Friday, January 8, 2010

What is wrong with the GOP establishment? Exhibit A: They hate Palin



If there was ever a poll that truly describes what is wrong with the current GOP establishment, this is it. National Journal conducted a poll of GOP insiders consisting of party leaders, pundits and political professionals to see whom they favor as the nominee in 2012.  Here are the results:

Likely To Win WH'12 Nomination (First place votes)
Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney  81 points (62%)
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty    46 (9%)
Sen. John Thune         38 (12%)
MS Gov. Haley Barbour   28 (6%)
IN Gov. Mitch Daniels   25
Ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin  25
Rounding out the top 10: Ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee, ex-FL Gov. Jeb Bush, LA Gov. Bobby Jindal. Candidates other than Romney, Pawlenty, Thune and Barbour split the remaining 11% of first-place votes.

While I can understand Mitt Romney’s appeal today, given the current economy, I cannot see how he will stand a chance once ObamaCare passes. How is Mitt Romney, creator of MassCare, going to sell himself to Tea Party members as the man who will repeal ObamaCare? I doubt many will be willing to take a chance on that one.

Pawlenty, Thune, Barbour and Daniels are hardly names you hear being favored by the base. Heck, even Gingrich and Huckabee still carry more cache than those four.

This lack of love for Palin by the GOP establishment actually helps her “street cred” with base, which is pretty sick and tired of politics as usual. In the end, the establishment’s disdain for Palin, maybe the very thing she needs to garner the base’s full support.

9 comments:

Fuzzy Slippers said...

Good analysis. Romney is a disaster, and he's a RINO. I can see why the GOP may not support Palin, she has a long way to go to undo the damage done to her while under Alinsky-style attack by the fringe media and lefty loons, but she's also the one, of those listed, who shares the conservative values of the base. Pawlenty? Hah!

Granny Annie said...

Have you ever examined the hatred people, especially women, seem to have for Sarah Palin? I can see liking or disliking a politician and I can see that some have gone through years of truly horrible, even illegal, activities, but I can see no reason for Palin to draw such hatred. I don't agree with all of her positions but I do admire her "grit" and wish more of us women could be like her.

Samuel Gonzalez said...

This is what really makes me angry about the GOP. The Left is gonna do what they gonna do as far as trying to marginalize Sarah Palin. And the PC-minded GOP leadership falls right in-line with the results. They think that Palin won't attract independent voters. This is same stupid thinking that saddled us with John McCain as a candidate. It's Conservative-Lite all over again.

Sarah Palin has no shame in standing up for Conservatism the way Reagan said we whould-BOLD COLORS.

The GOP is a bund of pastel crybabies!
The Last Tradition

Spinsterpov said...

The same old names aren't going to cut it. They need somebody new and fresh who really stands for the fiscally conservative stance of the masses.

I like the way Sarah speaks the truth and the way she can rally the masses. I like her so much that I modeled a character after her in the political suspense thriller that I wrote. The best character in the book even though she doesn't get a lot of pages.

Osumashi Kinyobe said...

Maybe I'm missing something but could this unfathomable reluctance to embrace Palin pave the way for a third party system?
Just asking.

Just Me said...

Romney is bad news. The strategy should be a simple one; "we the people" must choose the candidate regardless of who the GOP offers as a choice. The only way to beat the system is to bypass it.

Malcolm said...

At least when it comes to Palin, this is one instance where the GOP establishment has it right. Although I think Palin would make a terrible president, I don't hate her.

I do find it comical that some on the right feel that Palin is the answer and will make excuses for every misstep she makes (just like she does). It's always the fault of someone else (the media, McCain's campaign people, etc.)

I actually hope Palin is the Republican nominee to run against Obama in 2012 because I don't feel she can beat him.

Fuzzy Slippers said...

Hi Malcolm, do you find any irony in your comment, any at all? Who is responsible when BO screws up (as he does constantly)? Fox, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, racists, tea party patriots, conservatives, the CIA, and OF COURSE, President George W. Bush.

Malcolm said...

Fuzzy: I have no problem answering your questions, but we are now in off-topic territory. After all, this post is about Sarah Palin and the GOP establishment. Since I don't want to clog up Clifton's comments section with our back and forth, I'll respond to you via email.

Fuzzy + Angry= Sexy :-)

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