Steve Schmidt: Nominating Palin would be “catastrophic” for the GOP; Update: Video added
posted at 11:10 am on October 2, 2009 by Allahpundit
Despite his denials, he and Nicolle Wallace have always been prime suspects in the leaks aimed at her by unnamed McCain staffers, thanks in part to tense campaign-era e-mail exchanges between Palin and Schmidt having magically appeared in print a few months ago. I guess he figures he’s going to take a beating in her new book, so here he is landing the first punch:
“I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican candidate in 2012, and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we would have a catastrophic election result.”
“In the year since the election has ended, she has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base. … Th[e] independent vote is going to be up for grabs in 2012. That middle of the electorate is going to be determinative of the outcome of the elections. I just don’t see that if you look at the things she has done over the year… that she is going to expand that base in the middle.”
Schmidt is the highest ranking former member of McCain’s inner circle to openly criticize Palin. He has largely remain silent since the election, being one of the few McCain staff members privy to entire vice presidential selection process. Partisan political allies have blamed Schmidt for unflattering leaks — including the famous, unattributed quote that Palin had “gone rogue” in the final weeks of the campaign. Schmidt has denied being the source of the leaks, though he has acknowledged tensions with Palin during the campaign.
There’ll be no such thing as a “catastrophic” GOP nominee so long as unemployment remains in the toilet, which, given today’s worse-than-expected numbers — including a real rate of 17 percent if you include “discouraged workers” — it looks set to do for a bad long awhile. Here’s the obligatory link to the updated chart at Innocent Bystanders comparing the actual rate to The One’s moronic pre-stimulus fantasyland projections. Note that the White House has unemployment projected for 5.5 percent or so in late 2012, a number that’s likely to haunt them during the next campaign. So long as things are this tough, Obama won’t have a cakewalk against anyone, Palin included.
But that avoids Schmidt’s basic point, i.e. would nominating Palin give The One a better chance than nominating someone else? She does have trouble with independents, although she may be in the process of addressing that by refashioning herself as a strong-form libertarian. She has huge problems with women. And given the image that’s taken hold of her, in Krauthammer’s words, as someone unduly dependent on “platitudes and cliches,” nominating her would turn an election that’s supposed to be a referendum on Obama’s first term into a referendum on whether Sarah Palin knows what she’s talking about. Every misstep and error when discussing policy on the trail will be magnified through the lens of the Tina Fey “I can see Russia from my house” nonsense; the Democrats and the media will frame her as a female Dan Quayle and contrast Obama’s four years of presidential experience with centrists’ doubts about her qualifications. It’s not that she’ll have to be able to talk policy as fluently as any other candidate, she’ll have to be able to talk about it more fluently to scrub the media image of her as an ignoramus. It’s not impossible but … it’s tough.
Schmidt obviously realizes, though, that she’ll have huge right-wing grassroots/media support in the primary; read down towards the end of the Atlantic piece linked above and you’ll find him warning that “The leadership of the party cannot be outsourced to the conservative-entertainment complex.” Does the “conservative-entertainment complex” really have that much power, though? Exit quotation:
The rise of Beck, Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and the rest has correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the G.O.P. But it’s not because the talk jocks have real power. It’s because they have illusory power, because Republicans hear the media mythology and fall for it every time.
Update: Here’s the clip of Schmidt, anticipating that he’ll come off in Palin’s book as “anti-rogue.”
Blowback
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Hopey Changey loses again….!
d1carter on October 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Hey Mr. Shitt, HOW DID THAT MCCAIN THING WORK OUT FOR YA?
SDarchitect on October 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Any candidate who hires this rino POS is dead to me.
mcassill on October 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
HA HA HA out in the 1st round.
Bitch slap to the O (both of them)
angryed on October 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Drudge headlines are hilarious!
WORLD REJECTS OBAMA: CHICAGO OUT IN FIRST ROUND
WINDY CITY BLOWS IT
Monica on October 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Look, I love Palin.
