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South Carolina wants a 'more presidential' Palin
Washington Examiner ^ | 9 Dec 2010 | Byron York 1

Posted on 12/10/2010 7:35:51 AM PST by mandaladon

If Sarah Palin wants to win the Republican nomination for president, she'll have to do well in South Carolina.

The state's first-in-the-South primary is a key indicator of a candidate's strength in the GOP's strongest region. In a state filled with social conservatives, veterans, and spending hawks, a candidate has to prove that he or she can appeal to a large swath of the Republican primary electorate.

So how would Palin do? "It's not a clear picture," says Oran Smith, head of the Palmetto Family Council, the state's top organization of social conservatives. Smith points to his group's 15-member board of directors as a cross section of South Carolina voters -- the last time around, there were McCain supporters, Huckabee supporters, Romney supporters and others. Now, Smith says, "They like Palin's values, but they're still hoping she can make herself more viable in the sense that she is a little more knowledgeable and a little more presidential. They're not going to be interested in her simply because she's conservative and nice and popular."

Of course, the council's board is not exactly a rank-and-file group. Ask Smith about the group's supporters across the state -- the people who donate money, respond to e-mail appeals, and are among the most conservative voters in South Carolina -- and the reading on Palin is more upbeat, but not without reservations. "She's wildly popular," Smith says. Even so, the ties between Palin and potential supporters are still a little tenuous. "I think they're not fully on board with her as a candidate," Smith says, "but deep down they would like to be."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections; freepressforpalin; palin
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To: mandaladon

All she has to do is look less bad than Obama. So how much gravitas does BO have, foriegn policy wise; anyway?

I think when she points out that we have more important problems than closing GITMO, repeal of DADT and fake green jobs; she’ll get support.


21 posted on 12/10/2010 8:27:01 AM PST by cicero2k
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To: HospiceNurse

What an a**!!!


22 posted on 12/10/2010 8:41:07 AM PST by allsouthern
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To: mandaladon
A happy homemaker, and my hope for America...

Elect Sarah Palin for President 2012

Re-Elect President Sarah Palin 2016

23 posted on 12/10/2010 8:54:59 AM PST by WVKayaker (Faith makes the discords of the present become the harmonies of the future - Robert Collyer)
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To: mandaladon
Nothing to be worried about, IMHO. I fully expect a very knowledgeable, articulate, almost policy-wonkish Sarah Palin to show up in the primary debates late next year and early in '012. That's assuming, of course, that she actually decides to run.

The woman is a natural fierce competitor, of very much underestimated intellect, whose policy statements on subjects she has familiarity with are at least as detail oriented and far more coherent than anything you'll hear from any of the other candidates being talked about.

She's lights out on energy policy and seems to be a very quick study. I expect she will still have the wink and twinkle in the eye, but when the time comes to show "gravitas" in a debate her performance will "shock" the casual observers who now only have the press invented "dumb" and aggressive but too country "Alaska Mama Bear" personas to tag her with.

24 posted on 12/10/2010 8:55:48 AM PST by katana (Not that there's anything wrong with that)
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To: Pollster1
We all saw the gap between her experience (not values, not ability, but raw experience dealing with evil) and the level necessary to deal with our anti-American media. In her first few national interviews, she looked to me like someone caught completely off guard, like she expected a friendly conversation that would be edited in a professional manner to tell the true story of who she was and what she believed instead of what she encountered (an ambush designed to elicit answers that could be edited for the specific purpose of making her look bad). Considering the unexpected nature of those first few sets of questions, I didn’t think she did a terrible job - certainly not great, but not terrible. When she and her children were attacked with an insane level of venom, she dealt with it remarkably well and stood up to the hateful liberals. I liked that, but it gave them a chance to call her “divisive”.

You are basing that opinion on interviews that were heavily edited in order to make her look as bad as possible.

Furthermore, if the last two years of her continually getting out in front of the fight and not letting any lie or attempt to twist the truth go without a response is not proof to you of how "Palin has a detailed plan for the evolution of her public image" then nothing will prove it to you.

