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Sarah Palin: Crazy or brilliant?
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Like her or not, Palin knows how to keep her name in the paper AP Photo/Robert Deberry
There is one thing that no one, right or left can argue with and that is Sarah Palin’s ability to get herself exposure in the national press. Now the old saying goes that all press is good press may not hold true in today’s world of the politically motivated blogger, but Palin seems to have a knack for keeping her name in the papers.
In the wake of her somewhat surprise decision to step down as the Governor of Alaska, a new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that her status among Republicans is slightly up, but this latest incident has knocked her down a peg or two with the Independents and the Democrats.
This poll shows that nearly 2/3’s of Republicans want Palin to become a major national political figure. This is a position within the Republican party that has gone largely unfilled since the days of one Newt Gingrich. Not enough hard core conservatives were behind George W Bush to elevate him to this status, and no one has stepped up since he left the White House.
While there is little doubt that the GOP could use a figure like this, and Palin might be well suited to the job, but that does not mean Palin needs to be this party’s nominee for President in 2012. In fact this same poll may indicate that nominating Palin in 2012 could be a futile effort.
Independent voters by a 55%-34% simply want Palin to leave the national stage. Now Conservatives and members of the GOP may have to face an ugly truth here. No candidate from either party can win without scoring big among the Independents. We now live in a country polarized by politics. This is not the fault of any one person or action, but it is the truth.
With that key fact in mind, the GOP rank and file must realize that Palin ahs become a polarizing figure on the national stage on par with one Hillary Clinton. Both of these women are either loved or hated, with little sway in the middle. That is not the recipe for a successful national campaign.
However there is an interesting fact buried in this poll, ¾’s of Republicans, over half of Independents, and nearly a third of Democrats feel that the press on Palin has been unfairly negative. That may be Palin’s in. If she, and her team, can build a coast to coast campaign that is anti national and main stream press, she may be able to make the 2012 an interesting fight. If her campaign can reach out to conservative bloggers, and press that are not a part of the main stream maybe the GOP can build up a grass roots effort that could rival the one built by President Obama.
Obama, while getting pretty favorable treatment for the mainstream press, used his grass roots organizations to win the 2008 election. It may now be time for the GOP to launch this kind of attack on a national level.
