How will quitting as governor affect Palin's chances.

[Saint Cad]

Forgetting that she is a complete idiot or a Tea Bagger for a minute, how much of an impact would Sarah Palin quitting as governor of Alaska have on her numbers in either the primary or general election in 2012. I know that for me, had she not quit, the chances of me voting for her would be in the very low single digits and that would be if she were running against a dead head of lettuce and a melting ice cube. But if she can't hack it as the Alaskan governor, there is a 0.0000000% chance of me voting for her in any election.

[Oakminster]

She has zero chance of ever becoming POTUS. I'll be taking the oath of office before she ever does.

She doesn't really have a shot at the GoP nomination, either. Best she can realistically hope for in the GoP is a chance to play kingmaker and a spot in the administration.

She could end up running as a third party candidate, and by doing so guarantee Obama wins a second term.

The quitter thing should be fatal to her political career. I hereby claim copyright on

"When the going gets tough....Sarah gets going."

Bumper stickers, coffee mugs, t-shirts, hats, and other crappy merchandise may be licensed for very reasonable rates.

[The Universe Lashes Out]

The people who she appeals to are already well practised in the discipline of cognitive dissonance. They can work around any obstacle you throw at them and will not by swayed by what you know as logic. The rest of us she alienated well before quitting as governor. So I'd say it has exactly zero impact on her chances.

[Starving Artist]

I don't think it will matter one way or the other. The people who care about it wouldn't vote for her anyway, and the people who would vote for her don't care about it. People quit public office all the time and no one ever says a word about it. They quit to spend more time with their families; because family concerns compel them to earn more than they were making in office; to run for other office; or to accept state or federal political appointments. Outrage over Palin's leaving office is just political bullshit, kind of like Obama's birth certificate - it's simply an attempt to exploit what is perceived as a weakness. If she were a Democrat you guys wouldn't be saying a word about it and the nation's conservatives would be all up in arms.

[Inner Stickler]

I dunno. I think I'd cast a jaundiced eye at anyone who left one political office and then campaigned for another. If there's one thing I expect from my elected officials it's a sense of perseverance.


On an unrelated note, why is it that every time I want the word perseverance, perspicacity pops into my head first and won't leave until I google stick-to-it-ness?

[Starving Artist]

Getting older perhaps?

Hugh Hefner once admitted to a similar problem and said he thought his mind had become like a crowded attic where things he's trying to find are often hidden behind boxes of other stuff.

[BigT]

People quit offices, but they usually try to serve out their term, unless quitting is required to take on the new office. What she did was quit when she didn't have to, and that is worse, in my opinion.

[Manda JO]

People more often quit appointed positions, but I don't think the two can be compared. I think that people that are appointed have a job: when someone runs for office, that's much more a promise to continually look after your constituents' interests.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

People quit public office all the time and no one ever says a word about it. They quit to spend more time with their families; because family concerns compel them to earn more than they were making in office; to run for other office; or to accept state or federal political appointments.

People had plenty to say when Eliott Spitzer resigned as governor of New York following a prostitution scandal and when Jim McGreevey of New Jersey resigned following allegations he'd put his boyfriend on the state payroll.

In any case this is a little misleading because she didn't quit her job for any of those reasons. She quit more or less because she didn't feel like being governor anymore. If you're a fan, you can say her opponents were not going to let her accomplish anything and were harrassing her with frivolous complaints; if you're not a fan, you can say she wanted to cash in with books and TV appearances and that Alaska didn't have anything else to satisfy her ambitions. If you can find another elected official who resigned for reasons like that, I'm all ears. I'll be even more interested if you can find one who resigned for those kinds of reasons and then turned around and ran for higher office about a year later. I can think of elected officials who resigned to run for other offices (although when they did that, they admitted it) or because of scandals, and I can think of appointed officials who resigned to run for office or to join the private sector. I don't think you'll find it that easy to think up a comparison to this situation.

[Lightnin']

Her supporters have already painted her quitting as an heroic move. Sarah was being hounded mercilessly by "Liberals", you see, and fighting the charges would've cost the state too much money.

Nothing will sway them.

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by Lightnin'

Her supporters have already painted her quitting as an heroic move. Sarah was being hounded mercilessly by "Liberals", you see, and fighting the charges would've cost the state too much money.

