I was dismayed, but not very surprised, last night when I heard that Gov. Palin announced she has decided not to run for president in this election cycle. I was hoping she was hanging back to let the field thin out. Allahpundit at Hot Air says it’s a smart call and links Charles Krauthammer saying the same thing. Allahpundit has the following consoling observation:
Maybe she’ll focus now on challenging Begich for Senate in Alaska in 2014, which would be a huge first step back towards national viability down the road. She’s 47 years old, fully 25 years younger than McCain was when he was nominated three years ago. No rush.
However, as Prof. Jacobson points out at Legal Insurrection, Red State’s Erick Erickson went a different way:
At a moment when Erickson could have shown himself to be a mensch he showed himself to be a schmuck. And of course, managed to make it about him. As pointed out in the comments, he is asking “Can we all be friends now?” The answer is no.
Click the link to see why.
Thanks to a post by GOProud’s Christopher Barron at his new personal blog, The Real Red Barron (an homage to the Twitter handle of conservative bisexual singer Sophie B. Hawkins, @therealsophieb), I may see my way clear to supporting Herman Cain:
Finally, far from attacking gay people, Mr. Cain has made it clear that he is willing to be a President for all Americans – including gay people. Mr. Cain does not support a federal marriage amendment, will not reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, supports policies like the Fair Tax, free market healthcare reform and social security personal savings accounts – all of which would benefit gay and lesbian Americans.
I believe that if Herman Cain wins the Republican nomination, he is now the only candidate we have who could beat Obama. The most important reason is he is a real fiscal conservative, while the other candidates are primarily social conservatives. We can only win by showing how fiscal conservatism will restore America to prosperity because our most serious problems for the foreseeable future are economic, not social. If we run a social conservative who is consumed with zeal to solve problems that loom small in the minds of most Americans, the Left and independents will stick with the devil they know. The promise of religious tyranny coupled with fiscal sacrifice is not going to sell.
Two more important reasons Herman Cain can beat Obama are that he would remove the race card from Obama’s bag of tricks and could split the black vote. How much fun is that going to be to watch? I am gleeful at the prospect.
However, I think there’s a kind of laziness, which I don’t understand, among the wealthy Republican donors, the RNC and campaign strategists that will result in Romney being the nominee because they believe he can win, regardless of Romneycare and multifarious other fundamental failings, because he is handsome and rich. This is a miscalculation of epic proportions. But it does help me understand why frustrated Republicans call it “the non-smart party.” I think the best we can hope for is winning Republican control of both houses of Congress in 2012 so we can thwart as many of Obama’s fell initiatives as possible in his second term.
With regard to Gov. Palin, I do hope she sets her sights on running for president in 2016 to succeed Obama. When Gov. Palin spoke on Sept. 3 to a Tea Party audience in Indianola, Iowa, she laid out the most positive and practical path for restoring America to prosperity of any of the candidates. She has the ability to make people believe in themselves and their ability to overcome their greatest challenges, which is not only required for a nation to prosper but also is the most powerful cure for the pathological desire to depend on the government to solve every problem. If she does what she has to do to overcome the objections that establishment Republicans had to her candidacy this time around, she is exactly the person most capable of cleaning up the mess that Obama will leave.
P.S.
Dear Stacy McCain has poll results and more insights on the surge in support for Herman Cain.
Update, 10/8/11, Sat.: Today American Thinker published an essay by Robert Eugene Simmons, Jr., who arrives at the same conclusion as mine, “Palin’s Withdrawal Means Obama Wins.” Simmons adds the point that Gov. Romney is the father of Romneycare, which was the model for Obamacare, so Obama will shellack him with that. I also want to note that Republicans would lose the issue of repealing Obamacare if Romney is the nominee. I don’t know why the Republican establishment is so hot to make the 2012 election a contest between Obama and Obama Lite. Like me, Simmons thinks the best case scenario, with Gov. Palin out of contention, is to keep the House and win the Senate so we can thwart Obama’s socialist agenda, while the worst case would be Obama with a Democratic Congress and not-much-better would be Romney with a Republican Congress.
I hear ya. My reaction to Palin’s decision was fury. The Republican’s f*ck themselves yet again. So much to say, yet no point in wasting time.
I love Cain – and who knows? He might just pull this off. Because, unlike Obama, he is the real deal, and he will be like Solomon compared to what we have seen.
Herman Cain won the straw poll at the National Federation of Republican Women gathering – and a comment on a blog noted this:
“Supporters of other candidates are now beginning to disparage straw polls. That’s fair, but this straw poll was a little different. Just keep in mind that while straw polls are not elections, the emergence of Cain is unique. In order to vote in the Republican Women’s poll you had to be a delegate to their convention, unlike straw polls that can bus supporters in. Second, unlike Ron Paul, Cain does not represent a movement like the Libertarians who form voting blocs and can effectively overwhelm straw polls that make Paul look more popular than he is. Third, it takes more than a 75 cent taco to go to the Republican Women’s Convention is Kansas City (take it from me). Women have flown in from all parts of the country at significant expense to be there. Straw polls are not elections, but Cain gave an electrifying, persuasive speech to a cross section of active Republican women and got an overwhelming endorsement.
And a final point, Republican women make up a lot of the worker bees during an election, passing out literature, going door to door, manning the polls. That’s why elected Republican officials pay them a lot of attention. Republican women did not to go to Kansas City to give Herman Cain a win in the straw poll. The fact that he won big was solely due to his ability to convince the delegates that he was the one they wanted for President. That’s big.”
Sorry, but I don’t think Palin is electable in a general election. Yes she is very popular on the right. She is loathed by the middle. And like it or not, you need the middle to win a general election.
Debra,
I am very glad you dropped by.
If Gov. Palin were unelectable, the Left would not have gone to so much trouble to harass and demonize her. No one articulates what fiscal conservative policies can do to create prosperity and jobs as well as Gov. Palin, so I think she could have won the middle over. I think her real problem was elitism and sexism on the part of establishment Republicans. However, now that she’s out, I’m concerned that the media are playing up Romney because the Democrats think Obama can beat him despite Obama’s abysmal record.
There’s no doubt that the left were scared to death of her as well as the establishment Republicans. I really thought that this was her time. Though I’m disappointed, I think she’ll play a really big role in the coming election, and keep the candidates honest. Hopefully, she’ll be running next time.