer, which might give you some clues as to how he's going to attack her from here on in.
I like Karl, why is he doing this....there must a reason.....or he’s an asshole.
Rove is out for himself and Romney.
Neither cared about throwing Election2008 to Obama.
Rove and Romney are scum who time will not forget.
what in the world is he talking about.
Nuculer.
Perhaps he is, but he also happens to be right about Palin here.
Right? Who knows. The only thing that is certain
is that backstabber Rove can never be trusted again.
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