Sarah Palin, Bacon defeats Fries, Person of the Year, Candidacy for 2012 Presidency, Quiz

[larryhodges]

Fox reveals that McCain aides were truly "shocked" at the "gaps in knowledge" Sarah Palin displayed once they were stuck with her.  She could not name all of the countries in North America, he said, not even the NAFTA partners. (USA, Canada, Mexico.)  She was so out of touch she actually refused coaching before the Katie Couric interviews, then

Comments

[ellen_denham]

I think the saddest thing in the whole Palin mess is how her own party used her. She was a victim of sexism mostly from her own party--they would have never picked a man with such a glaring lack of experience and then expected him to simply be a blank slate they could fill with their own ideas

[larryhodges]

Hi Ellen,
Agreed on all counts. One interesting battle that may take place is the battle for the far right social conservatives, between Palin and Mike Huckabee. They have the same views; Huckabee just isn't quite as ignorant on so many real world issues. Right now, even the wing of the Republican Party that likes her doesn't really see her as presidential material any more, but that could change. If I were her advisor (and was willing to accept eternal damnation), I'd recommend to her to run for the Senate, get Washington experience, so that they can't use the "lack of experience" argument against her. For in reality, it wasn't her lack of experience that ultimately hurts her - it's the blatent ignorance and lack of interest in learning. Those can be covered up with the appearance of "experience."

[ext_83464]

If Palin runs for President in 2012, at least she has name recognition going for her... but that may not work in her favor

[larryhodges]

Here's a strange item. On CNN today, Republican strategist Ed Rollins pointed to a survey of Republicans over who they would like as their candidate in 2012, the overwhelming choice was Palin over Romney, Huckabee, Jindal and others. I'll write about this in my blog tomorrow.

[stephan_laurent]

I completely agree with Ellen about the sexism that suddenly the Republicans find themselves embroiled in (hello? haven't you learned anything from the Clinton failed attempt?) - but the scary thing for me is how unrepentant Palin appears now. I would understand self-defense as she seeks to return to governing the weird state of AK, but that's not it; she is defiant, and so sure she was right from the word go, and it's all the media's fault (and now the McCain staffers', too. And Fox News who broke the story. Shoot, darnit.)
We can laugh all we want, but there may be a hungry far-right Republican constituency who may see her as the Messiah to lead them out of their enforced exile. Huckabee is too pragmatic; she's crazy (and gullible) enough to fit the bill.

[larryhodges]

If she wants to run for president, then I guarantee her advisers are telling her to run for the Senate for Steven's position in the likely special election for that. I'm sure she will do so; she's ambitious, and can't go further in Alaska.

[ext_121365]

I wonder if the Larry Hodges campaign will kick off with a warm up run for a congressional, senatorial, or other office?

I agree that a monster has been created in Palin. Good thing is that something can happen in 4 years to hurt Palin's rise and/or see the emergence of a new player in the GOP. Till the possible becomes actual, it's only a distraction.

The ball is in Obama's court now. If he fares well, the odds are against the Republicans challenging him in 2012.

[ext_121365]

And since we can count on Palin to be herself, she'll shoot herself in the foot as she goes and do nothing to make up for her lack of knowledge.

Palin has a faction within the GOP carved out for her, but she hasn't displayed the ability to form alliances with opposing Republican factions nor with Democrats.

[larryhodges]

Palin is exactly the type of candidate that can rise in a time of disarray. If the Republicans are still in disarray in 2012, she can rise as the clear voice of "pure" conservatism, and they might rally around her as their candidate. If Obama messes up, the country may tire of "liberalism," and turn to a "fresh approach," i.e. Palin's unthinking conservatism. Scary times can bring about scary results!

[ext_121365]

>Scary times can bring about scary results!

Witness Hitler.

Like it or not, Barack's gotta fix Bush's mess to keep Palin and her ilk out in 2012.

[ericjamesstone]

The "Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent" story turned out to be a hoax: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/arts/television/13hoax.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[larryhodges]

I took it out of the blog entry, darn it.