Wrong Track

**I actually started this post on 11/19/10, shortly after the midterm elections, but didn't finish it.  Now it's time to revisit it, particularly in light of recent events and news surrounding the subject.**

I haven't written a political post in a while, but lately I've been hearing two words fairly often that I can't ignore which have promoted me to speak up.  As a newly minted "young Republican" I'm terrified by these two words I keep hearing.  Those are: Sarah Palin.


Don't get me wrong, I like her.  I liked her from the start, I've never understood why people hate her with such venom and I don't think she's done anything to deserve the treatment she's gotten in both political circles and the press.  That said, I don't think she has what it takes to run for President.  That is different from having what it takes to BE President, mind you, and I'll address that later.  But for now, let's focus on the 2012 election.


Her support is not widespread.  She will never get a fair treatment in the press.  She's extremely polarizing.  Not even all Republicans like her.  She has a snowball's chance in hell of beating Barack Obama, which says alot since a wet sock could probably beat Obama at this point.  If the Republicans really think that she is a viable candidate then that is a serious problem.  A problem of epic proportions.  Because it is clearly not the case and all polling data says so.  I don't think she single handedly sunk the McCain campaign but she certainly didn't help it.  If the Republicans back her I won't be able to tell if they are just absolutely out of their fucking minds or if they want to lose. 


Now she has this silly little reality show (that I haven't seen yet, but would like to).  While it may change the way some people view her and her family, I doubt it will have a major impact because the people that don't like her probably aren't going to watch anyway.  Even if they did, most people who dislike her do so for intangible reasons having nothing to do with her actual personality.  I also don't care what "age" we live in, no one should be President after having a reality show about their family.  Sorry.


She simply doesn't have what it takes to run.  It seems clear now that she's more concerned about staying in the public eye and remaining relevant to something than doing what's right for this country, or even her party.  If she did care she would gracefully bow out of the spotlight.  The only plausible reason for her to remain in the public arena would be as a straw man, giving the Democrats someone to attack that isn't their main candidate.  They could be using her to deflect attention from whomever they are actually grooming to run.  While I see merit in that strategy I still think it's more harmful to keep her around.


As for having what it takes to actually be President, I'm not so sure.  As McCain's running mate I wasn't scared by the possibility of her being "one heartbeat from the Presidency."  I still don't think she'd be any worse than the previous or current Presidents, but I'm also getting tired of Presidents who can't accomplish anything.  She would be as polarizing, if not more so, than Obama so I'm not hopeful that she would be effective.

Everything preceding this point in the post was from the original 11/19/10 writing.  In the past few weeks Palin had become the focus of the mainstream media yet again for reasons on which I'm not really clear.  Then the shooting in Arizona happened over the weekend and this week has just been a media firestorm looking to blame anyone, particularly anyone conservative, and Palin took most of the heat because of particular graphics she had used on her website during the campaign and "combat-like" rhetoric she has used.  Aside from the fact that the shooter is clearly apolitical and just plain crazy, nothing Palin has done or said really makes her deserving of the blame here.  If you want to blame the conservative punditry in the country for souring the political discourse, go right ahead, even though I still think you'd be mostly wrong.  To single out Palin, however, is more than wrong--but it's not unexpected or surprising.  When she finally made a statement addressing all of the bogus claims against her she was subject to even more criticism for using the term "blood libel."  It just serves as one more example of why she's not a viable candidate for POTUS in 2012, and why the conservative movement should begin to distance themselves from her.

It's hard for me to admit, because I do want to like her so, but Palin is clearly more interested in fame and all that has brought into her life, than doing what's right for the country or even her beloved party.  I have no problem with her remaining in the public eye, but continually feeding her ego monster isn't helping anyone, even the so-called Tea Party movement.  With the splits that are occurring in the conservative movement right now it's not a good idea to cling to any one particular figure or force.  If conservatives are serious about saving the country from the liberal onslaught of socialist-style programs and higher taxes and spending then they need to set their sights on a unifying figure to lead the party into this decade.  Continuing to prop Palin up against any and all odds just makes them look foolish and power hungry, like everyone suspects.