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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

On Sarah Palin

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 3rd, 2009 at 05:31 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Well, Nicolle Wallace, Andrew Sullivan, and the left can claim a scalp today.

Sarah Palin has been the subject of vicious, vile attacks. Her family and key staff have all been driven to the verge of financial ruin by relentless legal attacks that are routinely thrown out, but still must be offended.

Her children are routinely attacked and turned into the butt of late night jokes by left wing comedians.

I’d want the target off my back and my kids’ backs too.

Sarah Palin will not be President in 2012. She will not run for President. She will not run for any elected office ever again.

The political pundits who are saying she couldn’t take the heat, so she got out of the kitchen, may have found a winning cliche to apply, but then no one has faced the heat Sarah Palin has been subjected to, largely at the hands of the political pundits now dragging out that cliche.

Of course, now she’ll be a great position to be a voice for the GOP, but with no further political ambitions, she’ll largely be able to mitigate attacks from opponents within the GOP.

UPDATE: To get a few people off the ledge and avoid some suicides around here, let me point out that this is my opinion of the situation given what we know.

I’m sure Sarah Palin is not done with politics, but I am equally sure she is done with elected politics. By removing all doubt that she is done with elected politics, she can be much more effective at helping other Republicans get into politics without overly ambitious potential 2012 rivals seeking to hurt her, her family, and those politicians she helps.

To pull out a favorite line of yesteryear, suck it up.

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COMMENTS

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  • angryred

    I am really disturbed to see you think this is it for SP.

    If you are right, I just don’t know what to think..
    I guess we are up a creek without a paddle.

    Sad.

  • BooBooKitty

    I say let the moment play out for a while. Who know’s, the worm may have just turned.

  • pilgrim

    The punditocracy may have won the battle, and still lose the war. Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh are all examples of folks that I do not ever expect to run for an elected office, They are also examples of people in the conservative movement who can promote and help to elect others.

  • AKSteveB
  • MrMosis

    links please?

  • waverider

    there will be rumors, and ordinarily I’d just discount everything, but after Sanford and some other recent stuff I’m more and more convinced the liberal press is on a serious mission to take down all GOP leaders of any note.

    Is it any accident now that the Dems are in control of the national security apparatus and the surveillance stuff and now we’re seeing new stories about personal scandals of GOP leaders?

    So there might be something coming, and she might just want to avoid putting her family through it as much as possible, especially after all the Steve Schmidt McCain handlers coming out to blame her for the election so publicly.

    Time to pull back, do some national travel to engage her base, and influence the direction of the future. Who knows what’s next.

  • ScottSenffner

    I am not sure, she may not run for 2012, but she will (God Willing) restore the GOP to a Classic Liberal point of view. Small Government, States Rights and less government.

    One can only hope that she takes, head on, the left, the media and the socialist.

    God Bless her, her family and this great country of ours!

  • Laura

    The Palin Derangement Syndrome leftists are grinning from ear to ear. What’s going to happen when they can no longer make a dime off of their anti-Palin posts?

    I can’t decide if having her run for office is a good thing, or if she should just be THE voice of conservative women in America.

  • almom

    I’m upset with your take on this. Maybe I don’t want to attend the August 1st meeting if this is how you think.

    Sarah wasn’t going to run for a second term. So, she leaves now and lets the Lt. Gov. take the helm and make him a shoe in for re-election.

    Meanwhile she can travel to appear with “conservative” people running for the Senate and the Congress. She will draw HUGE crowds and those people will get elected. She’s smart and Erick, on this, you are stupid.

    She knocked Michael Jackson off the news for goodness sake. That’s saying something. She is for real.

  • toughintn

    Even if she does take some time off (and I’m not sure that this is really a long walk away from it all), she’s not finished.

    She’ll run for office again.

  • JamesLBurns

    I feel badly for Sarah Palin and her family. But I suspect she and her family will do just fine in life. I feel worse for the nation. Because for every Sarah Palin who is run out of politics by the horrific treatment of the media and political machines there are dozens or hundreds of good citizens who would serve the country well who avoid politics in order to shield themselves and their families from the abuse that is sure to come. And the nation is left with, well, what it currently has.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    and she is counting on, IMO, the negative attitude/opinion you attribute

    Sarah Palin will not be President in 2012. She will not run for President. She will not run for any elected office ever again.

