If you thought Sarah Palin was going to just fade away, you really weren’t paying attention when she said the only difference between a soccer mom and a pit bull was lipstick. The Alaska governor, who was the Republican nominee for vice president in that race that John McCain lost to Democrat Barack Obama last year, is already laying the groundwork for another run at… something. She’s coy as to what that might actually be, but anyone with a brain knows that this woman intends to run for President in 2012. After all, she was anointed by God and blessed by a bonafide witch hunter and spiritual warrior. The only thing that kept her from getting into the White House was that doddering old flip-flopper John McCain, who stood in her way and messed up all of her plans.
According to its Web site, SarahPAC will “make it possible for Governor Palin to continue to be a strong voice for energy independence and reform” (which I think is code for unrestricted drilling and removing the “endangered” certification from any species that might interfere with it). The PAC will support candidates who “share Governor Palin’s ideas and goals” (Right-Wing Evangelical spiritual warriors who hope to help bring about the End Times?). The PAC’s Web site is pretty sparse, offering some typical political B.S. (“Our country, founded on conservative principles and the fight for freedom, must confront the challenges of the 21st century with integrity, innovation, and determination”), several shout-outs for energy independence, a form to sign up for e-mails and, most importantly, a place to donate (Palin apparently learned a trick from Barack Obama, since the web site’s main feature is a page where you can put down your name and donate $25 or $5,000 or more).
Apparently unaware that the Republicans controlled the White House for the last 8 years and both branches of Congress for 12 of the last 14 years, “SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all.” The site says “Health care, education and reform of government are among our key goals.”
The site’s home page shows Palin against a backdrop of Alaska’s sweeping mountain vistas. There were no pictures of her shooting wolves from helicopters, laughing at polar bears that are falling through the ice, or scoffing at the idea of the beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet being on the EPA’s Endangered Species list. While declaring it is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee, what SarahPAC does include is a full biography of the former vice presidential candidate, noting that she made history by becoming the first woman governor of Alaska and the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket.
“Gov. Palin has a long record of achievement and experience in public office,” it says, including her service as governor, her time as mayor of the town of Wasilla and her stint on the Wasilla City Council.
Pam Pryor, a spokesperson for Sarah PAC, says it’s not a step toward Palin taking a run at higher office.
“This is not an exploratory committee,” Pryor said, noting that Palin has received numerous requests by Republicans across the country seeking her support. “And whether it was (Sen. Saxby) Chambliss in December, whatever, there are just a lot of requests coming in and this will kind of harness that energy. This is not about a future run for her.”
But political analyst Jennifer Duffy believes the move hints that Palin is interested in running on the national level.
“Usually if you are a governor and you hold a statewide office or you form a federal PAC there is some federal ambition there, because there are certainly other ways to accomplish some of these goals without doing this,” Duffy said.
Most aspirants for the White House form these kind of PACs, Duffy added, saying that Palin would probably top a list of possible Republican party hopefuls for the presidency.
The Republican governor is the fourth unsuccessful 2008 candidate in her party to form a political action committee after Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and the person who put her on the national ticket, John McCain. Palin, mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2012, can use her new PAC to travel around the country, campaign for other Republicans and donate to campaigns.
How quickly they forget.
Just in case you don’t remember, Palin energized the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, after presidential nominee McCain chose her to run for vice president as the first woman to run on the Republican ticket. She failed to win over most female voters and her popularity quickly waned, mostly due to the fact that every time she opened her mouth away from a teleprompter, nothing but gibberish came out. Sixty percent of those questioned by CNN reported after the election said she wasn’t qualified to be president. One has to wonder what will be any different in 2012.
So you think that the Republicans ran Congress for the last 8 years?
Maybe you forgot that the Democrats ran both houses of Congress for the last 4 years. Maybe you should go back to your genealogy hobby. We came in contact years ago doing that, where you did good work.
It’s always amazed me to watch how angry and dismissive Republicans get when reality intrudes upon their carefully constructed fantasy world. Sorry, Don. My connection to reality is as thorough as my genealogy research.
When Democrats officially took control of Congress in January 2007 (which, if I’m correct, is 2 years, not 4), the Republicans had controlled Congress for 12 years (January 1995 to January 2007). It’s astonishing to me that after 12 years of a Republican Congress and 8 years of a Republican President, Conservatives still try to blame the ungodly mess the GOP made of this country on the fact that the Democrats have controlled Congress since 2007. Are you kidding me? What are you guys smoking?
George W. Bush only had to deal with a Democratic Congress the last two years of his presidency, and yet it’s the Democrats who drove this country into a ditch? If I recall, when George W. Bush took office, the country had a $128 billion surplus. By the time he left office we had a $482 billion deficit. That’s just one of the many reasons why Republicans are now sitting on the sidelines, powerless to do much of anything but obstruct Democratic efforts to repair the damage.
Sorry, Don. I can’t join you in your fantasy world. Thanks to the Republicans, most Americans simply can’t afford to. We’re too busy trying to survive after losing our jobs and our homes to believe any more Republican fairy tales. Just calm down and be patient. I’m sure that once the Democrats have put everything back together and everyone in this country is again getting fat and comfortable from living in a thriving economy, Americans may well risk letting the Republicans loose again. I sure hope not, but we were dumb enough to do it before.