And I think the GOP has to admit defeat, and acknowledge that ‘the left’ won the battle against her and ruined her as a candidate.
IMO, I agree with all of that except the last part – with respect, I think maybe you’re the one with a blind spot on Palin. Everything you said there is correct. AND it speaks to her strength with the GOP conservative base *only*. And that was true during the election.
It does *not* speak to the independents and conservative democrats, IMO. Again, I love her, but I think a few misteps on her part coupled with the very effective (and very unfair) efforts to destroy her from ‘the left’ have ruined her as a ticket-topper.
Again, I love her, I’ll buy the book, and I’d vote for her in a heartbeat. But I’m the ‘rock-ribbed conservative’ with libertarian leanings. I honestly fear she won’t play that well in ‘the middle’, and the damage she took during the election from ‘the left’ – and the damage she’d continue to take in the future election – make her unelectable, unfortunately.
Just my opinion.
Midas on October 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
The Olympics are racist.
faraway on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Woo-hoo! Par-tay!!!!!
Blame it on Rio!
LMAO!
ornery_independent on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Oh, the elites are gettin scared. You betcha.
stenwin77 on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Obama: I blame BUSH!
angryed on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
It’s so nice to have a President who’s helping the US gain the respect of the International Community again.
/sarc
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
cs89 on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Heh.
The question is whether Palin is playing a short or long game.
I’m thinking long game.
She knows her resume’ is thin. She knows she has trouble with independents. She knows she has to, as all those who would shatter glass ceilings know, not just equal the rest of the pack, but be superior. This will take time.
I expect she won’t seek the nomination in 2012, but will campaign for a nominee she can work with, and will parlay that into an administration position with some visibility and one that will provide some additional executive experience.
Unlike the Dems, where a guy can go from the farm team to winning the big game in 6 years, the Repubs need to build a stronger back bench, and I’d like to think Palin knows this.
And if not, then she’s not as smart, or much more arrogant than I think.
Mew
acat on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
The words of S. Schmidt, Esq., 1775:
But it’s not because the pamphleteers have real power. It’s because they have illusory power, because the colonists read the printed mythology and fall for it every time.
Exit question for Mr. Schmidt: Who had greater impact with the people in early 1776–sensible J. Dickinson, passionate J. Adams, or “rabble-rousing” T. Paine?
Horatius on October 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
MAJOR EPIC FAIL IS MORE LIKE IT! And if I may be so blunt to the globalist Obots out there…YOU LOSE!
BobAnthony on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Let’s be honest about Palin:
she has high negatives
BUT — ALL her “possible negatives” are out there
EVERYTHING has been thrown at Paln…
….and she’s still polling at abut 42% as a private citizen that quit vs. the first black president that heals the waters
Romney, Huck, et. can only go DOWN.
PALIN can only go UP.
SO it’s “HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD”
battleoflepanto1571 on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Oh Lord, PLEASE tell me this is true!!!!
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Obama: The trip to Copenhagen was only secondarily about the Olympics. I went to talk to McChrystal for 25 minutes. After all, presidents always go to where their generals are.
BuckeyeSam on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Dear Leader CAN’T perform miracles??!! LOLOL
Jeff from WI on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
“Steve Schmidt: Nominating Palin would be “catastrophic” for the GOP”
As apposed to whom? John McCain?
Fuzzlenutter on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
It is still early though. I don’t know what lies ahead for her or if she can turn her image around, but I hope she fights. I like what she is doing and am certainly one of her bigger fans but she has an uphill climb. But I will be rooting for her, whether it be 2012, 2016, or never. I just really like her and hope for the best. I think she has the makings of a great leader, but DC is a shark tank. She may actually be more effective on the outside. But who knows? In any case, GO SARAH GO!
XWing5 on October 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
I figure it was Michelle 0′s yellow dress that blew it for Chicago – g-d it was hideous!
tanvec on October 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM
I really hate stupid hyperbole like this.
