Posted on 01/30/2015 4:54:59 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
Sarah Palin made headlines last weekend when she said she was interested in running for President. Palin has been an important part of the Tea Party and conservative movements in this country since she came onto the scene in 2008. Nobody on the right throws red meat to a crowd quite like Palin. Her ability to sarcastically tear down liberal sacred cows is second only to Rush Limbaugh. Best of all she drives liberals up a wall. They hate her more than any other conservative in this country, including George W. Bush and Limbaugh. Watching liberals fall to pieces over Palin is always amusing. Palin has also been an important player in the Tea Party political scene. The candidates she campaigned for, particularly in 2014, generally won. She has an excellent track record in that regard.
The question is whether Palin should run for President and perhaps as importantly whether conservatives should support her candidacy. The answer is clear, she should not run and if she does conservatives should not support her. There are any number of reasons why Palin shouldn’t be the Republican nominee beginning with the fact that her experience is limited and at this point remote. Palin was Governor of Alaska for all of two and a half years. She resigned ostensibly to make money in personal appearances. If Palin was serious about running for President, she should have stayed in office and run for re-election. In the alternative, she should have run for a winnable Alaska Senate seat in 2014. Instead, Palin has shown a lack of interest in actual governing. We need to nominate someone with experience and if we look at the slate of candidates out there we can clearly see there are other conservatives who have a lot more experience than Palin. Surely the GOP can find someone with more experience than Obama had in 2008, we can’t set the bar down to his level.
Palin’s ability to attract people other than conservatives is near zero. Fair or not, Palin is a polarizing figure in American politics. On one hand she’s brought it on herself by tearing down liberal sacred cows. On the other hand, the left-wing media has relentlessly attacked her for no other reason than she’s a heretic to the feminist cause. Let’s be honest, Palin has egged the left-wing media on and it’s been amusing to watch her set them up and tear them down. Doing that makes for great giggles for Tea Partiers but it does nothing for Palin’s likability. Because of the media, people actually think Palin said she can see Russia from her house. The media has pushed that narrative, knowing full well that Tina Fey said that on a Saturday Night Live sketch. People other than conservatives think Palin is a crass moron. That is a hurdle she won’t be able to overcome if she runs for President.
Sarah Palin has a place in conservative movement of the Republican Party. She’s an important part of the Tea Party. There’s a difference between being the flame thrower for conservatives and running for President. Palin is great at what she’s doing right now. She’s made a good living for herself and her family by giving speeches and making media appearances. She’s done a terrific job campaigning for conservatives in House and Senate elections. She’s found her calling in politics, it makes no sense for her to give it up to run for President. Conservatives shouldn’t want her to give it up either. Her record was magnificent in 2014. We’re much better off having her back conservative candidates for Congress than we are watching her flame out in a GOP Presidential primary that’s likely to be crowded with too many conservative candidates. If she wants to get involved in the primary, she should act as kingmaker and endorse someone. For her to run though will result in her ultimate defeat, which will likely limit her opportunities to influence politics in the future.
We conservatives need to find someone who has more than the right views. We need to find someone who has experience and can translate that experience to the White House. That person isn’t Sarah Palin. Two and a half years as Governor of a small state isn’t good enough. Eight years as Mayor of a town of less than 8,000 is not good enough experience. Palin is great at what she’s doing now, conservatives should be happy that she’s found something she’s both successful and influential at. The Democrats set the bar low for experience when they nominated Obama. The Republicans need to raise that bar. Scott Walker is just as conservative as Palin and he has a lot more experience. He’s balanced budgets and taken on unions in a blue state no less. Ted Cruz has more experience than Palin between his time as solicitor general in Texas and the US Senate. We need someone who is more skilled than Obama is. We have candidates like that on the right in the GOP. Sarah Palin just isn’t one of them.
Yes, yes, I see... we need someone with ‘electability’ - like McCain... Or Romney
Romney had what people crave, he had “electability”
I think she will make her announcement to run within the next 60 days.
I like Sarah Palin. I like that she seems like a real person. When she resigned as governor, she effectively ended her career in political office. It is sad. I understand why she did it, but that’s the way it is.
Really? I hadn't heard her annonce her candidacy.
Instead of telling us who shouldn't run how about telling us who you think should be the nominee.
The stray cat wailing outside has more "skill" than Obama does. "Skill" is unnecessary, we just need to find a conservative who will surround himself with conservatives when in office and appoint conservatives to the cabinet and sub-cabinet and every other vacancy. The "Skill" to avoid the idiocy of listening to the establishment or the media. This "Skill" does not normally come from holding office.
Obama is a puppet of the far-left, little else.
And, of course, experience; like, you know, Zero
leftist drible-—We are going to need Sarah Palin in the future.
The Dems want as many (R) candidates on the ballot as we can get. It will make their job easy when they only list one or two. C’mon people lets stop being played as idiots. Use some common sense and put someone in there to gut Obamacare, bring taxes back down to a normal level, and undo everything “Obama”.
You were off to a good start until you went all Hume Krauthammer Will establishment on us with your absurd assessment of her resignation as governor.
It was the best thing for both Alaska and her due to totally unique circumstances - it was outside the box, bold, and PROVEN RIGHT OVER TIME for both Alaska and the Palin family.
It’s called LEADERSHIP.
Did you make any decisions that tough and yet that brilliant that year? I didn’t think so.....
The Republicans don’t need governors who quit their jobs to be celebrities. They need people who want to work. She prefers being famous.
Cruz is what Palin should be.
>>If Palin was serious about running for President, she should have stayed in office and run for re-election. In the alternative, she should have run for a winnable Alaska Senate seat in 2014. Instead, Palin has shown a lack of interest in actual governing.
Looks nice, folksy appeal. Quit after 2.5 yrs. Even Romney at least finished his term. “Gee Katie I don’t really read newspapers”..
But hey let’s nominate someone who looks nice. Change WE can believe in!
We will, but probably not in elected office. She has more influence now on the national conversation than the vast majority of elected officials.
I don’t blame her for leaving the governorship. I am tired of the celebrity thing, though.
I hold a different view.
And the poster sounds very much like someone, who will eventually support Mitt Romney, or another Bush.
Enough of that. Palin may not be a typical Republican, but maybe that is why I support her 100%, and I very much hope she announces.
I’m getting sick and tired of phony conservatives who think clinging onto an elected office - when it is clearly not in your or your constituents best interests - is what a conservative should do.
NO, it is NEVER what a conservative should do. Due to stupid Alaska law, her governorship was ground to a halt by inane legal suits.
Aren’t you glad to know you agree with the establishment Republicans and left wing rags like POlitico and HuffPo and so on? Congrats. You’re outed as phony conservatives.
She should run if she darn well wants to, and let the chips fall where they may.
How about Sarah Palin as VP on a Cruz/Palin ticket?
Failing that, how about Sarah Palin as Secretary of the Interior for our next Republican Administration?
You seem to fallen into the chasm of hero worship. She did not have to quit. She chose to.
She loves being the queen of the conservatives.
Amazing that some of you have not figured out yet that she would rather be on TV than serve her country.
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