How Palin CAN win

[Zebo]

In a recent interview, former First Lady Barbara Bush said of potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin: “I sat next to her once, thought she was beautiful, and I think she’s very happy in Alaska… and I hope she stays there.”

This prompted Palin to respond, in a radio interview with conservative host Laura Ingraham, "I don't think the majority of Americans want to put up with the blue bloods. And I say it with all due respect - because I love the Bushes - but the blue bloods want to pick and chose their winners, instead of allowing competition to pick and choose the winners."

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40326&s=rcmp
...........
“Blue blood” is a term that resonates with a frustrated nation, weary of serving at the pleasure of an insular ruling class. The inheritance of power, through family or party machinery, is of far greater concern to middle-class Americans than the inheritance of wealth.

Populist Palin? Can she overcome ignorant in a little over a year? If she can she's a shoe in if economy sucks (which it will) and Obama doesn't start a war with Iran. Wartime presidents NEVER lose.

 

[Infohawk]

It's crazy that these moron polulist teabaggers have me longing for the days of GWB I. They're also really starting to make GWB II look smart.

 

[boomerang]

That statement by Palin was truly pure genius. She's moved up the ladder tremendously by saying that. She's hit at the very core of what has got the majority in this country riled up. We're being used, abused and manipulated by, as she said, the "blue bloods". The blue bloods come in all shapes, sizes and political persuasions.

If she runs on a platform or returning power to the common man, she's a shoe-in. She's potentially the right candidate at the right time.

I hope she's bright enough to bring in the brainpower needed to solve our complex problems. I believe she is. Her ego is minuscule compared to what we have in office right now.

 

[Craig234]

Wartime presidents NEVER lose.

Truman 'lost'. LBJ 'lost'. Both could have run for another term and did not because they would clearly lose if they did. But wars do tend to greatly increase a president's rating.

That's pretty unfortunate for whoever a nice target is for war, when trillions of financial interests ride on re-electing a guy, where war helps so much.

 

[Infohawk]

What happened to wanting to avoid class warfare?

I hope she's bright enough to bring in the brainpower needed to solve our complex problems. I believe she is.

What about her would ever make you think she would solve any problems by asking experts? It seems to me she's more of a "from the gut" person. That's what some people like about her. Why would she change that in office?

 

[fskimospy]

Nope, still no chance of winning.

 

[Zebo]

I didn't say she would win but this angle greatly improves her chances. She's still has nincompoop image to hurdle.

Edited for clarity

 

[boomerang]

What happened to wanting to avoid class warfare?



What about her would ever make you think she would solve any problems by asking experts? It seems to me she's more of a "from the gut" person. That's what some people like about her. Why would she change that in office?

I don't feel that any President is capable of making all the decisions on their own. I also don't think than any of us have any true idea of the amount of decision making and the resultant pressures that go with the job. It's more than any one person can handle.

Nobody steps into that job fully qualified to do it. Anyone who thinks that their decision making is superior to the collective wisdom of a group of highly qualified people doesn't belong in the job IMO. Yes, the ultimate decision belongs to the president alone but every president during the course of my lifetime has has advisor's.

She doesn't come across as a dictator to me. Not at all. Although I do agree with your "from the gut" statement. Don't mistake the persona of an individual from what's going on behind the scenes. Our country could very much benefit from a strong figurehead that exudes confidence and has the ability to communicate effectively with a majority of the populous.

I think she has those abilities. She may not be the best candidate, but that will play out soon enough.

Oh, and just to move the topic along, forget about the wishes and needs of the progressives. The only leader that would suit them is a totalitarian. Their desires will only be accomplished through bloodshed.

 

[Rainsford]

The populist angle is definitely one the Republicans like, and one that is surprisingly effective...but I'm not sure Palin is especially good at it compared to any other Republican.

The thing about the populist argument is that the way it's presented is incredibly superficial, so it's only appropriate that LOOKING like a populist is just a matter of repeating a few key talking points that people expect to hear. Palin is bashing the Bushes, but guess what? Bush successfully painted himself as a "man of the people" despite being a textbook definition of "blue blood" ruling class.

In other words, I think any Republican can get votes by just claiming populist beliefs, without having to actually look or act like an average voter. And taking it that far, as Palin seems to try to, opens you up to a lot of problems in terms of reminding even populist oriented people why they might not want just ANYONE in the White House.

And needless to say, it's the kind of strategy that attracts one kind of voter while alienating the hell out of another kind...so it better work really well.

 

[Infohawk]

I don't feel that any President is capable of making all the decisions on their own. I also don't think than any of us have any true idea of the amount of decision making and the resultant pressures that go with the job. It's more than any one person can handle.