    The political pundits who are saying she couldn?t take the heat, so she got out of the kitchen, may have found a winning cliche to apply, but then no one has faced the heat Sarah Palin has been subjected to, largely at the hands of the political pundits now dragging out that cliche.

    and we’ve already been covering how, long term, there is time to play this out in a POSITIVE fashion, in the other FP Breaking News: Josh’s: Sarah Palin to Resign

    2012 angle: Not Chicago-Thug Politics as usual….
    JLenardDetroit Friday, July 3rd at 4:53PM EDT (link)
    Nor even John McCain? Me, me, me? I?m next?. it?s my turn atop the ticket?.. Politics as usual?. Whether that will play well, as we play up the Baracklash, remains to be seen. Enough time, obviously, exists between now and then to set the appropriate Positive narrative (as I spoke of up thread) BUT (equally obvious) the Lefty MSM will play up the Negative spin/aspects. Already hearing the ?Media feeding R infighting angle? BS [Media feeding R infighting - MSM uses snippets out of context to feed Republican in-fighting narrative additional commentary on that here (speaking out against SoSo discussion) and here --- some people out in the great Brain-Dead unwashed haven't grasped the: The "Pretend you're a Liberal MSM reporter (and Spin the story)" Challenge]

    The speech laid out the appropriate ground-work, didn?t flow perfectly but the pieces were there?..

    Whether or not she can ride the NOT POLITICS AS USUAL line to the Presidential nominee – too much time remains to handicap that, but many are open to that ?arguement.? She would still seem to be a very TOP pick for the VP spot again?.

    as well as what she can do for GOP 2010 Conservative Candidates here that will set her up for, at least, helping the GOP field get the right message out in 2012……

    BUT, IT IS, IMO, SILLY FOR ANYONE TO HAVE A SET IN STONE FRONTRUMMER OPINION FOR 2012 YET!!!! To try and prop someone up or right someone off! Too much time exists… That can/may be a positive or a negative for ANY of them!!!!

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Your pessimism has no rational basis.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com katesmith

    If persons like this have so much power, it doesn’t pay to even leave the house.

  • MrMosis

    After first reading, I was afraid you were relaying this pessimistic message from your sources. But after a minute of investigating, I am concluding (hopefully) that this is a rather quick interpretation / speculation on your part- and that there is not yet a need to worry.

    Your post confused me though. It read very authoritatively.

  • Swamp_Yankee

    She’s young, she’s a fighter and we are exactly six months into Obama’s administration. She can do so much damage as a talking head for the cause.

    I have no doubt her book will be a national best seller and she will have huge free publicity for months. She will be unshackled from the minutiae on Alaskan politics. Track, Bristol and Willow will all be established full fledged adults.

    She is a ratings bonanza. All the shows will want to book her. She been offered TV deals already. She can take a two year contract to have her own show of some sort; sit, study, watch and wait. If the bottom falls out on Obama she could jump back in a year or two from now.

    People around here were some of the strongest Fred supporters and he waited till the last minute to run his “back porch” campaign. There is plenty of time.

    Republicans wil continue will herald the next great unknown ala Sanford, Jindal, Ensign, Huntsman, … But those unknowns have not run the gauntlet and traps for them abound. Palin already tested and vetted. If not Palin, it will be someone with exposure probably Romney, Pawlenty or Huckabee.

    She still has the ability to draw massive crowds and set a room “afire”. I could easlity see her playing the saviour role when the party is dispirited or needs life.

    I disagree. She’s 45 years old and I think she’s just getting warmed up.

  • Doc Holliday

    we can’t have a “victim” as our leader, but if she brings in some sympathy votes, then I have no problem with that. Be sure, I do also think she can bring in votes because of her morals, libertarian-conservative ideas, and charisma. But this could be a breaking point where “independents” get fed up with these hate politics.

    She seems to have a particular interest in our troops. She should continue to support our vets and troops, that may be a great place for her. She could set up a non profit to support our troops and vets.

