Palin?

So she gave a speech in Iowa today and she didn’t pull the trigger either way.

I wish Gov. Palin would just run for president and get serious

Or, give it up, and say so, and go on to whatever her next project is going to be.

Either way would be fine.

I would like her to be part of the debate in the GOP in the next few months.

But I am getting sick of this ongoing dance of a thousand veils from her.

Maybe there is a perverse kind of sense to it, from a personal rather than political standpoint.

Once she declares, she is ordinary, she is just another candidate. She has to debate and get in the cage with the rest of them. She would have to be prepared for that, and despite media claims, none of the other serious contenders are stupid, and beating them in debates will be hard. And then when she runs, and if she loses, as she probably will, then she’s done. The Palin phenomenon is over. I can see why she might want to put off that day. But if it is all about her ego, she should not be president anyway.

She cannot go on milking her celebrity status.

She has to use it or lose it.

(And, of course, this all may be part of some insanely brilliant strategy she is employing that I do not understand. If so, I will eat this blog post when, in the fullness of time, all has been made clear.)

17 thoughts on “Palin?”

  1. I’m afraid I lost interest in Palin as a candidate some time ago because of this sort of behavior. I guess I am some sort of terrible elitist or something now….

    With your caveat that I might have to eat crow in the future.

    -Madhu

  2. I think she wants to see how the next debate goes. Bachmann and now Perry are occupying her space. If one or both stumble, she will get in but I don’t think she wants a three way contest for the social conservatives, a big part of her base.

  3. I still hold to my fundamental objection to Palin, but I think her supporters need to consider something else.

    If she jumps in now, her entry will kill Michelle Bachmann’s campaign and she will be fighting with Rick Perry for the not-Romney vote. I think it would ice the race for Romney.

  4. I’ve posted elsewhere that I believe Sarah has been watching to see whether a solid candidate would declare. Now that Perry has done so, she has less need to join the race. I doubt she will issue a final decision (if she does issue one) until she and Todd feel confident the Republicans are going to put up a candidate who will not only win the White House, but who will do good while there. If things continue, going into the primaries, to progress as they have, she’ll be able to turn her energy toward her true greatest strength: rehabing American politics by encouraging Americans to stand up and stand out on their own. And she doesn’t need to hold elected office for that.

    She might need to declare if wierdness should begin to rule the day, but I think she holds off as a way of encouraging others to step up. Perry is a great example. He had not planned to run, but he’s been drafted for the job because the country needs him.

    I’d love to see her run but I think her mind is on the bigger picture and the larger vision: developing a courageous citizenry, a nation worthy of the men and women who made America before us, and who will make America in every generation to come.

  5. What a gal. She’s so hot. Love to look at her but hate to hear her speak. I like what she says but how she says it has become fingers-on-a-chalkboard irritating. Love ya’ babe. Don’t go away but stay out of the contest. Please.

  6. “Waiting is.”

    It is not like this is going to take forever to be decided. Months ago, she set the deadline of September for her decision. We will know in no more than 25 days, either way, and probably sooner than that. I am eager for her to run, and yet I am also willing to let her do it her own way [or choose not to run if that is her choice] since it is not a matter of waiting forever.

    The delay does have some value for her. If she is running, yes she is going to have to defeat both Perry and Bachmann in order to face off against both Obama AND the Institutional Republican party. The more time that Perry is the frontrunner, the more the LSM will concentrate on him, and what he says; for good or ill, and publicize it.

    In New Hampshire, Saturday, he gave a speech; with AP trying to stir up controversy about whether or not there were “angry shouts” against him. No audio and bloggers there did not notice any. I am assuming that it is just the LSM trying to shape his candidacy.

    However, part of the meat of the speech got the attention of some people. He came out against the border fence. His answer was more than passing flip. The “Fence” is not a single fence. It is a wide, multi-level barrier that will stop you, even if you get over the first fence. Coils of razor wire and dry moats will do things like that. And it will be sensored, monitored, and alarmed, and yes you can discriminate between actual intrusions and wildlife or decoys. I was privy to such technology in 1976 and watched it deployed in use. A breach would take a significant period of time, and pinpointing the location and time of the breach would allow reaction forces to track and locate any intruders who do penetrate, who will likely be on foot.

    I can understand his previous position as governor of Texas alone, that it is a Federal responsibility and the Feds should do it. I don’t agree with it completely, being fond of Federalism and Arizona’s SB 1070 among other things. But I can understand it.

    But now he is running to be in charge of that Federal response. And he failed. He called for “strategically placed” sections of fence. Translation, something cheap you can point to and claim you are doing something; while deliberately leaving the border wide open and American citizens open to attack.

