Posted on 12/27/2014 1:12:19 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Well, judging from the evidence, Palin did great service for conservatives in 2012.
Hurdle number six and the only really important one: having to give up an enviable and happy lifestyle and time away from a nice family to be the target of hatred of millions of progressives, uniparty hacks, effete snobs, and assorted dregs of humanity. And then realizing that if you do win, you have to move to the beltway and deal with said individuals on a daily basis for 4 or 8 years.
Yep. Be the Happy Conservative Warrior. 😃
Sarah has a strong and committed following, unlike a lot of the GOP hopefuls.
Thanks for the ping; post. HOORAY Sarah!
I agree. By the time the primaries got here back in 08 John McCain had already been anointed. I did not matter, Louisiana still went for Huckabee.
1. Mainstream media? You mean the ones who served as Obama and Biden’s communications shop on their employers’ dime the last six (eventually eight) years, and not just sliming the Palins? You mean the ones who are going to be just as servile to Joe, or Hillary Clinton, or Liz Warren, or Bernie Sanders? That lot? Sure, guys, let’s have that discussion on whose campaign field’s got the biggest idiots. I welcome that.
2. Communication style? Yeah, let’s have that discussion as well, except now we bring in our guys also. And since we’re still using the Couric and Gibson interviews from ‘08 as such serious missteps, let’s break down tape on everybody else’s stuff over the last several years as well. Fair’s fair. I think several folks, in both parties, are very quickly going to be a lot less comfortable about rubbishing what the gov says and how she says it if that happens.
3. Sarah Palin is not everything that’s wrong with the center right. She’s not even a major problem with the center right. I think a calm, sober review of the last few years would reveal much the opposite. Anybody who non-ironically tries to make that argument is either trying to run against her or trying to make money off her. (Yes, Mr. Schmidt, Ms. Wallace, I am, in fact, looking right at you.)
4. Speaking of which, I think it’s stupid that we’re even still doing the post-mortem on 2008 this far out. That said...Steve and Nicolle, the vice-presidential nomination isn’t the only thing that went right in the 2008 campaign, but it’s at the top of a very short list. Steve, Bob Mosbacher was the campaign chair, Rick Davis was the campaign manager, but you were the guy running the campaign day to day. Nicolle, you were the, or at least a, major player in the communications shop, because that’s your specialty. Actually, Steve, that was your specialty as well, before you started running campaigns. John McCain and those other guys might have been running the railroad, but you two were running the train. If you think you can argue that run was a train wreck and also avoid any blame for it, bless your hearts.
5. Overexposure? Well, first, I can think of several potential 2016 candidates who show up in the media as often or more so. Problem? Second, a lot of people complaining she does too much media stuff would accept a recurring commentator job offer like hers from Roger Ailes or the guys at CNN or whoever in a heartbeat. Host their own hour-long show? Half a heartbeat. Third, I don’t know what the gov thinks about the idea of everybody making money off her but her, but in her place, I’d find it deeply offensive. Fourth, bluntly, the last several years haven’t just been about enriching herself. She’s been a pretty good team player with the Tea Party folks, establishment conservatives and even establishment Republicans. Has that teamwork, either during the ‘08 campaign, during her time in office after that, or from when she left office until now, been reciprocated as well as it could and should be? I think an honest answer would shame a lot of people. And fifth and finally, if you prefer somebody other than Palin on her merits, fine. That’s legitimate. If you prefer somebody else because you’re trying to be safe, and by that I mean not have somebody who’s going to have to deal with conflict with the other folks in the primary, and then deal with being hazed by your opponents and the media in the general election, don’t. Forget it. Your 2016 nominee is deeply unlikely to get there out of the primary field without a fight, and completely unlikely to get through the fall campaign without one. Whoever he or she might be. Forget safe. Go for who you think is right and who you think can stand the heat.
In a word, yes. Being elected to higher office is different from quitting to work for Fox News and sign books at the Mall of America.
Before anyone tells me that she “had” to quit because of lawsuits, allow me to say that if you can’t work your way out of a local issue, how much promise can you have on the national stage? Not much, in my estimation.
Russia, Iraq, Iran, the economy, the enemies of Israel? On a good day, any or all of those are more dangerous and complicated than being sued.
I am slowly warming to Ted Cruz, and admire the fact that he knows both sides don’t like him and make it hard for him, and yet he persevers.
Perseverance in the face of adversity is a rare and valuable trait.
Perfect example of why we have lost so much and will lose so much more - the Left needs more of us to think exactly like that sentiment you offer.
Governor Palin had no way of knowing that a loophole in her law would be used against her.
That's true, she didn't.
Since when did it become a negative for a politician to step down gracefully and hand over power?
She was faced with an unusual situation in which political operatives were using a loophole in state law against her. Rather than cling to power and allow herself and her state to be destroyed both politically and financially, (and becoming irrelevant in the future) she simply changed the battlefield and fought the Left on her terms.
Staying for the length of your elective term is now “clinging to power”?
Please name me other politicians who have stepped down gracefully and handed over power in the middle of their elected term. I can only think of one.
You are being disingenuous and arguing using a leftist false narrative.
The reasons why Palin has stepped down has been discussed numerous of times, and are included on this thread. The choice she made was logical and actually preserved both her future political aspirations and her record as Governor.
If she had remained in office, she AND her state would have been financially destroyed. Her record and any future political or even private-sector hopes would have been shot. She made the right choice by resigning from office.
She should have jumped into the 2012 cycle. That was hers, as the last party VP-nominee (from 2008).
That there is some fine establishment thinking right there!!!
She announced on the Mark Levin show in November 2011, that she would not be running in 2012. I believed her, because I trust what she says. So sorry your mistrust kept you in limbo.
Take your “leftist false narrative” and jam it. She quit, okay? You can sprinkle all the sugar you want on it, but she quit. She walked out on the people who elected her. She wasn’t the first politician to face adversity in office, and won’t be the last.
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