Posted on 06/10/2010 11:38:59 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
When Sarah Palin, in a rambling lakeside announcement last July in Wasilla, said she was quitting as governor of Alaska because of the abuse she and her family were taking from petty politicians and a feral press, she was written off as dead by the pundits.
"A quitter, can't take the heat," was the Beltway consensus.
Yet, it seems that was no more the end of Sarah than it was the end of Richard Nixon when, after losing to Gov. Pat Brown in California in 1962, he spat at the press: "Just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."
Six years later, Nixon took the oath on the Capitol steps.
And though the media have painted Palin as a ditz, no politician in memory has conducted a more brilliant pre-presidential campaign, if that is what she is about, than the lady who calls herself "the Mama Grizzly."
Consider Tuesday. Palin had gambled big by going into South Carolina to endorse Nikki Haley, a state legislator running last for the GOP nomination for governor -- against the lieutenant governor, the attorney general and a congressman.
Haley instantly vaulted into the lead, taking 49 percent on primary day, and is headed for the governor's mansion -- in a Palmetto State that holds what is often the decisive primary in presidential nomination runs.
Nikki was Sarah's kind of conservative with a populist touch.
But Terry Branstad is not. This ex-governor of Iowa, who served four terms ending in 1998, is a moderate. Yet Palin endorsed him in his comeback bid over a conservative backed by Dr. James Dobson and Mike Huckabee.
After his victory Tuesday, Branstad, too, is headed for the governor's mansion in a state that hosts the first big battle of 2012 -- the Iowa caucuses.
By bringing conservatives to Branstad's camp, Palin can claim some credit for returning him to office, though Mitt Romney backed Branstad earlier and his and Branstad's staffs are said to be wired.
The endorsement of Branstad suggests Palin, a politician of principle, has a pragmatic streak. She acts not only out of instinct but cold calculation. How else to explain the Branstad endorsement over a social conservative than a decision to befriend a future GOP governor in the first battleground state of 2012?
Other interventions this cycle reveal Palin to be far more savvy than the caricature drawn by the left.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a colleague of Palin's in the GOP Governor's Association, was facing an uphill battle against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who had the backing of Dick Cheney -- Mr. National Security and the most visible national Republican of 2009.
Cheney went to Texas for Hutchison. Palin went in for Perry, who had scrambled to the Tea Party right, even raising the specter of secession. Perry won in a walk. Palin 1, Cheney 0.
Perry will lead the second-largest bloc of delegates to the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla. The largest will come from California, where Carly Fiorina -- another one of Palin's mama grizzlies -- won the GOP Senate nod on Tuesday. Palin had endorsed her over the more conservative Chuck DeVore.
In Kentucky, where the establishment backed Mitch McConnell's handpicked successor to Sen. Jim Bunning, Trey Grayson, and Cheney went in for Grayson, Palin endorsed Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, who has a loyal libertarian following.
With Palin and Tea Party backing, Rand won. The Pauls, too, owe a debt to Sarah. Palin 2, Cheney 0.
In Arizona, Palin, who is closer in her politics to J.D. Hayworth, came to campaign for embattled Sen. John McCain, who chose her as his running mate and made her a star.
McCain's aides have been anonymously trashing Sarah as an airhead who had caused the ticket's defeat. She repaid their disloyalty with unqualified loyalty to McCain, who is unlikely to forget what she did, at some cost to herself.
But it was Sarah's first intervention, in New York's 23rd Congressional District, where she showed a boldness that marks the better politicians.
Liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava was handpicked by the party to face Democrat Bill Owens in the Republican district. Doug Hoffman, endorsed by the Conservative Party, jumped in. Newt Gingrich urged Republicans to stand by the pro-choice, pro-gay-rights Scozzafava.
Palin went rogue and declared for Hoffman, who surged past Scozzafava, who fell to third, bowed out and endorsed Owens, who won by two. That was the first manifestation of Palin Power. Palin 1, Newt 0.
Looking over Palin's endorsements -- McCain over J.D., Fiorina over DeVore, Branstad over Bob Vander Plaats and Rod Roberts -- the lady is not running for Mrs. Conservative. The one explanation that makes the most sense of all the seeming inconsistencies in endorsements is that Mama Grizzly is thinking about moving the Wasilla brood into the big house.
Game changer.
“no politician in memory has conducted a more brilliant pre-presidential campaign,”
And this assessment is from a man who worked for both Reagan and Nixon, two excellent politicians, who each won 49 state landslides. He also observed at close quarters JFK, another gifted politician of the 20th Century.
He doesn’t quite get it right in Iowa. Branstad is as conservative as VanderPlaats. And while he may be right that Romney’s staff and Branstad’s staff are “wired” (his sister Bay is a Romneybot), Branstad cannot deliver Iowa to Mitt. But Vanderplaats (who is for Huck) could have been of great assistance to him in the Iowa Caucuses had he been elected governor. If VDP were governor, and Huck eked out a win, it might make the nomination struggle more protracted.
Buchanan also notes the defeats she has pasted on Newt and Cheney (and Huck) in the endorsement wars. This shows she is taking on the Establishment on ground of her choosing and defeating them every time.
Yep, Martinez in NM is for the WEST PRIMARIES including Carla...that’s where Mitt is putting his hopes on after the Northern States according to his advisers...I knew that when Sarah endorsed Nikki that it was more than just another kindred spirit, SOUTH CAROLINA is a make-n-break for most candidates
Here on paper is how things MAY look as of right now:
1. First in the nation is Iowa - Palin
2. New Hampshire - Mitt/ Palin second
3. Next up-S.C. primary - Palin, thanks to Nikki
4. Final primary before Super Tuesday is Florida- ???
5. Super Tuesday- Mixed bag
6. West Primaries - Mitt needs to win big out there to survive
Yes, and now we know why she endorsed global socialist billionaire Fiorina. She wants Fiornia’s money backing her presidential bid, and she just got a guarantee of quid pro quo.
