Thomas Taschinger
Posted on 07/03/2011 7:57:06 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Rick Perry and Sarah Palin aren't stupid, no matter what you might think of them. They are riding a comet, and they are in no hurry to get off.
I'm talking about the possibility of running for president.
Neither one will probably take the plunge. Given the realities of modern campaigning and fund-raising, they'd already be in this thing if they were serious about it. Both are content in their real jobs - Perry as governor of a huge state, Palin as a money-making-machine and voice of the hard Right.
But why stop the fun?
As long as they are referred to as "possible" candidates, they have an influence that just can't be beat.
Every speech and political move they make is followed with enthusiasm by the 24-hour news cycle. Witness Palin's earlier bus tour of the East Coast. If she were officially a non-candidate, she'd attract little or no coverage for a stunt like that. But her bus was eagerly followed by packs of reporters who hung around her just in case something happened, like an announcement that she was running.
Turns out nothing happened, except she muffed the reason for Paul Revere's ride. ("Hey, you British! The British are coming!")
It's possible that a wavering candidate can attempt a what-the-heck late fling that defies all the conventional wisdom about how to run for president, but that's risky. It probably won't succeed, and you will probably look like an idiot when your candidacy inevitably craters.
That undoes everything that the earlier tease built up - that you are a serious person who deserves to be considered for the most important job on earth. In the case of Palin, who is wavering on the edge of respectability, that's a mistake you don't want to make.
No, this is something you want to stretch out as long as possible. You give major speeches on important issues. You go to meetings and conventions you'd otherwise blow off. If national interest is waning, you hint that you might be jumping in after all.
And it's always possible, of course, that lightning will strike and party elders will beg you to ride to the rescue if no strong contender emerges. In Perry's case, this raises his stock for a VP selection, though he probably doesn't want that either.
Eventually, the game will end. A front-runner will emerge, or the primary season will be so close that the Hamlet act runs out of steam.
But for a few weeks, or a few months, you are one of only a handful of people who might someday be ... the president of the United States. That's a heady feeling, and in fact you'd almost be a fool not to flirt with the idea.
Besides, if nothing else, you can always tell the grandkids about it some day.
“The palinistas better have a good plan B if she does not run so that we can oust this communist wrecking ball obama next year.”
So are you a BachmannBot, RaisingCain, or MerryPerry. Even Ed Rollins didn’t sink to your level with the “palinista” BS.
The correct rainy day fund balance in the Texas budget is $6Billion (not the $2Billion in my earlier post).
Ayres said he feels somewhat responsible because he tutored Palin on the particulars of Revere’s 1775 ride and teen exploits as a bell-ringer at the fabled church. So he has fired back at left-leaning bloggers by penning a post of his own on the church Web site. “I knew where all the factoids she cited came from and take responsibility for putting them in her head,........ .......but added in how Revere founded the church’s bell-ringing guild in 1750 as a teen and how he warned the British after being arrested on the night of his famous ride that the minutemen had been alerted”
A question was asked and then answered appropriately, although slightly disjointed.
The answer was then turned incorrectly into a "gotcha".
Thomas Taschinger
Believe it or not, the Beaumont Enterprise is one of the most conservative (or least liberal) of the state’s daily newspapers. The author is the editorial page editor and he regularly castigates Obama and the libs. Compare the reporting and editorial page of this paper with DMN, Houston Barnacle, Austin Hatesman, and Express-Pews and there is a marked difference.
That being said, he is definitely no fan of Sarah Palin and he didn’t do fact checking on the Paul Revere deal. I’ll send him an email to go to FR and be sure and read what we thought about his stupid article.
Why are you posting that Youtube video link. It doesn’t show the person asking the question. It only shows a smirking, mindless reporter playing “gotcha”.
Now you’ve done it!
Thanks for the info.
I have one concern only - ousting obama. I don’t give a damn who does it, palin, bachmann, t paw, perry, whoever.
The palin or nothing crowd need to check themselves and look in the damn mirror and decide what they want to do if she does not run for potus.
I have one concern only - ousting obama. I don’t give a damn who does it, palin, bachmann, t paw, perry, whoever.
The palin or nothing crowd need to check themselves and look in the damn mirror and decide what they want to do if she does not run for potus.
“..The palin or nothing crowd..”
I am an ardent supporter of Sarah Palin, but I have never said that if she doesn’t run or get the nomination, then I would sit out the election. If you find a Palin supporter on FR that does say that, then 1. You win a door prize, and 2. That person is an idiot. Now go see your shrink to help you get cured from PDS.
It not a gotcha, it was mindless rambling that answered nothing.
It not a gotcha, it was mindless rambling that answered nothing.
Well, it wasn’t a “got’cha” question as clearly as gazillions of other questions she’s been asked. But to consolidate a trip’s worth of experiences on the run can lead to confusing answers. And it did, even though everything she said was correct. Bob
I thought Romney was their choice...
This isn’t news, it’s a stinking blog!
I am NOT convinced that it will be an easy election with ANY candidate, though it should be. We have too many scumbags in America today. I want someone who can persuade an electoral majority that they WANT and NEED a conservative candidate for President. And no one can do the job better than Sarah Palin, FOR HERSELF.
They’ll settle for Perry, a man who is not feared as someone who REALLY cares about restoring America in a meaningful way.
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