It finally happened. Four years ago Sarah Palin was drawn into national politics by a McCain campaign convinced the Hillary supporters would vote for anyone with a uterus. And today, the former Alaska governor is back on the outside.
She's not on Mitt Romney's short list for vice presidents. Dick Cheney just referred to her as a "mistake." And now the official list of Republican National Committee Convention speakers is out, sprinkled with names like Huckabee, Bush, Haley, and Santorum. But there isn't a Palin in the bunch.
Wait!? Did they really leave her out? Could it be that the GOP has finally figured out what the rest of us have known for years?
Sarah Palin is an albatross hanging round the neck of the RNC and shutting her up is key to their success in 2012 and beyond. Don't believe me? Let's look at the facts:
In 2008, women especially reported being pushed toward the Obama ticket because Palin was such a turn-off. Not surprisingly, women were considered one of the big reasons the president won the election.
A year later, Palin brought significant criticism on herself for leaving office abruptly rather than finishing out her term as Alaska governor. Putting herself ahead of her state's needs further put into question her credibility and dedication to politics.
Then began the Palin family's reality show reign. Sarah Palin's Alaska was amusing, especially when she took a whiny Kate Gosselin out into the wild to roast marshmallows and go fishing. But it was a reality show. Need I really say more? Snooki does reality shows. Presidents do not.
Palin the person is still liked by Republicans. Even RNC Chairman Reince Priebu told Fox News this week, "I think a lot of her and hope she does speak." But the fact is, she is not in a primetime slot on their big night. It seems they like her better when she's quiet.
Do you think it's smart for the RNC to keep Sarah Palin in the background in 2012?
Image via David Shankbone/Flickr
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Comments 95
The liberals and a LOT of the Obama lovers are jumping ship Procrasto. More and more daily. The polls shift daily also and that's a plus for the newcomer. Thank God. It's not as fun when you don't have a gang to bully with is it?
Your tidbit about Obama not picking Romney and going with Palin lacks any credibility and a total lack of knowledge. Each person looks for the best someone can do for them and McCain felt he needed the woman's vote since so many of us wanted to vote for Hillary. It had nothing to do with Romney himself. Surely you know that.
Most of us are as past his tax returns as we are Obama's birth certificate. Don't you get that it's NOT important right now? Our country is walking the plank! Who cares about that stuff? I'd still vote for Romney no matter what RIGHT NOW. I might not next time but Obama has got to go. That's the bottom line.
You know Procrasto, the IRS would have Romney had he not paid taxes. Do you think they're idiots? With all the attention to it, don't you think they've checked? Come off it. This is just a tactic to get us off the important issues.
I'm an Independent (and yes, I know, I don't exist to procrastamom), and my mind is made up. There's nothing in Romney's tax record that would change my mind, because I understand that he's not on anyone's payroll, so his current tax rate is significantly lower than the average American. I understand that loopholes are legal and used by whomever can use them, to their own advantage. I understand that being a founder of a large corporation makes a clean getaway impossible.
I also understand that Barack Obama is doing a shitty job being president. He wasn't qualified when he took office. He's not qualified now. He ran, and was elected, on the premise that he would unite America, straddle the lines and fix what's broken. He's polarized the country and the parties to the point that, in my opinion, there is NO HOPE for moving forward under his rule. He continually shovels blame on the very people he needs to cooperate with, in order to get ANYTHING done. The people he said he would work with to fix our problems. He can't do it. He can't run from his record.
JAFE - how have me and "my gang*" been bullying you commentors? By expressing our opinions on the candidates? By providing you with links and anecdotes and proof?
The polls do indeed shift daily. The polls I see lean more and more in Obama's favour, as Mitt continues to hide his platform and policies. Won't run on his record as Governor, won't run on his record at Bain, won't run on his Olympics record and won't run on his healthcare record, which HE invented!
And my "tidbit" about McCain not picking Romney is an OPINION. I wondered aloud, like many others, why McCain would look at 23 years of Romney's tax returns and then pick Palin.
*(I don't have a gang by the way, but if I did we would be called the Liberal Leaning Lefty Lovlies!!)
Procrasto-I couldn't take it seriously since they wouldn't name there source not to mention the fact that Romney has disputed those claims today. I didn't respond because I didn't need to it looked like my conservative friends did a fine job on their own making you like the socialist robot your are.
Back to the topic at hand of Sarah Palin-Again I disagree. There were many reason's to pick Sarah Palin, the first being she is fiscally conservative. That is why she left the governor's office. Between the lawsuits against her state and herself they both would have went bankrupt. I am glad she didn't run for president and I don't think it is a slam against her that she wont be speaking at the RNC. I did hear today though that the DNC is having a hard time filling seats. I wonder why Jeanne didn't want to blog about that.
It is easy to make up wild assertions out of thing air. (well, you certainly make it look easy) Get a credible basis for even making the accusation, and get back to us. "Baaah! Baaah! Hate hate HATE!!! All Republicans! Baaaah! Baaaah!" is not "proof" of anything.
ALL of Romney's tax returns have all been vetted by the IRS. The same IRS who is now being used as a political weapon by the OWEbama administration and is targeting conservative groups and Romney donors. Romney has been in politics for some years, and all of his returns were filed with this knowledge in mind.
Also, the left wing has been shrieking for four years every possible reason why not only should we not see any background information on OWEbama what so ever, but even so much as asking makes one a "racist".
The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
I did not indicate that the IRS would not be aware that he hadn't paid taxes. The rich have many tax breaks and loopholes available to them to bring their tax rate down to almost nothing. An advantage that a middle class person simply doesn't have. Obviously, every loophole he took advantage of was legal or the IRS would be auditing him up the wazoo. Is it fair that Romney paid less of a percentage in taxes than you did?
Dear wamom and the Right:
Could we Liberals please have a list of accepted sources and resources and links that would pass muster when you are asking for proof? What is too biased? What is not biased enough? What is considered independent? Then maybe I won't waste my time providing a link when I'm asked for one, only to be told that that resource is not good enough, because they didn't cite their source or they once ran an article by Paul Krugman or the webmaster voted for Al Gore that one time.
Yours truly,
Procrastamom and the gang of bullies that she doesn't have....yet.....just you wait until we get the LLLL off the ground!!!
I am an Independant, and yes my mind is made up. I only hope that more people are now fully aware of Obamas true colors.
But what does outsourcing jobs while at Bain have to do with him being President?
Because he's running on his experience as a businessman! He wants you to believe he would better be able to run the country, because of this experience, so it is the people's right to examine his record. Which of course he would rather hide.