Palin's popularity torments key Republicans

Canadian Press via Sun Media ^ | 2009-10-07 | Lee-Anne Goodman,

[Clive]

WASHINGTON - She's poised to become the best-selling author in the United States, has a devoted base of conservative supporters and is considered a front-runner to lead the Republicans into the next election in 2012 - and yet key party strategists are tormented by the popularity of Sarah Palin.

The very notion of a Palin candidacy has been derided in recent days by some of the brightest minds in the Republican party even as the former governor of Alaska outlines her policies on Afghanistan, energy and other issues of national importance.

"Were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election," Steve Schmidt, John McCain's presidential campaign manager last year, said recently.

He was backed by Mike Murphy, a Republican media consultant who also made a point of chastising Schmidt for his role in Palin's rise to international prominence to begin with.

"Steve Schmidt correct about Sarah Palin and '12," Murphy said by way of his Twitter feed. "Shame he didn't feel same way a year ago when he was lobbying McCain to choose her as VP."

John Weaver, McCain's closest political adviser for years, also weighed in earlier this week about a Palin candidacy.

"It would surely mean a political apocalypse is upon us," he said.

Yet from her unlikely pulpit - Facebook, and not the governor's office in Wasilla, Alaska - Palin is getting her message out on everything from health-care reform and energy while assailing President Barack Obama for his position on Afghanistan. Many of her 900,000-plus "friends" on the social networking site are cheering her every word.

[buccaneer81]

and not the governor's office in Wasilla, Alaska

Since when did Wasilla supplant Juneau?

[cripplecreek]

I think she clearly understands that anyone elected to office is to serve the people who elected them above all else.

I’m increasingly uncomfortable with the term RINO because it just reinforces the fantasy that elected officials are supposed to represent the party and nothing else.

[Onelifetogive]

Please read the wole of the article before commenting.

I had no idea that was even allowed.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

why are “key Republicans” tormented by Obama & other like-minded liberals who are hell bent on destroyinh America?

[oldfart]

I see many posts such as yours which state they voted for McCain only because of Palin. I did too. Yet we still have no real idea just how many others did the same. Of course we could run a poll here on FR but that wouldn’t be representative of the rest of the nation.

Does anybody have a way to suggest, influence, blackmail, etc., someone like Rasmussen or Zogby to conduct such a poll? Until someone like tham does come up with numbers we’re just guessing at her popularity and the other side is similarly guessing at whatever damage they think she could cause.

[SmokingJoe]

“”Were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election,” Steve Schmidt, John McCain's presidential campaign manager last year, said recently.”

Hey, Steve Schmidt, we already had the catastrophy. It was when Steve Schmidt run Juan McCain’s campaign into the ground, and Republicans got clobbered but good in the congressional elections..and that was only last year. No candidate/campaign could do worse than what McCain/Schmidt did last year.

[mickey finn]

More endorsements from the rhino leg of the Republican Party. The more they chastise Sarah as the worst possible candidate, the more I like her. Do they realize we hate these DC insiders more than ever?

[tet68]

the other side is similarly guessing at whatever damage they think she could cause.

The other side is terrified of Sarah
for a very good reason, they know
exactly how much her supporters raised
for the campaign, and how much they had
to spend to defeat her. McCain hardly
entered into the mix. Mrs.Palin, in speaking
directly with voters cannot be spun, she
cannot be reinterpreted as much as they
will try. Sarah Palin is a person to watch.

[SmokingJoe]

“Okay, it appears that most of the key Republicans it torments are campaign consultants who realize they now have a better chance of sprouting wings and flying than of working with her ever again and are now engaging in sour grapes”

Not only that. People like Steve Schmidt and his ilk, are angling for a job running one of the campaigns of Sarah Palin’s likely opponents in 2012. What better way to burnish your credentials with Palin’s rivals than to go to them saying “Gee, I just tried to knee capped her last year in the press”.

[DemforBush]

The main problem I see with articles like this is that they assume A) Sarah is not doing her homework between now and 2012 and B) Not understanding the difference between a lack of experience and a lack of capability.

It’s true that Palin’s inexperience with national politics led to a few stumbles on the campaign trail in 2008. It’s also true that she came up to speed more quickly that just about any candidate I’ve ever seen, regardless of party.

