A new Public Policy Polling survey found that 55 percent of Americans think Sarah Palin is not fit to be president. Thirty-seven percent think she would be able to do the job. That's remarkable. Note that the question was not one of preference, but simply a question of whether she was fit to be president. What accounts for the negative … Read More
More On Sarah Palin’s Reason For Quitting
Once you cut through the basketball metaphors and folksy homilies and — well — crap, Palin asserts the quit as governor because all the ethics violations against her was taking a toll on the state. So, she was doing it for the good of the people. The problem with that, as I mentioned yesterday, is that there are currently only … Read More
Gop Strategist On Palin
He doesn't mince words… and he's right on the money: Republican strategist (and NBC analyst) Mike Murphy again takes on Sarah Palin. He calls her "the political train wreck that keeps on giving." He said she "brought nothing to the [McCain] ticket except a surefire knack for exciting voters who were already reliably Republican." More: "We are now told the … Read More
Palin Reason Not Holding Much Water
After a rambling press conference Friday explaining her sudden and unexpected resignation, Palin had to clean up her own mess this weekend by granting additional interviews to, well, everybody to clarify why she's leaving. As the Anchorage Daily News reported, "Palin Says Ethics Complaints Were Paralyzing". Ah, that explains it, I guess. Well, someone who looked into discovered that there … Read More
The Palin-Martyr Effect
Steve Benen notes that Palin's abrupt resignation has actually increased her standing a bit among Republicans according to a recent Gallup poll. Steve writes: Inexplicably quitting, for less-than-clear reasons, has managed to endear Palin to her party more. It doesn't strike me as "inexplicable" at all. Palin resonates with the "Joe Six-packs" who are basically "anti". Not just anti-left, but … Read More
The Stick-To-It-tiveness of Sarah Palin
A little reminder: Sarah Palin did have a job in between being mayor of Wasilla and Alaska Governor: she was chair of Frank Murkowski's Oil and Gas Commission. How long was she on this Commission? Less than a year… until she quit in January 2004 with a big public huff (leaving the Commission in the lurch with only one member), … Read More
More On Palin
The Rude Pundit is (rudely) right: There's only one way that Sarah Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska might have provoked any sympathy whatsoever: if she had just admitted she was in over her head. If Palin had gotten up in front of Miked Duck Lake or wherever the fuck she was, and said, "Okay, look, ya got me. I … Read More
Bill Kristol On Sarah Palin (with updates)
He writes: I like Sarah Palin (though I don't know her well). I respect her (though I'm aware of some of her limitations). I wish her well (though I'm not convinced she should be the 2012 Republican presidential nominee). I am convinced, though, that she should have a chance to compete and make her case. Um, she made her case … Read More
Picture of the Day
Sarah Palin, drunk on her own delusions of national stature, after abandoning the governnorship.
Palin Is Brilliant
The news of Governor Sarah Palin's sudden resignation is, at 24 hours, old news. It's rather bizarre behavior. But I love the pro-Sarah spin out there: Bill Kristol writes: If Palin wants to run in 2012, why not do exactly what she announced today? It's an enormous gamble – but it could be a shrewd one. After all, she's freeing herself … Read More
Palin Profile
Vanity Fair has a whopper of an article on Sarah Palin, full of inside-the-McCain-campaign insight from those within the McCain camp (who, shall we say, are not Palin fans). If the Vanity Fair piece is too long, you might enjoy these excerpts from USA Today: On the campaign: "… (M)ost made it clear that they suffer a kind of survivor’s … Read More
It’s 2:15 PM. Do You Know Where Your Governor Is? [UPDATE: He Confesses]
Gov. Mark Sanford is late for his 2:00 pm news conference to explain his whereabouts and odd behavior these past six days. Except he hasn't shown up yet. Probably on the Chisholm Trail, I'm guessing. UPDATE (2:25 pm): Okay, here he is. He's basically apologizing to his wife, kids and staff for just disappearing like that. 2:27 pm: Now he's … Read More
Sanford To Explain All (And A Look At Decision 2012)
UPDATE: Since posting this item, the "other woman" question has come to the fore. According to source to TPM: ….a second car was identified at the Columbia airport, next to the SUV Sanford is believed to have used. Two additional sources in South Carolina politics said the same thing. Other sources also note that the Sanfords have been having problems in … Read More
Sanford: No, I Wasn’t Hiking — I Was In South America
Ooookay….. Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning, having wrapped up a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said. Sanford said he had not been hiking along the Appalachian Trail, as his staff said in a Tuesday statement to the media. Sanford's whereabouts had been unknown since Thursday, and the mystery surrounding his absence fueled … Read More
Just A Thought
I can't believe the "Dave Letterman joke" controversy is still a controversy. I don't know what Palin supporters hope to gain by this. Look, folks, if you believe Saran Palin is made of presidential material, that's fine, but I suggest to you that if a joke gets her panties in this much of a twist, then she doesn't have what … Read More