Posted on 01/30/2015 4:54:59 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
Sarah Palin made headlines last weekend when she said she was interested in running for President. Palin has been an important part of the Tea Party and conservative movements in this country since she came onto the scene in 2008. Nobody on the right throws red meat to a crowd quite like Palin. Her ability to sarcastically tear down liberal sacred cows is second only to Rush Limbaugh. Best of all she drives liberals up a wall. They hate her more than any other conservative in this country, including George W. Bush and Limbaugh. Watching liberals fall to pieces over Palin is always amusing. Palin has also been an important player in the Tea Party political scene. The candidates she campaigned for, particularly in 2014, generally won. She has an excellent track record in that regard.
The question is whether Palin should run for President and perhaps as importantly whether conservatives should support her candidacy. The answer is clear, she should not run and if she does conservatives should not support her. There are any number of reasons why Palin shouldn’t be the Republican nominee beginning with the fact that her experience is limited and at this point remote. Palin was Governor of Alaska for all of two and a half years. She resigned ostensibly to make money in personal appearances. If Palin was serious about running for President, she should have stayed in office and run for re-election. In the alternative, she should have run for a winnable Alaska Senate seat in 2014. Instead, Palin has shown a lack of interest in actual governing. We need to nominate someone with experience and if we look at the slate of candidates out there we can clearly see there are other conservatives who have a lot more experience than Palin. Surely the GOP can find someone with more experience than Obama had in 2008, we can’t set the bar down to his level.
Palin’s ability to attract people other than conservatives is near zero. Fair or not, Palin is a polarizing figure in American politics. On one hand she’s brought it on herself by tearing down liberal sacred cows. On the other hand, the left-wing media has relentlessly attacked her for no other reason than she’s a heretic to the feminist cause. Let’s be honest, Palin has egged the left-wing media on and it’s been amusing to watch her set them up and tear them down. Doing that makes for great giggles for Tea Partiers but it does nothing for Palin’s likability. Because of the media, people actually think Palin said she can see Russia from her house. The media has pushed that narrative, knowing full well that Tina Fey said that on a Saturday Night Live sketch. People other than conservatives think Palin is a crass moron. That is a hurdle she won’t be able to overcome if she runs for President.
Sarah Palin has a place in conservative movement of the Republican Party. She’s an important part of the Tea Party. There’s a difference between being the flame thrower for conservatives and running for President. Palin is great at what she’s doing right now. She’s made a good living for herself and her family by giving speeches and making media appearances. She’s done a terrific job campaigning for conservatives in House and Senate elections. She’s found her calling in politics, it makes no sense for her to give it up to run for President. Conservatives shouldn’t want her to give it up either. Her record was magnificent in 2014. We’re much better off having her back conservative candidates for Congress than we are watching her flame out in a GOP Presidential primary that’s likely to be crowded with too many conservative candidates. If she wants to get involved in the primary, she should act as kingmaker and endorse someone. For her to run though will result in her ultimate defeat, which will likely limit her opportunities to influence politics in the future.
We conservatives need to find someone who has more than the right views. We need to find someone who has experience and can translate that experience to the White House. That person isn’t Sarah Palin. Two and a half years as Governor of a small state isn’t good enough. Eight years as Mayor of a town of less than 8,000 is not good enough experience. Palin is great at what she’s doing now, conservatives should be happy that she’s found something she’s both successful and influential at. The Democrats set the bar low for experience when they nominated Obama. The Republicans need to raise that bar. Scott Walker is just as conservative as Palin and he has a lot more experience. He’s balanced budgets and taken on unions in a blue state no less. Ted Cruz has more experience than Palin between his time as solicitor general in Texas and the US Senate. We need someone who is more skilled than Obama is. We have candidates like that on the right in the GOP. Sarah Palin just isn’t one of them.
I wasn’t around for Washington. You must be pretty old.
Quitting office to become a celebrity isn’t something I admire in a person. She got what she wanted. She is the conservative Kardashian.
Cruz is the real deal. Palin ain’t.
your ignorance of history is coming through, and your assessment of Palin as a Kardashian means you really should’t try analogy at home. You embarrass yourself with that absurd notion.
Cruz and Palin are BOTH THE REAL DEAL - albeit in different roles. Shame on you for being so government centered. We call that liberal.
You’re funny.
Not smart, though.
Cruz wants to change the system. Palin wants to cheer from the sidelines.
She has evolved into a part of the media. She is a lightweight next to Cruz.