Nobody steps into that job fully qualified to do it. Anyone who thinks that their decision making is superior to the collective wisdom of a group of highly qualified people doesn't belong in the job IMO. Yes, the ultimate decision belongs to the president alone but every president during the course of my lifetime has has advisor's.

She doesn't come across as a dictator to me. Not at all. Although I do agree with your "from the gut" statement. Don't mistake the persona of an individual from what's going on behind the scenes. Our country could very much benefit from a strong figurehead that exudes confidence and has the ability to communicate effectively with a majority of the populous.

I think she has those abilities. She may not be the best candidate, but that will play out soon enough.

Oh, and just to move the topic along, forget about the wishes and needs of the progressives. The only leader that would suit them is a totalitarian. Their desires will only be accomplished through bloodshed.

It sounds like you're speculating that behind closed doors she will be a smart leader who defers to experts. Do you really have any evidence for that? She can't even control what her daughters say on the internet. If she can't handle her childrens' Facebook posts it's going to be hard for her to handle international diplomacy.

 

[Fear No Evil]

I'm pretty sure we needed another Palin thread.

 

[boomerang]

It sounds like you're speculating that behind closed doors she will be a smart leader who defers to experts. Do you really have any evidence for that? She can't even control what her daughters say on the internet. If she can't handle her childrens' Facebook posts it's going to be hard for her to handle international diplomacy.

Now your bias has come out so I'll leave you to ponder the answer to that question on your own. I don't know if you're bright enough to even recognize the ignorance of the statement you made but I do hold out hope. But not much.

 

[Zebo]

The populist angle is definitely one the Republicans like, and one that is surprisingly effective...but I'm not sure Palin is especially good at it compared to any other Republican.

The thing about the populist argument is that the way it's presented is incredibly superficial, so it's only appropriate that LOOKING like a populist is just a matter of repeating a few key talking points that people expect to hear. Palin is bashing the Bushes, but guess what? Bush successfully painted himself as a "man of the people" despite being a textbook definition of "blue blood" ruling class.

In other words, I think any Republican can get votes by just claiming populist beliefs, without having to actually look or act like an average voter. And taking it that far, as Palin seems to try to, opens you up to a lot of problems in terms of reminding even populist oriented people why they might not want just ANYONE in the White House.

And needless to say, it's the kind of strategy that attracts one kind of voter while alienating the hell out of another kind...so it better work really well.

Thing is:

Palin came from humble beginnings (like reagan)
Palin is quick on the draw (like reagan)
Palin did work from bottom up (like reagan)

Very salable...AKA "street creed"

Watch out!

 

[Rainsford]

I don't feel that any President is capable of making all the decisions on their own. I also don't think than any of us have any true idea of the amount of decision making and the resultant pressures that go with the job. It's more than any one person can handle.

Nobody steps into that job fully qualified to do it. Anyone who thinks that their decision making is superior to the collective wisdom of a group of highly qualified people doesn't belong in the job IMO. Yes, the ultimate decision belongs to the president alone but every president during the course of my lifetime has has advisor's.

She doesn't come across as a dictator to me. Not at all. Although I do agree with your "from the gut" statement. Don't mistake the persona of an individual from what's going on behind the scenes. Our country could very much benefit from a strong figurehead that exudes confidence and has the ability to communicate effectively with a majority of the populous.

I think she has those abilities. She may not be the best candidate, but that will play out soon enough.

Oh, and just to move the topic along, forget about the wishes and needs of the progressives. The only leader that would suit them is a totalitarian. Their desires will only be accomplished through bloodshed.

I disagree. A major part of the populist message as embraced by Sarah Palin (and many other Republicans) is that "expert" is often a synonym for "elitist", which is definitely one of the dirty words in the populist movement. The movement itself seems to require rejecting expertise in favor of what "common people" think about something, and putting absolutely EVERY question to a popular vote.

And while matters of opinion can definitely be discussed in this manner, matters of fact absolutely shouldn't be...a distinction that's lost on people like Palin. Palin may have a good rapport with "common folks" (or at least people who put great value on describing themselves that way), but I see a lot of evidence that she would totally ignore people who know what they are talking about in situations where she should listen to them.

The world is full on complex, serious issues that a President needs to deal with. And many of those issues shouldn't be addressed with Little League Hockey metaphors or asking 10 random people at Home Depot what they think. They should be addressed with a lot of information and input, gathered from people who know what they are talking about.

 

[Rainsford]

Thing is:

Palin came from humble beginnings (like reagan)
Palin is quick on the draw (like reagan)
Palin did work from bottom up (like reagan)

Very salable...AKA "street creed"

Watch out!