Assume for a moment that Palin is as dense as they make her out to be. Then she’s going to end up led around by the usual crowd of GoP advisors. Oh nooooeeeessss!!!!
We’ll get what we usually get. CATASTROPHE.
TheUnrepentantGeek on October 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Schmidt is an expert on catastrophic political campaigns.
InterestedObserver on October 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Funny how they keep telling Sarah’s ever-growing following how unpopular she is. As if by their mere insisting, we don’t exist.
Perhaps this is another diagnosable form of “denier.”
MassVictim on October 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Advice on winning elections from a guy from the “inner circle” of a campaign whose candidate couldn’t even draw a crowd at events in his own home state. Too funny.
Thanks Steve. But don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Cicero43 on October 2, 2009 at 11:34 AM
2012 is a long way away. It’s very possible we could get to a number reasonably close to 5.5% unemployment by then, unless of course Obama does something so astoundingly Carteresque and stupid so as to interfere with the natural flow of business cycles.
Outlander on October 2, 2009 at 11:34 AM
txag92 on October 2, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Surrender that quickly, eh? Repeat after me: WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
Keep repeating after me until November 6, 2012.
BradSchwartze on October 2, 2009 at 11:34 AM
A hamburger could beat Obama in 2012 at the rate he’s going. As for Schmidt’s claim that Palin would be disastrous, I disagree. She may lose in a general election, but she’d do no worse than McCain in terms of electoral votes.
I don’t know what it’s gonna take for these Beltway idiots to get the picture. Dubya was a fiscal socialist(credit to Savage for that one) and look where it got the GOP. McCain is all too eager to cater to the far left on issues like amnesty, crap-and-betrayed, taxpayer-subsidized mortgages, and taxes and look where it got the GOP. Now we’ve got the likes of Romney and Jeb Bush conducting “listening tours” when all they have to do is turn on the damn radio or TV to hear what the people are saying.
Has Schmidt been to a tea party? Has he at least spoken to people who’ve attended? Has he seen the sales figures for the Levin, Beck, Malkin, and Palin books? Has he seen the ratings for FoxNews? Has he seen the impact that ordinary citizens have had on ACORN, an organization the GOP targeted for years with zero success? Did he see the crowd of 20,000 in New York(we’re talking New York, people!) show up to hear Palin speak months after the election had ended?
“The leadership of the party cannot be outsourced to the conservative-entertainment complex.” Two things, Steve. First of all, it already HAS been outsourced. O’Keefe, Giles, and Beck have accomplished more in the last month than the GOP has all year, so shut your hole about leadership. Secondly, this isn’t about entertainment for us conservatives. This about the fate of our country. To paraphrase your former boss, “fight with us”. Otherwise step aside.
Doughboy on October 2, 2009 at 11:35 AM
The funny thing is that loser Steve Schmidt and quitter Sarah Palin are two peas in the same pod: bomb-throwers who have no real interest in interest or the truth who success lies in their ability to manufacture and exploit divisive issues. Palin’s “death panel” posting is the perfect example of a Steve Schmidt tactic: create a fake issue (remember “lipstick on a pig”?), make it simple enough that the moron majority can understand it, and say whatever it takes to get your name in the paper. If he thinks Sarah’s toast, she is.
Bleeds Blue on October 2, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Couldn’t the same correlation be made with the “rise” of Steve Schmidt?
Crawford on October 2, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Didn’t you get the memo? Of course the GOP wants the Conservatives in the “big tent” Who else can be expected to stand at the edges to block the wind from disturbing our elites? /s
katiejane on October 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Thanks for the fairness. I’d like to agree to disagree.
She has strong base support, sure. I simply don’t trust a lot of polls about what “independents,” etc. are looking for. Two basic approaches- A. build on a strong base, govern with a light enough touch not to tick off the independents (i.e., Palin’s conservative position on same-sex marriage, but choice not to fight granting certain benefits to domestic partners while governor), and attract them. B. Chase the middle, change positions to appease them, and try not to undermine the foundation of your base.
