I used to enjoy bashing Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. I found her to be incredibly unprepared and unapologetic, both in her unpreparedness and in her attacks on then-candidate Barack Obama, and on the intelligence of American voters.
And so it was with glee that I was looking forward to her sheepish retreat into relative, if temporary obscurity, in the coming weeks and months. But, like the diva she apparently was, Palin ain’t retreating. She’s now unmuzzled, and speaking her mind, there. Because in speaking to the people, you know, unfettered and transparently is gettin’ that back to the people, and knowin’ she knows she knows her geography in there is just not what’s it’s all about there. Ya know?
Seriously, I just want her to go away. For a while. Give us all a break. Deciphering her syntax is exhausting. But, no. Palin wants to save her reputation. So, she’s showin’ those jerks and talkin’ to every reporter in sight- ha! That’ll show’em. Yes, while Stephen Colbert may still be morose over how “the damn Democrats have spayed our pitbull,” I think that John Stewart is really more on to something: “Sarah Palin has been tagged and reintroduced into the wild.”
I can imagine that 10 days after the election, there is a segment of the Republican party at large – a goodly chunk of the rock bottom 30% GOP supporters (that is a number I’ve seen in post-election polling of how fearful respondents are about President-elect Obama) – that wants to see more of Sarah Palin now, and wants her to defend herself from the McCain staff leaks spilling out in the media this last week. Her supporters must be extra thankful, then, to hear that Palin will not hesitate to plough through any open door God helps her to see, including the door to the White House in four years.
This governors’ meeting in Florida should certainly be good for drama – Tim Pawlenty and Charlie Crist (washed up almost were’s), Mike Huckabee (a fellow aw shucks’n), Arnold Schwarzenegger (you just want him to mix it up) and potential rockstar Bobby Jindal (who was smart enough to turn down vetting before his time) come face to face with the now most controversial figure in the Republican party (George Bush must sure be relieved).
Does anyone really think that among the Republican governors, is there a one that wants to crown the Governor from Wasilla the party’s inheritor? Or how about the new comeback kid, Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, architect of the last Republican revolution in memory? He claims to like Palin but he’s not vying to head the Republican National Committee for naught (I’d bet), from where he should easily be able to launch a campaign for president after what will hopefully be a minor improvement in Republican fortunes in 2010. Expect Ms. Palin to share a crowded stage in 3 years. It will certainly be curious to see how that goes for her.
But what most needs saying? For God’s sake, Governor, setting the fashion record straight does not a president make. You should be above comment on these sorts of stories – that is, assuming none of them are true.
