Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R) explained her belief this weekend that Sarah Palin couldn't contract wide enough support among Republicans and independents to actually win a presidential race. In Whitman's view, Palin's decision to step down as governor halfway through her first term displayed a somewhat selfish "attitude."
After outlining a situation in which Palin could take the GOP nomination based largely on her popularity in the key primary states of New Hampshire and Iowa, Whitman said that she believed Palin's White House hopes would end there.
"I don't think she'll win nationwide, but she certainly will -- when she went on the ticket with John McCain -- energize the base. But the base isn't big enough and Republicans should have learned that," Whitman said. "You've got to start competing for the center. And so far, I haven't seen a lot of outreach on the part of Sarah Palin for that. She's more concentrated on that base and energizing them. Which is fine, but it's not going to win you a general election."
Asked by Zakaria if she'd support Palin if she were to win the Republican nomination, Whitman expressed little confidence in her fellow former governor:
"She'd have to show me a lot more than I've seen thus far, as far as an understanding of the depth and the complexity of the issues that we face. I mean I don't know her personally so I can't comment on that, I mean she was a governor, but the fact that she left office before even completing her first term, it's just not an attitude that I think is necessarily in the best interest of your constituents, rather what's in your own best interest."
WATCH (via ThinkProgress):