I see “A” as the winning alternative. Just my opinion.
cs89 on October 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
You betcha! Screencap it, it’s a keeper. Siren and everything.
Out in the first round. Too delicious.
Missy on October 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Hate to be down on our Country, but I was on Drudge and just happened to click on the link where they were just announcing the first vote. Chicago was the first one eliminated, did not even make in to the top two. I guess the Olympic committee just does not appreciate Hopey and Changey like the US does.
Susanboo on October 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
To quote the incomparable Lee Atwater: being called “catastrophic” by Steve Schmidt is like being called ugly by a frog.
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
A Palin presidency sweeps the Steve Schmidts and Nicole Wallaces of the world straight out of power.
It’s not about what’s best for the country or even the GOP. It’s what’s best for THEM…
Nat Hound on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
I love Palin, but given her treatment by the media she cannot possibly win a Presidency.
The next Republican administration should just make her ‘Czar of Women’s Issues’ or something, that will piss-off the Left something chronic.
mudskipper on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
“MICHELLE DISTRAUGHT – SAYS SACRIFICE WAS IN VAIN”
fogw on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Holy moly. Can this week get any better? The defenestration of David Letterman, followed by an EPIC FAIL by the Obamas?
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
If it was “fake,” why did the Dems take it out of the bill?
MassVictim on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
I’m not quite sure how Sarah will pan out.
I bet the US is not ready for a woman president-but she would be the best woman among many at this moment in time.
This guy’s just got sour grapes.
McCain getting nominated is what caused the already widening rift in the Republican party to explode.
I for one am tired of these moderate turds telling me how I need to walk the middle road.
There is just some stuff I cannot compromise on.
Badger40 on October 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM
New headline on Drudge:
THE EGO HAS LANDED
He’s having entirely too much fun this morning.
Monica on October 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Steve Schmidt: Nominating Palin would be “catastrophic” for the GOP insiders’s and RINO’s.
darwin on October 2, 2009 at 11:40 AM
mudskipper on October 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Another (white) flag-waver, I see.
WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
BradSchwartze on October 2, 2009 at 11:40 AM
I must admit, it is indeed sweet. Oh, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see Michelle’s face when the votes came in.
Missy on October 2, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Let me be clear: Obama stumbles whenever he speaks off teleprompter, he has failed to lead his own party on healthcare reform. He missed his own deadlines on closing Gitmo, as well as healthcare. He’s made secret back-room deals with special interest, hired radical czars, bowed to a saudi king, and WILL break his promise of raising taxes and hasn’t a clue of what to do in Afghanistan.
Oh, and, there is the Obama-ACORN-SEIU connections…
What we need in Washington, is a straight talking, hard working, America-loving, troop-supporting, limited government mindset, country over party, open, honest, transparent, to put this country back on course.
Never send a man to do a woman’s job!
Palin 2012
TN Mom on October 2, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Since we’ve got the entire 2010 election cycle coming up, and since Palin figures to be the most sought-after speaker for fundraisers by conservative candidates and groups, it’s way too early to speculate one way or another.
What she says and does next year will be like the off-year election efforts for other candidates by past Republicans like Reagan, and even Nixon in 1966. It’s a matter of both building up your credits and reintroducing yourself to the American people, based on statements dealing with the current political climate, not the one before Obama was elected.
Of course the left would go crazy about her mean-spirited, ideological bent even if she went on stage next year and just recited last night’s Major League Baseball scores, but if the country is still in trouble both on the domestic and foreign policy side, she’ll get a new hearing from the swing voters, just like they gave Reagan a new hearing in the wake of the disaster that was the Carter presidency. But she’ll still have to make the sale with what she says and does.
jon1979 on October 2, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Taking anymore advice from this douche would certainly be “catastrophic”.