  • kmgm

    …Erick’s retraction when it turns out her resignation has nothing to do with the big, bad liberal press and instead is a result of the scandal that is inevitably going to reach the light of day. I thought Erick would have learned from the Sanford snafu…

  • mbecker908

    and she’s failed. If she can’t stand up to the battle so far, she’d not last a full day either running for being President.

    She can draw crowds and she can raise money. I hope she does both. I’m not in the least sorry to see her go. Hopefully it will give us less muddle in ’12.

  • SteveLA

    ‘If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

    As to the claim you make Eric about the level of attacks on Governor Palin, you are obviously too young to remember what was said about Ronald Reagan back in the 80′s. The level and intensity of hate and nastiness by the left towards Reagan for over 8 years far exceeds anything that Governor Palin or her family has experienced in 8 short months. History does not justify the reprehensible nature of the attacks on Governor Palin or her family, but it is the climate of politics today. I’d probably argue that this style of personal destruction was started by the left during the Bork hearings, but that’s a so what.

    Darn man, you get criticized by the loony left in your own pond, recently over your stopping the naming of Obama as a citizen of Macon and I don’t see you heading for the hills.

    Throw in the fact that we elect people to run government, that’s the job description, and no matter how you slice it, Governor Palin is leaving the job of Governor of the state of Alaska after only 30 months in office without a record of accomplishment, this is not a good thing.

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    Aren’t routinely attacked by the MSM. Prominent late night comics don’t joke about my daughter being raped at a Yankees game. My family is not on the verge of bankruptcy due to attacks from my own party and the other.

    Same with Reagan. I remember those attacks.

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    There is certainly speculation that this is the real reason for her departure. But it makes it no less true that she’s tired of the attacks.

    Oh, and you’re banned.

  • MathMom

    I have watched the entire speech (until the satellite feed from Alaska failed, anyway), and she got the tough-looking jaw when she talked about being proud of America. I thought she was taking dead aim at O’Bambi apologizing for America, siding with dictators, spending and printing money like there is no tomorrow. Her brother, who was interviewed by Stuart Varney, said she’d discussed in the last few days that 80% of her and her staff’s time is spent fielding fallout from the attacks on her from ethics complaints, etc. I think she feels that her job is to run Alaska, and since the outside world won’t let her, she should let the job go to someone who can. There is some value in that conclusion, and I don’t see that as “quitting”, but rather taking away the target. Kinda getting inside the MSM’s OODA loop.

    Thus, whe ends the distraction and cost of all the frivolous ethics complaints. She’s not Governor, she can’t be sued for ethics violations! She has stopped the leak in her family’s finances, and stopped having to ask for donations to help fight them. If she stayed in the job, the ethics complaints would continue, she might run up another million in legal fees by the end of the term..

    I think she knows that when she speaks, a microphone is put in front of her mouth. I think she’s going to start taking on O’Bambi’s assaults on America, and she won’t be hindered in what she can say, or when she can say it, now that she’s not getting a paycheck from the State of Alaska.

    She may not be running for anything, except taking her personal megaphone to expose the idiocy of the O’Bambi administration. Since there aren’t any Republican men in the Senate or House who want to show some huevos, I think she’s going to fill that void. I do not see this as a run for President, but as doing what she can to save her country.

    This is what I hope.

  • bobojake

    Take no prisoners Sarah and lets VETT obama and his thugs together. SARAH YOU SURE RUINED OBAMA AND HIS THUGS JULY 4TH
    HOLIDAY….LET HER RIP .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    NOW SING WITH ME

    HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

  • bobojake

    Take no prisoners Sarah and lets VETT obama and his thugs together. SARAH YOU SURE RUINED OBAMA AND HIS THUGS JULY 4TH
    HOLIDAY….LET HER RIP .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    NOW SING WITH ME

    HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

  • SteveLA

    Erick

    I concede the point, the level of political discourse has become very coarse for sure. I wince when ever anyone takes on a politicians wife, kids or dogs, Right or Left.

    In my view, families are non combatants and should be left the heck alone unless they take up the fight. Laura Bush as far as I recall stayed mostly as a non combatant, the Bush twins somewhat less so.

