Posted on 07/02/2009 9:30:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Sounds far-fetched and, to some, totally implausible. But the Republicans are losing potential candidates at a pace that is downright alarming if you believe in a healthy two-party system. The demise of John Ensign’s political career a few weeks ago and the surreal downfall of Mark Sanford last week is enough to send chills through the even the most optimistic Republican strategist. We know that of the 2008 crop, only Mitt Romney seems likely to stay on as a contender. The old stalwarts like Newt Gingrich may get a lot of press, but it is unlikely they can mount a real challenge to Obama in 2012. Yet, the presidential election of 2012 will be more than a simple coronation of Barack Obama if the economy stalls and there is no progress in two important areas: national security and healthcare.
Ballooning deficits and a sluggish economy could alter the mood of America by the time the 2010 mid-terms come up, giving hope to the GOP for the next presidential primary season. This is why Sarah Palin is maintaining a persistent media presence, whether it is debating David Letterman or being the biggest Republican draw on the lecture circuit. She clearly has her eyes set on the presidency.
The latest edition of Vanity Fair brings this possibility forward, though not in a favourable light. Journalist Todd Purdhom paints a picture of a woman with a narcissistic personality, who’s short on knowledge, disinterested in policy discussion, and not ready for primetime. In the end, the story says more about John McCain’s competence and character than it does about Palin, simply because he flubbed his most important decision as a presidential candidate. That said, Palin brought much needed energy to an otherwise lackluster campaign and, to this day, she energizes the base as no other candidate can. Could it be possible she may someday be a candidate for the presidency?
My experience tells me that no one should be written off in a hypothetical context. Barack Obama is proof positive of this. I still maintain that, without Bush, there is no Obama nomination. Palin is a street smart politician who has benefited from being underestimated most of her career. McCain’s disastrous choice may have been fatal to his electoral chances, but it brought Palin to the forefront of national attention. Since then, she has become a celebrity that transcends her party. However, if she is to be taken seriously and considered a viable contender, she needs to change the negative perceptions of her and develop a political profile that appeals to those outside her narrow base.
To do this, she must gradually reduce her exposure and begin to educate herself on the issues. She will not be ready for 2012 by remaining governor of Alaska and playing the celebrity. The GOP has too proud a tradition to have a re-run of the 2008 vice-presidential candidate. Also, the base Palin relies on for support no longer holds the sway it once did. Social conservatism is losing steam as a political movement thanks to the dubious habits of people like Gingrich, Ensign and Sanford, and the election of an African-American president as well as the increased attention paid to gay rights issues shows that Americans have begun to cast their old divisions aside. The future for the GOP lies with fiscal conservatism and strong national security policy—not with turning back the clock. Palin must embrace the values that created the Republican party in the first place—a belief in the individual, a belief in a limited role for the state, and a commitment to equality. The party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and (the pragmatic version of) Reagan is the path to a Republican resurgence. Palin is nowhere on that radar. She is all about celebrity status and controversy.
In the lead-up to July 4, Americans usually reflect on their great democracy. Overall, it is healthy and has shown resilience through the decades. But the Republicans have to become a viable alternative for this democracy to remain vibrant. So is Palin a real possibility for 2012 or 2016? Will she someday be a formal candidate for the presidency? Most definitely. But can she ever win? Based on what we have observed so far, I would say definitely not, though politics has been known to produce some strange developments.
Yes, McCain is damaged goods, and by foolishly agreeing to be his running mate, now so is Sarah Palin.
Those are two of the most biased generalities that I have ever seen posted on FR.
You attack our most patriotic, conservative hopeful in the same sentence that you praise the crypto-Marxist, wannabe dictator without even pausing for breath.
Unreal...
What type of work did you do?
And though she does not support amnesty, there is nothing about Amnesty that is unconstitutional. The Federal Government is the sole authority that can regulate immigration and they can establish what ever immigration regime they wish from open borders to a Tokugawa-esque isolationism and all that is in between, including granting amnesty.
“Should she have refused the call to serve her country because it may not have been politically sound for her?”