And yet somehow the liberals are still viewed as being the pussies.

-Joe

[Wheelz]

Quitting will have zero impact on her chances because she doesn't plan to follow through with her candidacy in the first place.
She will act like a candidate until a clear front-runner emerges, then back out and throw her support to that person. This way, she can claim that she was solely responsible for allowing the winning candidate to get the nomination. Thus, the dumbshits who support her now will revere her even more, as she'll clearly be the one calling the shots within the Republican Party. And that'll sell more books and speaking engagements.

She may an idiot, but she's not stupid.

[Profound Gibberish]

Originally Posted by Wheelz

She may an idiot, but she's not stupid.

And she certainly has media manipulation down to a science. It is pathetic how she has them eating out of her hand. Just really pathetic.

As for quitting, I do not recall a governor resigning for no other reason than to go on a book, speaking and Fox commentator tour. She can couch it in whatever language she wants, but she flat out quit for financial reasons, pure and simple.

Personal reasons are one thing, personal enrichment is another.

[DigitalC]

Sarah doesn't want to be president. Sarah wants to stay relevant so she can continue to milk millions of dollars from her moronic supporters.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

Originally Posted by Oakminster

I hereby claim copyright on

"When the going gets tough....Sarah gets you going."

Bumper stickers, coffee mugs, t-shirts, hats, and other crappy merchandise may be licensed for very reasonable rates.

Wouldn't this be perfect for a line of enema products?

[Chronos]

At the time, my dad was very impressed with her dead-fish impersonation. "She's obviously resigning to focus more time on preparing for a presidential run! Good for her!" "Uh, Dad, if she were serious about trying to prepare for the Presidency, the single best thing she could have done would be to finish serving out her term as governor." "Uh... Well..."

[Little Nemo]

It's not just an issue of winning an election. Palin has to get nominated first. And there will be plenty of conservative Republican competitors who'll be happy to trash her before she ever has to face a Democrat. They'll make sure conservative voters get the message that "Palin isn't tough enough to be President".

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

It's not just an issue of winning an election. Palin has to get nominated first. And there will be plenty of conservative Republican competitors who'll be happy to trash her before she ever has to face a Democrat. They'll make sure conservative voters get the message that "Palin isn't tough enough to be President".

Nah, she's already the perfect candidate. Any of them who say anything against her are clearly RINOs who are against her people - who are the "real Americans(tm)".

The woman can quit as governor and it's a fucking victory in their eyes.

-Joe

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Oakminster

"When the going gets tough....Sarah gets going."

Originally Posted by MPB in Salt Lake

Wouldn't this be perfect for a line of enema products?

I realize you didn't intend to deceive anybody here, MPB in Salt Lake, but for future reference, please don't alter text inside the quote boxes.

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

I don't think it will matter one way or the other. The people who care about it wouldn't vote for her anyway, and the people who would vote for her don't care about it. People quit public office all the time and no one ever says a word about it. They quit to spend more time with their families; because family concerns compel them to earn more than they were making in office; to run for other office; or to accept state or federal political appointments. Outrage over Palin's leaving office is just political bullshit, kind of like Obama's birth certificate - it's simply an attempt to exploit what is perceived as a weakness. If she were a Democrat you guys wouldn't be saying a word about it and the nation's conservatives would be all up in arms.

Nonsense. She quit her sworn office and abandoned her constituency for the most venal of reasons: money. Lots of money. Had she not been picked up by McCain and made a name for herself, she'd have finished out her term and possibly served a second one. She was condemned by all sides of the political spectrum for this move, particularly in Alaska. Quitting because of family matters, etc., is not even in the same ballpark.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

Originally Posted by Marley23

I realize you didn't intend to deceive anybody here, MPB in Salt Lake, but for future reference, please don't alter text inside the quote boxes.

My mistake---I thought a line of Palin endorsed enemas would be a natural fit, but it looks like others don't share my 3rd grade level sense of humor.....

[Jophiel]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

People quit public office all the time and no one ever says a word about it. They quit to spend more time with their families; because family concerns compel them to earn more than they were making in office; to run for other office; or to accept state or federal political appointments.