Orange Doorhinge on October 2, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Steve Schmidt is right. She is disaterous for the Republican Party as he knows it. She isn’t going to lead that part of the party. It will be her party by 2012, not the one he is trying to pawn off on us.
BetseyRoss on October 2, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Since Palin would be a failure as a candidate, I’m wondering how the other potential candidates books are doing?
Jeff from WI on October 2, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Steve Schmidt does not speak for me. I’ll run away from any candidate he backs.
NebCon on October 2, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Sort of what I’ve been saying.
TheUnrepentantGeek on October 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Nominating Palin would be catastrophic for people of all parties and affiliations who fancy themselves as intellectuals.
For the rest of us, it will be wonderful.
Daggett on October 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Any GOP candidate should expect a chainsaw enema from the state run press.
TwinkietheKid on October 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM
How refreshing to hang out with the people on this site. You are soooo funny. Kudos!
To Mr Scmshit …. We got your number too. Those old political “talking from both sides of your mouth” comments are so passe. Moron!
hopefloats on October 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM
After this clown Obama crashes and burns the “Independents” will be flocking to the GOP, WITH PALIN, like Reagan in ’80
Jeff from WI on October 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM
FORGET ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE
IF PALIN doesn’t talk substantively on issues she shouldn’t run for president.
END OF STORY… either she puts in the work to change her image or she can forget about being our leader.
If she improves to level of a policy wonk then she will be fine…
TimeTraveler on October 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Who is Steve Schmidt? No idea…
Who is Sarah Palin? Leading conservative…
Any questions?
IntheNet on October 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM
It is Schmidt and his ilk who are playing the dangerous game.
Blake on October 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Steve Schmidt reminds me of a marriage broker who arranges a marriage between a healthy woman who he has vetted and his famous male client who happens to have major flaws in “performance” who the woman later on decides to divorce and seek greener pastures;and to rationalize the fact of his male client’s deficiencies attacks the woman for being unfaithful or not marriageable material and thus expresses “buyer’s remorse” for setting her up with his client in the first place.
technopeasant on October 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM
You know who this helps – Palin. Schmidt’s word is as good as mud these days.
Vashta.Nerada on October 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM
The GOP better hope and pray that Palin IS their candidate, and not bolt to a third party.
Jeff from WI on October 2, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Palin has more “POTENIAL”; she can’t go any lower than 39-41%
The other gop have waaaay more room to crash.
The question is, Can Palin win over 12-15 million ‘in the middle’ americans?
battleoflepanto1571 on October 2, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Boy, I just read a twitter where Schmidt just said at some Atlantic Conference that not only will Palin be disasterous, but that republicans may have to lose another few elections before the “big tent” message takes. I guess he feels us knuckle draggers are a little slow!
KickandSwimMom on October 2, 2009 at 11:47 AM
I can’t believe what this guy is saying:
Don’t these guys read the polls that run in their favor?
microfiction on October 2, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Who does more damage to the GOP? The person who constantly bashes republicans in public or the person who practices Reagan’s 11th Commandment?
Blake on October 2, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Schmidt is an idiot. The candidate he backed was a pathetic loser, who refused to fight because of his fear of being called a racist.
If you want an office as badly as McCain did, and then, once you have the nomination, you willingly implode, you are a lousy candidate. Schmidt supported him and undermined Palin (the only one of the four with any executive experience whatsoever) and we got President Disaster.
I think Schmidt has already blown his credibility. Anyone who hires this incompetent boob is off my voting list.
hachiban on October 2, 2009 at 11:48 AM
You mean like policy wonk, (57 States) Obama, or (3 letter word J O B S/ Stand up Joe) Biden?
Jeff from WI on October 2, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I honestly doubt she will run. I’m thinking that it will be someone currently off the radar.
Vashta.Nerada on October 2, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Yeah! Leave losing to the professionals!
