why sarah palin will never be president

(Photo: Ethan Miler/Getty)

Politico has an enjoyably gossipy piece about how Sarah Palin has been annoying more GOP figures than she has been helping in this election cycle, by virture of her chaotic and capricious modus operandi. Many candidates have sought her endorsement. Some have been played along until the plug is pulled, others have got it but have then had to suffer her refusal to do anything that might actually, you know, help them:

Late last Friday afternoon, Palin’s political aide, Andy Davis, contacted officials with a competitive House campaign. The former governor would be available Tuesday, Davis said. As with Grassley, the reaction of the House campaign was to have Palin do a fundraiser. “What [the candidate] needs more than anything else is money,” said a GOP source familiar with the situation. No-go, replied Davis, indicating that not only did she not want to raise money, but she also didn’t want to do a rally...Without much media attention, such a grass-roots event would have done next to nothing for the candidate, said the source close to the situation. But the campaign — a lean operation, like those of most House candidates — scrambled to put together another plan that would accommodate Palin. They sent it to Davis on Saturday.

The campaign didn’t get word until Monday morning, the day before the event was to take place, that Palin’s schedule had changed. She couldn’t come. Palin offered no reason for the no-show.

The story also alleges that she charges the campaigns for her team's travel (a breach of etiquette, apparently) and changes her mind on just about everything at the last minute.

All of which should remind those who need reminding that there's no way she'll lead a credible presidential campaign in 2012. When comparisons are made with Obama '08, people tend to focus on was the way he was able to mobilise thousands of grassroots supporters who otherwise wouldn't have got involved, thus changing the rules of the primary game. Palin - a similarly charismatic figure - can do the same, they say. But the bit they leave out was equally if not more important: the ferocious discipline of the Obama operation, evident from the moment it started preparing the ground in 2007, and maintained throughout the campaign. He and his team patiently nurtured relationships inside the party and built their own structures outside it. They planned everything down to the last sticker. This is what enabled them to turn grassroots enthusiasm and cash into hard votes, time after time. Obama's victory wasn't a coup de theatre, it was a long, slow, often tedious grind.

For all his flair, Obama was very, very good at the boring stuff. Sarah Palin is not - and it seems clear to me that she never will be.

Comments

[Sally]

I do hope you're right. She would be a total disaster in office.

[Annie]

agreed sally... can you imagine how not seriously america would be taken? it would be a fucking disaster

[Scott]

So the argument is that Palin won't get to be President because she won't get the nomination, correct?

I'm sure there's an intelligent question to ask here regarding the differences between the inner workings of the Republican and Democratic parties, not to mention the differences between their respective bases, but I'll be damned if I can find it.

[David Vinter]

But voters do not vote for the cleverest candidates, they might well vote for Sarah, as the prettiest candidate! And just maybe the first woman. there is no point in assuming voters will be rational, that's pie in the sky stuff.

[Sally]

When it comes to crunch time, people will take intelligence over looks. Yes, she is entertaining at times (when she isn't being provocative or downright smarmy,) but President? Please.
I think Nov. 2 will give us a clue. If Angle, O'Donnell and the rest of the "cute" women lose, we can assume that the RNC will take a look at who won and why. I just do not see wealthy white Republican men, for all their bluster about how good Palin is for the party, actually taking any woman seriously enough to have her front the ticket. And Palin's ego will not allow her to be a VP candidate again, without total control of the message. No man will give that to her, another reason she won't run, or won't make it to the general.
If she had complaints about the media before, wait until she announces. Many issues that were ignored by Obama in a VP candidate (her secessionists ties, her governing style, her lies in general) will be brought out by the RNC, because they will have no choice. The truth will bring down pretty Sarah.

[Quiet Riot Girl]

She's not THAT pretty, Sally! To make it an issue of looks over brains. I don't remember anyone commending George Bush on his intelligence, either.

I don't expect her to become president. But I am fascinated by the way in which the liberal media chooses to denigrate her, in comparison with other and previous candidates. It is very gendered in my view. Her 'scattiness' and 'unreliability' are all too easily linked to notions of 'feminine' characteristics, for example.

[Alan Parker]

I never thought she would or could make it to the top job, but she could be a king/queen maker perhaps.

[dave]

I vaguely remember a quote from Bill Clinton: "[GW Bush] had shrewd campaign instincts, but was basically unqualified for the job."

So Palin is like Bush jnr... without the campaign instincts?

[Air Jordans]

That is too cool! thanks.*