My Cynical Reaction
Far be it for me to interpret actions by politicians cynically. There is a lot of analysis about why Sarah Palin resigned. I don't know anything more than most, but here is what I told a friend way back in December:
Sarah Palin should resign now and go on the speaking / pundit circuit. She is currently in the midst of her 15 minutes of fame and before it passes, she should jump on the opportunity. In particular, there are all kinds of conservative business execs who will fork out $75,000 a pop to have Palin speak at corporate functions, sales conferences, etc. This is not even to mention however much Fox is willing to pay her to be a talking head.
John Moore:
I see nothing cynical about this.
I suspect that she resigned to get away from the harassment she was facing from the Dems, who have no qualms about using extra-democratic Nixonian methods to attack threats - and she is a big threat. She also needs money, and probably some time to let her family get a bit older.
The Republican party needs her - she can command the news cycle like nobody but Obama, and is a big draw to Republican events. Also, if she raises a pot of money from speaking, she can then return with the personal financial resources required in this day and age to be a pol - especially one under attack from the fascists of the left.
Dan Quayle was a very bright and upcoming pol (Woodward chose him as the subject of a book on the most promising Senator), and the Dems (with a bit of help from his facial expressions and a lot more help from the friendly media) succeeded in utterly destroying his brand (even the potato[e] incident was completely misreported). Jerry Ford was an athlete, but as a left handed individual, was more likely to appear clumsy, so the same bunch of jackals left him with an unearned reputation as a stumbler and a bumbler.
They have been working on Palin since her surprise pick caused the McCain campaign to leap ahead of Obama (and stay there until the financial crisis popped). She is a threat, and like the true sons of Lenin that the Dems are, they will go after her with any means, no matter how despicable.
July 4, 2009, 10:16 amAC:
I think Half Sigma is right that she is too dumb to be a talking head.
July 4, 2009, 11:39 amJohn Moore:
Yeah, female, attractive, mother, Christian - obviously dumb as a rock.
July 4, 2009, 11:59 amMJ:
...she is too dumb to be a talking head.
Isn't that kind of an oxymoron?
Yeah, female, attractive, mother, Christian - obviously dumb as a rock.
None of those things qualifies her as intelligent. Our country deserves better.
July 4, 2009, 1:21 pmWill H.:
Yes our country deserves better than Obama!
If Palin was running the show she won't be pushing cap and trade as a false path to energy independence, but developing our own natural resources.
She won't be firing inspector generals because they was investigating her friends.
She won't be running us into trillion of dollars in debt.
She won't be pushing chard check.
She won't be nominating to the SCOTUS a person that thinks it OK to discriminate against people because of the color of their skins (white)
She won't go around apologizing to our enemies and undermining our friends (Israel and Honduras)
She won't be appointing Czars for everything to circumvent the senate approval process.
She won't have blown off the Medal of Honor banquet during her inauguration.
She won't need a teleprompter for every speech.
Yes, indeed the US of A deserves better than what it has now.
July 4, 2009, 8:04 pmMJ:
"They have been working on Palin since her surprise pick caused the McCain campaign to leap ahead of Obama (and stay there until the financial crisis popped)."
Once the novelty effect wore off, a lot of people started getting buyer's remorse. When she finally had to start answering policy questions and doing interviews, rather than just preaching to the converted at the RNC, the wheels came off. Every time this woman opened her mouth, she cost the Republicans votes. There are only so many canned statements you can fit into an empty head, and we saw what happens when you exceed that limit during the Couric interview. It was a cynical pick by McCain, and he paid the price.
And yes, she is a threat. She's a threat to this entire country and everyone we do business with. Thank goodness she can't do any more damage for at least 3 1/2 years. We'll have to content ourselves with practicing damage control with Obama & Co.
July 5, 2009, 12:14 amScott:
The first thing I thought when I heard this is that she's setting aside the Governorship to make a run at the Senate, it'd be about time to get started with a campaign to make a run at a 2010 election and that was before I confirmed that there was a Alaskan senate seat up for election in 2010, which there is.
I wouldn't be surprised if Palin's current 10 year plan includes at least 5 years in the Senate before starting her 2016 bid for the Presidency. (which would be over twice the time our current President spent in the Senate before starting his campaign)
July 7, 2009, 1:17 pm