[MetsJetsandNets]

I don’t think Sarah would make it through the Republican primaries with the nomination. Word from Mississippi is that Haley Barbour is running in 2012. Term limits prevent him serving another term as governor. If Haley runs, he will will swat Sarah away like a Magnolia State skeeter. Plus, it appears from post-election analysis that women went 2-1 for Obama in New Hampshire and North Carolina, spurning Sarah. I don’t know why they would change their minds in four years.

[MooseChic]

Puhleese. Harley Barbour will be 65 in 2012. It will be another Dole/McCain campaign. Will be a boring one unless somehow Biden becomes Prez and run in 2012.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

You obviously spend too much time at du.

[AmericanGirlRising]

Nope. As much as Barbour is a good guy for our side, he’s not national material.

The days of chubby white Republican males from the deep south are on hold for the next 8 years.

[mdmathis6]

A lot of southern other wise conservative women saw Palin’s new born and just couldn’t vote for her. I heard a lot of comments that “she needed to be with the baby”, ect. In a few years when the babe is weaned and Obama has economically raped the country, those same women may be of a different frame of mind!

[an amused spectator]

Plus, it appears from post-election analysis that women went 2-1 for Obama in New Hampshire and North Carolina, spurning Sarah. I don’t know why they would change their minds in four years.

The Obama media basically ran a two month negative campaign commercial on Palin and to a lesser extent McCain.

They proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that negative campaigning works.

I watched a Youtube video where they were interviewing Obama voters after the fact. They didn't know who Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid were, they had no idea about any of Obama's political history or utterances, but they darn well knew that Palin's daughter was pregnant, that she had $150,000 worth of campaign clothes and that she could "see Russia from her house".

[Eagle Forgotten]

MetsJetsandNets, I join the others disagreeing with you about 2012. Barbour might be a credible candidate, and based on his past office with the RNC, he'd probably have a lot of support from the party establishment. Nevertheless, he won't just swat away Palin, who generates a lot more enthusiasm from the base.

What happens when one candidate has the lead in support from the party establishment, while the other has more support from the base? Well, on the Dem side in 2008, Hillary Clinton started off as the front-runner with the most support among Dem electeds. Obama overcame that by mobilizing the party base. I think Palin would do the same thing. The difference is that Clinton had another advantage over Obama, namely name recognition, but in 2012 no one would have dramatically higher name recognition than Palin. Huckabee, Romney, and Gingrich would be about at her level. Barbour would trail.

A lot can happen in four years, but right now Palin must be onsidered one of the principal contenders for 2012.