Why Palin Won't Run for President

[babylonsister]

Good points, but bummer!


Why Palin Won't Run for President

by BooMan
Thu Jul 22nd, 2010 at 08:07:13 PM EST


Speculation that Sarah Palin will run for president is like candy to the media. And Palin likes it that way. But I don't think she'll run, and here's the reason why.

Before President Barack Obama could address a Washington, D.C., swelled with revelers and in-the-moment seekers, the pandemonium of the day, he faced much smaller crowds in Iowa, places with more ponderous settings. As a correspondent for my family's newspaper, The Daily Times Herald, I saw a lot of this campaign close-up.

Twice during his successful Iowa caucuses run President Barack Obama appeared in my hometown of Carroll, once at the Carroll Recreation Center just after Labor Day 2007, and a second time the day after Christmas that year at Carroll High School as the early January caucuses loomed.

His campaign went to smaller towns. Obama hit Denison early in the Iowa effort and Audubon on the Saturday after Thanksgiving - the latter a late-night appearance capping off a marathon day of campaigning. Michelle Obama spoke at Crossroads Bistro the Sunday before the Iowa caucuses.

Obama was in this part of Iowa so often that, shortly before the Iowa caucuses, The Washington Post noted that our newspaper, The Daily Times Herald, "has a level of access to Sen. Barack Obama that any major media reporter would covet." We interviewed the would-be president six times.

Carroll County voted for Obama in the Iowa caucuses and then again in November, making the town one of the more western pockets of support in Iowa for the Illinois Democrat. After supporting President George W. Bush in the last two elections, Carroll County went to Obama in November 51% to 47% — or 5,284 to 4,905. That was only slightly under the 54% Obama won in all of Iowa.

That's what it takes to win the Iowa caucuses. A similar effort is needed to win the New Hampshire primaries. Try not giving the local papers multiple interviews and see what happens to your poll ratings. Try going around Iowa day after day after day for a year or more without answering the people's questions or giving them thoughtful and responsive ideas to solve their problems. Try substituting all the chicken dinners with county chairmen with tweets and neologistic Facebook updates. Try blowing off all the debates because you can't handle the heat.

Does anyone seriously think that Palin would work that hard? Or that she could get away with running an Angle/Paul media campaign, where she holds press conferences but doesn't answer any questions, or she refuses to speak to the bigfoot reporters from the network news and the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post? Do you think she'd do 19 debates, like Obama and Clinton did? Even if she did, do you think she'd still be viable after the first two were over?

more...

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2010/7/22/20713/1965

[Unsane]

1. tl;dr

[babylonsister]

2. I'm sure I'm supposed to be able to read what you wrote,

but I can't. :shrug:

[KingFlorez]

3. It means "too long, didn't read"

[babylonsister]

6. Too long?

:rofl: Well, I do occasionally highlight the good stuff! :rofl:

[Pirate Smile]

9. Twitter effect.

;)

I say that as a Twitter-lover.

[babylonsister]

10. Wow. As a non-twitter follower, that's appalling.

I don't read really long posts, but this one couldn't be classified as such. The bigger/better technology gets, the shorter attention spans are.

Seems to me, anyway, and applies to me, too. :(

[Pirate Smile]

16. I'm kind of kidding. The OP is not long so I don't get the earlier comment. Seemed to go with the

standard joke that anything longer then 140 characters is too long. (Twitter, obviously, has a limit of 140 characters). One of the good things about Twitter is the LINKs to the longer articles, blogs, etc. It is like DU where people post links to breaking news or good articles or columns, etc. Actually, only being able to take 140 characters is crazy. Twitter also has good commentary that totally depends on who you choose to follow. It is also like an official thread on DU following an ongoing event which people just comment on, make jokes, express disgust or approval - that type of thing.

[deacon_sephiroth]

18. yiww;tfsu

translation

Your Input was Worthless, Thanks For Showing Up

[JoePhilly]

4. Short answer ... a President has to work and does not make as much as a "Fox News Contributor"

[HipChick]

5. She's going to run on Twitter

[babylonsister]

7. You think? I don't even know how to get on there, and my

dad (84 y.o. and not into technology) recently tried to encourage me to lose the computer.

:shrug:

[msongs]

8. it's too much like work and the financial gold mine doesn't come til after the pres leaves office nt

[Pirate Smile]

11. I think this is why the pundit-heads say she would enter the race late - November? I'm not sure when

the caucuses will be in 2012. In 2008, they were January 3rd. November was practically the bottom of the 8th inning.

The other issue is that we are talking about just Republicans. The Iowa press will freak but Palin and Republicans love to hate on the press. She wont be helping herself with Independents but she is trying to win the Republican caucus.

