Are we all naive enough to believe that Palin doesn’t think that she’ll be the Republican white night riding in at the last minute to save the day? I think we’re fairly certain that Sarah Palin believes that all these other jokers littering up the field are just there to be her opening act, and that once all the squabbling begins and the race just looks like a bunch of loons held together by Mittens Romneypants and Michele BachmannGooglyEyes (slavery endorser) the Zeus and Hera of all stupid things, this is when she’ll emerge like a Bumpit-haired buzzard dressed in a Starfleet jacket waiting to pick the bones of the GOP carcass. We do think this will happen despite her latest interview in Newsweek magazine don’t we?
When asked if she’s considering a run and what the chances the GOP has of winning without her she says:
“I’m not so egotistical as to believe that it has to be me, or it can only be me, to turn things around.” She added, “But I do believe that I can win.”
Oh, really, Sarah? This is just like saying, “I’m not going to say that I’m the best person for the job… but I am the best person for the job.” There is very little humility involved in that statement, but there’s no doubt that she feels this way. “I believe that I can win a national election,” she’s declared.
It’s not a secret that the GOP is less than thrilled with the current choices, and that some prominent Republicans are still looking for another candidate to emerge who will have what it takes to take on Obama. Is that person Sarah Palin? Is she now ready to step from beyond her media ploys like that bus of bullshit thing she started and then quit a few months ago, and begin to form herself into the patent presidential candidate? Newsweek contends that if nothing else her media fortitude tells something.
“Palin has proved herself an enduring force capable, with minimal effort, of keeping political professionals and, especially, the press in a state of perpetual imbalance. This derives partly, of course, from her standing as a possible presidential candidate with presumed frontrunner potential, a status she seems inclined to maintain for as long as possible.”
But that’s the key isn’t it? She’s a frustrating anomaly. What does she really think? What does she really stand for? Have we ever heard her political views that weren’t 20 second sound bites, or rehashed mantra spoken by every Republican who’s had a microphone in their face in the last 24 months? Not really. Aside from the nodding, the winking, and the grandiose exposure, just what does she offer this country? The GOP seems anxious to find out.
Given the GOP opinion (and media fascination), It’s been relatively easy for Sarah Palin to intrude into our consciousness with the slightest of vocal opinions on anything that matters, which with seemingly little effort, she’s landed a spot as frontrunner in the next presidential election without even hinting at her potential for running. Not until now… and it seems the only thing that could stand in her way could be her family’s insistence that she not run. Not surprisingly, the other vocal and television omnipresent Palin representative, Bristol, teen mother and Dancing With the Stars alum, has already given her blessing. So it really doesn’t seem likely the others in her brood will have qualms. Todd, fisherman, tobogganeer and house-husband says, “Do I want her to run? It’s up to her. I mean, we’ll discuss it. But she’s definitely qualified to run this country. And she’s got a fire in the belly to serve.” And once Todd recognizes your fire-belly… well, it’ll be hard to say no to that, right? Oh, that Todd he has such a way with words.
It seems the only downside would be to her current media status as Fox News darling and GOP Maverick. Campaigns and elections are known to be dodgy and sticky things. People who have supported and endorsed a candidate will hang on their every word, and if that word isn’t up to snuff, the tide could change when battle lines are drawn, and just like that you can go from energizing Maverick to out-of-touch irrelevance.
Despite potential challenges, she takes solace that in a field of declared candidates the GOP is still looking for the outliers, like Govs. Rick Perry (Texas Secessionist) and Chris Christie (Sandwiches, Free Rides), and, undoubtedly, herself.
“It suggests that the field is not set. Thank goodness the field is not yet set. I think that there does need to be more vigorous debate. There needs to be a larger field. And there’s still time. There’s still months ahead, where more folks can jump in and start articulating their positions,” she says.
As she pontificates (in sound bites) on the current debt ceiling debate, and holds true to the Republican stance on cutting spending, and halting inflation – it is here where her appeal lies. Is it novel? No. Is she a wunderkind for discussing the same hard-line issues many Republicans have counted in their tool chest commentary? No. But it is perhaps this that she brings:
“I was ticked off at Todd yesterday,” she said. “He walks into a gas station as we’re driving over from Minnesota. He buys a Slim Jim-we’re always eating that jerky stuff-for $2.69. I said, ‘Todd, those used to be 99 cents, just recently!’ And he says, ‘Man, the dollar’s worth nothing anymore.’ A jug of milk and a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs-every time I walk into that grocery store, a couple of pennies more…”
Can she win an election on the ideals of a Slim Jim?
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