Posted on 07/09/2009 11:34:08 AM PDT by jessduntno
Edited on 07/09/2009 1:37:13 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
CPAC Chairman: Palin Not Ready for Presidential Run
Thursday, July 9, 2009 8:27 AM
By: Ronald Kessler
Sarah Palin needs to stop whining about unfair media coverage and get over the fact that some people don’t like her, Dave Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells Newsmax.
Palin doesn’t seem to get that politics is a tough game, says Keene, one of the country’s most astute political observers.
The American Conservative Union, with 1 million members, runs the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington and publishes an annual "Rating of Congress," the gold standard for ideological assessments of members of Congress.
“You’ve got to recognize that there are people who want you to fail,” Keene says. “And if you spend your time worrying about them, or whining about what they say, at the very least it’ll get you off your game, because you ought to be worried about what you’re going to do, not about what they’re going to do to you.”
Resigning as governor of Alaska only compounded Palin’s problems, which have been accumulating since the November election, Keene says.
“In the period leading up to the resignation, she needed to get over the fact that people didn’t like her,” Keene says. “Get over the fact that she harbored resentment for the McCain people that used her. All of those things are true, but she got more out of it than they did, and she had to begin to move on with what she needed to establish in terms of her own image, to move to the next level. And she delayed doing that.
"Now it becomes more difficult because of the way in which she bailed out on the governorship.”
Don't pay any attention to steve-b.
As a conservative, we all get emotional over what we see is happening. I know you are probably feeling as I do. I want it to stop. We NEED someone to stand up and make it stop.
I think Palin really has a lot of courage and a very patient husband and family. Those qualities alone are very necessary to a woman getting the nomination. Without that, she can go nowhere.
I believe her family has made a committment to her and I applaud that.
Other than that, don’t sweat the small stuff.
I appreciate the post. Although I’m not sure her reform of the ethics laws was to her benefit.
I have no favored candidate at the moment, it’s too early for me. Too much can happen. I will keep Palin in mind, if she chooses to run.
If Keene had said that Sarah was not ready NOW to be POTUS I would agree with him but to make a blanket statement that she would not be ready in 2012 is ridiculous. If Mr. Keene doesn’t realize, Sarah Palin will be without a job after July 25th. What does he think she’s doing to do with her time-needlepoint, hunt moose, go to fashion shows in Paris, or become a recluse.
Get real David-Sarah is about to embark on the path Ronald Reagan took when he was in the wilderness (no job between 1974-1980) and do a lot of reflection and reading to, just like Reagan, to provide her with the ammunition that she can use in her writings and her speeches. In addition she will be travelling throughout the lower 48 to shake hands, firm up her base and to raise tons of money. What about that don’t you understand Mr. Keene. First the Reagan Library, possibly next the Washington mall in Sept and then possibly Iowa in the fall.
Hey Dave you sound like the sports writers who told Tiger Woods when he came out at age 20 that he had no chance whatsoever to compete with the big boys. Why don’t you let it play out for at least 6 months before you come to that conclusion?
BTTT, great post
Pelosi would demand $800 million in spending and 44,000 pages of regulation, McQueeg would compromise on $785 million and 42,971 pages, and then pat himself on the back for being a "conservative".
Obama is turning the heat up full blast, trying to boil the flesh off the frog's bones right away. I'm not at all sure that conservatism is more damaged by that approach than by McCain's.
Can’t stand the unvarnished truth, I see.
Length of time spent in office is irrelevant to what she accomplished within that time span. Palin is the true example of a citizen politician, one who served the people and not the special interests. Anyway, when you look at it objectively, Palin has 17 years of elective and appointed experience in office. She has spent more time in political office than George W. Bush, John Edwards, Obama, and Mitt Romney, prior to the presidency.
2) Many of her accomplishments that I know of are Alaska-specific and difficult to analyze except for through a Last-Frontier-lens. She was successful in her dealings with oil companies and the pipelines from what I understand.
