MANY MORE STICKER DESIGNS HERE
Posted on 07/02/2009 9:30:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Sounds far-fetched and, to some, totally implausible. But the Republicans are losing potential candidates at a pace that is downright alarming if you believe in a healthy two-party system. The demise of John Ensign’s political career a few weeks ago and the surreal downfall of Mark Sanford last week is enough to send chills through the even the most optimistic Republican strategist. We know that of the 2008 crop, only Mitt Romney seems likely to stay on as a contender. The old stalwarts like Newt Gingrich may get a lot of press, but it is unlikely they can mount a real challenge to Obama in 2012. Yet, the presidential election of 2012 will be more than a simple coronation of Barack Obama if the economy stalls and there is no progress in two important areas: national security and healthcare.
Ballooning deficits and a sluggish economy could alter the mood of America by the time the 2010 mid-terms come up, giving hope to the GOP for the next presidential primary season. This is why Sarah Palin is maintaining a persistent media presence, whether it is debating David Letterman or being the biggest Republican draw on the lecture circuit. She clearly has her eyes set on the presidency.
The latest edition of Vanity Fair brings this possibility forward, though not in a favourable light. Journalist Todd Purdhom paints a picture of a woman with a narcissistic personality, who’s short on knowledge, disinterested in policy discussion, and not ready for primetime. In the end, the story says more about John McCain’s competence and character than it does about Palin, simply because he flubbed his most important decision as a presidential candidate. That said, Palin brought much needed energy to an otherwise lackluster campaign and, to this day, she energizes the base as no other candidate can. Could it be possible she may someday be a candidate for the presidency?
My experience tells me that no one should be written off in a hypothetical context. Barack Obama is proof positive of this. I still maintain that, without Bush, there is no Obama nomination. Palin is a street smart politician who has benefited from being underestimated most of her career. McCain’s disastrous choice may have been fatal to his electoral chances, but it brought Palin to the forefront of national attention. Since then, she has become a celebrity that transcends her party. However, if she is to be taken seriously and considered a viable contender, she needs to change the negative perceptions of her and develop a political profile that appeals to those outside her narrow base.
To do this, she must gradually reduce her exposure and begin to educate herself on the issues. She will not be ready for 2012 by remaining governor of Alaska and playing the celebrity. The GOP has too proud a tradition to have a re-run of the 2008 vice-presidential candidate. Also, the base Palin relies on for support no longer holds the sway it once did. Social conservatism is losing steam as a political movement thanks to the dubious habits of people like Gingrich, Ensign and Sanford, and the election of an African-American president as well as the increased attention paid to gay rights issues shows that Americans have begun to cast their old divisions aside. The future for the GOP lies with fiscal conservatism and strong national security policy—not with turning back the clock. Palin must embrace the values that created the Republican party in the first place—a belief in the individual, a belief in a limited role for the state, and a commitment to equality. The party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and (the pragmatic version of) Reagan is the path to a Republican resurgence. Palin is nowhere on that radar. She is all about celebrity status and controversy.
In the lead-up to July 4, Americans usually reflect on their great democracy. Overall, it is healthy and has shown resilience through the decades. But the Republicans have to become a viable alternative for this democracy to remain vibrant. So is Palin a real possibility for 2012 or 2016? Will she someday be a formal candidate for the presidency? Most definitely. But can she ever win? Based on what we have observed so far, I would say definitely not, though politics has been known to produce some strange developments.
People were very aware of her. They had a chance to vote for her. They didn’t. Instead they voted for 0bama. Either a candidate has it, or they don’t.
If Palin ran against 0bama in 2012, everyone would say “we’ve seen this race before.” And they would be right.
It would amount to a rematch, just like Mondale vs. Reagan, Stevenson vs. Eisenhower, or Dewey vs. Truman. All three of those races had candidates who ran on opposing tickets 4 years earlier, and all were considered rematches, even though some had been VP candidates in the prior election. And all three challengers went down to even worse defeats the second time around.
Rematches are always ill-conceived.
This author, John Parisella I think due his apparent attitude must be spending one “H” of a lot of time with the Leftist ranks of the Republican party better known as RINO’s.
We’ll certainly find out in 2010 which direction the public is going, but my best guess is that the overeaching of the Democrats currently is not in their favor.
She does not support amnesty.
I live around 18 miles north of the largest and busiest border crossing in the world, San Diego - Tijuana.
I will be first in line to vote for gov. Palin.
As I posted before, this article is out of Canada
“It wasn’t her fault he lost, but the theory that she could attract enough votes to beat Barack 0bama was tested, and it failed. By nearly 10 million votes and 10 points, no less. If she was the only thing making John McCain competitive, she sure didn’t do a good job. They lost in a certified landslide.”
++++++++++++
You forgot about the illegal millions the press let Barack wallow in, the corrupt support the press showered zero with, etc. etc. etc....how many points do you think that was worth. Now that we know what a war this is and now that the economy is in the toilet, we need strong candidates who aren’t going to sleep around like some 17 year old...
Please provide a link to Governor Palin supporting amnesty, if you are able to.
If you don't like Sarah Palin, you don't like Conservatism and the US.
YES. She does. Saying otherwise, is a outright lie.
NO AMNESTY OF ANY KIND (including Palin’s “path to citizenship”) FOR ANY ILLEGAL ALIENS.
Shoot, I thought this was going to be a good article I’d like, but it’s a hit piece like all of them. I am so hoping this will change ... and so believing it won’t. She’s still my candidate.
*Rematches are always ill-conceived.*
Your opinion.
We don’t have time to play games. It might make many happy on FR that Obama continues his path to Marxism,
there won’t be an election in 2012.
Then some won’t have to worry, they will have their
Obama.
Translation: Pro-Life = racist, Pro-Traditional Marriage = racist, Anti-Pornography = racist
Guess what? She’s the only hope for America. If the idiots who run the Republican Party are to damn stupid to realize that Sarah’s got what it takes.. then the world has no hope, and all is lost.
If you expect the deportation of 20 million plus illegals you can wait a long time.
No one ever wins a landslide victory like that unless they are already a popular sitting president up for reelection. Such victories have only been seen in the second terms of Reagan, Nixon, Johnson, and FDR.
The fact is, my friend, that McCain-Palin’s lost by larger numbers than Carter did in his landslide defeat by Reagan. That is the election you should be looking at. And if Palin took the Mondale route, then, and only then, would 0bama’s reelection look like that of Ronald Reagan’s.
Will there DEFINITELY EVEN BE any elections in ‘10, ‘12, and/or beyond? Leftists, in control of everything important politically, do a lot of strange things on a lot of issues, when they have so much political power. Sometime in the future, even if conservatives do end up winning big, how damaged will the U.S. really be by then, and how can conservatives really successfully “fix” all of the problems on all of the issues, thanks to leftists being leftists?
Sarah Palin is the one who got so many conservatives to the voting booth. Until Sarah came along most would’ve stayed home...who wanted to vote for McRino. That’s why the radical left attacked her continually. She scares the hell out of them to this day. She is a female Ronald Reagan. I sure hopes she decides to run for the President.
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