Palin 2012?

If you watch or read the news regularly you have been overwhelmed by the amount of coverage over the past election and its participants. Get used to it or it’s going to be a long four years. There has been one key, conspicuous figure leading the articles. None other than Sarah Palin herself. As the Republican Party goes through a bout of “soul searching” due to their resounding loss, the argument of whether Palin was good/bad for the election is just beginning. She even went into an interview with Wolf Blitzer and declared she would be honored to help out the Obama administration. If you’re curious she didn’t botch this one and even managed to hurl some sly comments, saying Obama hung out with an “unrepentant domestic terrorist” (William Ayers). Sigh…and so it continues.

Along with this tension is the radical notion of a Palin 2012 campaign. Once you think about it a Palin presidential campaign seems a rational idea. After all, McCain’s only leads in the polls came after Palin was chosen as his running mate. From then on she drew huge crowds and press. The successes were tempered by her poor performance during debates and interviews (Russian vista outside her backdoor???). The question is can she garner support and pull together a Republican Party that is splitting over the issue of its identity. The republicans are struggling over the choice of whether to be defined by religious moralism, libertarianism or neo-conservatism (too many –isms). Palin’s grassroots populism and moralism have the potential to divide the party further, but hey…the Republicans might have no choice but to court a radical leader in the guise of an Alaskan governor (Mooseburgers). That is, until a centre-right leader can effectively lead their ailing party.

If you’re interested in what the public thinks about this, a little more than half of the American public has an unfavorable view toward her. Indeed history works against her as the track records of past vice-presidential hopefuls running for the top office is dismal (John Edwards anyone?)

Humbly Yours,

Rob Weir "R.A.W"