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Planet Palin
Last August, Senator John McCain plucked political novice Sarah Palin, the upstart Governor of Alaska, from relative obscurity to constitute an unlikely Republican presidential ticket. Her rise was meteoric and instantly embraced by a party base that was never enamored with its less-than-conservative standard-bearer. The pick of Palin brought tremendous energy to an otherwise lackluster convention, and her vice presidential acceptance speech elevated the self-described "pitbull in lipstick" to iconic status.
However, controversy surfaced even before the convention began. Her teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant, much to the chagrin of the socially conservative wing of the party that Palin represents, but rather than flee, the base rallied around the hockey mom from the "coolest" state. An ethics probe examined Palin's firing of an Alaska state trooper, who was also her former brother-in-law, where her husband, Todd, intervened at several junctures. Even Palin's wardrobe drew disdain when it became apparent that the Republican National Committee spent hundreds of thousands of dollars outfitting its emergent "queen."
By all counts McCain and Palin had a successful convention, and they enjoyed a bounce in the polls that yielded a fleeting lead of nearly 10 points over Obama-Biden in early September. Soon, Lehman Brothers and the financial sector would collapse, and with it McCain-Palin's hopes of an upset bid. McCain was unfairly portrayed as a stooge of the unpopular incumbent, clueless on the economy and a captive of the neoconservatives who led us into two Middle Eastern wars. Palin didn't help matters with disastrous performances in the national media, specifically in one-on-one interviews with ABC's Charlie Gibson and CBS' Katie Couric.
Palin became the object of slapstick when Saurday Night Live's Tina Fey parodied her on a weekly basis. She would later embrace this humor at her expense, as would thousands of women who wore up-do's, wire-rim glasses, and red business suits for Halloween. Palin continued to draw massive crowds and proved an impressive orator, in some cases eclipsing her running mate, but when the dust settled, the two parted ways in a devastating defeat.
Monday morning quarterbacks suggested that McCain may have prevailed if he made a parallel pick to Obama's Joe Biden. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and current Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty would've sufficed. By my count, they may have tightened the contest, but the stars were truly aligned for Obama. 2008 was a Democratic year, and when he dispatched Hillary Clinton, the race was his to lose, and of course, he ran a remarkable campaign just in case.
Palin returned home and resumed her duties as Governor. The ethics probes and Freedom of Information requests continued, as did her run-ins with the national media. Her pre-Thanksgiving pardon of a turkey turned embarrassing with the sound of slaughter in the background, and her public spat with David Letterman forced an apology from the funnyman but did little to restore her family's dignity. Then came her surprising announcement on Friday: she would resign her position before the end of the month.
The implications of her decision are far from clear the following week. If she truly has national political aspirations, why leave behind her best shot at bolstering her resume? True, running for re-election next year was probably off the table, given the challenges of traveling the lower 48 while burdened by gubernatorial duties. Firming up her national resume is next to impossible since Alaska has only a single House seat, occupied by a 19-term congressman, Don Young, who is also a Republican. Palin is also blocked in the Senate, where Republican Lisa Murkowski will likely seek her second full term next fall.
This means Palin must assume the pitfalls of "movement" candidacies, running for the nation's highest office on the basis of lofty ideals and downplaying the importance of tried-and-true experience. She certainly has her loyal fans interspersed throughout the party base, but Republicans are known to work off of a pecking order. First-time candidates rarely gain the nomination. Since Richard Nixon's victory in 1968, only Gerald Ford in 1976 and George W. Bush in 2000 served as the party standard bearer in their first run for the White House. Ford was an unelected incumbent president and Bush the son of a former president.
At the same time, the Republican Party is in a state of disarray. Two of its presidential hopefuls, Nevada Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, were cast aside with awkward news of extramarital affairs. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal delivered a not-yet-ready-for-primetime response to the president's address to Congress last February. Utah Governor Jon Huntsman was sent overseas by the Democratic president on a diplomatic mission. This leaves retreads Romney and Mike Huckabee, and perhaps radioactive former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as Palin's potential opponents. Intriguing possibilities include the aforementioned outgoing Governor Pawlenty and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, but neither are household names.
Bottom line: It's too early to write Palin off, especially with the Republican Party clearly sentenced to the backwoods for at least the foreseeable future. Her rise and fall taught us to expect the unexpected. So pull up a chair and watch as the hockey mom brings her act to the continental U.S.
Follow Shawn Healy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FreedomMuseum
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'68 wasn't RMN's 1st time (unless one buys that "old" and "new" Nixon meme). 1960 probably was. I don't think Goldwater was part of the 1960 mix.
Shawn Healy covered some of Sarah Palin's notable landmarks in her political record but the list is incomplete. Palin accumulated a long list of shenanigans in her political career since 1992. To be fair, no one article can encapsulate Palin's history.
I am no soothsayer but I am writing off Sarah Palin as a viable candidate for the White House in any election. Her charisma can stoke her base and raise money for other candidates but she lacks the skills, ethics, temperament, confidence, maturity and fortitude to lead without quitting. If a future Republican office holder will reward her with an appointment, it will end up a regrettable act.
Sarah's calling is that of a media talking head and a GOP mascot.
Please boot Elizabeth from the View (now that she's being sued) and replace her with Sarah. Would love to see her discuss any topic with Joy and Whoopie.
"So pull up a chair and watch as the hockey mom brings her act to the continental U.S."
