Posted on 11/08/2010 11:06:14 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Top political strategists said Monday that Sarah Palin isn't just a potential presidential candidate -- she's almost surely going to run in 2012.
"You can't count her out," said Mark McKinnon, former adviser to President George W. Bush. "In fact, there are a lot of reasons to count her in. ... Established Republicans are worried sick about her."
But Karen Finney, a former member of the Clinton administratiion who's now a political consultant: "They owe her."
The comments came during the Securities Industry and Financial Markets annual conference in New York City today. McKinnon, Finney and another Democratic strategist, Cornell Belcher, were asked to give their views on what recent election results mean for Wall Street -- but spent much of the time talking about the next presidential race in 2012.
McKinnon, who's now vice chairman of Public Strategies, said Texas Gov. Rick Perry is one of the few Republicans who could give Palin a run for her money. Perry recently won his third term by a wide margin. Despite the tooth-and-nails battles other candidates faced, Perry has been on a tour promoting a book titled "Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington."
"The Tea Party loves him; the base loves him," said McKinnon. "He's got nothing else to do -- he just came out with a book!"
Still, McKinnon noted that Palin would be the sole woman in a group of eight to 10 male candidates -- giving her an edge just by nature of her gender. He believes she'd be able to win two or three of the initial round of primaries "easily," which is traditionally a straight path to the nomination.
In analyzing the past two years of Obama, the panelists generally agreed that he's done a poor job of finding common bipartisan ground, as voters expected him to do. Congress, by their assessment, performed even worse in aligning their agenda with voters' biggest concerns. "If you turned on your television during the health care debate, it looked like a kindergarten playground," said Finney. "It looked ridiculous."
McKinnon said he worries Republicans will similarly waste their time "getting into the weeds" on procedural mumbo jumbo to undo some of the sweeping legislation. Voters may oust them similarly in the next election if there's no sign that legislators are getting their message.
In the next election, said Finney, "I'm inclined to believe we'll get another round of 'throw the bums out.' "
“Worried sick”, LOL
Why don’t they come up with an alternative then instead of this silliness? So far no-one has even announced. BLA_BLA_BLA
Sarah should run for RNC chair to cap off the insurgent takeover. She is still young.
What a gift, she can run on...”hey America, I’m fighting against BOTH parties for you”.
I’m not from Chicago. If the rest of your comment was meant to be insulting, I’m not sure why the need for it. I don’t understand why there’s an expectation that everyone needs to fall in lockstep behind Sarah Palin or else. I think we can do better is all—much better (and no I’m not a Romney supporter either). I think we now have an embarrassment of riches among GOP governors, Congressmen and Senators we could run with including Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, etc. I think re-treads from 2008 are just a recipe for disaster in 2008.
Didn’t we hear this crap about Reagan and how he was an “idiot” and “unelectable”?
I remember Steve Martin had a joke in his stand up routine: “Reagan wants to take this country back to what it was: covered in ice”.
Now they are making the samejokes about Palin.
So my memory was correct.
a recipe for disaster in 2012 I meant.
I'd say what I was thinking but this is a family site.
Actually, Palin interjecting herself into the Alaska senate race is proving to be a major miscalculation. Palin proved that she cannot carry water in her own state, which is potentially disqualifying. Contrast that with John Thune — he got Noem across the finish line against the incumbent RAT.
Palin also made a big mistake in getting involved in Delaware as well — both the PA and NJ GOP apparatus are similarly displeased. As am I.
I’ve been watching this from afar. Clearly, someone is behind the push to create some confusion, friction, etc among the republican party over Sarah Palin. They’re taking a non-iossue and hoping it will devide everyone.
Who are these people who ar “Worried Sick?”
I think this is a tempest in a tea pot, and not amounting to nothing more than a ploy to get republicans fighting among themselves.
I’m not convinced she will run.
The GOP belongs to Sarah Palin and the Tea Party now.
The RINOs are free to form their own "moderate" third party any time they chose.
I wouldn’t worry if I were you: He’s not going to be the nominee in 2012. It’ll be Hillary, and I could beat her, since she won’t have the black vote.
Unfortunately, Perry and Palin are close friends.
I call this "establishment republican" carping "RINO Speak".
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