Kristol: Palin probably won't, shouldn't be nominee

Politico ^ | March 230, 2011 | Ben Smith

[EveningStar]

Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol was among Sarah Palin's earliest Washington admirers, and helped bring her to the national stage, but he said this week that while he still admires her, he questions her choices and doesn't think she should be the Republican nominee for president.

[re_nortex]

I wish pissant were here for this thread, he’d be commenting “Bachmann is better than Palin, NA-NA-NA” , LOL

The zotting of pissant was long overdue. But, still, even after all of the months have since passed, few things here on FR as brought as much joy as the termination of Non-Sequitur during the great purge of homosexual apologists during the DADT issue.

[unseen1]

She is closest thing to Reagan we will get in our lifetime

[Getsmart64]

One example, she quit the governorship. Like it or not. She chose to pursue the golden ring. Abandoned the people who voted for her.

Spin. Rinse. Repeat.

Stop embarrassing yourself.

[EveningStar]

if Palin and Obama are the choice, will you vote Obama? You and 90% of the country....

I would vote for Palin in less than a heartbeat. Unfortunately, she has to win over the swing voters. I doubt that she can do this.

[colorado tanker]

My observations of every president since Eisenhower lead me to the conclusion that character, not experience, is the most important consideration.

I agree. But the only way I've found to truly test character is see how that person performs in an executive position under stress or otherwise dealing with big problems. It goes back to experience.

[newfreep]

Looks like a coordinated attack on all pro-Palin sites

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2693426/posts?page=27#27

The leftists continue to show their true, dark colors.

[Vaduz]

Only if your a member of the good old boy club and fear being exposed.

[curth]

And one of the more difficult and complicated to govern.

[Alas Babylon!]

Just for the sake of argument, let’s say Palin announces she’s running. Then she goes off to Iowa, does the chicken dinners, the door-to-doors, the fairs, the pig judging contests....

Then off to New Hampshire. Probably bus in protesters from Mass, but she’ll do the chicken dinners, the fairs, the maple syrup’n, the gun shows or meetings (NH is BIG on Gun Rights) there, too.

On to South Carolina, tea party fortress. ‘Nough said.

Also Florida, which is the big prize, and that could go either way, but there’ no Crist to throw Romney the nomination.

Now, if she announces, what do you think, can she win any of those states?

I think she wins 3, easily. And then she’s got the big Mo.

Then what? Does she then have a chance?

At that point, she does. No one can say otherwise.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The zotting of pissant was long overdue”

He was very entertaining, but in the end he did himself in.

[Finny]

This is Palin country. Speaking common sense is not allowed.

Anyone who states the opinion that "Palin [would be] a weak candidate" is obviously very far removed from common sense; anyone who thinks Obama would be hard to beat is also lacking common sense, and is instead being guided by fear.

The anti-Palin folks accuse her supporters of liking her based on their emotions, yet it's pretty apparent that Republicans who oppose Palin are the acutal the ones reacting emotionally and fearfully.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Palin’s name recognition also runs at a strong 95% among average Americans, while her favorability only runs at 38%, unfavorable runs at 57%, 5% have no opinion. (Feb. 2011, FOX News average polling.)

Considering that other Republican candidates only share about a 50 to 60% name recognition with the American average people, Palin is pretty much a household word, from a negative point of view. Most everyone knows who she is and do not see her in a favorable way.

This point alone is not going to be easy for Palin to overcome.

Even more disturbing a reality is a current matchup to Obama and any Republican candidate. Obama has a 3 point lead on a Generic candidate, 5.8% lead over Huckster, 5.1% over Romney, a 14.5% lead over Gingrich, a 15.6% lead over Palin and Pawlenty trails at 16%.

The hardest reality to swallow here, is that Obama is not as “Unpopular” as many here believe. He still leads among the general population, who elected him in the first place.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/president_obama_vs_republican_candidates.html

This information is not meant to discourage anyone here, it merely points out the facts we are up against in this coming election. Reality is what it is, and like it or not, we have to face it on it’s terms.

These Circular firing squads that exist on most Palin threads are also not much help in us taking our country back in 2012. We either get together in a realistic and positive way, or we wind up with another 2008.

[sima_yi]

Liberals think she can win, in fact, are convinced that if she runs, she WILL win. That is why the MSM, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee, are constantly smearing her and her family.

I point out the dearth of attacks on any other possible GOP candidate.

[central_va]

What a good Christmas present that was. I sent in double the amount on the last fund drive.