JKahn913 on October 2, 2009 at 11:50 AM
LOL. Translation: OMG, My man Steve is scared silly of this woman and so am I — Ahhhhrrrggg!!!!
littleguy on October 2, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Looks like Allah bin Tollbooth is still addicted to posting anti-Palin articles.
Percy_Peabody on October 2, 2009 at 11:51 AM
If Palin improves her in terms of articulating national policy, I think she has a decent chance of uniting the party.
However, I think she is being a lazy *** and not putting in the work….
Who knows? Maybe she is in it for the money only.
TimeTraveler on October 2, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Hey Stevie Baby, the Republican establishment hasn’t done squat for 8 years except help run this country in the ground. And you think Palin will be catastrophic?
You’ve got to be kidding.
eaglesdontflock on October 2, 2009 at 11:52 AM
“The EGO has landed” on drudge , LMAOROFL.
the_nile on October 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM
lol? You think he has that much weight in the republican party? You are a moron my friend.
TimeTraveler on October 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Republicans are not conservatives. They are partisans out for handouts and bennies.
spmat on October 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Sarah Palin has exceeded expectations EVERY time she set out to do something.
There’s no reason to think she will not continue to do so.
FBI says: Past behavior is predictive of future actions…..
Stephanie on October 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Didn’t his candidate LOSE?
I think we should all listen to what he has to say. I mean afterall, he ran a campaign against a guy who had not ONE meaningful accomplishment to his name, had been on the public stage for 2 years, had never actually lead anything in his life, and has spent most of his adult life surrounding himself with socialist/communist and he LOST!
Yes…we should all listen to him.
ramrants on October 2, 2009 at 11:54 AM
No, the decline in the GOP correlated with your rise, Mr. Schmidt. If there is one person on this planet that I don’t care to hear from, it is you!
bopbottle on October 2, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Seems as though everyone is convinced she’s going to make a run for 2012. The woman is unpredictable and it makes her opponents squirm. The establishment can criticize her all they want but her influence is undeniable so I find the criticism entertaining because fear is at the root.
MestizoMaverick on October 2, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Yeah — he career so awesome that I’m trembling in my boots. Lets see: mediocre mayor of tiny town, failed VP candidate, quitter governor. Yep, she’s a juggernaut all right.
You guys are like bettors who put all their money on the home team no matter how bad the odds are, because you’re so blinded by hormones that you forget to think.
I’ll bet you think her Hong Kong speech was brilliant, too.
Bleeds Blue on October 2, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Q: Who was the last Republican presidential candidate to win by not one, but two landslides and what was his political bent?
Hint: He wasn’t a “moderate” and the media and lefties couldn’t stand him. If memory serves, and I think it does, they said something about him being “meanspirited,” a “warmonger” and an “amiable dunce.”
ncborn on October 2, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Has anyone ever seen Steve Schmidt and Allahpundit together at the same time? Just askin’.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on October 2, 2009 at 11:56 AM
I think anyone can win against this idiot Acorn leader in the whitehouse.
tx2654 on October 2, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Sarah is already half-way there. Everything she does is noticed. That is the hardest thing to achieve as a candidate.
The rest of her task is very straightforward. She needs to convince the people who have heretofore let SNL do their thinking for them. She will do this by exhibiting her great common sense and penchant for straight talk.
Look at the coverage of her Hong Kong speech. She impressed her audience there and even convinced some conservatives here. Yeah, I meant to say conservatives.
Tyrone Slothrop on October 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Here’s a shocker for you Palin/anti-Palin fanatics: Palin won’t run for any national public office. She will simply keep writing books, doing the circut, and will campaign for any fiscal conservative willing to take a democrats place.
It’s gonna be a turkey shoot……..
Rovin on October 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Then we can never have a candidate…
..because anyone we pick or really want WILL RECEIVE THE SAME TREATMENT.
That’s a fact.
