[no dems]

We need a proven conservative in the White House come January 2013

I agree, but we haven't had one since Ronald Reagan. So, whatcha gonna do? The only true, proven conservatives out there right now are Gov. Christie of NJ, who won't run and Gov. Palin who has been so demonized that she probably could not win. And, then, there's Scott Walker. Do you see any of these three getting the GOP nod? Nope. We'll end up with another GOP good ol' boy who thinks he's entitled because it's his turn. I'm sick to my stomach over the GOP right now. And,don't forget, Ronald Reagan supported Dems his whole life until he was in his 50s. Give a person credit for possibly seeing the light.

[Springfield Reformer]

People can see the light, but I’d make many a foolish mistake in my professional career as an attorney if I took every “new leaf” song and dance at face value. Trust but verify. There’s no backstory to Trump’s conversion. It’s fake. Believe it if you want to. I ain’t goin’ there.

And Christie conservative? Only upon the loosest definition. Yes, a fiscal hawk, but pro-gun-control, anti-life, and dangerously soft on Islamism? Not my definition of conservative.

Walker’s not running.

Palin, OTOH, is electable. The rubric is simple. Win the GOP nomination (FiveThirtyEight shows how she might do it), and present herself as the only viable alternative to Obama in the general. The indies will come to her side, albeit kicking and screaming. And once she gets a good marketing campaign going, she’ll easily overcome the high negatives and start reassembling the Reagan coalition, because, unlike Hillary’s and Obama’s high negatives, hers are entirely fake, manufactured by a media scared to death of a gun-toting, God-fearin’ country girl. Don’t misunderestimate her.