Posted on 01/03/2011 4:00:11 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
With the Republican presidential race expected to officially gear up in the coming weeks, Sunday brought divergent predictions from two prominent Republicans on just how viable a Sarah Palin candidacy could be.
The divergent opinions are illustrative of the ongoing debate within the Republican Party - especially between the new and old guard - over whether Palin will prove to be more of a force for good or bad in the coming months as the party sets its sights on ensuring President Obama is limited to one term.
Speaking on ABC's This Week, longtime conservative columnist George Will ruled out any possibility the former Alaska governor could be victorious in a general election contest, which is usually decided by swing suburban voters who hold more moderate positions than those that Palin espouses.
"The president's secret weapon may be the Republican nominating electorate," he said. There is one person, high in the polls, Sarah_Palin, who cannot be elected president because she cannot compete where elections are decided. In the collar counties outside Chicago, Montgomery County outside of Philadelphia-just can't compete there."
Will is placing his bet on outgoing Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, should he decide to run.
But newly-elected Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania offered a different assessment of the former vice presidential nominee's chances on NBC's Meet the Press, saying she could sway Pennsylvania's swing electorate by focusing on the same fiscal issues he campaigned on.
"We went into this election cycle with a 1.2 million voter registration deficit and with a Republican brand that was in a really bad_way, and I still won this election," he said. "So, I think the electorate wants a return of economic growth, wants serious fiscal discipline. If they believe they've got a candidate that's going to deliver on those things, then it's possible."(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
I love Sarah, but I do not believe she can win as a leader on the ticket.
I agree with Will. It is hard to argue given Palin’s dismal poll numbers. I believe she would be the weakest candidate because she has been made to look like Dan Quayle. And running off to Alaska with that crazy Gosslin woman only helps to reinforce that fact.
She needs to get off TV and start making some substantive statements in some less than friendly forums. You know, like Ronald Reagan did in the 70s.
palin is the only candidate everyone in the media is questioning whether she could win. They can’t all be winners out of the potential dozen gop candidates, yet she’s the only one they like to dump on
reagan was a big loser in the polls, all the way up til the last 2 weeks of th election
George Will a Conservative???? Oh that’s a good one. Tell me another. He’s a Beltway pundit who likes to see himself as an elitist soothsayer. Hell, he probably voted for Obama if the truth were known! He’s a has-been. Anyone under thirty probably considers him ripe for euthanasia!
we need to stop going by the polls and allowing the media to pick our candidates. I pick Palin because I know from history, she would be the best executive. We can count on her to shrink government
Actually - Sarah was already in Alaska when that crazy Gosslin woman got there.
Nothing else is as important.
Will, and the rest of the gop elite, want us to vote for the lessor of two evils. And they’re more than willing to volunteer for the position.
Take it easy.
Repeat after me, chilluns: “That’s why they play the game.”
Not sure how I would define a big loser. He lead most of the way after the first debate.
It is true that Obama could be such a weak President in 2012 that like Carter anyone can beat him. But for Palin to go from close loser where she is now to landslide winner like Reagan she needs to get off her ass and change the perception the majority of the country currently has of her, that she is the second coming of Quayle and not Reagan.
The DNC/Socialists and their supporters in the marxist media have targeted Palin #1. That tells us they fear her the most and she is our strongest candidate.
They can’t attack her any more - they have shot their wad. In addition, she’s a fighter and the most forward in calling out imam obozo as a socialist who pals around with terrorists.
See my tagline.
I totally agree with you on #9.
It’s an odd position I find myself in to say that if Romney got the nomination his chances of winning would be very good. The problem of course is that the “big tenters” in the GOP will have won another major battle and conservatives will be marginalized.
However, if as I suspect, unemployment is still in the 8% + range, gasoline is approaching $5 per gallon and interest rates and inflation are nearing 10%, anyone the GOP nominates in 2012 will be able to beat Obama and I'll push for Palin as the most conservative choice, so that in January 2017 we'll get to watch her being sworn in for her second term.
Washington elitists are Liberals regardless of what they say they are.
What we have here is the Rino trying to get their party back to the good old days of global free trade and global occupation. All that is OVER. Gramnesty and Romney can pack it in. We must stop “winner take all” primaries!!! That’s how they win!! We have 6 good solid conservatives and those bastards (like Mc Amnesty) has 1 liberal crap head. He gets 20% with Democrat cross overs and WE LOOSE!! STOP WINNER TAKE ALL PRIMARIES AND WE WIN!!! Spread the word.
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