Don't expect the lower 48 to be kind to Palin -- on governance, on a lack of track record, on quitting -- except of course for "real Americans" like the rabid anti-abortionists who form the base of TeamSarah. I think Palin is in for a rough ride. She is so confident of support from right-wingers, but she doesn't know how fervently independents and moderates don't want her in national office, let alone the Left.
Come on, you guys! You're not listening to me! It's no fun being gov of AK when oil is no longer trading at $140/barrel. And I have to wear these second hand clothes, and do my own hair and makeup and stuff. And it's cold here in AK. I need to be down in the lower 48 where they like me, they really like me! My friend Greta told me so. But she's not really my friend anymore because I'm going to get her 10pm spot on Fox. And I am perfect for Fox, because those annoying facts and that truth stuff mean absolutely nothing to me.
You know the trainwreck that is Sarah Palin will do a few more disasterous roll overs before we can write her off completely. Get the popcorn ready.
"McCain was unfairly portrayed as a stooge of the unpopular incumbent, clueless on the economy and a captive of the neoconservatives who led us into two Middle Eastern wars." Oh, I don't think any of that was unfair. "Accurately portrayed," would be the correct phrase.
"Tina Fey parodied her on a weekly basis." How many months did the campaign run? And Fey made -- three? -- appearances on SNL? Not quite weekly, hmm?
"Palin returned home and resumed her duties as Governor." The legislators and citizens of Alaska dispute that -- loudly. Palin herself admitted to spending 80% of her time at work NOT working.
Usual conclusion of 'I got no idea why I wrote this article, but my mom's gonna tape it to the fridge.'
I can't wait for the next Palin piece. Coming to the website near you in three... two... one...
It's over.
My favorite line from her speech was that she didn't like being a "lame duck" and didn't want to milk it.
Sarah, Sarah. Do you even know what a lame duck is?? It is either an elected official who loses an election and is a lame duck until the new person is sworn in OR there are term limits and the official would BE UNABLE to run again. NEITHER of these applies to Bible Spice.
She is only two years into her FIRST term; therefore, it's not because she lost an election. It can't be term limits because SHE HASN"T EVEN FINISHED ONE TERM!!
Or its a duck that just can't walk right. Say no more.
When LBJ announced that he was not going to run for President again, even though he had not reached his term limit, he became a lame duck. Palin announced she was not going to run for reelection even though she had not reached her term limit, therefore she is a lame duck. She may not know much, but she does know what a lame duck is.
She doesn't know what a "lame duck" is, I'm sure of that. There was plenty of time for her to settle in and work for the people who had elected her. She's too lazy, could have cared less, or just couldn't handle petty criticism from bloggers (inane as that is). Bottom line - she flaked out when the going got tough or never cared in the first place.
I'd pay good money to watch someone milk a duck.
Sasidechick,
"Bible Spice" = hilarious! :)
Sarah Palin is so lightweight that she actually makes Dubya look like a statesman, which is really saying something. The lady could not even handle the Katie Couric softball interview.
She did it for money alright, but it was her pocket she was interested in lining. If she was so concerned about money, why did she charge the state to fly her kids around and charge a per diem from the state to live at home?
Sarah Palin reminds me more and more of George Bush. People find her interesting and .want to hang oiut with her. She has no intellectual curiousity, and doesn't seem interested in pouring over briefing books. It's much easier to just spout right wing nonsense, without even having the basic facts correct. If she ever became president, she would be a puppet, and would have a "consigliore" like Cheney running the show. She would get the one page briefing papers, and make pronouncements. Well, we saw how well that worked out. Do the people of this country - even Republicans - want to go through that again? How many depressions and wars can we take?
Palin is interesting and fun; people would watch her on a talk show. That's where it should rest.
Palin would not last a week on a talk show. She can project from a prepaired speech, assuming that someone writes it for her... But she can't handle intelligent conversation, exactly the unscripted format of a talk show, and it would result in another failure.
She reminds me of Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" contestants.
Well... another ' Lie ' seems to have come true from her " Quitting Speech ".
She said she was ' quitting ' because it was costing the State of Alaska too much money.
Mudflats has just posted Story that explains how the new Lt. Governor would have to be chosen when the current Lt. Gov. Parnell takes over.
The Legislature ( by AK Law )would have to take a vote to approve the new Lt. Gov. and because they are NOT in session till next January... it may require a ' Special Session'. Maybe costing Alaska a six figure amount to do this.
Palin may have just stuck the State with a 1 Million dollar price tag. So much for ' saving Money '.
http://www.themudflats.net/2009/07/07/buckle-up-the-palin-transition-begins/
2008,
Over the months, it has become very, very clear that Palin does NOT know anything about the Alaska Constitution nor the US Constitution for that matter.
The main reason Palin has had SOOOO many ethics complaints is because she is uneducated on the laws of her own state.
The main reason Palin has been "cleared" of the ethics complaints is because Palin APPOINTS - and can fire at will - the very people on the Personnel Board who decide said complaints.
Basically, Palin had her very own Personal Personnel Board who cleared her.
Thank you for making this point. So many defenders of Palin don't read anything about her in detail or go online to Alaskan news sources. That Personnel Board is a sham.
As for the number of ethics complaints against her, another factor is Palin's own behavior, notably the glaring contrast between her pre-gubernatorial promise of transparency and honesty in politics vs. Troopergate and the other malfeasance of her short "reign".
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