You come across like a "concern" troll.
25 posted on 12/10/2010 9:03:58 AM PST by SoConPubbie
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To: mandaladon

It’s a cosmetic point only, but some voice coaching lessons to take the edge off her speaking voice will do a lot for her.

I remind FReepers (not for the first time) that Thatcher’s original Grantham accent was harsh enough to erode the Schiarapelli canals on Mars. She took lessons and went on to save Britain.

Palin has much less of a problem with her voice, but I believe that some vocal coaching would be an excellent investment for her.


26 posted on 12/10/2010 9:47:35 AM PST by agere_contra (...what if we won't eat the dog food?)
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To: HospiceNurse

Go do what Cheney told leahy. And do it till you burst a major artery.


27 posted on 12/10/2010 9:55:22 AM PST by JApost (So)
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To: EyeGuy

You can have him but we get to keep DeMint.


28 posted on 12/10/2010 11:17:29 AM PST by MontaniSemperLiberi (Moutaineers are Always Free)
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To: JApost

OMG!

Post of the year!

That should put her in her place. Thank you!

LOL


29 posted on 12/10/2010 12:28:03 PM PST by t-dude (Sarah causes banal and vituperous evil snarks to shriek in horror!)
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To: JApost

You obviously have COD DS. Go CO’D!


30 posted on 12/10/2010 1:36:32 PM PST by HospiceNurse (Draft O'Donnell 4 President)
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To: MontaniSemperLiberi

If we send you Albert Pujols, a case of toasted ravioli, a half dozen kegs of Michelob and Obama’s sniveling, idiot caddy Claire McCaskill, can we have Jim DeMint in Misssouri?


31 posted on 12/10/2010 5:58:03 PM PST by EyeGuy (RaceMarxist Obama: The Politics of Vengeance)
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To: EyeGuy

Trade DeMint? Who do you think I am? Harry Frazee?


32 posted on 12/10/2010 6:23:11 PM PST by MontaniSemperLiberi (Moutaineers are Always Free)
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To: MontaniSemperLiberi

Ha!

Good one.

Though AP ain’t chopped liver.


33 posted on 12/10/2010 6:37:30 PM PST by EyeGuy (RaceMarxist Obama: The Politics of Vengeance)
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To: SoConPubbie
You are basing that opinion on interviews that were heavily edited in order to make her look as bad as possible. Furthermore, if the last two years of her continually getting out in front of the fight and not letting any lie or attempt to twist the truth go without a response is not proof to you of how "Palin has a detailed plan for the evolution of her public image" then nothing will prove it to you. You come across like a "concern" troll.

No, my point was that the interviews were intended to be heavily edited. She spotted that in the interviews and became very cautious in her responses, which didn't look as bad as if she had never spotted that the interviews were intended to be hostile. I know it wasn't a fair interview, but it helped the far left media to tell the story they had written before they even knew the name of the nominee. Palin is already my top choice for the nomination by a huge margin - if she wants to run. My "concern" is whether she has a plan to work around the mainstream media and get her message to mindless MSNBC viewers and other swing voters, not to the true far left believers but to the viewers who watch because they like the clothes or the hair of the MSNBC reporters.

As for whether Palin has a detailed plan for the evolution of her public image, that is an entirely different question from whether she has a detailed plan to advocate for the positions that match her deeply held values. As a Tea Party leader, she just needs to get the base motivated and frame the message clearly, which she has done beautifully, better than any conservative since January 20, 1989. As a candidate for President, she needs to build her image among swing voters to such a level that she is immune to the massive media attack that will follow her announcement of her campaign for the White House.

34 posted on 12/11/2010 11:33:13 AM PST by Pollster1 (Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
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To: mandaladon
"They like Palin's values, but they're still hoping she can make herself more viable in the sense that she is a little more knowledgeable and a little more presidential. They're not going to be interested in her simply because she's conservative and nice and popular."

bump

35 posted on 12/12/2010 10:53:16 AM PST by earlJam
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