Sarah Palin clears her calendar for 2012

[aristotle]

Palin is announcing she won't seek re-election to the Alaska governorship. Is she preparing for a bigger venue? My checkbook stands ready to support Palin. Or Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Or Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. All solid conservative women.

[DougTravels]

Lets hope she gets the GOP nomination, another truly fine day for America if she does.

[chefdennis]

id also donate to any of those 3 ladies.....here is a very good article that sarah should take to heart:


A Letter to Sarah


by Jonah Goldberg
Friday, July 03, 2009
Jonah Goldberg : A Letter to Sarah - Townhall.com

Dear Governor Palin,

You're blowing it.

We haven't met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCain's running mate. I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him. I'm also assuming you want to run for president some day.

There's a reason why the left and much of the media establishment hated you from day one. Some hated you out of the fear that you might stop Barack Obama's unfolding coronation. Others because you seemed to expose the snobbery, arrogance and ideological pieties of elite feminism. Your beauty, your status as a working mom, your blue-collar husband, your bravery in taking on the political establishment in Alaska, your proud status a pro-lifer and mother of a special-needs child: all of these things were -- and are -- deeply threatening to a secular left-wing cultural elite.

All of this was an incredible compliment. Powerful people don't fear the powerless. Remember how Mike Huckabee borrowed that Air Force maxim when he got grief during the primaries? "If you're not taking flak, you're not over the target." Well, you were over the target.

But not anymore. Oh, you're still taking flak, but not because you strike fear in the hearts of Democrats. You're taking flak because you're striking fear in the hearts of Republicans. For Democrats, fairly or not, you've become a laughingstock. And for some of McCain's campaign managers, you've become a convenient excuse for their failures.

But while McCain's strategists do not cover themselves in glory for scapegoating you, you are not without blame either. You do seem to think the best advice is for you to stay just the way you are. Leaders listen to the advice they don't necessarily want to hear.

For starters, every time I see you on TV, you're whining about unfair press coverage. Don't get me wrong: Much of it is unfair, and some of it deserves a response. But it's not presidential. It's not even gubernatorial. You are constantly taking the bait, taking up the fights your biggest fans want you to take up.

But here's the thing: Don't listen to your biggest fans. Don't alienate them either, but don't think that because the Palin4Pres crowd cheers, you're making progress. Politics is ultimately about persuasion, and you seem entirely uninterested in that, preferring instead to play the victim. Well, victims don't get elected president. Ronald Reagan was a laughingstock for liberals and despised by the press. But he didn't whine or take the bait.

Second, peddling a few platitudes and truisms about free markets and limited government is no substitute for really knowing what you're talking about. Yes, you can talk well about the stuff you know -- oil drilling, energy, etc. -- but beyond your comfort zone, you fall back on bumper-sticker language that sounds fine to the people who already agree with you but is useless in winning over skeptics.

President Bush had the same problem you do, which is why there's a hunger for Republicans who can effectively articulate and sell our policies and philosophy. That's why the wonks have the upper hand. Mitt Romney, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and other hands-on types are what the party wants and, frankly, needs.

Here's the good news: You have time. Here's the better news: You have something no one else in the party has -- charisma. And I don't mean you have the most charisma like it's a consolation prize for not being elected prom queen. If money could buy what you have, Romney would have bought it all by now. Good politicians can learn how to win over audiences, but the great ones are born with the ability. Reagan had it. Clinton had it. Obama has it. You have it. You are the "It Girl" of the GOP.

What you lack, you can learn. If knowing how to describe the situation in Pakistan or explain the "doughnut hole" in health care coverage was all you needed to get elected, an intern with a subscription to the Economist could be president.

So here's my advice. Stay home and do your job and your homework. You'll still be a national figure come the primaries. But if you can't surprise your detractors with your grasp of policy when you re-emerge on the national stage, you won't win the nomination. More important, you won't deserve to.

[aristotle]

Don't underestimate Sarah Palin. In the GOP field of likely candidates for 2012, she has no equals. Her following is staunchly devoted.

[DougTravels]

We agree!! We both hope she gets the GOP nomination.

[aristotle]

Doug... if the GOP can get a candidate who is relatively free of scandal, Obama should be easily defeated in 2012. Easily.

The problem these days, for both parties, is finding candidates who come to the national stage with clean hands.

[DougTravels]

I believe a scandal for Palin is looming near, I really hope not. I would love to see a Palin ticket get the GOP Nod in 2012. I would be cautious right now talking her up, this might be due to some huge problem coming up for her.

[aristotle]

I believe a scandal for Palin is looming near, I really hope not. I would love to see a Palin ticket get the GOP Nod in 2012. I would be cautious right now talking her up, this might be due to some huge problem coming up for her.

The huge problems Obama is busy creating for himself will dwarf anything attached to Palin. Obama will be the author of his own defeat in 2012.

[Poorboy]

Lets hope she gets the GOP nomination, another truly fine day for America if she does.

Yup It Sure Would be a Truly Fine Day! Then we Can get rid of the Garbage in there Now and Start to Rebuild and Clean up His Messes!!

[Poorboy]

I have a Open Check Book for Anyone of the Ladies who get the Nod!

[patlpp]

You are forgetting Alaska politics. Remember, it was the same establishment that railroaded Uncle Ted (Sen Stevens) into a fast tracked false conviction. How convenient, 2 weeks prior to elections.......

Here is a theory: She has a family that is more important, she said so. Take her at her word. There is no way she can run now...... face facts. Let her go. She was a sacrificial lamb.

The repubs will use this as an example of the evil liberal, George Soros backed, heartless media which it is.

[alan15010]

Sarah is quitting, she is really keeping her calander open

[Turtle]

She can't stand the heat, so she left the kitchen. Palin's toast.

[aristotle]

She can't stand the heat, so she left the kitchen. Palin's toast.

Turtle... I think you're right. A sudden resignation doesn't bode well. Dang, I really liked her.

[jrcarroll]

She can't stand the heat, so she left the kitchen. Palin's toast.

Don't count her out so fast. Lets see what happens over the next few dayys/weeks/months.

SARAH for Pres 2012