Palin Cooked as a Candidate on the National Stage

[Stingo]

Sarah Palin was asked last night by Dana Bash if she would be back on the national political stage. Sarah Palin demurred, but reports are coming out that rule out any role for Sarah Palin unless the Republicans get so taken over by the fundamentalists that they chase off the last sane people in the GOP, if there are any left.

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2008/11/05/palin-cooked-as-a-candidate-on-the-national-stage/

[Warpy]

1. That's exactly what the CNP intends to do

They want to become the sole power broker within the party.

They were powerful enough to hang Palin around McCain's neck like a rotting albatross. They could manage to win the upcoming power struggle.

If that happens, expect to see the Libertarian Party gain a whole lot of new members.

[Stingo]

3. The Dems

will get new members as well. And tons of votes. Remember also the Christian right skews old. That wing of the GOP is dying off, and the Dems are attracting the young. The Republicans could be dying as a force for a long time unless they jettison the Christian right.

[wryter2000]

10. That really would ring their death knell

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. No, she's Alaska's problem now.

After last night's rather shocking results here, I make no predictions whatsoever.

[PearliePoo2]

4. Hi Blue!

Been thinking about you and the "Welcome Home" greeting ya all will have for Miss Sarah WolfKiller.
And what's up with Stevens? Are there still enough ballots left to count to defeat him?

[Stingo]

5. Eww!

In all the hoopla about Obama I hadn't noticed Stevens did so well.

Eww!

[Blue_In_AK]

14. There are at least 50,000 ballots left to count.

Stevens' lead over Begich was about 3500 or so. Mark has told ProgressiveAlaska that he expects to win by eight votes. :rofl: That would be about right for Alaska where we've had some very close elections in the past.

Time will tell.

[Stingo]

16. Any Dem winning in AK

Would be a huge upset.

[Blue_In_AK]

17. We actually picked up a few seats

in the state legislature, which makes it almost 50-50 now and probably guarantees a bipartisan majority like we had last session. Also, if you go by terms, we've had more Democratic governors than Republican ones since statehood. Anchorage has a Democratic mayor, Mark Begich, and our city council now leans left.

It's a slow process, but we're getting there. At the time of statehood, Alaska was solidly Democratic, and in fact Eisenhower was reluctant to sign the statehood act because he was afraid it would tip the balance of power in congress. We only turned red with the advent of Big Oil in the '70s and the enormous influx of Texas and Oklahoma oil workers, and the corrupting influence of oil money.

I actually kind of liked it back in the old days before the pipeline, when we still had to pay a state income tax and before the creation of the Permanent Fund, which, although a great idea (and I for one wouldn't refuse my dividend every year), has brought a lot of ridicule to our state from the Lower 48ers who don't understand how it works.

[acmavm]

9. You know, when I lived in Anchorage I understood that Alaska

was a really wild and crazy place. That was part of it's fascination and charm. 6th Street Downtown on a Saturday night was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. And then going to the Billiken Drive In and seeing 2 (not 1 but 2) porn movies before they showed Paint Your Wagon was an entirely new experience. I'd never seen a porn movie before.

But I would never have expected Alaskans to vote to retain that fricking Ted Stevens. Not even in my wildest dreams.

[Stingo]

18. It has changed?

Not that it is change you can believe in. Evidently even McCain does not believe in the change Palin represents. He didn't let her on stage last night for his concession speech.

[acmavm]

21. She was on stage. How could you miss her weepy looking mug?

[Stingo]

22. She was not allowed to speak.

I kept looking at all those adoring looks she gave the Maverick!

[acmavm]

25. I thought she looked scared, crushed, and sheepish. Half afraid

of him.

I wanted tears! I wanted a full blown melt-down.

[JustJon]

6. Probably a bad comparison, but...

I imagine her as a poor man's Ted Kennedy, except on the other side of the aisle.

By which I mean: even though she's falling short of the White House, she can still be a star among the base, someone who you want to get your picture taken with when you're trying to raise funds or prove you are a credible member of the party. But someone whose name your opponents might bring up during elections in order to paint you as being part of an extreme wing of your party.

Just because she fell on her face on the national stage doesn't mean she has to go away in shame, never to be heard from again. She might be tilting at windmills if she thinks she'll play much part in national elections, but she could very well eek out a good career for herself as a role-player in her own party.

Her name might be a punchline among Democrats and independents, but she could be someone who gets courted every time the GOP primaries rolls around. Lots of people still like her, and probably will keep on liking her (as, I'm betting, she'll end up whipping John McCain in the blame game, since McCain probably won't even resort to playing that game anyway).

[Stingo]

7. How about a poor man's

Jesse Helms?

[Joe Chi Minh]

8. Much closer!

[wryter2000]

11. Darn it

I want to see her try in 2012 and get smacked down by the people she expects to worship her.

[JudyInTheHeartland]

12. Aww come on Sarah!

We were just starting to have fun with you!

[Stingo]

13. You can still have fun!

Did you see that about $20-$40K went to buy clothes for Todd? I heard one Republican called them Beverly Hillbilly grifters, or something like that.

[JudyInTheHeartland]

15. We should start bankrolling the Palins...

...in much the same way Republicans used to make mischief by donating to Al Sharpton

[mwb970]

23. "Wasilla Hillbillies looting Neiman-Marcus from coast to coast" was the quote. /nt

[fasttense]

19. There is nothing like losing an election to kill a political career.

Especially if you are on a losing ticket as VP.

Seriously, Edwards kind of disappeared, Lieberman is back to his old job and has anyone seen Dan Quayle's political career? Though Nixon made a come back after losing the Presidential race to Kennedy, he never lost as VP.

There is nothing like losing as VP to kill a political career.

[Stingo]

20. I hope her career isn't dead

I hope the Repubs nominate her in 2012. That would be a sure Obama second term.

[Myrina]

24. 3 words: Split.The.Party.

PLEEEEEEEEEEASE ?!?!?!!? :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[yellowcanine]

26. I think she has been "Quaylized" but I would not say "cooked".

Ironically if McCain had won, she would have been more cooked, because she definitely could not have stayed out of trouble - she would have been chaffing at the traces confining the office of VP and things might indeed have gotten very contentious if she had tried to model her VP role after Cheney's. However, by losing she has an opportunity to "rehab" herself on the national stage, particularly if she were to run for and win a Senate seat. She could then follow the Hillary Clinton model of establishing her national credentials - harder to do in the minority, but not impossible. Oh no, for better or worse, I think there is at least an even chance that Miss Sarah will be back if that is what she wants. Of course she would have a lot of "homework" to do and it is not at all clear to me that she has the intellectual curiosity and the discipline to do the necessary preparation for the national stage. She is clearly not stupid, but she is uneducated, national politics wise.

[Stingo]

27. What came out in Newsweek

About the rift already developing, about how she didn't know Africa was a continent, would have caught up to her. She would have made Quayle look smart by comparison. that's what gets me -- the McCain people knew, shortly after they picked her, that she was grossly unqualified. I was calling on them to dump her as their only way to a loss with honor in this election. They blew it.