But they usually don't quit because people were being too mean to them and they just couldn't handle it any longer... until they seek a far more difficult public office.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Merijeek

Nah, she's already the perfect candidate. Any of them who say anything against her are clearly RINOs who are against her people - who are the "real Americans(tm)".

The woman can quit as governor and it's a fucking victory in their eyes.

-Joe

Palin can demonize people all she wants when she's selling books and doing talk shows. But to get elected she needs 51% of the votes*. She needs to suck up to the RINOS.

*Plus or minus a few Florida counties.

[joebuck20]

Originally Posted by MPB in Salt Lake

My mistake---I thought a line of Palin endorsed enemas would be a natural fit, but it looks like others don't share my 3rd grade level sense of humor.....

Not really. From what I can tell, she's still full of shit.

[gonzomax]

When you run for a state office, you use a lot of money donated from followers.Millions of dollars are given by people who pin their hopes for a better government on her. You use a lot of man hours donated by people who work endlessly without pay. Volunteers man phones, walk up to doors with handouts and push the politicians message every where they go.
Then when you quit, you slap them in the face. It is unforgivable. I imagine how disillusioned her staff and followers must have been.
It is a major deal breaker and it was wrong.She is a greedy self serving bitch who walked of to make herself rich. Nobody should forgive her.

[Troy McClure SF]

Originally Posted by dbx820

As for quitting, I do not recall a governor resigning for no other reason than to go on a book, speaking and Fox commentator tour. She can couch it in whatever language she wants, but she flat out quit for financial reasons, pure and simple.

This is pretty much where I fall. There are plenty of perfectly respectable reasons to leave office, but what she left for- whatever the hell that has been- ain't it.

[gonzomax]

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/20...-in-statement/

And this is how she speaks. I change my position. She did let down a lot of people who worked for her and for whom promises were made and not kept. But by now they probably realize they dodged a bullet. She is incapable of governing her home, let alone a state or the country. She is a dumb beauty queen with a great belief that the world owes her. Lots of pretty women get that sense of entitlement. But like the old joke, what is 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-. Bo Derek getting older. It is also Palin getting older.

[ethelbert]

Also, if being "hounded by liberals" is a reason to quit, does she imagine that being President (or candidate) would keep those hounds at bay?

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by gonzomax

When you run for a state office, you use a lot of money donated from followers.Millions of dollars are given by people who pin their hopes for a better government on her. You use a lot of man hours donated by people who work endlessly without pay. Volunteers man phones, walk up to doors with handouts and push the politicians message every where they go.
Then when you quit, you slap them in the face. It is unforgivable. I imagine how disillusioned her staff and followers must have been.
It is a major deal breaker and it was wrong.She is a greedy self serving bitch who walked of to make herself rich. Nobody should forgive her.

There's two ways to interpret Palin's resignation. Either she couldn't handle the pressure of being Governor of Alaska. Or she quit because somebody made her a better offer and she put her self-interest above that of the people who elected her.

I don't see how either of those are Presidential qualifications.

[joebuck20]

Originally Posted by gonzomax

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/20...-in-statement/

And this is how she speaks. I change my position. She did let down a lot of people who worked for her and for whom promises were made and not kept. But by now they probably realize they dodged a bullet. She is incapable of governing her home, let alone a state or the country. She is a dumb beauty queen with a great belief that the world owes her. Lots of pretty women get that sense of entitlement. But like the old joke, what is 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-. Bo Derek getting older. It is also Palin getting older.

"He who warned the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringin’ those bells and, um, makin’ sure as he’s ridin’ his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free. And we were gonna be armed.”

Wow.

Anyway, how long do you think it'll be before she chalks this up to a gotcha questions from the "lamestream media"?

[Jack Batty]

Originally Posted by ethelbert

Also, if being "hounded by liberals" is a reason to quit, does she imagine that being President (or candidate) would keep those hounds at bay?

When she's president, she'll just make being liberal illegal. Easy peasey.

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

There's two ways to interpret Palin's resignation. Either she couldn't handle the pressure of being Governor of Alaska. Or she quit because somebody made her a better offer and she put her self-interest above that of the people who elected her.

I don't see how either of those are Presidential qualifications.

