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 Palins Alaska, we get Sarah Palins Alaska, another cheesy entrant in the reality-show genre. Shed so much rather be out dog sledding than in some dull political office, she tells the audience. File that.
Its 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 didnt 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 Palins 2010 endorsements were sound and arguably helpful. Others betrayed flightiness and recklessness. Tom Tancredo, Palins 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 ODonnell was irresponsible and damaging, losing a seat that would otherwise have been a Republican pick-up. Of course, ODonnell 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. ODonnell 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.
Now I’m off the phone and it looks like I missed something.
I just don’t understand why people are so upset. How about just ignoring Sarah Palin, since she’s not even a candidate at this point.
She was an excellent governor. It was the lefty’s with the lawsuits. How can one govern when fighting frivolous lawsuits? The left drove her out and you fall for it. They hate her. Why do you think that is?
So trolls love you. That's news?
And more importantly for making the PDS’ers heads explode. I hope they do not blast their computers with a shotgun because of you.
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 4-7, 2010, with a random sample of 1,021 adults, aged 18 and older, living in the continental U.S., selected using random-digit-dial sampling.
Imho, they have an agenda, which involves the support of another candidate whose aspirations are threatened by Sarah’s growing popularity.
You haven't changed their minds though. That's the funny thing about the name-calling, it makes folks think that you guys are not particularly serious adults.
Angle did not "lose bad". You are uninformed. And you haven't heard about the vote fraud and intimidation? You know nothing.
LOL. Oh, I can already tell you’re truly going to be a ‘grate’ addition to the membership! You betcha! Making PDSer heads explode...lol. (We like).
Oh boo-hoo, pot kettle. You’re a Palin troll and there’s no way around it for you. FReepers are not cowards so I know you’re telling stories (again) and BTW, calling Sarah Palin a “quitter” is “name-calling.” DUH.
Welcome, mickey finn! :)
I’m thinking that you may have had imaginary friends as a child.
Because we like kitties? Do you have a problem with kitties?...You hurt their feelings...Zot!!!!
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . . don't be shy.
LOL! Zombie cat is right!
LOL.
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