John McCain: Sarah Palin Can Beat Obama In 2012

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested on Sunday morning that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin could defeat President Barack Obama should she run as the Republican presidential nominee in 2012.

"Of course she can," said the Arizona senator of Palin's chances in the hypothetical match-up on "Fox News Sunday." He added, however, that he doesn't know whether his 2008 running mate will ultimately decide to make a run for the White House.

The remarks from McCain come the same day that Palin is kicking off a bus tour of the eastern United States. The move, along with news of a documentary premiering next month on the rise of the big name Republican and her tenure as governor have stirred speculation that Palin could jump into the GOP primary race.

In discussing a potential Palin 2012 campaign, McCain said, “I’ve never seen anyone as mercilessly and relentlessly attacked as I have seen Sarah Palin in the last couple of years.” According to The Hill, he added, “But she also inspires great passion, particularly among the Republican faithful."

HuffPost's Jon Ward reports on the launch of Palin's bus tour:

"Starting this weekend, Sarah Palin will embark on a One Nation tour of historical sites that were key to the formation, survival, and growth of the United States of America," said Tim Crawford, treasurer of Palin's fundraising group, SarahPAC, in a statement provided to The Huffington Post. "The tour will originate in Washington DC and will proceed north up the east coast. More information will follow."

Palin will kick things off Sunday by taking part in the "Rolling Thunder" motorcycle ride -- comprised mainly of U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War -- that begins at the Pentagon and concludes at the Vietnam Memorial on the National Mall.

The AP reports on Palin's standing in one of the latest polls out on the GOP presidential primary:

A Gallup poll of Republicans, taken before Palin announced the bus tour, showed former Massachusetts Mitt Romney favored by 17 percent. Palin followed closely at 15 percent. Ron Paul had 10 percent, Newt Gingrich 9 percent, Herman Cain 8 percent, Tim Pawlenty 6 percent, and Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman 5 percent each.

It remains to be seen whether Palin will run for president in the next election cycle. However, the former governor did say during a recent appearance on Fox News, "I am so adamantly supportive of the good, traditional things about America and our free enterprise system, and I want to make sure that America is put back on the right track, and we only do that by defeating Obama in 2012. I have that fire in my belly."

Comments

[huffposter07]

12:39 PM on 06/19/2011

John McCain is a guy who ran for president when the economy was in a serious recession. But he admitted to reporters that he doesn't have a good grasp of economics, which doesn't surprise me. During his campaign, the man had been in the Senate for more than 20 years, with access to all kinds of experts who could tutor him. Wouldn't go for it. This is what things have come to---"leaders" who go with what they know (preaching family values and raising campaign donations) while they're not interested in silly things like knowing anything about the major issues a president has to deal with. At least he was smart enough to marry a younger woman who inherited half the world.

[Observer111]

01:40 AM on 06/08/2011

he was a worst graduate of Naval Academy in the class of 900 people, no?

[Observer111]

01:39 AM on 06/08/2011

dangerous man, "cold war warrior"...he was bombing women and children of Vietnam and was detained by local government in Hanoi Hilton so he cannot hurt himself and other people...not long enough

[venice6]

01:14 AM on 06/08/2011

Dear Mr. Wilson ( McCain ),

You made one of the most irresponsible decision choosing Sarah ( botox barbie ) Palin as your

VP choice.

If you would have won the election, thank God you did not, Sarah Palin would have had the

nuclear access code. It would be bad enough that you might have had power to destroy our

earth but, giving Sarah Palin that opportunity was just beyond incompressible.

I think you need to take a laxative , Mr Wilson ( McCain ) and then a nap to get over your sour

grapes syndrome.

Leave the Country in President Obama hands, he is doing a great job.

[WaterBuffaloRider]

07:29 AM on 06/06/2011

Sure she can, cuz Republicans have the dirty tricks to pull it off just like Florida in '00

[venice6]

01:18 AM on 06/08/2011

Did someone mention Fox?

http://www.alternet.org/story/149193/study_confirms_that_fox_news_makes_you_stupid/

[Grumpy Old Dude]

03:04 AM on 06/05/2011

Old Johnny still can't come to terms with the fact that he chose the most vapid, vacuous, unqualified, woman in this country for the second most important job the world. When he learns to deal with his grievous mistake...he will no longer feel the need to make totally absurd statements like this.

