Free Republic

Sarah Palin cannot win if she runs as a third party. I’m inclined to believe that for all the reasons previously listed, most notably that she would “split” the GOP vote with Romney between conservatives and moderates, thus handing the election to Barack Obama. But astonishingly, there is a path to POTUS for her and it is much less far-fetched than one would think. The other day, Sarah was talking about this being an “unconventional” campaign. What I am writing here, should this strategy come to fruition would fit that definition nicely. Well, at least it’s more believable than the...

Gallup keeps bringing the hits. Today it has a breakdown of early Republican primary polls by the top issues among potential voters. First the qualification: Primary polls this early are poor indicators of results. At this point in 2007, Rudy Giuliani led the GOP field and Hillary Clinton had a virtual lock on the Democratic nomination. But these polls do show us something about how the candidates are viewed, and whom they appeal to. With that said, there are some notable results here. Mitt Romney still does badly among those who social issues as the biggest issue in 2012, as...

Ron Paul was the straw poll winner at the CPAC convention last weekend – but Sarah Palin is the early frontrunner in bluegrass country. Colorado-based GOP pollster Magellan Strategies threw a POTUS 2012 question into a statewide poll of 560 Kentucky Republican voters and found Palin leading the pack with 28 percent of the vote – with Mike Huckabee a close second with 24 percent. Mitt Romney was at 16 percent, undecided landed at 14, Newt Gingrich got 12, followed by Paul with 4 percent and Tim Pawlenty dead last at two percent. The takeaway: Huckabee’s going to be a...

In a USA Today analysis of Mitt Romney's pre-2012 groundwork for a second presidential bid, Susan Page highlighted the contrasts between Romney, the choice of the Republican establishment, and Sarah Palin, favored by conservatives and anti-Washington activists such as those found in the Tea Party movement: -snip- Page notes that Romney's book, heavy on policy prescription, includes his familiar "three pillars" reference. It has also become part of every major Romney speech, especially his address to CPAC this year: Romney said there are three pillars upon which we should build: economy, security and family.This is where Romney misses the mark...

GOP 12 notes that Sarah Palin responded last night to the question of whether it's "Mitt Romney's turn to be the next Republican nominee for President." "Well, I don't think it's anybody's turn ever. We've got to really, really work hard to build up that trust in the people for the people to elect you in a primary and general," she said, going on to call Romney "a great guy."