    I think that Sarah is not under the time pressure the media and her enemies in both parties are trying to impose. Keep in mind that the last conservative insurgent who took the nomination over the objections of the Republican “Political Class”, Ronald Reagan, did not announce a run until the middle of November. Things are somewhat accelerated nowadays, but I don’t think she is necessarily outside the window of opportunity. Letting the current field commit themselves for a couple of weeks longer and perhaps make mis-steps that can be leveraged could be considered to be a viable strategy.

    Of course, YMMV, and we will see if my estimate is wrong fairly quickly.

    Subotai Bahadur

  7. What if Sarah really is one of the rarest of politicians, an unambitious patriot? What if her motives truly are pure, simply wanting to make America better? Even if she is not the president?

    Seems like there is “a lot of projectin’ goin’ on around heaya.”

  8. Some months ago Limbaugh declared that if Palin enters, she is the front-runner. I think that still holds. How much attention would Perry, or anyone else get from Big Media if Palin was available for the poking?

    Consider that those of us who follow politics daily are not the electorate. We’re not even the majority of primary voters. I can understand how the uncertainty over Palin’s plan is tiresome to us. But to everyone else, she is just a recurrent flicker, like all the other stars dancing across the TV screen.

    Since her entry will consume all the oxygen in the mediasphere, it seems wise to wait as long as possible to ignite that firestorm. If/once she enters, *everyone* will be tired of hearing from her or about her.

    The best way for the Ds to get back some limelight—if Palin is in—would be a Hillary challenge against Barry.

    America loves rematches. Let’s hope we last long enough to enjoy these.

  9. I don’t know why anyone who supports Sarah Palin would want her to declare “officially” that she has been running for the Presidency since 2008.

    Here are a few benefits of not officially declaring…

    – the other declared candidates have a hard time saying anything negative about her because they think that if she does not run, they really want her on their side in order to win. So, while they beat up each other, she is relatively safe for now.

    – while the other candidates spend a lot of money campaigning, Sarah Palin gets a huge amount of national TV time and media attention as she goes around speaking about really good conservative ideas (i.e. the cutting of Federal Corporate Taxes to zero as long as all corporate “welfare” like earmarks, grants, tax breaks, government funding, etc. are eliminated. As many economic experts have said, the corporation doesn’t pay the taxes, you do… in increased costs) and all it costs her is airfare or gas money….

    – she lets the pretenders participate in some of these goofy debates where there are 6, 8, 10?? people on stage and it is a circus and then some will do well and advance and others will do poorly and get weeded out. She can size them up and get in when it is to her advantage.

    So, I don’t know what reason you could come up with for her to jump in right now. After all, she seems to have been pretty good at politicking so far, wouldn’t you say? The only reason I can see for people to insist on that is her opponents want a target, the media wants a target and some people want her to just because they are impatient and think its all about them.

  10. Why do some in the Palin camp feel the need to insult people who maybe disagree with her political strategies? She manages to behave – what’s the deal with some of you? Last time I checked, she is supposed to ask for my vote and not expect it. A servant of the people and not vice versa. I like her but some of her supporters do her no credit. On the other hand, maybe she really is a lightworker….

    -Madhu

  11. The electorate unfortunately thinks she is a lightweight. Sharp and detailed answers at debates would help to dispell this impression. Some of you are living in a bubble. She has got work do.

    -Madhu

  12. The best thing Sarah Palin can do is convince huge numbers of the silent majority to vote for Perry in 2012 and get politically active thereafter, especially at the local level.

  13. She will never be ordinary:)

    She will announce by end of September. Just take it easy until then.

    I will never vote for the Dream Act Gardisil Candidate for President.

  14. If Perry is so viable, why are so many of his supporters constantly crying for Palin’s endorsement

    Yesterday Perry compared himself to Superman. Cant the ol’ Cowpoke win a nomination without the help of the ‘lightweight’ Palin?

    Its perry who’s the lightweight, and already ducking debates after being tagged by Palin on Saturday.

    Perry folks, the endorsement is not coming. Move on.

  15. Njinfl, I’m not exactly a “Perry person” — my preferences run more toward former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson — I’m just thinking realistically about polls from the likes of Rasmussen. Sarah Palin’s negatives are extremely high, so unless she can get a *lot* of people to vote who aren’t currently registered and perhaps have never voted in their lives, there’s no way that she can win the Presidency. Perry is running strongest against Obama in current polls, so as far as I can see folks who want to give BHO the boot would do well to seriously consider getting behind Mr. Perry.

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