No, you don’t understand the power she still has over the conversation - and FTR, she will offer a powerful voice of support for Cruz and IT DAMNED WELL WILL MATTER. So her V Cruz is a fight that is NOT GOING TO HAPPEN - so why are you beating it to death.
And she matters - you just are too obtuse to see it because you are a government centered semi liberal, even as you don’t realize it. The ignorant never do know it.
Your last statement was your first accurate one.
She served her country and then she retired. Kind of like Gen. Washington. She woke up the base as no one ever did and now it’s up to the rest of us to continue the fight. What’s wrong with that? And she doesn’t need the hassle, I hope she enjoys life to the fullest.
uhh... yes. Because he was elected President. You honestly don’t see the difference?
When did I ever say Cruz was all talk and no experience? The issue with Cruz is that going into 2016 he’ll have as much experience in the US Senate as Obama. Granted, he’s used his time better. Cruz also did legitimate work as the Solicitor General in Texas, compared to Obama voting present in the Illinois State Senate.
The question though is who will make the best President. I would argue for someone like Scott Walker over Ted Cruz because Walker has experience managing an executive branch of government. Being Governor is like being in the minor leagues, he’s getting experience in preparation for the big leagues managing the Federal executive branch. Cruz doesn’t have managerial experience, which I believe is vital these days.
Reagan was a great President because he had spent eight years as Governor of California. He knew how to manage an executive branch, he knew how to figure out people’s talents and put them in positions that utilized those talents. He learned how to do that as Governor, it’s why he was a great President.
That’s not to say Cruz is a bad candidate, he’s not. I would vote for him in a new york minute over most of the GOP field.
YOu didn’t. Tupelo did. I was posting to Tupelo. Does it show I was posting to you on your browser?
And to me it’s not about Walker V Cruz at this point. I can make a great case for both men, and would be happy to vote for either man, or the pair as a ticket. But the idea that Cruz doesn’t “have X or Y experience” or whatever is just not important today.
The President is NOT an administrator. He’s a leader, a direction setter, a potentially inspirational figure. Managing bureaucrats is no longer the skill set needed.
I think both men can fit the bill described above.
oh wait, I got threads crossed. Multi tasking, not enough coffee.
You began your comment, which was addressed to me, with “leo, leo, leo...” I assumed from that you were directing the comment at least partially to me.
The issue isn’t so much that the President is an administrator as much as he’s a CEO. The President is not dictating to the rank and file IRS agents in Cincinnati. He is, however, dictating to the director of the IRS. A skilled CEO puts the right managers in place, the executive branch of the Federal government unfortunately is so big that the skills of a CEO are necessary for a President.
One of the reasons why Obama is so bad is he has no managerial skills. As such, he’s frozen when incompetence takes place within the Federal government. He doesn’t ask the right questions, in fact he doesn’t ask questions at all. If Obama had Reagan’s managerial skills, he would be far more dangerous than he is right now. Heck, if he had Bush’s managerial skills he would be much more dangerous. What I want to make sure is that the GOP doesn’t nominate someone with all the right ideas and no idea how to implement them. I want both, someone with the right ideas and who knows what he’s doing.
Yeah Leo, thanks for your opinion...Now I gotta go wipe mine...and please contribute again, once you are able to write above an eighth grade level that is...
Her time has passed. Cruz is the future for 2016 now.
I think you’re making a couple of big predictable mistakes in your analysis. First, to Obama - he’s NOT administrator and his administration has bungled many things it should not have. BUT BUT BUT...and Leo, this is where you need to pay attention....he’s accomplished most of the destruction HE WANTED TO. How? Because he is who he is and has surrounded himself with people just like him- who follow his lead instinctively - even with no CEO skills apparent.
Lerner. Miller. Koskinen. Jones. Sunstein. Holder. Lynch-—and on and on. You see, it’s his leadership, such as it is down the wrong path, that has been a million times more important than whatever skills he lacks in the other.
The President is NOT a CEO. He’s more a Chairman of the Board. CEO’s are tinkerers too often, and not leaders. Cruz and Walker both exhibit the Chairman leadership. Walker does have more of the CEO experience, but again, while that’s great, it’s not really translatable to the White House.
No, Cruz will need Sarah Palin this go round....(and I predict he’ll have her support).
I was referring to Palin's running for the nomination herself. Her support for Cruz would be welcome but any run for the nomination herself would be doomed to failure.
sarah Palin will serve in other ways—Appointments to the Cabinate, Special Czars for a GOP President. As a General in CW II when Alaska breaks from the Federal Government seeks support from Russia. So many ways to serve.
Yeah right.
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