I will NOT apologize for NOT taking Sarah Palin seriously.

Yes, she's been an ubiquitous presence in the news (and on DU) this week. Yes, she attracts reasonably large crowds everywhere she goes. Yes, your mom/uncle/co-worker/facebook friend worships the ground she walks on and can't wait for her to run for President.

But here's the thing about Palin--she's THE most polarizing figure in politics today.

Sarah Palin is suffering from what people in politics and entertainment both call overexposure--that is to say, seemingly everyone has made up their mind about her. Few Americans are neutral on Palin, because few people don't know who she is and haven't been exposed to her "Greatest Hits." People either love her or can't stand her. And quite frankly, that's bad news for someone who wants to run for President.

The last three Presidents (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) have one thing in common--they were all relatively unknown on a national level before the primaries began. The modern presidential primary is when people say--"Let me research these candidates to see if I like their positions and/or get a sense of their character." The more overexposed a candidate is before the primaries, the less likely people's impressions will change by the time they vote. That's bad for any candidate, and for Palin, it's even worse.

Palin was still fairly popular right after the 2008 election, but her decision to leave office to pursue a life of celebrity seems to have backfired. Her negatives are so sky high that a decisive majority of ALASKANS disapproved of her in the last poll taken there--not the numbers you want coming out of your Republican home state. Now, her current bus tour proves that she hasn't learned anything from the experienced: people liked her better pre-resignation, pre-Fox News, pre-TV Show when she could at least make a claim of being a "regular gal," or a serious political figure. The GOP has voted celebrities into office before, but those were people who left the world of entertainment for politic service, never the other way around.

She may be more widely-known (and richer) now, but her celebrity makes a run for the GOP nomination in a crowded field extremely unlikely. On the other hand, she has just about as much of a chance at the White House as Donald Trump ever did...

Hell, he's the only Republican I'm sure Jimmy can beat. I hope the Republicans nominate him.

--Jackpine circa 1979

But he really left a mark.



x(

They don't like Palin. Poll after poll says they don't. Just because a small, vocal minority would elect her God if they could doesn't make her nationally well-liked.

A lot of people were comparing Trump 2011 to Reagan 1979, and look how that turned out.

Sometimes events seem unlikely to happen because they are.

He could at least fake not being totally stupid. When people bring up Reagan or W when talking about Palin's chances, they are giving her way too much credit.

Sarah will have the entire GOP machine behind her. Everything they have will be used in 2012.

Now is not the time to sit back and relax.

Every metric says the money's behind Romney.

There's being pragmatic and then there's just being unreasonably scared.

Two years out, and anything can happen. The corporate machine will back whoever wins.
No one candidate is a shoe-in.

you say you don't take her seriously.

I take her very seriously. She's muddying the waters.

look what happened with that idiot, Dubya.

TWICE



Never underestimate the stupidity of John Q Public.

don't want her around either...I hope she stays around long enough to split up the GOP vote in 2012..unless she gets Roved first..

She may not be the frontrunner, but there's a lot of time between now and the GOP Convention next year.

And thats not a defense of Bush, the guy is still a moron, but compared to Palin, he looks like a policy wonk of the level of a John Kerry. She is really that bad.

he probably would have gotten way more votes.

:7

What I do take seriously is a voting infrastructure that's still in place in too much of the country that would allow her or some other empty headed lunatic to be rigged into office the way Stupid was.

I take that very seriously.

Palin? Oh, at some point her fawning crowds are going to realize it's all anticipation and no delivery, that the hillbilly tour bus shows up in town but there's no band or lights or show when it does and they're going to realize they've been robbed.

However, there will always be another one, a phony professional star created by admen and pumped up by hype.

And our voting systems are still junk.

If any American with a semi-functioning brain stem thinks, in all honesty and seriousness, that any one of these barking useless clowns they have as candidates can run this country better than who we have now, they just need to have a train dropped on their head. And I'm not even kidding.

"Hey, let's cut spending and not raise taxes on the rich or end these completely useless and costly wars! I can't really think of a non-incriminating or logical reason WHY, but . . . well, shut up."

"Hey, let's keep trickle down economics in place forever. It's only failed 95% of the population for 40 years now, but why stop now? It's called capitalism! Don't like yer lot in life, work infinitely harder, lazy-ass!"

"Hey, let's take money away from the working people! Surely THAT's a far better plan than throwing them a lifeline!"

"Hey, let's hope Joe Sixpack can invent his way out of this mess like he did in the 1980s! You know, doesn't EVERY Joe Nosepicker have the same technology, powerful legal representation and lobbys that multi-million dollar corporate labs do?"

"Hey, the American people aren't educated enough. So the solution to THAT would be to increase college tuition and admission standards even HIGHER! YEAH! If they really, really, really, REALLY want it bad enough, they'll FIND a way to get into college! I are such uh jeenyus it kills meh!"

"Hey, do you think I care what polls think? The American people don't want no Leninist Universal Health Care, and that's FINAL. It's more like I don't want it because for some bizarre reason, I think the whole mess would be simply poopy for the well being of my future employe . .. . er . . . our . . . fine fellow citizens of the insurance industries, yeah . . ."

"Hey, blue collar workers who've done the same things all of their lives are kind of fucked. Uh . . . . . . . . . Oh Well? LOOK - BLACK COMMIE PRESIDENT BOOGAH BOOGAH!!"

Yep, vote these clones in and let me know how that works out for you fellers. Be sure to buy some new shoes after you do so . . . those bullet holes sure do tend to make things drafty.

dumbass bush got 'elected'. palin could get 'elected' too. i don't really think she's interested in anything but money, and the gop may not want her, but if she were the nominee they'd back her and we all know it. just like romney. they don't seem to want him either, but if he were the nominee they'd swallow and grin and bear it. I may laugh and call her winky, but I ain't going to ever underestimate her. or any of them idiots. no way.

from the Harry Potter films. Mad-Eye Moody always warned: "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!" NEVER let down your guard and NEVER underestimate the compelling power of the enemy. I too think sarah palin is an absolute trainwreck. But we saw dumbya get in, not once but twice!

bent on imposing her fascist will on the US.

So a clown, or a fascist. She's certainly polarized DU.