That and reducing spending, saving money for the future, and standing up for states' rights really sums it up and with Lt. Gov Parnell finishing her term, will make all the hubbub over her "lack of experience" disappear.
3) When she entered the national scene, she had been governor for what, 1 1/2 years? Much of her time governing has been either campaigning for McCain, or alterating between heroine-worship and demonizing, depending on the audience.
Again, length of time in office is unimportant when you consider the fact that McCain needed a dynamic, game-changing VP selection to even have a chance against Obama.
4) She has been hampered down by ethics issues—I won’t comment on the merit of them because I honestly don’t know the details.
All of them brought forth by Democrat/Obama operatives, all of them dismissed, designed to paralyze her going into the 2012 elections.
Look there is nobody that disputes that government leaders make decisions that affect people’s lives. But before they become entrenched in office they first have to compete in the arena of ideas, where the GAME of politics is played out. There is nothing wrong IMHO to calling politics a game -there is lots of strategy involved, maneuvers to best position oneself, chess moves that must be met with chess moves, war-like tactics etc. Just because something is serious doesn’t mean it is not a game.
Beating on him for his virtues? All I did was criticize his claim that Palin is the one and only Republican out fighting Obama (on more than just the stimulus), when in fact there are many Republicans doing so.
And it's entirely acceptable for any conservative to reserve judgment on Palin until that process has taken place.
“I appreciate the post. Although I’m not sure her reform of the ethics laws was to her benefit. I have no favored candidate at the moment, it’s too early for me. Too much can happen. I will keep Palin in mind, if she chooses to run.”
True, the ethics laws could have actually hurt her, but that is one of her endearing charms, politically, I think, because she obviously knew they could hurt her when she reformed them, yet did it anyway. I am not trying to proselytize...really...I think that this is a little like buying a house—you know, start with something with “good bones” that can be made into something special.
She has that opportunity to develop now, I think, as did Reagan when he did the unencumbered travel during his GE years, to touch bases and refine thinking and mesh them with her core beliefs. I think that is why she has done what she has. I would be shocked if she turned out to be something other than what she appears to be...and at this point in a fairly long politically active life, it would take a long ton to shock me.
I also left off the real defining factor in my heart and my mind to support her efforts...whatever they turn out to be...and that is the fact that this is a family that had ample opportunity to “not be burdened with a baby” as another famous politian has been quoted, when there were so many compelling reasons not to. I have some experience in this area and I know that she was well aware of what the courage of her convictions would mean to her. And I am, to say the least, deeply impressed by their collective decision.
I think there is some very serious stuff in this woman and in her family.
Respectfully, I’m still not entirely certain what those accomplishments are. You gave generalities that typically appear as campaign promises (reduce spending, save for the future, state’s rights). All admirable. But how much was the budget cut, what were to savings for future generations, what policy initiatives did she oversee, what state rights did she advocate?
At the end of the day, I’m not sure how much this will matter. Because for the vast majority of the electorate, it is personality and not policy that influences the voting decision. As a likeable personality that is easy to rally behind, I expect Palin to at least play a part in the upcoming campaigns.
And I take it you don't know the definition of 'worship'
What you are saying is correct. Jim DeMint, Sessions, Pence etc; but you see...they are republicans in Congress and the Senate. Palin is not. Understand, people are sick of the status quo. DC has a low approval rating. Hence, the popularity of Palin. Hope and change is becoming a whole lot more than the status quo. It is even worse. Gee, makes me wonder why a whole new party isn’t in the equation. But...thats another new day.
The democrats know it and that is why they hate her.
Sure Sanford and DeMint and other Republicans fought the stimulus, but did they educate people on why they opposed it?
Sanford spent months traveling around the state, attending town hall meetings and trying to convince people of the danger attached to any Federal money. And here is Pence going into great detail about why Obama's health care plan is bad.
Any more broad and unsubstantiated claims you'd care to make?
Go Sarah!
Drill baby, drill!!!
American CONSERVATIVE Union my asss! Go away David Keene, and give Arlen MORE of your money!
David, is that YOU??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.