Nah, you're not getting the real reason. It's because she can't take America back from the socialist liberals sitting in the governor's hut in Alaska! She needs to be at the front! Leading the people! Does the Bald Eagle lead from behind? Did Saint Ronnie send GHWB to Berlin to order CommieMcRussianFace to 'tear down this wall'? Did Jesus send Moses to kick Egypt's ass in 1969? No! He did it himself! To VICTORY!!!

-Joe

[SenorBeef]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

Outrage over Palin's leaving office is just political bullshit, kind of like Obama's birth certificate - it's simply an attempt to exploit what is perceived as a weakness. If she were a Democrat you guys wouldn't be saying a word about it and the nation's conservatives would be all up in arms.

Palin quit because of some combination of being unable to handle the pressure and going for a blatant money grab. If she can't handle the pressure of being the governor of America's easiest state, there's no way she can handle the pressure of being president, so this should factor into someone's willingness to vote for her for that office.

The idea that this is an irrelevant issue, and that it's the equivelant of Obama's birth certification which is an entirely fictitious issue with no basis in reality at all only cooked up by hateful crazies, and that anyone who doesn't acknowledge this is a hypocrite, is.... I'd say below your usual fare, but that would be generous.

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Merijeek

Does the Bald Eagle lead from behind? Did Saint Ronnie send GHWB to Berlin to order CommieMcRussianFace to 'tear down this wall'? Did Jesus send Moses to kick Egypt's ass in 1969?

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

[Starving Artist]

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

Palin quit because of some combination of being unable to handle the pressure and going for a blatant money grab. If she can't handle the pressure of being the governor of America's easiest state, there's no way she can handle the pressure of being president, so this should factor into someone's willingness to vote for her for that office.

I'll agree that in part Palin quit in order to capitalize on the income she would make after doing so. I also think she quit in part to capitalize on her popularity and ability to coalesce and motivate conservative voters. I also think you couldn't possibly know that Palin quit because she couldn't handle the pressure.

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

The idea that this is an irrelevant issue, and that it's the equivelant of Obama's birth certification which is an entirely fictitious issue with no basis in reality at all only cooked up by hateful crazies, and that anyone who doesn't acknowledge this is a hypocrite, is.... I'd say below your usual fare, but that would be generous.

I didn't say they were equivalent in nature, I said that they were equivalent in that they illustrate political opportunism.

[SenorBeef]

Well, if the best you've got is essentially "both sides are equal, people on the right make up hateful conspiracy theories that have absolutely no basis in reality, whereas people on the left think less of a person who abandons their office to chase network tv contracts", well done. Equivelence demonstrated.

[gonzomax]

When Palin quit, she let down a hell of a lot of people who worked for her. That distills down to selfish money grabbing bitch, who did not give a crap about the people who helped her win. She did not care about Alaska, since she won by saying she would make it a better place and help it. Then she left for a bigger pay check.
What does she care about? Getting rich. She is not a public servant trying to do the right thing. She does not care about her voters. She abandoned them with ease. She left her constituents in her dust. Her actions are inexcusable.

[Johnny L.A.]

In other words, the perfect Republican.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

I didn't say they were equivalent in nature, I said that they were equivalent in that they illustrate political opportunism.

Roughly the equivalence of getting shot and shooting somebody. Resigning from office is something Sarah Palin did. The birth certificate controversy was something that was done to Barack Obama. One illustrates the character of the politician. The other illustrates the character of the politician's opponents.

Now feel free to misconstrue this post and claim I accused Sarah Palin of shooting Barack Obama.

[Starving Artist]

If you guys want to keep up that line of attack, splitting hairs over which instance of political opportunism is more valid than the other and so forth, then knock yourselves out. The fact remains that in politics, anytime there appears to be vulnerability on the other side, that vulnerabilty will be exploited for all its worth. And no one, including most certainly Democrats, stops first to consider whether that exploitation meets some sort of benchmark for legitimacy.

Now with regard to Palin's allegedly shortchanging voters who counted on her, I would imagine that most of the conservatives in Alaska who voted for Palin for governor are quite happy that she's out and about in the country rallying people to the conservative cause. As I said in the beginning, the likelihood is that most of the people who are outraged over her quitting are people who wouldn't have voted for her in the first place.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

If you guys want to keep up that line of attack, splitting hairs over which instance of political opportunism is more valid than the other and so forth, then knock yourselves out. The fact remains that in politics, anytime there appears to be vulnerability on the other side, that vulnerabilty will be exploited for all its worth. And no one, including most certainly Democrats, stops first to consider whether that exploitation meets some sort of benchmark for legitimacy.