[time2impeach]

10:12 AM on 06/05/2011

You got that right, GoD! Whatever Johnny McCain may have done right in his lifetime is negated by his immaculately stupid, shoot-from-the-hip choice!

[Grumpy Old Dude]

10:41 AM on 06/05/2011

Well my friend...any affirmation from you is high praise indeed. I'm not even close to the clarity of thought and eloquence displayed in your posts below.

[cam1002]

12:48 AM on 06/05/2011

Hey Mods, what's taking so long to post the comments? Short handed tonight?

[time2impeach]

12:36 AM on 06/03/2011

“I’ve never seen anyone as mercilessly and relentlessly attacked as I have seen Sarah Palin in the last couple of years.”

Ya know why, John? The last time we had a VP pick as woefully unqualified, a one Sen. Danforth Quayle, that person learned pretty quickly to keep his mouth shut as much as possible, to keep his head down, and to avoid controversy.

Ya know why? Because Dan Quayle was well-aware he was in over his head. He was smart enough, at least, to know what he didn't know.

Your girl Sarah Palin, on the other hand, wears her ignorance on her sleeve -- wait, check that -- she wields it like a truncheon, time after time weighing in on subjects where she holds little or no expertise, complaining about how others have done her wrong, and displaying a brazen arrogance that has effectively tattoed a target on her back.

Anyway -- thanks for opening that Pandora's box. Hope you sleep well...

[annplato]

01:37 PM on 06/04/2011

Your president has expertise in what? Reading a teleprompter?

The question begs to be answered: Are you better off than 2 1/2 years ago? Bush was as abused as Sarah Palin, yet I felt both economically and from national security perspective BETTER! The dignity, serenity and courage these two have displayed in face of relentless and baseless dragging through the mud, cannot be mentioned on the same page with the pettish petulancy your president responds to the slightest criticism.

You sir are both a racist and a misogynist and that is a shame!

Sarah Palin may not be a suave orator like Obama, but she DOES wear her patriotism on her sleeve, which you consider ignorance. Well, if love of family, country and God is synonymous with ignorance, than I AM a proud ignorant, while you (and the likes of you) are a shameful and immoral stain on this nation, who alongside Obama/Reid and Pelosi will end the United States of America’s reputation as the land of the free and brave.

[time2impeach]

02:39 PM on 06/04/2011

Sorry, annplato. I share none of your sentiments.

Please explain how you arrive at the conclusion that I am both a racist and a misogynist.

Please look up what "Begging the Question" really means. (Hint: It's a form of logical fallicy. The term has fallen into gross misuse.)

I, personally, am much happier now with Bush and Cheney gone, and Palin revealed as completely incapable of service at the highest levels. The fact of the matter that is she couldn't/wouldn't complete service as the chief executive of the 4th smallest state in our nation. She quit on her obligations to the people, and that, I'd suggest, is grossly unpatriotic.

Beyond that, I really tire of the conservative claim that their patriotism is somehow greater or better than that of those among us who are liberal. Personally, I fail to see how a "great patriot" like Sarah Palin can be so ill-informed about American History that she doesn't know why Paul Revere went on his fabled Midnight Ride. She couldn't even get the grade-school version straight. That is the sort of ignorance I find disdainful.

God bless you for loving your family, your country, and your God. I do the same. In that regard we are no different, and shame upon you for suggesting otherwise. The fact that you are willing to dismiss your fellow citizens, of whom you know nothing, tells me you are no patriot whatsoever.

[Charles Fortner]

04:53 PM on 06/04/2011

She wears her patriotism on her sleeve because it is nothing more than another fashion statement to her.

If you actually think Palin loves her family I beg to differ. she is one of the most neglectful excuses for a parent I've ever seen, and I've seen a good number. Love of country? She loves her wardrobe and her bank account more than her country or her children. While I agree with you about many of the democrats, particularly Pelosi, (who obviously has an impaired memory probably due to liquid involvement) I think the horrific deluge of memory lapses and mispeakings and outright stupid remarks from her are definitely caused by her use, or abuse of medications-I've seen a good deal of that in my life as well-it is something you learn to recognize. I would also apportion the blame for our current economic and social woes a bit more equally. George W. was under the infuence of some of the most rotten advisors imaginable-and they were hangovers from the Reagan white house. His dad urged him NOT to burden himself with them but instead he chose otherwise and rejected Brent Scowcroft to boot. These people are trotskyites not Americans.

