During the past summer, I was one of those who was absolutely convinced that Palin was running this year. All the signs seemed to point to it. The Iowa and NH speeches on Labor Day weekend. The campaign-style ads that PAC groups put on the Internet. Her delayed announcement seemed to be part of a well-thought out strategy to enter the race late as possible, after many of the other candidates had flamed out.
So when she announced in early October that she wasn't running after all, I was surprised, but quickly got over it and moved on. I didn't feel betrayed. I didn't pout and stamp my feet like other so-called Palin supporters seemed to do. For those who felt led on by the "tease" - grow up. It was the Palin cheerleaders who kept raising the expectations. It was the Palin cheerleaders who obsessively micro analyzed Palin's every move during the past summer to find signs of her running. It was the Palin boosters who attached undue importance to every key date as a possible announcement date and who even obsessed over the hidden meaning of the artwork on Palin's tour bus - like it was a Beatles album or something.
So to the Palin fans out there (of which I am one), stop blaming Palin for falling short of the expectations that we artificially created for her. Stop treating her as a messiah-figure. Respect her decision not to run this go-around and support the next best candidate that can beat Mitt Romney for the nomination and advance the conservative cause.
Also, do not become so focused on the presidential campaign that we lose sight of the congressional elections. Even a Palin presidency will be for naught if we fail to capture the Senate and lose ground in the House.
In fact, so important is Tea Party control of Congress that faced with the two scenarios of either Obama getting re-elected with the GOP gaining control of the Senate and super-majority in the House OR somebody like Palin getting elected president but failing to capture the Senate and losing the House, I would prefer the first scenario in a heartbeat.
The Obama agenda was virtually stopped in its tracks when the GOP took control of the House earlier this year. If we can continue the momentum and secure a super-majority in the House and control the Senate in 2012, it simply will not matter if Obama gets re-elected. The conservative agenda will get advanced and any presidential vetos will get overridden. With super-majority in the House and Senate control, we can give Obama a set of golf clubs and tell him to make himself scarce the next four years. He'll be a non-factor.
We focus too much on the presidency when the real power is in Congress.