My point is that someone like Reagan had MORE than just "street cred". He came across as someone with Presidential gravitas AND an ability to seem in touch with the average voter. For all her skill at the latter, Palin doesn't really sell the former at all. Even Bush, for all his faults, at least seemed like the kind of President you could see having a beer with AND the kind of President who could make important Presidential decisions when necessary. Palin doesn't, IMO.

 

[Rainsford]

I also think it's worth mentioning how horribly polarizing Palin would be as a candidate. Things could obviously change my 2012, but while she is among the most popular potential Republican Presidential candidates, she also does the worst when stacked up against President Obama among voters in general.

Her support seems incredibly deep but not very broad...which means while victory in the primary might happen, she has less chance against President Obama than many other Republicans. Which suggests to me that while her populism appeal is popular with Republicans, it's very much not convincing anyone else.

 

[Infohawk]

Now your bias has come out so I'll leave you to ponder the answer to that question on your own. I don't know if you're bright enough to even recognize the ignorance of the statement you made but I do hold out hope. But not much.

Yes, I'm biased against Palin. She's shown herself to be an idiot. Am I wrong? I'm no huge Obama fan but Palin hasn't shown any positive qualities. Again, what evidence do you have that she wouldn't just preside from the gut? Any?

 

[boomerang]

I disagree. A major part of the populist message as embraced by Sarah Palin (and many other Republicans) is that "expert" is often a synonym for "elitist", which is definitely one of the dirty words in the populist movement. The movement itself seems to require rejecting expertise in favor of what "common people" think about something, and putting absolutely EVERY question to a popular vote.

And while matters of opinion can definitely be discussed in this manner, matters of fact absolutely shouldn't be...a distinction that's lost on people like Palin. Palin may have a good rapport with "common folks" (or at least people who put great value on describing themselves that way), but I see a lot of evidence that she would totally ignore people who know what they are talking about in situations where she should listen to them.

The world is full on complex, serious issues that a President needs to deal with. And many of those issues shouldn't be addressed with Little League Hockey metaphors or asking 10 random people at Home Depot what they think. They should be addressed with a lot of information and input, gathered from people who know what they are talking about.

She would definitely need some grooming (perhaps on a grand scale) that may be unfeasible. But our former and current president had and have tendencies to put their foot in their mouths and say some downright stupid shit. Especially when going off unscripted.

The "Little League Hockey metaphors" made me cringe just reading it. That pretty much describes her way of relating to people. I don't want to hear that stuff coming out of the mouth of the POTUS.

I still feel she's fully capable of bringing the people on board she'd need to make informed decisions and I think she'd listen to their council. I'll go out on a short limb and say that there won't be any tax cheats, tax evaders, marxists and out and out misfits in her inner circle. She's wise enough to know that she's judged by the company she keeps. Her momma taught her that lesson.

 

[Monster_Munch]

Palin would probably get thrashed by the other Republican candidates in any primary debates, never mind Obama.

 

[dmcowen674]

I also think it's worth mentioning how horribly polarizing Palin would be as a candidate. Things could obviously change my 2012, but while she is among the most popular potential Republican Presidential candidates, she also does the worst when stacked up against President Obama among voters in general.

Her support seems incredibly deep but not very broad...which means while victory in the primary might happen, she has less chance against President Obama than many other Republicans. Which suggests to me that while her populism appeal is popular with Republicans, it's very much not convincing anyone else.

Palin would win against other Republicans such as Gingrinch.

Also throw in an independent run from Bloomberg and you have Palin winning easily with the Electoral College.

Remember the Popular vote means nothing.

 

[Zebo]

Palin would probably get thrashed by the other Republican candidates in any primary debates, never mind Obama.

LOL who exactly?

Mormon boy blue-blooded insider who raised HC costs in MA by 234%?
Cop killer hillbilly bible thumping Huck?
A northerner Jule? New York City!?!?
Professor Green witch?

Dream on.

Note: these are ads that will run to destroy her competition among republicans, not necessarily what's true..

 

[5150Joker]

Populist Palin? Can she overcome ignorant in a little over a year? If she can she's a shoe in if economy sucks (which it will) and Obama doesn't start a war with Iran. Wartime presidents NEVER lose.

Palin doesn't enjoy a populist level of support. At best she's highly regarded amongst a niche group of morons and the media loves to seize on anything it can for ratings. If it came down to national elections, Obama would destroy her. I liken Palin to a female Dan Quayle, just more popular but less intelligent.

 

[Infohawk]

I still feel she's fully capable of bringing the people on board she'd need to make informed decisions and I think she'd listen to their council.

What specifically makes you think that?

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Palin has already won, she's just waiting to move in.

 

[IGBT]

anything to get rid of the Princeton/Harvard/Yale political nepotists.