[magritte]

"that Sarah would take this year to establish herself and her positions on the issues so she might be a viable candidate in 2012..."

Stumping for McCain IS a part of becoming a viable Republican candidate in 2012. The fair-weather backers of Palin were going to drift regardless, because eventually she was going to do something RINO (in their eyes) anyway...no big loss.

To play in the Republican big leagues, you have to understand how the game works. Losing primary candidates are on top of the list for the next election.(Romney, Huckabee). Losing Presidential VP candidates are nowhere and tend to fade away. One way back is kissing some establishment butt, shaking the right hands, talking the right talk. It takes a while and may be all for naught, but it looks like Palin is heading in that direction. Very savvy...magritte

[Will88]

Stumping for McCain IS a part of becoming a viable Republican candidate in 2012.

We'll just have to disagree on that. She was part of a presidential ticket and is now very well known. She should be establishing her positions. She cannot campaign with McCain without being tainted by his positions of the past: amnesty, for cap and trade, against Bush tax cuts, for closing Gitmo, against enhanced interrogation, and he sounds ready to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in some statements about Obamacare.

Sarah doesn't need McCain and she owes him nothing. She strengthened his ticket and brought him votes he could never have won. Now, he does need her, but this will only harm her and he knows it. A mistake on her part if she has any plans to run again for national office. Maybe she has no plans to run later, but she should tell her supporters if that's the case.

[molybdenum]

Oh, really savvy...by your reckoning, then, desert her principles (and conservatives') to forge her way. (In this case, she seriously miscalculated.)

You make it sound as though our side has no chance--we have to endure the power Establishment forever. Strange thing to say, when we actually are motivated, and winning important fights! But you have some company on this thread. Defeatists.