Posted on 05/23/2011 7:44:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Alternate headline: “Politico buries lead.”
“It’s possible someone may get in later on,” Gillespie said, “but Republican activists, officials and donors are going to begin picking a horse from the current field. We have a field that will produce a nominee capable of beating Obama next November.”…
Republicans officials have no idea what [Palin is] planning, although they agree she would have tons to lose by entering a race that would cost her the mystique she has built up. And Romney advisers said her entry would help the former Massachusetts governor dramatically.
“The shock value would cause elected officials and party officials to rally around Mitt, because she’d scare the daylights out of them,” one official said. “And it would allow him to position himself very much in the middle of Republican, conservative thinking and avoid the fringe, and look more moderate for the general election.”
Bachmann would have the same effect, the advisers said. Either of them “gives Romney a bogeyman: ‘Stop this crazy woman.’”
In other words, Palin’s entry would transform a race between Romney and Not Romney into a race between Palin and Not Palin. And since being Mitt Romney is a poor position to be in these days, he’d much rather be Not Palin. I get the logic, I just don’t see why they think establishment Republicans would rally around Mitt instead of around Pawlenty. To repeat a point I made earlier today, once Palin is in and presumably wins Iowa, the establishment strategy will shift towards producing the strongest possible centrist candidate for the showdown in South Carolina to try to stop her there. Romney will be the best funded, but he’ll have RomneyCare hanging over his head, his record of flip-flopping on abortion, and of course the sensitive issue of his faith, which may or may not be a liability. Pawlenty has none of the baggage and has evangelical social conservative cred. And, just maybe, he’ll have an endorsement from Nikki Haley, whose political advisor happens to be T-Paw’s pollster.
What Romney’s team will have to do, if they see prominent conservatives starting to defect to Pawlenty, is play hardball by vowing to contest South Carolina as ferociously as possible even if T-Paw upsets him in New Hampshire. Given Romney’s money advantage, he could probably pull enough votes from Pawlenty in SC to make Palin the winner, the prospect of which will terrify Republican insiders. In that case, maybe they rally around Mitt before NH and try to broker a deal to put Pawlenty on the ticket as VP if he drops out and endorses Romney ASAP. Having lost Iowa and New Hampshire, his candidacy would be finished by South Carolina anyway. Speaking of which, CNN’s out with a new poll from New Hampshire tonight. Romney leads Pawlenty by 28 points — but fully 87 percent of Republicans are still undecided.
Exit question: Is it now or never for Palin? The field will be tougher in 2016 with Rubio, Christie, Paul Ryan, and Jeb Bush all in the mix, but even if she jumped in this time and won the nomination, she’d have to face an incumbent president at a moment when her favorable rating is still underwater. She’ll also have potentially stiff competition for the grassroots vote in Iowa from Bachmann and Cain, both of whom have been spending time in the state already. Tough call.
What a crock of crap.
Maybe her contract was worded differently.
Romney is Nelson Rockefeller redux, or maybe just his father once again. He seems more like Rockefeller in his determination to get the nomination.
Yes, sure, does grasping at straw really cut the finger tips. Oh, the change in the political pack, was also, for fox purposes. Not running!!!
Allahpundit posts anything and everything he can to put a negative line out on Palin. Part of this is just traffic baiting, but the guy is pretty low most of the time.. I saw this article and skipped it because of his name.. hate giving him the traffic.
Some have said Guliani would help Palin and you would think he would help Romney as well if he got in.. but Palin will slaughter Romney in Iowa, South Carolina, and beyond. I can't see how that helps him.
Maybe you will vote for Muslims and atheists, but you can’t call good Christian Americans that won’t, bigots, for taking extreme non Christian religions and anti Christian beliefs into consideration in choosing their President.
No question Mitt wants someone else to take the media arrows that come with being the Republican frontrunner. The minute Sarah declares the MSM goes in to a frenzy and tries to paint every Republican voter as a KKK member for Palin.
Duh...she’s working out her contract.
Pick a lie, repeat it ad nauseam, and hope it catches on...
Palin has Romney scared out of his mind.
No kidding, wonder how many years it is????
Mormons do drugs?
Who knew?
#40
Good one!
Does anyone else get the sense that Romney is almost as narcissistic as hussein obama?
Palin got hammered by amoral jaded fools who don't understand gratitude when she endorsed McCain's (who made HER) reelection.If Nikki doesn't display the same moral fortitude and appreciation,I will be very disappointed.
Romneeeey/pissant 2012
One wears magic underwear, the other wears Depends...
T-paw or watching grass grow? show me the grass!
Yes I voted for him twice. What other choice did I (or any other sane Minnesotan have?) It was him or Moe/Hatch.
BTW I went to the polls to vote for Bachman and figured I might as well vote for T-paw since I was there. He has NO coat tails.
NEXT!
I say to all pundits: shut your God Damned mouths and let the voters decide you pieces of crap. Has anyone ever seen so many people so invested in someone NOT running?
Screw’em.
Hope it will run him out of the race.
[Nice to hear from the Bigot Wing of FR...
but Romney should lose because he has no principles, not because of his religion.]
Add me to the bigot wing. I won’t vote for a guy who believes its his destiny to become a god and rule a planet. Call me crazy . . . Hey wait, what Romney believes is what’s crazy.
I’m not the only one either.
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