November 13, 1979: Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President. He is the tenth and last Republican to enter the race.
November 4, 1980: In a landslide victory, Reagan is elected the President of the United States.
Think Palin has time?
I don't know if she has time but there is only one Ronald Reagan. Reagan was The Great Communicator.
While Sarah Palin's ideas are very Reaganesque it will take a lot more time and a lot more talking for Sarah Palin to articulate those great ideas she has than it took Ronald Reagan. Reagan was an actor so that probably helped him.
What may take months for other candidates to articulate to the American people only took a few days to a week for Reagan to do. That's why he was The Great Communicator.
Most candidates use the primary debates to sharpen their debating skills for the general election debates. Most candidates make their gaffes and recover from them during the primary debates and they recover just in time to win the nomination in the end.
By the time the debates come up for the general election, the nominee has been through many debates in the primaries and their debating skills sharpened.
I thought like you did with Fred Thompson back in 2008. Been there done that.
Successful: October 2, 1991 - Arkansas Governor William Jefferson Clinton announces that he will run for president.
Unsuccessful: January 20, 2007 - Sen. Hillary Clinton jumped into the fray as a 2008 presidential candidate with the words “I’m in”
Timing is not everything however Hillary came in with 2 years still to go before inauguration and could not pull it off, yet Barack prevailed by announcing just a month later. The timing of announcement is really a mute point once the race gets underway.
What is important on the national stage is name recognition, press coverage and the ability to get your message out. On those front’s Palin excels.
Palin has essentially been building name recognition (through both favorable and unfavorable press and activities) since her selection as VP. This is typically a huge hurdle and one that takes time and money for candidates running on the national stage. Palin does not need that time. Obama blazed the way for raising money through millions of small donations, showing how it could be done, so money raising is not an issue. Most candidates have to get in and announce just so that the press will talk to them and so they can make their views and opinions known. Palin just has to jump in her bus, wander through a state fair and she has more press than all the other candidates combined.
I would agree with those that say that it was different back then (i.e. Reagan) and that it is not done that way anymore. Social media and the internet have changed the game and we are watching it unfold before our eyes. History in the making is hard to see when it is happening :)