Now with regard to Palin's allegedly shortchanging voters who counted on her, I would imagine that most of the conservatives in Alaska who voted for Palin for governor are quite happy that she's out and about in the country rallying people to the conservative cause. As I said in the beginning, the likelihood is that most of the people who are outraged over her quitting are people who wouldn't have voted for her in the first place.

Bless your heart, there seems to be almost no limit to what you would imagine!

[SenorBeef]

Originally Posted by Starving Artist

If you guys want to keep up that line of attack, splitting hairs over which instance of political opportunism is more valid than the other and so forth, then knock yourselves out. The fact remains that in politics, anytime there appears to be vulnerability on the other side, that vulnerabilty will be exploited for all its worth.

Funny then, with supposedly so many good examples, you decide to choose one that's complete bullshit. But this is a pretty consistent pattern now. "37% of Republicans think Obama is a communist muslim sleeper cell agent? Well a leftist blogger criticized Bush over Iraq and said some nasty things in 2004! Now you're a hypocrite for acting like those are different! Equivelance!!!!!!"

Anyway, I'll stop, since this wasn't the topic to this thread, but it amuses me when you think completely logical reactions to things that actually happened are equivelant to nonsense conspiracy theories without any substance driven only by hatred. It's consistent with the rest of your world view - the ultimate irony is that you're trying to use these points to demonstrate how all sides are all equally guilty of retarded partisanship.

[gonzomax]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-s...-alaska/polls/

Starving just makes shit up. Palin has very low popularity in Alaska. She couldn't get elected as dog catcher.

[gonzomax]

She quit and she is stupid.
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/20...-in-statement/ How do you sweep this response about Paul reveres ride away? I know you will though.

[SenorBeef]

I forgot to add that it's pretty silly to dismiss quitting her position as a political non-issue that would only be brought up by partisans.

If Obama retired today suddenly and mysteriously, yet decided to run in the 2012 election for president, you wouldn't be saying "wtf, he quit for no good reason and abandoned his duties and now he expects people to vote for him again?" - and you'd think anyone who made a fuss out of his quitting doesn't truly care or think it matters but is only taking partisan shots?

[gonzomax]

I wonder what it would take for Starving to quit on her. Her statements are so stupid that they are funny. She quit as Governor. She has no understanding of history and politics. She has no intellect and when she speaks, people cringe in embarrassment. Most Republican pundits dismiss her as a joke. What the hell does it take?
Perhaps he believes she is the best the Repubs have to offer?

[Crane]

She is mindless and babbling, but she is smarter than her base. Her base believes that quitting as Governor was the bold move of an outsider. She has an excellent campaign manager - although he goofed by letting the press get to her on the Paul Revere question.

Palin does not have to be good, all she has to do is beat the field. Romney is the front runner and Palin can easily squash him.

Palin is the likely Republican nominee.

Crane

[jtgain]

I think Palin will perform like Pat Buchanan did in the early GOP primaries. When there are 6 or 7 candidates in the field, you can win with 26% of the vote. But as the field narrows, Buchanan (or Palin) never picked up any more votes.

Palin has a core of a support that would max out at around 30% of the GOP vote. She could do well and win Iowa and New Hampshire, but her share would never go any higher.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by gonzomax

I wonder what it would take for Starving to quit on her. Her statements are so stupid that they are funny. She quit as Governor. She has no understanding of history and politics. She has no intellect and when she speaks, people cringe in embarrassment. Most Republican pundits dismiss her as a joke. What the hell does it take?

If the right wing leadership decides another politician is their candidate and Palin doesn't gracefully step aside. The right wing media will then denounce Palin and all of the dittoheads will nod and agree that obviously that quitter is dumb to be President and who ever said otherwise?

[HMS Irruncible]

Lots of politicians have resigned to seek higher office. Palin's supporters would have no problem swallowing the excuse that she needed to resign in 2009 to build up to a 2012 campaign, but her GOP rivals will hammer hard on this.

Should she actually win the GOP nomination, of course, bygones will be bygones and her erstwhile rivals will line up to lick her boots.