Newsweek also reported that many Tea Party activists feel that Romney is a ‘guy served up by Republican elites who speaks conservatism with an establishment accent’ and not one of their own.
Adding to tensions is the feeling that Romney sat back during the Republican primaries and watched the Tea Party candidates tear each other apart before jumping in at the end.
This has all led to a lack of enthusiasm for him - a Washington Post poll last week found that just 38 per cent of his voters will back him ‘very enthusiastically’. The comparative figure for Obama is a striking 51 per cent.
So when Palin said on Fox News last week that Romney should appeal to the grassroots more and ‘light our hair on fire’, it would have struck a chord with many of them.
Whether or not she can still light things up, however, is an entirely different story.
Palin’s influence has waned from the days when a single posting on her Facebook page could change the political landscape.
But she still hold huge power, especially amongst the conservative heartlands that Romney desperately wants to court.
She is also miles ahead of Romney when it comes to social media: on Facebook Palin has 3.4m likes whilst Romney has 2.3m. On Twitter Palin has 804,000 followers, whilst Romney has 658,000.
In an email to Newsweek, Palin claimed she was being snubbed by the political elites for speaking out, a line she has used repeatedly to paint herself as a maverick outsider.
“Palin’s influence has waned from the days....”
BS. Unadulterated bovine excrement.
“Palin’s influence has waned from the days....”
BS. Unadulterated bovine excrement.
“Palin’s influence has waned from the days when a single posting on her Facebook page could change the political landscape.”
dream on
He is. And, couldn't make less of difference if Palin speaks at the convention or not or whether he picks a pro-life VP.
Romney is a liberal and governs out of political expediency. A tiger is a tiger (remember that one Maha Rushie?) and Romney is what he is. Nothing is going to change Romney's true nature.
I think that Palin purposely took a step back from the limelight since last fall. She did not want to suck the oxygen away from the GOP primaries and the election campaign.
They are scared to invite her to speak at the convention because she could become the talk of the convention and Mitt would look weak next to her. It would remind the base once again what they are missing this election.