Poor, Pitiful Palin

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Liberals aren't afraid of her. They love her as a punching bag.

If they would ignore her she would be more marginalized. IMHO, the more attention they give her the more hard core right wings flock to her just to piss off the left. I think she may have a chance to get into the senate or house but that is about it.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

If they would ignore her she would be more marginalized. IMHO, the more attention they give her the more hard core right wings flock to her just to piss off the left. I think she may have a chance to get into the senate or house but that is about it.

There are still a lot of roles she can fulfill, depending on how split the Republican party is. She could be doing this for cash, as UT suggests, and then use her influence for support of a candidate she personally endorses. If she tells her base that "candidate X" is a good choice, there is a good chance her base will support that candidate. Another scenario is that she may make a presidential run solely to try to influence the race. Even if she will lose, she will have a large influence on the race and her political opponents will be forced to fill the voter vacuum when she drops out, making the winning candidate closer to her views then if she didn't run. She could also be delusional.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

She could also be delusional.

This one has my vote.

[tw]

A rather interesting interview from a reporter from the Weekly Standard notes how Palin's political statements have changed now that only the extreme right is supporting her. As governor in AK, Palin had plenty of Democratic support because she was more moderate and was taking on real problems - such as renegotiating oil company contracts with the state.

Steve Schmidt (if that name is spelled correctly), from Cheney's office, somehow took over the McCain campaign after McCain took the Republican nomination. Somehow he eliminated McCain's VP preferences and got Palin on the ticket. Then (somehow) Palin was not saying what she was expected to say.

Palin's job was to be the attack dog - criticize Obama. But she kept 'going rogue'. Palin was not the right wing extremist they expected and wanted her to be. So Palin was kept closely controlled - could not even campaign for weeks without McCain at her side.

The irony is that Steve Schmitt and right wing staffers imported to McCain's campaign are now is a pissy hiss with their choice - Palin. Unfortunately for Palin, she cannot seem to get beyond this cat fight. Instead of attracting moderate Republicans, she is preaching more extremist rhetoric while conducting a 'hearsay accusations' fight with many of those same party extremists.