I'm not sure what that is. LOL!
I have been involved in politics all my adult life. Actually, from before I could vote. The stories I could tell you....
Sarah Palin bailed at the perfect time to bail in. Why? Why would someone who was on the edge of a perfect wave jump off way before the shore? Why would someone who had been amazing, brilliant in my opinion, stop dead in her tracks at the crossroads of her destiny? Sure, she had made errors in the past. She was not all that she could have been when she ran with McCain. But so what! Past that cycle she was the chess master. She was almost perfect in the last couple of years. What amazing moves she made. So what if her family was a bit of a bother. That was OK it seemed at the time. But maybe not. Maybe it was what she allowed that as she tried to firewall those that knew something that you and I don't know. There is something just not right.
I am not against Sarah Palin. Not even close. But I can smell the stink. It started when she was running around in her RV. She was getting ramped up then stopped dead in her tracks. This was right before the numb nuts that was stalking her and living nearby her starting making noise.
I've seen this before in so many elections. Usually before the candidate (excepting Obama) gets cooking. It is the stake through the heart "thing" that only a few get to know about. Because of this the candidate melts through the floor.
Sorry bud but Palin has something in the past that kills her for higher office. There can be no other thing to conclude because she was stellar. Amazing. Almost perfect.
I don't know what it is. I never said I did. It does not matter what the cause is because we can see the effect. She put the brakes on. Hard!
It is a sad thing but it is what it is.
The same logic applies to Herman Cain. Unfortunate but true.
Maybe the things behind the curtain if exposed to the light of day would not be that big a deal. Maybe if we looked at some of these people with the same clarity we look at ourselves sometimes and at other we know we could look past the faults they have that we have too. But we, America, don't. Not again. We made that mistake with Obama.
We hold candidates to standards not defined by us but by editors and producers and other at the till of the media. Those that steer the boat of perception that is common reality. In our hearts and minds we know better. We know we are all creates of God. Incorrect. Infallible. Imperfect. But we will throw rocks even if we are not immune to having them thrown at us for our own faults.
I don't make the rules. I wish I did. But Sarah Palin broke one that the media can kill her with way back there. Somewhere. And that has nothing to do with today but that does not matter. Because it has everything to do with tomorrow. In my view, she does not have one.
I respect your opinion as someone who has been involved in politics for a long time, but I think you are may be reading way too much into her decision.
I think Palin simply calculated that she couldn't win a general election against Obama in 2012. Could she have won the GOP nomination? Quite possibly, especially considering the weak field we see now. But I think Sarah is smart enough to look past the primary season and try to determine if she could win a general election. I believe she concluded her negatives were just way too high with independents and she was too divisive to win over the squishy moderates and conservative democrats she'd need to actually win in November 2012. I don't know if she is right or wrong about that, but I think that was her calculation.
Where I think she really went wrong was keeping her options open all the way till October. I think she made this calculation that she'd couldn't ultimately win a long time ago, but instead of just bowing out this time around she tried to keep herself in the spotlight and maximize her influence for way too long. The result was many Republicans saw a tease campaign, didn't like it, and she lost support within her own party to the point that she seriously damaged herself.
Palin's life has been combed over to the point I doubt there is anything out there that is a game changer. Even if she had a fling with some basketball player, so what? That happened before she or the guy were married. I really don't think anyone would have much cared. I'd say Sarah is the most vetted candidate we could ever run at this point. If Obama is re-elected in 2012, my guess is that around 2014 she will drop out of the public spotlight a little (right after the midterms), and begin prepping seriously for 2016. If a Republican wins in 2012, then I'd anticipate her running in 2020. I don't think we've seen the last of Sarah politically, and when she next runs for something she will be more prepared then ever.
Without proof, neither nice or smart to hypothetically judge others by ones own mores.