IMHO, it’s very much in Palin’s hands as to whether she is a viable 2012 candidate. True, history is against her a bit. She was the VP candidate for a losing Presidential campaign, and the endless media savaging has left her image tarnished among a number of independents. But if she can come out strong on the issues early on, and articulate a clear platform (something McCain never did do) for her candidacy, I think she could be a very viable candidate.

[tarheelswamprat]

Does anybody have a way to suggest, influence, blackmail, etc., someone like Rasmussen or Zogby to conduct such a poll?

Here's a better idea: just ignore the polls and concentrate on discussing ideas, principles and issues and which possible candidates match those you feel are important.

Polls at this moment in time are utterly meaningless and only serve to divert and dissipate our energy from the important matters at hand. That's what they're designed to do...

[oldfart]

I completely agree but I’d still like to see some sort of poll that indicates what percent of McCain’s votes came because of Sarah.

[filbert]

Please read the wole of the article before commenting.

Wow. 62 posts until somebody commented on that.

My beeber is wole stuned.

What happened to the legendary Freeper sense of humor?

[rcrngroup]

I spit on the president. I pee on the president. I drop my trousers and take an Obama on the president.

ROTFLMAO!!!

This beats my socialist-fascist-commie pig usurper 0b0z0 insult by a long & humerous shot!!!
.

[filbert]

"I spit on the president. I pee on the president. I drop my trousers and take an Obama on the president."

ROTFLMAO!!!

This beats my socialist-fascist-commie pig usurper 0b0z0 insult by a long & humerous shot!!!

Oh. There it is.

[GLDNGUN]

It's very simple ladies and gentlemen. List the past GOP Presidential nominees in order from MOST conservative to LEAST conservative (NOT how conservatively they governed if elected, but how conservatively they campaigned and how conservative they were perceived to be prior to the election).

Finished?

And what did you find? That the MOST conservative GOP candidates were winners (and 2-termers at that), while the most moderate candidates (like cueball Schmidt's McCain) were LOSERS! Coinkydink? Me don't think so, kimosabe.

I can't wait until Sarah Palin is unleashed as a PRESIDENTIAL candidate, where she calls all the shots. Yes, I know there are many pundits and others who believe that Palin can't think her way out of a telephone booth. I wonder what they will say after she wipes the floor with Obama in the first 2012 Presidential debate? WHAT WILL THEY SAY THEN?

[Psalm 144]

“No matter, say some observers: there’s a gaping disconnect between her fans and those who know what it takes to run a successful political campaign.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rabidralph]

If you have a FAcebook account, you can add your vote to this 2012 poll.

[Lancey Howard]

The very notion of a Palin candidacy has been derided in recent days by some of the brightest minds in the Republican party

....And then the moron goes on to quote a bunch of McCain scumbags.
Worthless.

[jeltz25]

I thought the article was going to mention all these key republicans and all I saw were Schmidt, Murphy, and Weaver, 3 guys who who could walk into any GOP fundraiser in the country and no one would know who they are.

At least a guy like Karl Rove has actually won something for Republicans. If he said something, I’d at least pay attention. Even if he did manage the astounding feat of losing the popular vote to Al Gore.

Murphy I get as it’s obvious Romney is his guy and he’ll do whatever he can to help him. Schmidt and Weaver are McCain guys, more moderate, and are likely to jump on board with Pawlenty. I think McCain blames her for what happened and all his people think if only he had gone with Pawlenty he’dhave won, which is complete and utter nonsense.

If she torments them this much now, it’ll be interesting to see how much she torments them by Thanksgiving.

As for Reagan winning independents, yes he did. But the independents of 1980 are not the independents of 2008 or 2012. And the utter failure of Carter and the residual memory of the liberal 60s and nadir of the McGovern candidacy were still within living memory of most if not all of them. He got 56% of Is in 1980, a slight improvement over the 52% that Ford got in 76. If Palin had as much an improvement among Is as reagan got in 80 she’d get 47% in 2012. The country was a lot different back then than it is now. Not to mention that Reagan wasn’t outspent by 400 million dollars largely aimed at independents as McCain and Palin were. Think that might have been worth a few pts?

McCain won comfortably among those who remember Carter and even Johnson and McGovern. Unfortunately, there’s not enough of them left.