The End of Palin
Well, she didn't quit to run for president.
Nobody would do that, could possibly do that, could at any point be told by any person that an idea that crazy might actually work out. It's not just that it's irrational; it's that it's insane. There is no political playbook (there will never be a political playbook) that calls this play.
Whatever the reason, it isn't that.
Keep in mind that if you could pick any day in the year to dump a story like this, to try to damp down negative coverage, you'd have to go with the Friday before July 4th. If you wanted to keep the story low-key you'd hold a small press conference, hastily announced, before all of the press could arrive to ask questions. If you thought the story was a bad one, you'd do exactly what Sarah Palin just finished doing.
What kind of scandal could cause a resignation before the story has even broken? Pay-for-play, Ted Stevens style? A briefcase full of cash? Will there be handcuffs? Is there an ethics investigation bombshell about to be dropped? Did she kill Michael Jackson?
It's just so exciting to think about.
But while Democrats have taken joy of late, impressed by how utterly fulfilling the twists and turns of Republican scandal can be, the total collapse of political characters like Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford may actually be the best thing that could happen to the GOP.
There is no doubt that the Sarah Palin of only a week ago would have been a leading contender to win the Iowa caucus in 2012. Her celebrity would have been a useful tool for building the kind of ground game necessary to compete there and her appeal among the religious right is high (60 percent of Iowa Republican primary voters are evangelicals). But had that win been her springboard to the nomination, it could have literally destroyed the GOP.
Against a powerful Obama organization and with a massive intellectual disadvantage, Palin's lack of discipline and intelligence, her unyielding preference for trite rhetoric over even the illusion of substance, her total lack of self-awareness and her obvious lack of readiness would have caused unknowable damage to her party.
Every week, she finds a new way to embarrass herself. Lucky for Republicans, her latest train wreck means a future disaster avoided.
Mark Sanford too could have torn his party apart. Surely under the scrutiny of running for national office, Sanford's exotic personal life would have been uncovered. Having this saga unfold now is far better for the GOP than having it unfold two weeks after Sanford's nomination.
Whoever is unlucky enough to take on Obama in the 2012 race is going to face the most formidable incumbent in the history of American politics. The size and scope of his campaign organization will be so massive, so all-encompassing, that defeating it will be nearly impossible.
If there's anyone who can, they aren't on the stage right now. Not a single name mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate has anything near what it would take. The party needs to look elsewhere for its savior.
Though they may not realize it, the best hope of Republicans is for more scandals among their starting lineup. For a backbencher to emerge onto that stage, it helps to have Palin and Sanford falling off of it headfirst.
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Except that whoever gets the Republican nomination can't be too different from Palin or Sanford or the religious right won't be enthusiastic enough to turn out for the general election. The Republican party has gotten itself into a real bind with its need to appeal to its yahoo/ religious right base while the rest of the country moves on.
But where would the religious right go--to the Democrats? Not likely.
No, they'll hold their noses and vote for the GOP like they always do.
If the GOP wants to reinvent itself, it will have to back-burner the religious right and their dying social issues, like keeping loving gay families from marrying.
RON PAUL!
RON PAUL!
RON PAUL!
Oh, yeah, let's have Ron Paul, so the plutocrats can get wealthy and continue to guide the U.S. towards 3rd world status. You proponents of hard currency, the unfair tax, and returning to policies that brought economic panics every 20 years really crack me up. Unless you have a net worth of more than $10 million, you're either brainwashed or ignorant.
We have a pesky problem in Texas. It's called goatweed. You can cut it, pull it up by the roots, poison it, swear at it or whatever, but it keeps coming back. It eventually dominates any once beautiful field, so we have to continually cut it down. The reason it returns is that its seeds are in the wind, just like "conservat
So that's what is growing in my back yard. I'm afraid you're right about Palin. Obama's problem, however, isn't the "proud boastful ignoramuses" of the Palin wing but his own party. We'll see how he does, but I'm increasingly convinced that if he can make it to 2010 without a major setback in Congress he'll be home free for a much broader agenda. I'm off to get a goat.
I suspect there are many folks who voted for McCain or stayed away from the polls because they could not vote for a black man. I also suspect there are folks who voted for Obama because he was black. I voted for him in the general election because his policy statements and campaign promises were inline with my values more than anyone else with maybe the exception of Nader. Truth be told, if I could have voted for the option of NEVER ANOTHER BUSH then I would have voted that way instead. Obama and Rahm are utterly disappointing in their courting of Republicans. They will never get what they want yet they pursue their affection and ignore ours (meaning the left). The Left has become Jenny Sanford to Obama's Mark Sanford. We are willing to forgive and reconcile and Obama keeps going to Argentina/
Eventually Mark Sanford is going to be served with divorce papers if he continues his pursuit of fantasy.
your analogy is unusual but deadly accurate
Quite true and the continuing Republican melt down only serves as a temptation for the Obama administration to woo the more disgruntled elements of the opposition party, who are more moderate than the Republican base, but, nevertheless, hardly the progressives who brought Obama to office.