[Grumpy Old Dude]

02:58 AM on 06/05/2011

All I can say is; DUUUUUUUUDE...that is an excellent post my friend.

[time2impeach]

03:14 AM on 06/05/2011

Brother man! "Sup? Good to see you poking around!

[Ethical Cat]

10:52 PM on 06/02/2011

"Of course she can," said McCain.

Yes, she can win... in her dreams (and in his, too).

[builderman55]

10:41 AM on 06/02/2011

Is there a test for creeping senility? Oh wait, there is. Just ask anyone if Palin can beat Obama and their answer is irrefutable proof..

[kithope]

06:25 PM on 06/01/2011

Because he knows all about what it takes to win a presidential election.

[caprawalie]

06:20 PM on 06/01/2011

It is sometimes amazing to discover brilliant and magical thinking being hatched right under our own eyes - "white males" transmutated into the neo-jews and by some magic perhaps blacks (because of Obama) have now mutated into the neo-Aryans! Where are the white females in this formula with the exception of Palin, the inferior leader ;-)

[Twyla Hopson Brack]

06:19 PM on 06/01/2011

they must be eatting pizza a drinking wine if they believe that..lol

[depserv3a]

03:19 PM on 06/01/2011

The liberal press sells Obama just like commercial advertisers sell their products. As Abraham Lincoln said, "you can fool some of the people all of the time." In any society some large portion of the people will always be led by the prevailing propaganda; those led by the liberal press of today would have been led by the press controlled by the National Socialists in 1930s Germany, blaming everything on the Jew like their counterparts today blame everything on the evil white male, and willing to give their government ever greater power to protect them from that evil. Sarah Palin is not my first choice, but I think she'd probably be as good as anyone else running at this time, and she would be infinitely better than Obama. She's as much of a leader as he is and probably more of one, but even if she isn't, I'd rather be led in the right direction by an inferior leader than the wrong direction by a supposedly superior one.

[fishanddive]

03:48 PM on 06/01/2011

Ha ha ha ha ha, good one depserv3a! Why don't you join McCain on a national comedy tour?! Ha ha ha ha, quite knee slappin' sense of humor you've got there! Oh boy, let me catch my breath....

[whitewalls]

05:46 PM on 06/01/2011

What does this that analogy mean? It sounds like you have formulated your opinion based on the slant produced by Fox News. So in my analogy you are a victim of your own analogy. Stop with the Third Reich references. They are stale and have not relevant. The 1930's Germany is probably the worst comparison to todays politics, take time to learn the history you try to comment on or make reference to.

[DIAGUY]

01:36 PM on 06/01/2011

I am far from a Palin fan. But, I believe any one of the Disney characters will be able to beat him in 2012. He is far from the person he was portrayed to be in 2008. He was supposd to be this brilliant deep-thinking individual with every skill in the world. In fact when he is away from his scripted talking points that his beloved teleprompter provides him sometimes he struggles to put 2 complete sentences together. He looks weaker with every passing day even with the worldwide media still in love and constantly doing what they can to put him in every possible positive light. We don't need a superstar or a mesiah, we need someone who will put policies in place that will achieve real GDP growth. It appears that he is only interested in getting his hands on more and more cash so he can redistribute it to his friends (supporters,unions) and he seems indifferent to what those policies will do for growth, which of course is ZERO.

PS. Before you bring up G.W., I was even less impressed with him.

[fishanddive]

02:15 PM on 06/01/2011

Disney characters? Really? That was lame, Diaguy. The President is not a King and cannot command. He must work within the confines of out political structure, and unfortunately the Congress and Senate are committed to their internal bickering, and not ever coming together for the good of the country. It is a culture of loyalty to 'the political party' rather that 'the people'.

[sus2222]

11:01 PM on 06/01/2011

f

[cam1002]

12:42 AM on 06/02/2011

Succinctly said Fann'ed and fav'd