Palin doesn't have any policy defects on ANY major conservative issue.
Defence? Read Going Rogue: "We win, they lose." She even got a new foreign policy advisor and her new position is not Nation-Building, but go in with a defined objective, kick ass into the next continent, then get out. Check.
Oil? 'Nuff said. Check
Jobs? Eliminate regulation and taxes. Check.
Pro-life? Trig. Check.
Crossover appeal? She even has Tammy Bruce pulling for her, and her husband's a union guy. Check.
Elitist. Idaho State or something, not Harvard. And she field-dresses moose. Check.
Pro-2nd Amendment? She's shown shooting guns on Sarah Palin's Alaska and discussing with her dad how the sight was misaligned when the gun got dropped. None of this "Can I buy me a huntin' license here?" like Kerry. Check.
Pro-military in general? Track. Check.
Judges? Stated she wants Constitutionalists, not activists: and the pick she made in Alaska was *her* version of "the lesser of two evils" as she was presented with two and only two candidates, one of whom she HAD to select.
Endurance? Check.
Photogenic? Check.
Up on electronic communications? Twitter check.
Family values? Still married to the same guy, check.
Cut spending? You betcha. "Cut the crap and balance." Check.
Knows how to take on entrenched interests? Look how many people she put into jail for corruption in Alaska. And what she did to Exxon / Mobil. Check.
Youth? Check.
Populist, not a RINO, insider candidate? Check.
Persuasive ? "Death Panels" Twitter. Check.
Unafraid? Look at her in Madison with rows of protestors shouting obscenities at her. "Mr. President, game ON!" Check.
Waiting for some of the pretenders to leave the field, and for most of the public to pay attention? Check.
She's not perfect, but she's obviously the best we have.
Cheers!
Sure, but for what? As a Tea Party power broker, whipping the GOP into shape by raising a new generation of freshmen Congressmen? Damn right. As far as long term power projection, this is sowing the fields for good harvests later. Reclaiming the GOP at the basic level is the most important long term strategy around. She's doing it with folks that have much better ideological leanings than their predecessors.
As far as running for President, no. Her negatives are too high, and a lot of that comes from within the GOP itself. If she takes a shot at the Presidency here, gets nominated and fails, her career will be obliterated. If she helps the next guy or gal into office, and keeps raising crops of conservative senators and congressmen, she'll become the new GOP establishment. Literally the fulcrum of the Tea Party within the GOP machine. The more I look at it, the less sense it makes for her to run.
Especially now. Bachmann is surging, and Perry is in. The odds of Romney being the nominee are pretty much flatlined. The demand for a Palin candidacy is largely met with either of these two. (Amongst the population outside of FR). Anyway, if she actually jumps in, I reserve the right to admit I was wrong. At this point, I'm not seeing it. I think she's found her groove right where she is.
I knew most of that other stuff, but did not know about this.
Glad to hear it.