Heh...
Posted on 11/19/2010 6:50:35 AM PST by WebFocus
By telling Barbara Walters that she thinks she can defeat President Obama, Sarah Palin has dimmed hopes cherished by sensible Republicans that she might decide against a run for the White House in 2012. Here are just some of the reasons she should not run.
The Republican nominee should be someone with a vast and impressive record in government and the private sector. Voters chose a novice with plenty of star power in 2008 and will be inclined to swing strongly in the other direction in 2012. Americans will be looking for sober competence, managerial skill, and maturity — not sizzle and flash.
After the 2008 campaign revealed her substantive weaknesses, Palin was advised by those who admired her natural gifts to bone up on policy and devote herself to governing Alaska successfully. Instead, she quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week), and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity. Now, rather than being able to highlight the accomplishments of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, we get Sarah Palin’s Alaska, another cheesy entrant in the reality-show genre. She’d so much rather be out dog sledding than in some “dull political office,” she tells the audience. File that.
It’s true. She is wildly popular with a swath of the Republican electorate. And, as a conservative woman politician told me, political consultants (who get paid the big bucks, win or lose) will doubtless descend upon her with game plans showing how she can win in Iowa and then cruise to the nomination. Maybe. But the general election would be a problem, since 53 percent of independent voters view Palin unfavorably along with 81 percent of Democrats, according to a recent Gallup poll.
There is no denying that Sarah Palin has been harshly, sometimes even brutally, treated by the press and the entertainment gaggle. But any prominent Republican must expect and be able to transcend that. Palin compares herself to Reagan. But Reagan didn’t mud-wrestle with the press. Palin seems consumed and obsessed by it, as her rapid Twitter finger attests, and thus she encourages the sniping. She should be presiding over meetings on oil and gas leases in the North Slope, or devising alternatives to Obamacare. Every public spat with Dave Letterman or Politico, or the “lamestream media,” or (God help us) Levi Johnston, diminishes her.
Speaking of television, have you watched “Dancing with the Stars”? Calling the show cheesy would be too generous. Perhaps the former governor should not be blamed for the decisions of her adult daughter. Yet there in the audience we see Sarah and Todd Palin, mugging for the camera and cheering on their unwed-mother daughter as she bumps and grinds to the tune of “Mamma Told Me Not To Come.” Her parents had advised her, the 20-year-old Bristol told an interviewer, that she had to stay “in character” if she expected to win. Being “in character” evidently meant descending to the vulgarity that DWTS peddles on a weekly basis. The mama grizzly was apparently unfazed by, or — equally disturbingly — unaware of, the indignity. And she is supposed to be a conservative culture warrior?
Voters prize judgment, above all, in a presidential candidate. Some of Sarah Palin’s 2010 endorsements were sound and arguably helpful. Others betrayed flightiness and recklessness. Tom Tancredo, Palin’s choice for governor of Colorado, has ridden his anti-immigration hobby-horse in a style perfectly suited to alienate Hispanic voters (describing Miami, for example, as a “Third World city”). Her endorsement of Christine O’Donnell was irresponsible and damaging, losing a seat that would otherwise have been a Republican pick-up. Of course, O’Donnell received an absurdly disproportionate amount of ink and attention during the race (the liberal press naturally seizes upon any opportunity to make conservatives look kooky), but Palin should have anticipated that. Besides, this one cannot be laid at the feet of the biased media. O’Donnell was a thoroughly unqualified candidate.
Palin has many strengths. I admire her fortitude and her principles. Her ability to connect with a crowd is something most politicians can only dream of. I will always remember her 2008 convention speech as a rollicking star turn. She would be terrific as a talk-show host — the new Oprah.
But a presidential candidate? Someone to convince critical independent voters that Republicans can govern successfully? Absolutely not.
— Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist.
Well, maybe you’re right. Maybe in today’s America, substance doesn’t count any more on the Right than it does on the Left.
Heh...
Reagan had high negatives too...it’s no big deal.
Not histrionics, just facts. Palin does not appeal to all conservatives (and that doesn’t mean we want Romney either). Of course, my neighborhood voted heavily for McCain/Palin. Obama was not an option. I don’t see Palin gaining any ground back with the conservatives and independents I know in real life. If she does run and can shine in the debates, then I will revise my opinion.
So we need a lying crooked candidate, is that what you're saying?
It appears as though we might have more than just one good, conservative candidate in 2012. Each will have a record to judge. They have the opportunity to make their case. Can’t wait.
“Not histrionics, just facts.”
No actually what you posted was a personal anecdote followed by a faulty conclusion. You claim the signs came down in your area due to Palin. Preposterous,yet funny.
“I don’t see Palin gaining any ground back with the conservatives and independents I know in real life.”
You should get out more. Palin has 76% approval among Republicans and higher support among conservative base voters. The independents will come in time. You statement reminds me of all the political elite saying how they “didn’t know anybody who voted for Reagan”, as he went on to win 49 out of 50 states lol.
Heh...
No. What I am saying is that your adulation for Sarah Palin is leading you to be crazy, nasty, and stupid and that this is bad for America.
I am so tired of a bunch of supposedly smart people, who are largely responsible for the mess in Washington, telling me who is and who is not ready to be POTUS.
IF YOU ARE A BELTWAY INSIDER OR A FIXTURE IN THE NEW YORK OR DC PARTY CIRCUIT, MORE LIKELY THAN NOT, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK. YOUR OPINION HOLDS NO MORE VALUE TO ME THAN SOME SILLY CELEBRITY ON CRACK.
YOU WILL NOT CHOOSE MY NOMINEE!!!!
Whether its Palin or someone else, it will be a Conservative that believes in a smaller government, lower taxes and will defend the Constitution. Anything less, would be another disaster that further tarnishes the Republican brand and sends this country further down the path to 3rd world status.
Blue State RINOS and those “conservatives” that believe that Obamacare just needs to be tweaked and we need to stop “global warming”, need not apply.
Yeesh, you even sound like a RINO.
Yep. Thanks for the real option.
Something is causing you to post irrational, unintelligent, mean-spirited nonsense on a conservative board. That something is not conservatism, nor is it good for conservatism.
since no one has anncounced they are running, it is a moot point.
I will support a canidate of my choice, since they is no current canidates, kinda hard to pick someone when no one is running (yet). I’ve said who I would like to see run, knowing several will not run this time.
If I say I want Christie to run and he doesn’t, then what would I do?
When there are several canidate running and they explain their plan/vision for the country, I’ll decide who I want to support and vote for them in the primary.
If enough people decide to support my canidate and they win the primary, good. If not, then I will decided if I can support the canidate that wins the primary.
If Palin runs and wins the primary, then I will decide if I will vote for her at that time.
What will you do if the former gov decides not to run?
Palin is the only reason I could hold my nose and vote for McCain. If my only choices in the primaries are Palin, Huck and Mitt, then there will be a Palin yard sign in my yard too.
I think you’re gay. Now that is irrational.
No my postings are always rational and logical, which is why your posts are refuted so easily.
I only signed up to volunteer for McCain once he picked her.
She is one of main reasons I voted for him in the first place.
If I were king, no one who ran last time could run in 2012.
I’m going to agree with rouge yam on this one
“What I am saying is that your adulation for Sarah Palin is leading you to be crazy, nasty, and stupid and that this is bad for America.”
I heard Palin is about to give another interview, you’d better sit down, I don’t think your weak knees can handle it.
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