# Palin in 2012? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 5, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136 "2008-09-05T05:06:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/1 "2008-09-05T05:06:33Z")
Two assumptions: Obama wins in November and Gov. Palin runs a good vice-presidential campaign (whatever that means) and is as impressive despite the loss as she is now. Will she be the early leader of the Republican Party to take back the White House or does she retire back to obscurity in Juneau? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/2 "2008-09-05T05:09:49Z")
At this point in the 2004 election, how many people would have predicted that Obama would be the Democratic candidate in 2008? Four years is an eternity in politics, and it’s not really possible to make predictions for what will happen then. I do think that if she makes it through this election cycle without imploding that she’ll have the opportunity to stay in the limelight, but who knows whether she’ll take advantage of it? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/3 "2008-09-05T05:14:27Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > At this point in the 2004 election, how many people would have predicted that Obama would be the Democratic candidate in 2008? Four years is an eternity in politics, and it’s not really possible to make predictions for what will happen then. I do think that if she makes it through this election cycle without imploding that she’ll have the opportunity to stay in the limelight, but who knows whether she’ll take advantage of it? That’s why I said EARLY leader. I guess what I’m asking is does she (unofficially) start her presidential campaign the day after the election or does she say it was great while it lasted and head back home? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/4 "2008-09-05T06:09:21Z")
Win or lose, VP is likely to be as big as she gets. Well, she might have a long career in Alaska. But I don’t know that she will be back in D.C. except as a Congresscritter. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/5 "2008-09-05T06:42:24Z")
I think it depends upon Obama’s popularity in 2012. If he’s still as popular as he is now, she’d sit out until 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/6 "2008-09-05T07:51:35Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > At this point in the 2004 election, how many people would have predicted that Obama would be the Democratic candidate in 2008? I thought that was all the buzz at the time. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/7 "2008-09-05T08:09:55Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I think it depends upon Obama’s popularity in 2012. If he’s still as popular as he is now, she’d sit out until 2012. … she’d sit out until 2016 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/8 "2008-09-05T10:33:18Z")
I think we’d need to see how she responds in the debates and in some hard interviews before we know how good a candidate she is. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/9 "2008-09-05T10:38:55Z")
She still hasn’t given a single interview to a news organization since her selection. Let her make a fool of herself on the Sunday talkies and then have Biden eviscerate her in debates and she’ll go back to being mayor of Wasilla and trying to ban books that she doesn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/10 "2008-09-05T10:57:07Z")
No. It’ll be Romney or someone like that. Just look at Edwards in '04 and '08. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/11 "2008-09-05T11:24:31Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > i think we’d need to see how she responds in the debates and in some hard interviews before we know how good a candidate she is. qft. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/12 "2008-09-05T11:36:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > She still hasn’t given a single interview to a news organization since her selection. Let her make a fool of herself on the Sunday talkies and then have Biden eviscerate her in debates and she’ll go back to being mayor of Wasilla and trying to ban books that she doesn’t like. Uh no, she’ll complete her term as Governor of Alaska, in which there is no report of any attempt to ban books. Unless you think that a win for McCain means that Obama will go back to being a community organizer. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/13 "2008-09-05T16:37:40Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Uh no, she’ll complete her term as Governor of Alaska And after _that_, she’ll be lucky to win an election for anything as big as Mayor of Wasilla ever again. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/14 "2008-09-05T16:40:27Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I thought that was all the buzz at the time. > > -FrL- The buzz was that Obama would be a contender for president someday, not that he would be a serious contender this year. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/15 "2008-09-05T18:22:45Z")
Think Dan Quayle. Besides, what good would it do? You are merely putting lipstick on a [del]pig[/del] [del]pit bull[/del] hockey mom. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/16 "2008-09-05T18:36:59Z")
What **brickbacon** said. We still know very little about Palin as a campaigner. That said, however, if McCain loses, a lot of the blame is going to be attached to Palin. People will say it was a rash pick, she wasn’t qualified, didn’t hold up under scrutiny, couldn’t appeal to women, whatever whatever. Largely that’s what some people will say now, but whether that’s the reason for the loss or not, a lot of it would get stuck on her, which would be a serious handicap. She’d be seen as a permanent lightweight. Failed VP nominee is not a stepping stone to the nomination anyway. Didn’t work for Edwards, Lieberman, Quayle, Bentsen, Ferraro… ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/17 "2008-09-05T18:39:47Z")
She will be (unfairly) blamed for McCains inevitable loss, this is the high point in her political career. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-in-2012/462136/18 "2008-09-05T18:43:36Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Two assumptions: > Obama wins in November and Gov. Palin runs a good vice-presidential campaign (whatever that means) and is as impressive despite the loss as she is now. > > Will she be the early leader of the Republican Party to take back the White House or does she retire back to obscurity in Juneau? It depends – does the GOP conclude that Palin specifically or the Religious Right faction generally scared away the voters, or not?