So will we…
1. Let the media tell us who they feel is appropriate like last time?
or
2. Acknowledge that the left and the media (BIRM) will destroy anyone we like…and then NOT CARE about what they think and do our best to get the people we want elected.
“Here’s a little newsflash for those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.”
powerpro on October 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Lothar on October 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/political-media/gop-war-over-palin-limbaugh-blasts-mccain-advisers-as-losers-for-slamming-sarah
Enoxo on October 2, 2009 at 11:58 AM
The Atlantic?! Really? We’re suposed to take this as serious “advice” to te GOP?! Surely yer pulling our collective leg.
Schmidt needs to be tagged with a scarlet “L“, for LOSER!
I’ll support Palin in whatever she chooses to do. She is the ONLY one right now that is effectively injecting “Common Sense” into the debates of the day. I’m an Independent, and there are many more like me out there.
ps: I hope The Cuda skewers Schmidt in her book.
ornery_independent on October 2, 2009 at 11:58 AM
As a matter of fact, what I read of it….was.
Keep barking though. It makes your side look pathetic.
ElectricPhase on October 2, 2009 at 11:58 AM
If you want to compare the rise of Beck, O’Reilley, etc to the fall of the GOP, surely you can chart out the ratings of the entertainers to the # of GOP Congressmen and see if the theory holds out. My guess is that it doesnt, but that’s just a guess.
orange on October 2, 2009 at 11:58 AM
The rise of Beck, Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and the rest has correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the G.O.P.
Correlation is not causation. Someone didn’t pay attention in Stat 101.
Tongueboy on October 2, 2009 at 11:58 AM
LOL. Obviously you think so, or you wouldn’t be sulking about it!
littleguy on October 2, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Yea, we should listen to you! After all you were behind McCain who did sooo well!
The truth is she scares the Hell out of RINO’s because she brings true republicans and conservative independents together. And if he were not so goofy, he would notice the ratings, and book sales of the conservative entertainment market!
patriotparty1 on October 2, 2009 at 12:01 PM
I saw this comment yesterday about Sarah Palin, it is worth reading:
Alaskan Fisherman talks about Sarah Palin
By Dewie Whetsell, Alaskan Fisherman
The last 45 of my 66 years I’ve spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here’s the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it…It’s not about persona, style, rhetoric, it’s about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I’m about to mention here.
1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor’s office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican’s “Corrupt Bastards Club” (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, throwing confetti and singing “la la la la” (well, you know how they are). Name another governor in this country that has ever done anything similar. But while you’re thinking, I’ll continue.
2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So, she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called “ACES”. Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them “don’t let the door hit you in the stern on your way out.” They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has done anything similar.
3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor’s office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as “pork”. She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the “when-hell-freezes-over” stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we’ll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor’s jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor’s cook (remarking that she could cook for her own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never mentioning—I imagine—that she’s packing heat herself). I’m still waiting to hear the names of those other governors.
4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed “gosh and golly” mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn’t impress you, then you’re trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand.
5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn’t start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started. This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again.
6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025. We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona . Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that’s just a cover-up. I’m still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won’t be holding my breath.
By the way, she was content to to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn’t let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better.
djn on October 2, 2009 at 12:02 PM
All this negative talk about Palin is mostly just talk (or complete bs, take your pick). When considering Palin for president, consider these questions: Would she be worse than Obama? Who of the possible Republican candidates is much better than her?
docdave on October 2, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Sounds as if Stevie is worried about what may be in the book. It may be his political future that’s in the crapper not Sarah’s.
It wasn’t the girl from Ipanema that did the Won and Chicago in, it was the Killa from Wasilla.
Kissmygrits on October 2, 2009 at 12:04 PM
You mean something like:
1) Government Option Health Care
2) Carbon Taxes
3) Value Added Taxes (Middle Class Tax increase)
4) Immigration Reform/Amnesty
Yes he is really on the way to 5.5% employment rather than 5.5% unemployment.
chemman on October 2, 2009 at 12:04 PM
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