Will she run or won’t she? That is the question.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, could it be a duck? If it looks like a campaign bus and a campaign tour, could it be that Sarah Palin is out campaigning to run for president?
[See photos from Palin's bus tour.]
Sarah Palin insists that her campaign-style bus and tour are not a campaign buses and tour, and that the Palin road trip is an educational family tour of historical America; but to most of us, it looks like a dry run for a potential presidential bid for the GOP ticket. She doesn’t carry a teleprompter with her, and true to her history, she is very comfortable answering questions without a speechwriter at her side. [See 5 reasons Palin will the 2012 GOP nod.]
At the start of the tour, there was no campaign bus, just “campaign” motorcycles. But no matter how much she denies it, this looks to most of us, left or right, as a possible precursor to an announcement to run for president.
So if it is, and if she runs, how will this play out with the other GOP presidential hopefuls? [See 5 reasons Palin won't get the 2012 GOP nod.]
Michele Bachmann will be hurt, whether struggling to survive in the shadow of Sarah Palin or struggling for Tea Party support, as much of a great raiser of funds that she is. Newt Gingrich will lose the conservative Christians who he has asked forgiveness from for his former “sins,” regarding infidelity, divorce, and how those divorce papers were delivered. Those in the Tea Party who call themselves civil libertarians will have to decide if they’re a Palin Tea Party supporter, or the die hard libertarian Ron Paul supporter. Mitt Romney will have a buddy when it comes to the elephant in the room that can’t be ignored: for him, establishing mandatory healthcare reform in the state of Massachusetts when he was governor, and for Palin, the abdicating of the Alaska gubernatorial throne. And Tim Pawlenty? Being that the number one reason people vote is based on name recognition, so folks will be saying, Tim who? And what’s a Pawlenty? And of course, the big question for the GOP is, can she win? And I do not believe so. As much as I would love to see a woman running this country (it’s about time, by the way), I do not feel Palin is the right (no pun intended) woman for the job. She’s likable, but not electable. That is what the polls show. America loves her, but most, even in her own party, would not vote for her and do not feel she has the experience to lead this nation. Many in the GOP feel that she divides the GOP further between the old school GOP and the Tea Party GOP members, who I affectionately refer to as “Teapublicans.” [See photos of Palin and her family.]
As for the Democrats like myself, we want former Governor Palin to run. It would make the race more exciting—as Palin said, if she waged a campaign it “would definitely be unconventional and nontraditional.” It would split the Tea Party loyalty and funds, divide the GOP even further, and certainly give talk hosts like me material for days on end, not to mention less time for prep work. Cool. Just look at Palin’s answer alone to Mr. Folden, a black Republican who asked her what she would do to attract more African-Americans to the Republican Party. Her answer was that “skin tone doesn’t matter; we all need jobs, we need the economy roaring.” Her answer is wrong. Skin tone does matter in America. It is why both parties are courting the Hispanic vote, and if you look at unemployment numbers, crime, job opportunities, housing prices, etc., people of color are affected much worse than white folks like Palin and me. So let the race begin. [Check out a roundup of Sarah Palin political cartoons.]
I’m willing to buy that this is a family vacation, but how many of us travel with a prominent television host (Greta Van Susteren)? I’m a Fox News contributor, I wonder if Bill O’Reilly will join my family on our vacation this summer? And how many of us title our vacation? For the Palins, it’s the “One Nation,” looking back at my childhood, I guess National Lampoon’s Vacation comes to mind…
- Check out editorial cartoons about the GOP.
- See a slide show of who's running and who's not in the Republican primaries.
- Enjoy political cartoons about the 2012 Republican field.
Reader Comments Read all comments (20)
S. Hendrix of MO 11:44PM June 05, 2011
Bill Hedges of MO 11:42AM June 02, 2011
Sandra Partridge of CO 11:10AM June 02, 2011