“Name a politician who has NOT resigned a position for something higher?”
As Longstreet told Lee at Gettysburg, “Not retreat. Redeploy.” This is what Palin has done. Lee refused to take this advice and spent his army on a fruitless, futile endeavor to capture a place of no military significance where the ground favored the Union. He stayed where he was and got slaughtered. Palin has maneuvered in the face of the enemy and repeatedly outflanked them.
If I am not mistaken the Western Primaries were moved ahead of Super Tuesday. The GOP changed the schedule on them. All indications are Sarah is rather strong out west as well.
“New Hampshire - Mitt/ Palin second”
For two reasons, I think Palin will win New Hampshire. First, it is a retail politics state and Mitt stinks at retail politics, while Sarah Palin shines.
Second, her win in Iowa will generate such momentum and press (nothing succeeds like success) that irt will sweep her to victory in NH. Mitt is not nearly strong enough to overcome such momentum. Unlike Huck, she is not a regional candidate.
When she wins NH, it will be over effectively. At that point, the also rans will be running for VP.
Yep, Palin is Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville.
Sarah in one nite smoked Huck and check mated Mittens. Now what Sarah did was put the potential Gov. in a very tough position on who they will support in there respective states.
I think that is a pretty fair military analogy to what she is doing now. The Second Corps is deployed int the woods, about to attack the 11th.
Her success is sowing confusion and fear in the Establishment as well. They are grasping at straws. ( I read somewhere that when Jackson’s old Corps attacked on the first day at Gettysburg, it was against O.O. Howard’s 11th Corps, which they had badly mauled at Chancellorsville. Many of the 11th Corps soldiers saw the flags of Jackson’s army approaching and were so terrified (because of what had happened at Chancellorsville), that they dropped their guns and ran.
Sarah Palin lives inside these guys’ heads in much the same way. SP says to Obama, you need to meet with the BP CEO (which he hasn’t done in 57 days), and the next day he sets a meeting. Their whole political existence is one big series of reactions to what she says and does. I have never seen the beat of it in all my life.
I found it fascinating that somebody like Pat Buchanan -- who despite his shortcomings is very politically astute -- is just now snapping to the fact that Sarah Palin is seriously positioning herself to run for president.
Considering that her sister Bay Buchanan is wired into Team Romney, this may account for the recent flurry of activity from Mittens....they've been caught flat-footed and are in scramble mode. It may also account for the rumor I heard this morning that Team Romney is moving in to Nevada to co-opt Sharron Angle's campaign.
her sister = his sister. Sorry Pat.
I would not be surprised to learn that she has read de Tocqueville, Machiavelli, and Talleyrand.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
It has truly been a sight to behold. And even if the left backed off completely now; it’s too late. They done poked mama grizzly with a stick one too many times.
That is exactly my take too. In Alaska she was trapped and besieged by operatives of the progressive left. Going broke defending herself from worthless ethics complaints, 3,000 miles away from the real action in the lower 48 and unable to advance a conservative agenda. In one brilliant move reminiscent Alexandra the Great she destroyed the enemies battle plan and has taken control of the war. Sara is running in 2012 and she is building an army of loyal lieutenants.
I'm not thrilled with her decision to leave office, although that view is softening as I see how much she is doing for America, but I (mostly) agree with her political endorsements. She did a good job of picking the strongest conservative who had a chance of winning. Frankly, in a couple of cases, I think she put conservatism ahead of the chance of winning a general election by too much. My hope is that she correctly judged the extra boost that her endorsement and Obama's unpopularity will give in the general election and not just in a primary, but we may lose a couple of races we could have won with a more moderate but still pro-gun, pro-life fiscal conservative. Her loyalty to McCain is not my style, although I can forgive loyalty, but for her other endorsements I'd rather win on the big issues (or on as many big ones as possible) than lose with someone who agrees with me 100%.
He doesn't even hint at that. All he's saying is her ability to set the stage for a run at the republican nomination has been excellent.
He destroys those great intellects who call her a quitter, and reminds them she's in the drivers seat at this point.
The only problem I have with his points is who is making them........:-)
Wow, Jeane Kirkpatrick, haven’t thought of her in years. Now there’s one tough old broad, lol. She was hard to like as a person, but was I ever glad to have her on our side and in the role she played, in that place and time. We owe her a debt of gratitude.
*********************
I had the good fortune to hear her address a small group.
Tough as nails, yes, far more engaging in person than over television though. She was one of those rare people who is utterly focused, and with an intelligence that just crackled. She was a natural leader and would have made an outstanding executive.
The address was at an entrenched liberal, major university during the peak of the Nicaraguan Contra episode, when the Democrats were assisting the Latin American Communists, and had not yet made the Jihadist friends they enjoy now.
A group of several dozen ‘protesters’ tried to disrupt the address, shouting and chanting, waving crayon signs, etc. etc. The media of course lapped it up, focusing on these ragbags (one of whom I had had aspirations towards, until I saw her there).
Kirkpatrick looked up from the podium at the ragbags, and glared at them.
They.
Shut.
Up.
Utter silence ensued, while she continued to regard then like a falcon assessing fieldmice. She then glanced back down at her notes, resumed where she had left off, and finished the address without further interruptions. The media reported the address and the disruption of course. They omitted the sheer force of personality smack down on the riffraff.
I have been priviledged to hear Kirkpatrick, Buchanan, and Scalia in person. They were each impressive, and each more personable than television conveys. Kirkpatrick though, was the undoubted alpha. She had the bearing and implacable confidence that I have only seen elsewhere among old school combat veterans.
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