There are limits to which the independent and even GOP electorate is going to be pushed in so-called Blue states — witness the senatorial losses in NV, CO, CT, and DE — and near disaster in PA, which shouldn’t have even been close. Lifelong conservatives I know refused to vote for COD; others did. Fairly or unfairly, people feel the same way about Palin. Palin is polarizing to millions of Americans. Has she been treated like crap by the MSM? Yes. Is this fair? No. Will this change? Never.
With the Supreme Court at risk for a generation in 2012, there are plenty of other conservatives who are a better general election bet than Sarah Palin.
If Palin wins the GOP nomination, I will vote for her. But I’d rather her serve as the Secretary of Energy in a future Republican Administration.
For every example in this election like those, there is a reverse story to be told. A strong conservative newcomer beat the bejesus out of Russ Feingold in a strong democrat state. Ohio went very strongly in our direction, especially in the Senate race. There are others. It has been said well a strong conservative can win anywhere, but they have to be both a good candidate and conservative.
We do have significant challenges in these larger cities and any state that includes one or more large cities where machine politics seems to be able to turn out ridiculous numbers of Democrat votes. Your example of PA is a good one. No Republican will ever be able to win big in PA because the Philly machine somehow gets massive vote turnout even in a down year like this. The combination of public and private unions, ideologue liberals, young voters, and poor/minorities has created a massive voting bloc that wants their big government goodies.
Your comments about Palin or COD would be irrelevant if ankle biters on our side didn’t contribute to the problem. What conservative person with an IQ above 23 wouldn’t vote for COD if the party had been behind her from the get-go. The state party and key national figures dumped on her within 10 minutes after she won the primary. This is disgraceful. I am not going stop voting for good conservatives to let people those traitors run this party. I would rather the party lose and lose big so they are chased out so we can get good leadership. The same assh()les bitching about Angle and COD are the ones in charge in 2006 and 2008 when we lost big. Now we are winning big, and we have to hear this crap. Screw ‘em.
I don’t have a candidate for 2012 yet, but if it comes down to the current bunch - Romney, Huck and Palin, there is no question I am in Palin’s corner. Obama already showed he will be able to manhandle Romney with his opening shot this week comparing Obamacare to Masscare, and he is absolutely right. Romney is done before the race even begins, just like McCain in 2008.
We have to fight these battles internally and clear out the insiders so we can even compete in 2012. We may be in a no win situation, either ending up with a McCain clone that satisfies the insiders, or selecting a good candidate that will get undercut by the RNC wizards of smart. Could be a lose-lose.
That's what I have found, too.
And Miss O'Donnell is such a laughing stock in Delaware, she's openly used as the punchline of the joke when someone does something that seems nutty, people will say, "what...are you Christine O'Donnell?" Politics aren't usually discussed in the workplace, but the feeling is that everyone knows how nutty she is, it's okay.
I fear that most Christine O'Donnell supporters