Whom should Palin endorse for RNC chair?
posted at 5:27 pm on December 3, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Saxby Chambliss’s victory has certified the Palin wing of the party as the center of its gravity — at least, that’s how the GOP seems to be treating things. If Chambliss’s words are indicative of GOP thinking, Republican activists and conservatives, then Palin must have a pretty tight grip.
The answer to the question is that Palin hasn’t endorsed an RNC candidate, and her political advisers aren’t saying whether she will.
Follow the link for extensive handicapping, noting the potential pitfall for Steele in his coziness with a centrist Republican group. It’s no mystery whom the new, self-appointed “RNC Conservative Steering Committee” is trying to weed out. Why would Palin endorse anyone, though? Granted, if Chambliss is representative then she may have enough clout to handpick the new chair, but there’s no reason to believe Chambliss is representative. The polls don’t show her with anything close to a prohibitive lead over Romney or even Huck, and like I said this morning, Chambliss himself didn’t need her to win yesterday. Unless Palin’s sure she can decide the race if she intervenes, she’s in the same position Obama was vis-a-vis Jim Martin — faced with a risky bet she doesn’t need to make, especially with some RNC members grumbling about “celebrities” sticking their noses in where they don’t belong.
Exit question one: Assuming she does endorse someone, who will it be? Making nice with Steele would give her “big tent” credibility for 2012. Exit question two: Who’s Ambinder talking about at the very end, when he mentions another “high profile name” getting ready to jump in? I’m not sure if that means high profile among insiders like him, where Katon Dawson would qualify, or high profile among the rank and file, where we’re probably talking about someone like Gingrich or Fred.
Update: Per exit question two, a reader e-mails to question the timing of Fred’s new viral video.
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Any comparison to Admiral Stockdale should be regarded as an honor. Do you know who Admiral Stockdale is? Do you have any idea what he suffered for his country, you smug stupid little bastard?
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 12:32 AM
dk: Sarah is far from finished in national politics. As I write this Sarah is the de facto leader of the Republican party, whether some of its more prominent members want to admit it or not. Every conservative in the party took note of Chambliss’ 15 point blowout of Martin when it was projected 48 hours earlier than he will earn a narrow victory of around 5 points. Sarah is a superstar and superstars don’t retire into the woodwork never to be seen or heard from again. Also that’s not in Sarah’s DNA.
technopeasant on December 5, 2008 at 12:35 AM
I’m with you. You can see the difference now that she’s doing her own hair and makeup. I hope she took some tips from them and from her stylists so that she can build up her own wardrobe.
I guess we’ll see what this last $30,000 is about, but I even if she had something to do with that I still have trouble buying that she was to blame for the original purchases. Her story on that part just seems to make more sense than the staffers’ versions. I never understood why they ran it through the RNC anyway. Why didn’t they just ask Cindy McCain to make it a personal gift to Palin? I’m pretty sure she could have afforded it.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 12:38 AM
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 12:32 AM
Yep, same guy. Most famous for his “Why Am I Here?” remark at the VP debate. I’m not denigrating him you clown but simply pointing out that he vanished into thin air after his 15 minutes. Moose killer has had 15 1/2 minutes and is quickly fading. Superstar? Only a christianite would say such a foolish thing. So sad that you funny little people are pinning your hopes on this bobble-headed bimbo from the snow.
dk on December 5, 2008 at 12:39 AM
Where is Mike Duncan, the head of the RNC, to respond to this issue and to tell the MSM that the outragwous claims made by the MSM are completely bogus?
technopeasant on December 5, 2008 at 12:43 AM
He’s over on Politico trying to save his job on the back of Chambliss’s win (Palin doesn’t get a mention).
Guess who else spent $150,000: Bill Richardson took $200K worth of flights from influential New Mexicans (He is required by law to pay it back. He paid back $50K in October.).
Let’s see which story gets more play over the next couple of days. I think I can guess.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 12:53 AM
I’ve always believed her side of the story. There is absolutely no way that she went shopping for those clothes. First, the shop owners said that she wasn’t there. Second, the press would have seen her if she was there. Third, as I wrote earlier, I know how stylists work. They buy in bulk, fit the person, then return the rest. The RNC took one look at Palin after her debut in Ohio, and hired a make-up artist and a stylist for her. She needed to look vice presidential. Palin, by her own admission, doesn’t like shopping and is not interested in clothes. She ran for governor wearing Carhartts and fleece.
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 12:57 AM
I love this new “christianite” term. Fascinating. If you wish to cast bigoted religious slurs at me my personal favorite is Papist but that’s just because I’m a Catholic.
I find your arguments tiresome and inane. If you’re uninterested in Palin, then just buzz off. Why do you care what we think of her? If she’s just a bimbo as you say then you’re right — she will fade away. And if you really believe that then why do you feel the need to come here and scream about it? It’ll happen without your snotty asides, so just go away and let it.
But I don’t think you’re so sure of your assertion. I think that’s why you feel the need to scream about her fading away.