[Polybius]

The old RINO hacks should just be ignored ..... Grunthor

Kristol is correct, of course. .... EveningStar

EveningStar, you obviously do not know how the Cult of Personality Game is played.

Let's say that there are two politicians in America with approval ratings, in repeated national polls, that are lower than whale scat at the bottom of the ocean. Let's call them "Nancy Pelosi" and "Sarah Palin".

Let's say that a Democrat or a Republican wants to point out that a nominee with Unfavorables at 53% or 56% and Favorables at 38% or 29% has as much chance of being elected President of the United States in a general election as your neighbor's kid's pet goldfish does.

"So and so is correct" has NO relevance in the matter because this has nothing to do reality. A Cult of Personality is simply about unthinking blind Faith, not in God, but in a mere mortal that has been elevated to the role of a minor deity.

(We just recently elected such a minor deity as President.)

Any challenge to Blind Faith is simply ....... Ignored.

The Blind Faith Nancy Pelosi supporter will simply cut off all discussion and declare victory by calling the messenger a "Fascist".

The Blind Faith Sarah Palin supporter will simply cut off all discussion and declare victory by calling the messenger a "RINO".

Both the Blind Faith Nancy Pelosi supporter and the Blind Faith Sarah Palin supporter will simply cut off all discussion and declare victory by accusing the messenger of having "P.D.S." (Pelosi/Palin Derangement Syndrome).

This has nothing to do with the realities of the American electorate:

FOX News Poll (February 7-9, 2011)

Question 3: I am going to read you a list of names. Tell me if you think that person would make a good President or not.

Sarah Palin:

.................YES.........NO.......DK.....Never heard of

ALL...........23%.......72%.........4%.......1%

Dem ...........7%........87%........5%.......1%

Rep ...........40%.......56%.......3%.......1%

Ind ...........25%........69%.......3%.......1%

This has nothing to do with how unprepared a candidate is for the Presidency.

"Palin couldn't explain why North Korea and South Korea were separate nations. ..... Asked to identify the enemy that her son would be fighting in Iraq, she drew a blank. Later, on the plane, Palin said to her team: 'I wish I'd paid more attention to this stuff'."

This is only about the irrational worship of a mere mortal by a Cult of Personality and reality will simply be ........

....... Ignored.

The old (RINO/Fascist) hacks should just be ignored

[Friendofgeorge]

No he is NOT!

[mo]

‘Bammy himself ain’t going’ nowhere.

The Party, the RinoCrat Oligarchy, circled the wagons and made it formal at the STOFU.

The 2012 election will not be a Dem-Repub contest...it will be a RinoCrat-Flyover Country contest.

You see ...the Oligarchy loves Obama because in 2 years he has brought more POWER to DC than in all the previous 234 years. He’s the best thing for the Oligarchs since the New Deal... they re-elected FDR in ‘36,’40 and ‘44 they were so enamored of what he did for DC.

Obama has gifted so much money to their “constituents”...their K St customers in the banking industry, automobile industry, even FOREIGN banks have been the beneficiaries of his and the Rinocrat Oligarchy.

There will be NO serious domestic or international opposition to his continuing his rule...EXCEPT from Flyover Country.

Unless turnout across the nation is unprecedented..and the institutional vote corruption that renders Red states suffering Blue representation is addressed, ‘Bammy can anticipate an easy 51-52% to 48-49%

BTW...this business of “election fraud” is anything but trivial. Its not 400, 4000, or even 40 THOUSAND votes...try 400,0000.....

http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/12/acorn-leader-avoids-prison-for-voter-fraud-conspiracy/

Its the fraud.And its “bipartisan” -to the extent the oligarchs think it works for them. And if We the People haven’t dealt with it by then...a whole bunch of us Freepers will be sitting around the day after elections wondering just what happened

[Friendofgeorge]

Just last week I sent a email to Bill Kristol telling him how disappointed I was in him for his Palin bashing.

I never heard back

[colorado tanker]

Even more disturbing a reality is a current matchup to Obama and any Republican candidate. Obama has a 3 point lead on a Generic candidate, 5.8% lead over Huckster, 5.1% over Romney, a 14.5% lead over Gingrich, a 15.6% lead over Palin and Pawlenty trails at 16%.

I don't have a candidate and am hoping a strong conservative candidate emerges from somewhere. My biggest fear is that may not happen.

[Finny]

Right now, I'm not thrilled with anyone.

I got news for you, pal. You never will be.