What’s the big deal with Palin '08? I know it’s mostly a stump piece for Pubbiegandists to amuse themselves with, but I say bring it on and let her run. If the Republican party could still possibly be so deluded as to consider her as a candidate for any office in the wake of the fiasco that they called a political campaign, then I say knock yourselves out. I could not think of easier fodder for a landslide victory for Obama’s second term. He would lose to a houseplant before losing to her. He hasn’t even been president for a day and I am already chanting “four more years” …
Well, sure it would make it easier for Obama, but what a boring campaign! I’d rather see him tested and challenged by someone who’s bright and well-educated. Someone who will represent the New Republican Party that emerges from the ruins. They need to turn a corner and present an inteligent and viable alternative and move away from nutcases. (Think Goldwater as opposed to Dan Quayle.
I sincerely hope the Republicans try to pull themselves together and nominate someone worth a shit, rather than play Henry Higgins to Sarah Palin’s Eliza and try to gussy her up for the ball.
In fairness, Obama hasn’t governed a day yet. I expect he’ll do well, but a lot can happen in four years.
Republicans are a little different than Dems. Dems hate losers - you typically don’t see them on the ticket again (unless they were weeded out early in the process and get VP nods - see Gore, Biden). It was an awful time to run as a Republican, and so instead of picking someone who could appeal to swing voters, they got Palin to electrify the base. The question is, how relevant and significant is the base?
I think cooler heads will prevail, and the GOP will find a young star in the next four years. (Where’s George P. Bush?) Palin will get some nominal position of deference, but she won’t ever be a general election candidate. Smarter heads will prevail and take note of the fact that the gains Palin made for the GOP were short-lived, while the negatives piled up over time…
I think a lot of the enthusiasm for Palin was forced. Republican’s who didn’t like McCain wanted to get excited about something, and so talked up Palin. Somewhat similar to Dems feelings about Edward’s in 2004 IMHO, they weren’t thrilled about their prez candidate, and so the VP pick garnered a lot of attention.
And like Edwards, I think Palin will suffer a similar fate. She’ll be seen as a contender for the GOP nomination for one or two cycles, but she’ll never actually get too far with it and go down as an also ran.
George P. Bush? No chance this half-century.
It’ll be the VP picks cast aside for Palin (wow, shades of Broglio-for-Brock, and I’m not even a Cub fan). Thinking specifically of Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindal, to start.
The reason it would be bad is because a Palin candidacy would suggest that 2012 Republican’s hadn’t learned anything from our trials of 2000 to 2008. Hopefully, we have a stronger, smarter Republican party by then. A Republican party that divests itself of the pandering, flaky and pretentiously religious moral values crowd and at least pretends to focus on real world issues.
If that means they have a better chance of beating the Dems, so be it, but at least we won’t feel too butthurt if we lose.
the republican party will, in all likeliness, just go farther towards the pandering of flaky, pretentious religious moral values. The reason being, and the reason it’s gone so far in that direction, is that the more leftist/centrist republicans have been leaving the party in greater and greater numbers leaving only the conservative right base behind. There have been lots of hard core republicans crying out for a restructuring of the party and it hasn’t happened, and I don’t this ***kicking at the polls will only serve to alienate more people from the party, rather than cause a reformation of it
Don’t rule out Palin yet. Do remember what happened with Nixon.
Nixon had a brain, at least. Though admittedly no updo.
Compare what Nixon knew about China with what Palin knows about Russia. :rolleyes:
Even if Palin studies for 8 years, she’s never going to represent or unite the whole country.
Her sole purpose is to appeal to right-wing fundamentalists (teach Creationism in Science! I’m pretty and I love shooting guns!!)
P.S. I knew Richard Nixon, Governer Palin, and you’re no Richard Nixon…
I think a lot might be determine with how the Alaska Senate race shapes up. If Stevens is reelected and is expelled or resigns, then Palin might try to get the Alaska Senate seat. Her spending a couple of years on the Sunday morning talk shows would help her a great deal
Palin getting the 2012 Republican nomination is a virtual impossibility. Not sure why anyone would even think otherwise.
I could live with what happened to Nixon happening to Palin.
Oh, you said “with Nixon.” My error.
Nixon was actually vice-president for eight years before losing to Kennedy. Palin, not so much.
…of anything.
As mentioned before, Nixon had already been VP when he lost to Kennedy in 1960. Plus, while Nixon might have been the most crooked SOB of late 20th-century American politics, he was a damned shrewd politician. He ate far, far savvier politicians than Palin for lunch.
It’s far too early to tell, of course, but I suspect that the GOP may be heading for a massive rift. The GOP seems to be split between those who think that evangelical policies wrecked their chances of winning, and those who think that they didn’t court the social conservatives enough. A Palin 2012 candidacy would only widen that rift further. That kind of infighting isn’t going to help them win in 2012. Bad enough that they’ll be now battling an incumbent president, but by fighting that internal battle again they’re failing to learn the lessons of 2008, such as they are.
It will be interesting to see what sort of catharsis this loss creates in the GOP - I think it will. This is a “come to Jesus” moment - and one side really thinks of that as a literal solution to the problem. My own hope is that side is marginalized - that the Democrat’s success with inclusion is taken to heart, but if they aren’t (and I suspect that it will take another loss or two before that happens), someone like Palin will be at the forefront of the next election.
(I want a moderate Republican party back - I’ve become an “Independent In Name Only” because there have been so few GOP candidates don’t scare me. Coleman is moderate, and except for his Pro-Life stance - and the fact that he is a grade A asshole - I would have voted for him - the asshole thing being probably a more important factor.)
You’ve gotten to the heart of the matter. The bolded above is what must happen for the Republican Party to survive as a force in national politics.
Thanks. Thanks a lot. I can’t unthink that mental image.