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 1:06 AM
If you look back through the pictures from the trail you can see that she wore some outfits several times as well. You can tell when she wore something from home too, even without comparing with old pictures, it’s just obvious which pieces cost more. I’d really like for her to be cleared in all this so that she can put it completely behind her. It’s the sort of story that will probably pop up again anytime she runs for office.
Oh, and on a purely personal fashion critique: I think she looks better in the just below the knee skirts instead of the just above, and she needs to buy a couple of pairs of really nice closed-toe heels.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 1:10 AM
dk: I just love it when a player underestimates his opponent. If the millions of Dems are like you I would rejoice and get drunk for a week; however I do think there are some rational Dems out there who do take Sarah seriously and don’t dismiss her as yesterday’s news. I wish it would happen-that the GOP would beat Obama in a walkover, but it ain’t going to happen.
technopeasant on December 5, 2008 at 1:13 AM
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 1:06 AM
Screaming? What screaming? I’m quite calm I can assure you. Heck, I didn’t even use the CAPS LOCK on the keyboard tonight. You’re right though, my opinion either way won’t change the fate of Ms. Mooseburger but sometimes it’s just fun to watch her disciples boil over.
dk on December 5, 2008 at 1:17 AM
Yeah, that’s why the GOP did so well in the last election, huh? And, sorry to disappoint but I’m no Dem. I voted for Barr and before you tell me that my vote was essentially for Obama, sorry again. He won by over the independent margin, just in case you haven’t bothered to look at the final numbers.
dk on December 5, 2008 at 1:20 AM
I think we’re quickly turning this into a chick thread about Sarah’s clothes. LOL! I totally agree with you on the below the knee skirts versus the above the knee. And when her hair is down I think it looks better when she has the sides swept back as she did during her RNC speech and the debates. I’m also one of the few women in America who doesn’t like her Kawasaki glasses. The square shape does strange things to her face. I like the frames she was wearing here more.
I don’t think this clothes story is a big issue. It’s not going to bother people. It’s just been released that other politicians used campaign money for clothing too.
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 1:23 AM
Yeah, any year now the Libertarian Party will win big! We’ll have President Barr just as soon as we get President Nader.
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 1:27 AM
I love it. Now the meme is that the ‘Cuda is mean for not doing Oprah’s show.
Four. She’s done four national interviews (and several press availabilities/press conferences). And she’s has turned down lots more than Oprah. In fact, she’s turned down more than are listed in that story. I actually think that so far her strategy for the interviews has been pretty good. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but I notice that she’s turned down the ‘entertainment’ interviews and accepted four from MSM. She turned down some from MSM too, but it seems to me that she made a conscious decision that MSM interviews with ’serious’ journalists would be better for her image as a candidate in the long run.
It just cracks me up. She doesn’t do interviews, she gets criticized. She does interviews, she gets criticized. Palin Derangement Syndrome indeed.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 1:33 AM
I’m with you on the hair. That style looks great on her. I think she backcombs a little too much when she does her hair herself.
We have hijacked the thread a little bit haven’t we. We better get back to some semblance of the topic before we get in trouble. To that end: Fred Thompson says he’s not running for public office, but doesn’t talk about RNC here.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 1:41 AM
Great observation. I think she timed her interviews so that they would not give the appearance of interfering with her job as governor. She did the Blitzer and Larry King interview while in Florida for the RGA. The other interviewers came to her in Alaska. I think she should make them all come to her in Alaska. She seems much more at ease in her “natural habitat”.
Meanwhile, it seems that Sarah is signing the AGIA license tomorrow. That’s a huge accomplishment, and I’m sure the people of Alaska are aware of that. If she accomplished nothing else in her entire life except getting that natural gas pipeline finished, she would have made a great contribution to America and Alaska. But we expect bigger and better things from her still.
I agree with you about backcombing too much. And I love her Alaska shaped ear rings because they’re charmingly kitsch in just the right sort of way. (Okay, that’s the last fashion reference, I promise. Well maybe one more — I love the red shoes.)
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 2:19 AM
I agree. In addition to the ones she did after the election, Maria Bartiromo interviewed her up there just before she was announced as a candidate. It was about energy issues so it was a little dry, but it was a great interview.
That’s awesome.
I’m going to have to call it a night. Good talking to you.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 2:38 AM
He’s back into acting. Just picked up a contract for a part in a show- I think it’s “Life on Mars” or something, (never seen it) as a NYC law enforcement official.
To paraphrase Alito slamming Biden, didn’t somebody say that before?
cs89 on December 5, 2008 at 8:59 AM
Maybe not just the MSM. I clicked on the link to some wacko Trig Truther blog that Michelle linked to in her article today on truther conspiracy theories, and some of these wackos seem interested in crashing Governor Palin’s Juneau Holiday Open House. I sure hope her security detail realizes that her increased prominence makes her a target for nutjobs.
ramrocks on December 5, 2008 at 11:50 AM
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