    Not sure how you make that stick, but I don’t think leaving the field of battle is the answer.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    we shall see… again, this is all way too soon to make “absolutes” (either way, “she’s done” or “she’s the front-runner for 2012″)…. What happens with/in 2010 is going to make the difference in whether the Positive spin that can be played (Not politics as usual) over the continued Lefty MSM Negative narrative Erick is helping to perpetuate. Once again, Republicans aiding Democrats.

  • newagegop

    Why be a sitting duck? She can’t defend herself from Alaska and she can’t rely on the GOP to defend her well. Would she get a trophy for sticking it out? No. Would Alaska be better off with all the democratic machine and half the republican machine trying to destroy her? No.

    Sarah Palin just declared her Independence Day. Good for her. She’ll get rich and secure her family’s finacial future without using government favors. God Bless her! You’re about to see the POWER of capitalism. More money, more family, more freedom. Live, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

    We’re about to see a great example of principles we espouse, and without the government aftertaste.

  • Rich Tandler

    If she goes out, raises money for candidates, draws crowds campaigning for conservatives, helps get a few GOP candidates elected, this will be nearly forgotten. Let me put it this way, it only will bother the people who weren’t going to support her anyway.

    I don’t think that this is the end of the story.

  • izoneguy

    murderous dictators over for beenies and weenies?

    I am sure we will hear from Sarah tomorrow….

    She could start out by asking if Obama is roasting some weenies for the mullahs?

    The time for Sarah to strike is now.

    Plenty of time to help get more republicans elected in 2010.

    Plenty of time to expose Obama for the sham he is.

    Sarah understands what must be done.

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    I think the left and press will now be emboldened to ritualize the gang raping of conservative politicians, particularly female conservative politicians.

  • lonebeagle

    I have no idea what her intentions are. And no one else (save her closest friends) does, either.

    It’s my opinion that one should not dismiss Sarah. She drives the left crazy and she knows it.

  • tommer

    I have been bouncing back and forth between Red State and National Review Online, and I am appalled to report that Amy Holmes(a Republican talking head on the cable shows) has a post on NR’s The Corner in which she lumps Sarah Palin in with Mark Sanford and John Ensign. Amy, you should be ashamed of yourself. You can disagree with Gov. Palin’s decision and/or her reasons for making said decision, but she has done nothing to deserve your slimy commentary.

  • IJB

    Either she’s never going to run again, or she won’t run until her kids are all grown at least. That’d be, what? 10 or 20 years from now?

    Effectively, it probably means she’s done with elective politics.

  • mbecker908

    drug tested.

    She is d.o.n.e.

    I could have supported her, depending on who else was in the race and what the issues are at the time of the primary. Not now. She’s nothing more than Mitt Romney in drag.

  • SteveLA

    Erick

    I’m tending to think that conservative politicians are becoming too timid, to afraid to punch back, or at least lousy at doing it.

    Take Newt….please…

    Newt has had shall we say a colorful private life, but gotta love he, he punches back and he punches back well.

    Maybe a special school to teach R politicians how to punch back, a flying truth squad, a better spin machine, something anything to fight back more effectively. Maybe 8 years of President Bush who was absolutely terrible at communicating and fighting back has caused those fighting back skills to be forgotten, who knows.

    The Republican brand needs to find to find a good and smart junk yard dog with sharp teeth and not keep that junk yard dog on a short leash, and no that’s not Ann of long legs fame. Somebody who can go on the TV shows and fight back with force and vigor.

  • IJB

    Biden’s kids, Obama’s kids, all the Kennedys elected or not, etc.

    We *need* to go after them.

    If we don’t, we’re just inviting more of this.

    We need to ‘poison the well’ in a BIG way.

  • antisocial

    I don’t see any reason to write her off.

    I don’t want to speculate…. but I do like to think she must have thought about all these aspects. This move frees her to go on offensive since she won’t be an elected official. I don’t see her as quitting… I think she realized that she is not able to do justice to her job due to all the media spotlight and scrutiny.

    There are lot of lefty “experts” who would like to elect and define conservative leaders… I don’t believe that they are going to be able to define Sarah Palin…..

    I suggest we wait and watch.

