George W. Bush somehow managed to get re-elected in 2004 with less than 50% approval ratings and a media that loathed him. I don't think the media can kill a candidate. A candidate dies when they choose to die. Dan Quayle, for example, had enough of politics after he and Bush 41 lost in 1992. He formed a multi-billion dollar private equity firm and is now happy being a billionaire. As the article headline says, "They're Not Telling Quayle Jokes at Cerberus".
I wouldn't underestimate the Barracuda. If she decides to run, she'll run on her own terms with her own message, and she'll be a very formidable opponent. Everyone thought that Reagan was finished in 1976, and look what happened four short years later.
Thomas Sowell wrote about what Democrats thought about Reagan back in 1980 by citing Meg Greenfield in the Washington post:
It was the wisdom of the other contenders and of most Republican Party leaders, too, not to mention of practically everyone in Democratic politics, that Reagan was: too old, too extreme, too marginal and not nearly smart enough to win the nomination. The Democrats, in fact, when they weren’t chortling about him, were fervently hoping he would be the nominee. When he carried the convention in Detroit, people I knew in the Carter White House were ecstatic.
We've completely forgotten how vilified Reagan was by the MSM in his day, and keep in mind that back then they didn't have talk radio and fox news and the internet and the myriad of conservative groups that have sprung up since then. If the message is right and the messenger is honest, the MSM can not destroy a person. And no one should underestimate the power of the American public to forget. If Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich and Dick Morris were able to repair their images, Sarah Palin can certainly repair hers.
BTW, any one want to make a bet that the MSM will be talking about Palin constantly tomorrow as she campaigns in Georgia for Saxby Chambliss? They'll be all over her again because she's poised to draw huge crowds.
Politico: Palin a GOP star, but little liked by center
Includes comments from GOP people. Barf. They're trying to separate Sarah from her grassroots support now IMO. Never seen anything like this for any politician, certainly not since Reagan.
Figured I'd post it here and not a new thread since there's an ongoing discussion.