“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”

Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas


Monday, July 06, 2009

Sarah Palin: political brilliance or political hari kari?

This news was part of the "Friday dump" cycle....

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) - Even for a nonconformist, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defies political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early.

Supporters and critics alike say the former GOP vice presidential candidate's resignation, announced Friday afternoon and effective July 26, is an inexplicable move for a high profile Republican widely seen as a contender for a White House run in 2012. A half-term governor campaigning for president?

"If she is thinking that leaving her term 16 months early is going to help her prepare to maybe go on to bigger and better things on the political stage, I think she's sadly mistaken. You just can't quit," said Andrew Halcro, a Palin critic who lost the 2006 gubernatorial race to her.

Palin's abrupt announcement Friday rattled the Republican Party but left open the possibility of a presidential run. She and her staff are keeping mum on her future plans.


I don't blame her for wanting the absurd ethics claims by lower-48 liberals to end, or for her family to be spared further scrutiny and humiliation by the brutal, liberal media but, if you have higher, national, political ambitions, you cannot quit your first term as governor with 18 months left to serve. I realize that Obama essentially quit his first term as senator to run full-time for the presidency but he just quit showing up for work, he didn't officially quit. Plus he had the adoring, feckless media to prop him up against any, any criticism. Palin, and sadly her family, have become the punchline to too many jokes for her to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, unless she sticks out this and one more term as Alaska governor before she runs for CiC, maybe in 2016 or even 2020.

Some people are saying it's a shrewd political move so she can spend more time in the lower 48 giving speeches, raising money for GOP candidates, becoming a serious politician rather than the political oddity she is currently. I disagree. I think it's suicide because she'll always have to defend against the "quitter" charge. What do you think?

6 comments:

Angie Lee said...

I don't think it was a bad move. She was being prevented from governing in any meaningful way anyhow, and she proved that she is willing to put her state's interests above her own - now the Lt. Gov. can continue the work she started with (hopefully) less opposition.

No matter what she does, she's going to be castigated by the media. As governor, she had to keep her mouth shut. Now as a private citizen, she can say what's REALLY on her mind, and if the media keeps coming after her as a private citizen, they prove (on top of Joe the Plumber) that the rest of us are nothing more than meat for the grinder.

Just my opinion, though.

Ed said...

Interesting take there Angie. You may be on to something. If, if she comes out swinging and puts her critics in their rightful places of shame and continues to galvanize conservatives, then it might just pan out to have been a good move for her afterall.

Anonymous said...

I think it was incredibly stupid if she has any political aspirations. She has been criticized for lack of experience and now she will -well--just continue to keep lacking. Whereas she could have at least scored some time as a governor. And if she can't handle the heat of criticism from the media she really doesn't need to be in the public spotlight at all.


But if she wants to get herself and her family out of the limelight she made a good move. But I think she believes she can lead an "old time religion" - type series of "revivals" to try and build up some sort following---that we would all be afraid of.

Bill Lockhart

Angie Lee said...

She has been repeated slammed as "incredibly stupid" by the left for everything, the lamestream media covering not accomplishments but any negative aspect they can try to dig up on her. Too bad they couldn't have done the same with King Barry.

As for handling the heat of criticism, she's taken that heat when directed at HER fairly well. It's the dirty tactics they've directed at HER CHILDREN (if you remember, King Barry said to leave the families out of it, but that only applies to HIS family, I guess) that NO ONE should have to "handle."

As for a movement toward religion, maybe if we hadn't moved so far AWAY from the religious principles this nation was founded upon in the first place, WE WOULDN'T BE SITTING IN THIS SHITTER, waiting for the last Dummycrap to point, laugh, and FLUSH.

Tracie said...

I agree with everything Angie said. The critics pretty much rendered Palin useless and she just did what she's done in the past - stopped wasting taxpayer money. I think her basketball analogy was good. She isn't
I doubt she will be running for President in 2012 - but I wouldn't could it out. I'm sure we'll learn something very interesting in the next few weeks. I guess either she's either going to surprise everyone with a savvy political move that will in some way get her back to a presidetial run in the future, or she's going in a completely different direction and leaving politics behind. Either way I think she's smart enough that she knows exactly what she's doing.

Tracie said...

Whoops! I forgot to finish my sentence about the basketball analogy. I meant to say she isn't only looking at what's best for HER the way most politicians do.