  • davo119

    If there is any other human being besides Hitler or Bush that has been the focus of so much hate I would like to know who it is. I am tremendously disappointed but not surprised.
    The scurrilous slime balls have finally gotten what they set out to accomplish. But it remains to be seen how the play will end.
    I think it is tremendously ironic how the “reporters/political hacks” have so completely fabricated a positive image of Obama while at the same time erecting a monstrous image of Sarah Palin. Both are absolutely ridiculous. Even now Obama’s Rasputinizing of the news media is coming apart. Helen Thomas: “What do they think we are, puppets?” Well…yes… actually.
    I don’t have any idea if Palin is going to continue in the public eye. I would think not, unless there is a reversal in public perception. The only way to let that happen is to abandon the field to the opponent. Left to themselves her detractors will probably destroy each other in the public’s perception. Then maybe the truth can emerge and she can reenter the arena in a much stronger role and much weakened detractors.
    Obama is most certainly going to be the greatest failure in the history of the presidency. Any speculation beyond that is futile. It very well could be Sarah picking up the pieces.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    This isn’t something to celebrate no matter what you thought of her chances. We’re still losing one of our better Governors now.

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    Saying you’re with me.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    but as I’ve said everywhere… too much time to tell either way…. What she does from here on out will additionally harm the Negative aspects SPIN or to build on the Positive ones. 2012 won’t be won, IMO, if we don’t take 2010 advantages and we won’t do that focusing too much on this (obviously, a day or two of discussion isn’t going to hurt much – unless it is spent with many already helping the Democrats portray this NEGATIVELY).

  • IJB

    There are plenty worse people to have in a foxhole. ;)

  • SteveLA

    IJB

    If you look long and hard at the political climate today, you’ll also see to a large degree payback for a lot of Clinton Derangement Syndrome of the early and mid 90′s. Many of the liberal MSM types were in college during the height of Clinton’s days in office and I think you are seeing in some ways a generation brought up waiting for the day they could strike blows for their point of liberal view against the “evil conservatives”.

    Fight back by all means, but with a rapier not a broad ax and leave the kids alone.

    By the way, I don’t think a pyrrhic victory of destroying your enemy by destroying their families is something that would sit well with most Republicans, it doesn’t with me.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If she quit this, anyone who thinks about voting for her for another office is going to have to ask “Is she just going to quit that, too?”

    We don’t need a cut and run candidate for any office. I think she understand that and is doing this fully knowing that. I hope, anyway.

    “Branding” is just “Spin” by another name.

  • http://deafconservative.wordpress.com Cheetah772

    DO NOT go after liberal politicians’ wives, husbands, or children. It’s just not the right thing to do, no matter how much we want to take revenge on them.

    If the Right makes it the policy to go after “non-combatants”, then I’m out of here. That is not the right way, neither it is a good Christian thing to do.

    Let us take moral high road. It’s true that if we do that, not many liberal politicians will resign like Palin, but I think mainstream public will appreciate us taking the high road and know that the Right actually have some sound principles to campaign on.

    Besides, if we poison the well, then all left are those who are willing to compromise moral standards and more willing to do dirty tricks if that’s what takes to win the elections. We’ll make politics EVEN MORE corrupt than before. If we do that, then there’s no going back. It’s bad enough we’re heading down that road anyway, there’s no real need to accelerate the slipping down that path. Don’t do that.

    Once again, I WILL denounce and condemn ALL kinds of attacks on liberal politicians’ families and other innocent people caught up in political crossfires. Let’s make the Right BETTER than the Left.

  • jonreagan

    The world may look entirely different…..a year is a lifetime in politics.

    –People will wake up, and discover that retro-fitting public buildings with solar panels has nothing to do with lessening our dependence on foreign oil. They’ll also find out that to lessen the price of a commodity, you have to increase its supply.
    –They’ll wonder why Barack Obama ever said he was “open to offhsore drilling” if he didn’t plan to really do anything about it. Just another Obama lie.

    In short, “drill, drill, drill” will be back as a pocketboook issue, and people will be angry that they’ve been had. Governor Palin has actually done things to advance our energy independence, and in that type of a political climate, she will thrive.

    In the meantime, I think she just wants to protect her family, and as Erick suggested, bring them back from the brink of financial ruin. The attacks from the animals on the left have left this good family with legal bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; it’s hard to send kids to college when you’ve been the victim of this kind of character assassination. What’s been done to Palin and her family is criminal….but I still believe that what goes around comes around.