If she won the nomination, we are looking at a Reagan or LBJ style wipeout in 2012. Obama and Clinton began their official campaigns in January & February of 2007 - think about that - that translates into Republicans announcing they are running for President in January & February of 2011 - THAT IS 6 MONTHS FROM RIGHT NOW!!!!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

12. Yup. It requires actual slogging. Sarah doesn't have it in her.

For all McCain's flaws, he at least could slog it through a brutal primary season and win after everyone thought he was dead.

[Pirate Smile]

21. Stamina. That is something she so does not have. Remember, unlike all the candidates running for

President in 2008 (including Biden), she was, literally, only campaigning for a little over 9 weeks. Obama and McCain had run for 2 years and Biden ran for 1 year then dropped out for 6 months before joining the campaign for the final 10 weeks.

She is such a quitter.

Obama ran for President longer then she was Governor of Alaska and, prior to that, he had been a Senator for longer then she was Governor (since 2004 - Prez run began early 2007).

[Jennicut]

13. 19 debates?!

:rofl:

She could barely handle the one against Biden!

[zulchzulu]

14. My RNC source says she would be cut off at the knees if she tried to run

The RNC hates her except for the possibility that she might give the old cronies a hand job in some broom closet at some book signing at some GOP fundraiser.

[Pirate Smile]

19. I'd love to see a split in the Republican Party caused by that if (when?) it is clearly discovered.

She has the highest approval among Republicans of any of the Repubs possibly running. The way her evangelical, crazy Teabagger minions will undercut Mormon, Obama-care precursor/creator Romney. It'll be ugly.

[babylonsister]

20. Who might be viable according to your sources? I seriously

hope it's not Jeb, and the other candidates are not worth thinking about, to me. But Jeb? Do rethugs care about anything but winning? That bus undercarriage is huge.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/07/another-bush-in-the-white-house/60195

snip//

Would Republicans dare coalesce behind Bush? Surely they would. The hallmark of today's politics is a truculent refusal to concede error. What could possibly show up those arrogant liberals like nominating another Bush? Nor is it apparent that doing so would be politically perilous. As Obama's approval ratings continue to fall, it seems ever more likely that the 2012 election will be hard-fought and close, regardless of who is the Republican nominee. And Jeb Bush's appeal to the center is at least as strong as that of his colleagues.

[zulchzulu]

30. My RNC source is actually disgusted by the GOP and its adherence to dumb religous strings

He is pretty sure that Obama will handily win in 2012 based on the choices so far.

[lunatica]

15. The baby trig will be way too big and heavy to carry around for photo ops too

Bristol and Levi will probably pass on the staged whirlwind glitz and Piper is probably a rebellious teenager by now.

Things are just not the same.

[Clio the Leo]

17. ... and there's no money in it. nt

[LiberalFighter]

24. If she doesn't run it will be because it won't make any money for her.

ABSOLUTELY!! That's why she quit being governor.

[Clio the Leo]

25. and I dont really blame her....

... to me, it's not a LOT different than when a college athlete goes pro before graduation.

Of course, the DIFFERENCE between being a Governor vs. a college athlete, is that a Governor has ACTUAL RESPONSIBILITIES. (or so I've been told.)

[LiberalFighter]

27. But not all governors are created equal.

At least the responsibilities of one state governor are less than would be expected. And I imagine that would also apply for Alaska.

[senseandsensibility]

22. Did chimp do all that hard work campaign'n?

We all the know the rules are very different for Dems and repugs.

[AlinPA]

23. The teabaggers will revolt if she is not picked coming out of the convention. Not to

mention the fundamentalists, right-wing evangelicals, anti-immigrant, intolerant factions that make up the rest of the party. I don't think the republican party has many moderate (sorry for that worn out word)voters left anymore. Even their RNC leader is a wacko right-winger. From what I see, Palin is very popular in rural areas, suburbs and small towns. She would draw a lot of republicans to her events and get their votes in primaries.

[IDemo]

33. I'm going to have to stock up on popcorn for that

It's going to be great!

:popcorn:

[WI_DEM]

26. my prediction is that she does run.

[Doeed]

28. Palin won't run because

The Republicans know she would get waxed in a landslide.

[MikeW]

29. she's about $$$ ... and she's making way more $$$ not running

[Overseas]

31. My first reaction is remembering Bush in a debate saying-- It's HARD work!

Over and over again. It's haaaard WORK!

That's why.

[marlakay]

32. She won't run because all she wants is money

she is using the speculation to write books and get pac dollars she can filter to clothes and free travel. She is working the system to the max. She is too lazy to actually do the job and she is at least smart enough to know the job would be so far over her head it would fall off!!!