She was / is already serving her country as Governor of Alaska. She was under no obligation to accept McCain’s offer. He made it as a compromise in the first place, thinking he’d gain the womens’ vote, thinking he’d lock up the Christian and Catholic votes automatically. Both of them were compromisers, he by offering it to her, she by accepting. Then she proceeded to transform herself into McCain’s puppet. She even began to sound like him! The bloom was coming off the rose already for some of us thinking conservatives.
Try being a little more honest.
And BTW, the sort of exalted poetry that Palin is starting to receive from some quarters of FR is bordering on the veneration of North Korea’s Dear Leader, or Mohammad.
Perhaps you guys should start saying “peace be upon her” every time her name is mentioned...
LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!
Funniest line I’ve heard all night on this forum.
Stuff it, Deanna. It's pretty obvious at this point in the thread that you're up to something.
If you're as politically astute as you claim to be, then you know full well that the VP running mate doesn't call the shots on policy and platforms for the ticket, and ALWAYS defers to the Presidential candidate's views.
I refuse to allow you to hang her on that one statement.
Trying to degrade and demote Sarah Palin's conservative bona fides with that tactic will not work. We all heard her on the campaign trail, and know full well that she is ten times the conservative that McCain ever even thought of being.
You're on a crusade of some sort to tarnish and damage Sarah. This has become very evident in your commitment to trashing her in post after post after post on this thread.
You're doing exactly what any agent provocateur would do to sow doubt among conservatives, about our best and brightest hope for 2012.
You can claim your allegiance to conservatism all you like, but I'm afraid that won't remove you from suspicion now. You're up to something, and I know it.
Well it's nice to see you are not delving into personal attacks or snide remarks. /sarc
“He made it as a compromise in the first place, thinking he’d gain the womens’ vote, thinking he’d lock up the Christian and Catholic votes automatically.”
Though the womens vote was a factor, he was already doing pretty well with Christians after his performance at the debate in Orange County moderated by Rick Warren.
BTW, all VP’s are chosen for what they can bring to the ticket LOL!
Well it's nice to see you are keeping to debating the facts and not just insulting people who disagree with you. /sarc
There are a lot of people here who are big fans and admirers of Palin, but none of them are using Daily Kos talking points to smear their opponents.
You can't really say the same now can you.
It wasn’t meant as sarcasm. Again you willfully misunderstand. I consider there to be a LOT of thinking conservatives. Some agree with me, and some disagree. But they don’t all have the same thoughts as I do. That’s what I was referring to.
We should look at every politician who might go up against Obama in future and examine them with a critical eye. If you don’t you can mess up again in your choice, and at this stage of the game that is the LAST thing the Republican Party needs.
Naivete at its finest. Have a good night.
Counterpunch has been very effective in his debate points. You keep lashing out with personal insults, on the other hand.
I know which one of you is clearly winning the debate. :)
What good is winning elections if you end up with a leftist like McCain or Romney? I will NOT vote for Romney or McCain under ANY circumstance.
Some unborn babies might just prefer McCain or Romney to Obama.
Just sayin’.
I wish it was. Debates would be a lot funner with friends and family. I could just tape my views and then just continuously play them back to the people I am talking to while I focused on something more entertaining.
As for Personal Insults, show me where I made any. I have been quite civil. Disagreement is not an insult.
That is a full faced lie, it was your first post and no one had asked you anything and you posted it to post number one, you came here to promote Thune and then lied about it because I pointed out that by attacking the most popular candidate on FR and attacking everyone here in such a nasty way in the name of Thune that you were going to make people hate him.
You have been promoting Thune since December 1st of 2008 the day that you showed up again after being gone from FR for five years except for those three posts on 2004.
You have been promoting Thune for seven months, that level of dishonesty does not fit that home page of yours.
What are you guys - a mutual admiration club? The love is starting to get squishy icky. Get a room, already.
“If Palin supporters are going to act like cultists, they will be called out for it. They remind me of the 0bama supporters, too.”
Hey deannadurbin! who is dishing out the Personal Attacks again LOL?
“Which Daily Kos talking points are those?”
The ones where you claim she is DOA because she is ignorant, bitchy, a redneck, annoying, and dumber then a box of rocks.
The only thing you left out was accusing her of not actually being Trig’s mother.
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