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.
All this talk -- two years ahead of the event -- that Palin "cannot win" is just fear. These people do not want the establishment to be taken down, they do not want corruption rooted out, they do not want government to be smaller, and they do not want a return to the Constitution. They do not want Palin, because they are afraid she stands for all of these things. And so they say (in desperate hope) that she cannot win.
Mona, you homely dumb broad, Reagan did not have to contend with the 24 hour news cycle, the internet, twitter, facebook or Bill Maher, and it’s dishonest to pretend otherwise. We have no idea how Mr. Reagan and Nancy would have responded to all the lies put out by the maniacs over at KOS and Huffpost. In fact, since the age of the internet, with the exception of George Bush (who is criticized by the Establishment Repubs for NOT fighting back!!!), all presidents have fought back at the media. Remember the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Mona? Oh, but Hillary went the Harvard Law School so that’s OK.
Did you read Sarah’s book? Because not only is it a wonderful read but she talks substantively about the issues she is interested in: American values, oil production, smaller government, etc. Empty celebrity, indeed!
And to insult the Palins by accusing them of “mugging” for the camera while watching their beautiful daughter dance on television is really low, Mona. Todd and Sarah are way too good-looking to have to “mug” for the cameras. What you missed was their beam of pride for a beloved child.
Lastly, I have a friend who has a famous name in England (she’s a classical actress on the London stage) who is currently competing in Great Britain’s “Dancing with the Stars.” She had no qualms about appearing on a show that is - after all - nothing more than a ballroom dancing competition.
You’ve got to get out more, Mona - as do other Establishment types - and learn something about popular culture and populism. In fact, why don’t you read a book by Camille Paglia who will explain it all to you. And SHE went to Yale so it’s OK for you to look her up.
Miss Marmelstein is not in a good mood anymore.
That pretty much sums it up. Mona is clinging bitterly to her Rockefeller Republican (read : RINO) beliefs.
I hear you. I’ll get back to you.
I think people might be missing something—Charen is speaking for an element inside “conservatism” that supported Obama last time out. It’s bad enough that they would opt for Romney (ugh) but when push comes to shove this group will back Obama again. Bank on it.
Hey, if Thune or Pence win the nomination, they will undoubtedly get our support.
But NO ONE is attacking them and trying to convince them not to even run.
What’s wrong with letting the VOTERS decide who we want. This coordinated elitist attack is disgusting, and all the anti-Palin people on FR chiming in with it are going to catch some flack.
My suggestion to you is, start some pro Pence or Thune threads...talk up your guy...but quit the anti-Palin piling on.
Don’t you get it? The more you guys trash her the stronger she gets...which is why I believe she will win it all in a landslide.
Yes, she has a hill to climb, but that’s what campaigns are for.
I agree with Mona. I’d vote for Palin in the general over Obama or Hillary but in the primary, she ranks ahead of only the other 2008 candidates for me.
IMHO, Mona your idea of "Presidential" is outmoded, gone with the wind. You see Mitty - the hair, the smile, the plastic image - and you swoon. Your word for the 2012 GOP POTUS candidate is "sensible". The rest of the Tea Party Nation's word for the 2012 GOP POTUS nominee is ...
AUTHENTIC(ally Conservative).
Sarah qualifies. Mitt does NOT.
So you think Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clintoon, Bush Jr., or Obama is qualified to be President?..
What are you smoking?.. Nobody is actually qualified to be President..
Even past Presidents..
Every four years the national situation totally changes..
The best that be said is some are more up to the job than others..
That being said.. Most Republicans are for a Republic, but ALL democrats are for a democracy..
What do you want a Republic -OR- a Democracy.. you CANNOT HAVE BOTH..
----------------------------
Democracy is the road to socialism. -Karl Marx
Democracy is indispensable to socialism. The goal of socialism is communism. -V.I. Lenin
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism .-Karl Marx
BOOKMARK SARAH!! THANK YOU FOR INFO CONCENTRATED IN ONE PLACE!!
I suspected Ms. Charen had more than a passing resemblence to the Sea Hag from the Popeye cartoons of my youth.
I was not disappointed......
Tax-Chick: you rock!
I can't find a better description of stupidity anywhere on the net than what is not only portrayed on this board but others when it comes to anti-palin thought processes.
The dialogue offered about America is the our Political System is broken and corrupt. A thought that is shared by almost American save for your die-hard socialists.
Now interject the name “Palin” into that process and well you and those like you. all of a sudden claim statu quo?
That my FRiend is the BEST definition of why we are going to hell in a hand basket.
Paul Ryan won’t run in 2012 - his children are still young and he wants to be able to spend time with them. And he has big plans for getting the national budget under control now that the GOP has the majority in the House. He has stated this many times.
Credit goes to Retired Intelligence Officer. Thanks, RIO!
So now we have so called elites instructing other Americans on who should or should not run for president?
It’ll be Romney/Palin or Palin/Romney. Bottom line. Moderates, conservatives, and indies will vote for either of those tickets and Obama will be finished. He will never even sniff a lead after July 2012.
We have plenty of people promoting conservatism on radio and TV. Yawn.
We have a shortage of politicians and we've had a shortage of presidents who promote conservatism.
Why on earth would any reasonable person not want her to run in the primary, to demonstrate if she can or can't be our next conservative president?
We don't need another conservative pundit. We need a conservative president.!
True, this. All spot on. And we see that a second book is soon to be released by the still-should-be-serving-as-Governor Palin. Then there is that dreadful Alaska show that was just that: dreadful. For a presidential hopeful, I mean. For a golly-gee Mom, I suppose it was ok.
Mona sums Palin up rather well. “She would be terrific as a talk-show host — the new Oprah.” Zing. But please do that, Sarah. Go for the show biz fame and stay on the $75K/per speech circuit. Leave politics and policy to the serious folks.
“The Republican nominee should be someone with a vast and impressive record in government and the private sector.”
B S !!!!!!!!!!! This is a moot point.
We NOW have the most inexperienced, ill-educated, partisan, treasonous, inimical to Americans/America, personally immature and politically unfit President in our history.
How can anyone with even a PRETENSE of objectivity demand from a Republican candidate what Liberals NEVER expect, much less require of a Democratic hopeful??
Am I the only one who sees this double standard for what it is!! Do I have to sit back for the next 2 years and listen to grown adults, who ought to possess at least a LITTLE logic, pretend this is NOT going on?
Believe me, the “O” administration (such as it is) will NOT be a tough act to follow. In terms of competence and substance, of nothing else, this broad farce is NOT the yardstick that Americans should ever employ!
Palin (and actually, ANYONE in the Conservative stable) could outperform THIS President in her sleep. Period!
Now more than ever, America needs leadership reflecting the will of the Majority. (THERE’S a novel concept!) This BS of placing a cipher like “O” in the WH and actually expecting mature leadership is insanely arrogant and willfully suicidal.
Without experience, DEMONSTRATED character, properly documented education, unobjectionable personal/professional associations, etc. …’vision’ as a stand alone attribute, is worthless and DANGEROUS!
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