The Palin Factor

As I mentioned in today’s ‘Daily’, Gov. Palin just will NOT go away…

And that could be excellent news for us.

It’s becoming obvious that battle lines are being drawn within the republican party; those who see Palin as the answer for 2012 and those that see her as the antithesis for 2012, and each side is getting more and more vocal.

Now it seems the more intelligent GOP operatives and other future Presidential contenders see the true state of their party, their ideals and their organization and are rapidly seeing that an Obama presidency might virtually be assured of 2 terms and that anyone they run in 2012 is doomed to fail.

Herein enters Sarah Palin;

A strategist for a rival potential presidential rival e-mails to express amusement with Gov. Sarah Palin's come one, come all PR strategy: “Fine with us. Let her be the sacrificial lamb for 2012.” Which means: a lot of the folks who you'd think are angling to run in 2012 are certainly preparing to do so, but they're looking to and thinking about 2016....

So is this accurate? Are the republicans actually looking past 2012 to 2016?

Let’s think about the logic behind that… as the battle lines start to get a bit clearer within the republican party there starts a movement to have Palin increase her political profile over the next few years… but one would think, if they were truly serious about her as a contender, that someone would gently pull her aside right now, tell her to stop talking for a while, fade away for a few months and try to accomplish something concrete in hopes of polishing her resume.

But it’s not happening. Instead, people are allowing her to go out and speak her mind whenever she wants, and, in turn, has started to alienate many people, not only some in the inner workings of the RNC but also the American electorate, and in doing so is starting to lose her alleged reputation as a so-called maverick and is gaining a new reputation of being a self-serving tool with a large sense of entitlement.

Most of the time, after a campaign loss, a candidate will quietly slink off in order to power down, do some self-assessment and figure out what to do.

Palin hasn’t done that… and if she hopes to have any political future other than that of being a laughingstock or a punchline, then she should probably shut her mouth, go back to Alaska and actually, I don’t know, govern. If not… if she decided to stay in the spotlight, grabbing any spotlight or interview at the drop of a hat, her shtick will get old VERY quick.

Of course I have NO problem with that and hope she sticks around, making the odds for re-election in 2012 even greater.

Stay tuned.