Monday, July 13, 2009

Does Sarah Palin lack broad appeal?

I don't mean with the Republican base, but among the electorate, generally:

Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin
[...] Consider a USA Today/Gallup poll released last week. About 7 in 10 Republicans said they would be likely to vote for Palin if she ran for president. Other surveys place Palin in a statistical dead heat with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, the former governors of Massachusetts and Arkansas, respectively, who sought the White House in 2008 and give every indication that they will try again in 2012.

Although any presidential poll taken this far out has to be taken with a sea's worth of salt, that is not the reason so many Republican strategists and party insiders dismiss Palin.

"People at the grass roots see a charismatic personality who is popular with other people at the grass roots. But their horizon only goes so far as people who think like them," said Mike Murphy. The veteran GOP ad man eviscerated Palin -- a "political train wreck," "an awful choice" for vice president, her resignation an "astonishing self-immolation" -- in a column published Thursday in the New York Daily News.

"Professional operatives keep their eye on a broader horizon and understand, without independents and swing voters, she can't win," Murphy said. "She's a stone-cold loser in a general election."

That, of course, is debatable and subject to any number of developments over the next few years. A Palin spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. [...]

I'm not going to rehash a lot of opinions here. But at THIS point, I doubt she could win a national election, but 2012 is still years away, and a lot can happen between now and then. And who knows what she'll do next? An Independent Conservative Movement? That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how it's handled. We'll see what happens.
     

2 comments:

Paul said...

Can anyone real tell me that you were impressed by her exit speech? You can’t real believe that she is the only person that can win in 2012. You know, if she can’t take a joke, don’t get in the game, its politics, they all get kicked around. Let me paint you a picture, in my opinion, for the last eight years where the mantra was no regulation and no oversight and spread to all federal agencies and the justice department was filled by unqualified religious types and the dullard (ex-drunk) religious president started two wars of choice with extreme tax dollar spending, is anyone surprised with our current economic situation because of those choices. Sure “W” sucker the religious right to vote for him and that’s why he placed unqualified people in positions of responsibility and they failed (almost a “plan to fail”), do you forget Katrina, where the Director of FEMA Michael D. Brown, was relieved of his duties because of incompetence? Or can you forget disgraced White House correspondent James Guckert, AKA Jeff Gannon, the male escort, why was a male escort getting into the Whitehouse, hmmm? I know it was Barney Frank’s fault, he controls the county and republicans had their hands tied (even though 7 of the last 8 years they had the majority and the presidency to do something (fact or fiction?), but not the will to act). Oh, by the way I read that God blog, very funny, it reminds me of those TV evangelists who claim the talk to God and want so and so foreign country leader to be killed or such and such a us state to be punished by God for a court ruling that intelligent design is just another word for religion. We had enough of religious dullards in our government. If you believe that the USA has strayed from God then go out to your communities and preach to your neighbors, the sick, the shut ins, the poor and invite them to take part in your church, build a community. But I know that’s hard work we want a government official to do that for us, well they tried that and look where it left us, in the gutter, but our country does not quit and we will rise again. Do you remember how Ronald Reagan got us out of a recession? By spending and we will do the same. But she is just another “W” in heels and she is stringing the religious right along, she will sell you her books, her radio/TV shows and speaking engagements. Lastly, I do not want you to believe what I believe, so please keep writing, feel free, I am starting to enjoy this.

Chas said...

I think some of your criticisms of President Bush are too harsh. I could nit-pick, but I won't. The Republican Party is in the sorry shape it's in today largely because of W. The opinions you express are held by many, and I won't waste my time arguing over the details. W has damaged the brand; if the party recovers, it will never be the same.

As for Palin, she might reform herself into some sort of political force, but it remains to be seen. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm not holding my breath. She would have a lot to overcome if she's thinking of seeking elected office again.

And while it may be true that Reagan spent a lot, it's also true that it was spent on the military and projects like the "Star Wars" missile defense system, the threat of which ultimately helped to collapse the Soviet Union and end the Cold War.

Reagan did NOT spend and spend in order to expand the Federal Government and it's power, as the current Administration is doing. He froze government spending in most areas.

He ended the recession through large tax cuts, which encouraged investment and created jobs. Our current Administration is doing exactly the opposite. President Obama and the Democrats are also continuing the dangerous Bush legacy of spending money we do not have.

I believe that the Democrats know that tax cuts work. But they aren't as interested in ending the recession, as they are in consolidating and keeping their own power. They want to use the current crisis to expand the role and power of government, and use it to advance their own agendas.

I believe many in the far left of the Democrat party would like to see our current government and economic structures fail, so they can be replaced with something else.

Reagan also didn't spend while we already had record deficits like the ones Bush created, and the Democrats are adding to. We are in great danger of devaluating our currency, and creating an inflation nightmare. There isn't much time left to correct that, and if we don't, I doubt that any of us will be enjoying the crunch and collapse that will follow.