Your analogy is premature, if not just shortsighted. Just because you don't see what the president is doing, how his plans are unfolding, doesn't mean that there is anything nearing the courting you're talking about. Yes, it does seem that Obama is forever being kind to the idiot Rethugs, but you must see the bigger picture here. He has gotten EVERYTHING he wanted. The Rethugs try to block him; he's nice to them-they don't vote for what he wants and he gets it anyway, and he also gets to say he tried. He gets true bragging rights and the Rethugs slaves can't say (in good conscience if they actually had one) that he didn't try to get consensus.
I know you want him to be a hard ass and ignore then as a rule, but that's just not the type of person he is, let alone leader. President Obama hasn't done a single thing he didn't tell us during the primaries he would. He never lied. He always said how hard it would be and what steps he would take. He may have had to backtrack or change directions to get something done, but that would happen once you have full knowledge of the the effed up situation the last administration left.
Six months is insufficient for any kind of evaluation. He was elected for a four year term. Judge him at the end of it and you may be surprised at just how much he's accomplished.
i'm evaluating by the bills which have been passed to date.
he folded on the credit card reform
he folded on the cramdown provision with the mortgages
he folded on the auto bailout
he folded on "transparency" in govt.
he folded on the stuff the gays are upset about.
all of this was in his 6 mos. HIS FOREIGN POLICY IS GREAT, DOMESTIC SUCKING *SS.
I a sorry but,the statement of how Mr. Obama's organization is un-defeatable smacks of Karl Roves"permanent conservative majority". We who are liberals must never be complacent and let the rethuglicans a way back to power.
Administrations, by and large, defeat themselves. So far, there's no one on the Republican side who could defeat the president, but he can easily defeat himself.
Anyone worthy of being defeated by Obama is lucky!
i didn't realize this article was a "what will the repugs do? " piece.
because i'll step up right now and run against Obama. But as an independent, not as a repug.
But before i run, i'd need the nation to work with me. I'd need each state to identify a trustworthy replacement for their Congressmen, if their current reps are "on the take".
NO MORE LOBBYIST MONEY. NONE. I'm tired of the rich running the show. The top 1% make more money than the other 99% combined. That's just insane. Well, not if we were in a dictatorship or some other crazy regime, like Saudi Arabia. But this is America! Why are so many of us broke and struggling, while so few have soo much??
This must change, and we must force it. There's only 2 ways: revolt by force (which would suck, and technically is illegal) or USE THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OUR FOREFATHERS GAVE US.
We need to elect honest people into govt. Not just rich cousins/nieces/sons of other corrupt politicians.
We need to identify the good Congressmen in house now, support them, and get more like them in other states. Enough of this "me first" mentality, we need to work as a nation. The power of the people is in its mass. We must work together or we will fail.
Who's with me??
Start by running for city commisioner.
Silly Sarah isn't done, yet. She'll be a darling on Fox and the rubber chicken circuit, and she'll likely be touted as something of a kingmaker by schmos like Bill Kristol. Will she run for the White House? I suspect she'll do as Colin Powell did and use a pregnant pause to sell books. As for Sanford, he won't even be in public life by 2012.
This was exactly what you all knowing news writers said after the first Gulf War about the first Bush, then came the skirt chasing Bill Clinton from no where.. the rest is history! The problem is: Americans are fickle, me and now, and gets easily bored, I'm one of them...if things stays the way they are right now, big government, big spending and Big Brother keeps growing, the threat of incredible huge taxes looming...
Whoever is unluck enough to take on Obama in 2012?
It may be the one who is handed over the keys to the Whitehouse when the U.S. citizens realize that the great Obama ruins the economy by creating an unsustainable national debt by the massive spending that is having little to no impact on the short term economic recovery.
Obama didn't vote and pass the laws......
America what is your rush? You need to get some value out of Obama before you set the stage and move the chairs forward for the next election.
What's your rush. Palin Sanford, etc. etc. who cares. Enjoy the current ride. There are plenty of more Palins and Sanfords to come before 2012 then the two we have now.
Chill
All our "value" from Obama can be measured in negative numbers. Double digit unemployment with massive inflation not far behind, and a North Korean tinpot dictator shooting off rockets whenever the President speaks. http://the
My dear ... this is a Bush/Cheney economy. Obama is just six months in to trying to change the tide of their ocean.
The G O P needs to learn that they need to stop looking to appeal to their base of hate filled fanatics and bigots and find a real candidate that lives in the real world, and one that a picture of the candidate and a goat will not surface.
If Obama continues with his war mongering in Afganistan and Pakistan he just may become the first one term black president.
People have had it with the warriors and no more of the defending America bullshit. Those warriors are careerors and in for the money and wars are the fastest way up the ladders of promotions and field medals.
Wars are a racket.
If Mitt can't knock off Palin in the primaries he's not worth anything.
"Well, she didn't quit to run for president.
Nobody would do that, could possibly do that, could at any point be told by any person that an idea that crazy might actually work out. It's not just that it's irrational; it's that it's insane. There is no political playbook (there will never be a political playbook) that calls this play.
Whatever the reason, it isn't that."
**********
With all due respect, I think you severely underestimate the irrational isanity that is Sarah Palin....I believe that's exactly why she did it, insane as it is. It's the Palin Political Playbook, and only she thinks it makes perfect sense.
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