  • GB221

    and once again she has proven it. She has surprised all those who don’t understand leadership, and courage. She will run for president.

  • IJB

    I don’t want to be “better” than The Left.

    I want to pound them into the dirt.

    The time for ‘turning the other cheek’ is long since past.

    And politics couldn’t be more corrupt than it is now – it’s pretty much impossible.

    The time to go nuclear is *now*.

  • redneck_hippie

    if the truth in the end is that the creeps succeeded in hounding Sarah out of office and that nothing further will come of it.

    This lady has more spine than any 20 of us combined. I’m not usually sexist, but a strong woman does not walk away to avoid a hot kitchen. There is something else going on, and I don’t believe the Marxists and power grabbers are going to like it.

    Thus spake redneck_hippie.

  • mbecker908

    I’m not in the least sorry to see Gary and Josh on an iceflow.

    I do think she’s toast for ’12.

  • Maggie_in_Indiana

    I see from a lot of the posts that again Sarah Palin is underestimated. I remember the posts here when she was announced as McCain’s running mate. ha ha yes I remember.
    I ‘m content to sit back and watch for now. But when she hits the media spotlight again she won’t have the restraints of the McCain handlers or the governors office to hold her back. She is going to start a firestorm we have not seen in decades. If Obama was the media darling,Palin will be their biggest fear.

    Oh this is so juicy and yes unexpected,…imagine that.

  • bobojake

    or teleprompter. Kinda nice tro see somebody talk that their brain isn’t scrambled like obamas’

  • bobojake

    or teleprompter. Kinda nice tro see somebody talk that their brain isn’t scrambled like obamas’

  • southernilpat

    Alaska has a senate seat up for election in 2010. I don’t think Palin wants to run for POTUS in 2012, it would make far more sense to wait for 2016 unless Obama is REALLY weak in 2012 and loses to whatever Republican goes up against him, in which case she would wait until 2020. She has lots of time to get back into politics, she is very young yet. She’s one bright lady, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out she has a plan.

    This will be interesting to watch.

  • http://deafconservative.wordpress.com Cheetah772

    No way. The Left is gonna come back nastier than before. They will bring big guns with them. If we outgun them, they’ll outgun us again in the next electoral cycle. The cycle goes on and on, when will it stop? Until Jesus comes again?

    Somewhere down the road, there is a breaking point, we cannot do this kind of thing indefinitely, pretty soon there will be a price we all must pay.

    I know politics at its most basic level is personal. Even Jefferson and Adams had heated rivalry back then, but at the end of day, both knew it was about attacking ideas and disagreeing on the vision for America. I know that aspiring political careers will end abruptly because of attacks on either personality or ideas, but the type of attack the Left is using on Palin goes beyond what we have been accustomed to traditionally. We don’t need to mimic the Left’s tactics.

    Look, I know you don’t agree with me, but I would rather go down with my head held high and practicing integrity than using dirty tricks that might betray my own moral standards.

  • jonreagan

    to help pay off legal bills. The bestial attacks on the Governor—many of them trumped-up ethics charges—have forced Sarah and Todd Palin to retain legal help, and landed them in a huge amount of debt.

    Remember, these are good, honest working class people…..and many of the attacks from the Dems were classist in nature. Yes, the party that advertises itself as the party of “the little guy” attacked the Palins over the food they occasionally enjoy (moose burgers), the fact that Todd Palin enjoys Snowmobiling, and the fact that Sarah Palin attended the University of Idaho.

    All of this goes beyond just being unfair and ugly. But I suspect that Sarah remembers the old addage: “don’t get mad……get even.”

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    and I certainly thought it fair to go back at them over the Palin jokes fiasco

    see:
    DL’s Son jokes – DL’s Son jokes
    or Hilary jokes for DL rather than Palin jokes – Hey DL, how ’bout these “poor taste” Hilary jokes?!?!

    The question is once down that road where the line bacomes and how many will dance on it or just want to go “nuclear” as you suggest…. It will gain and loss some, no doubt. I’d rather keep at least “some” semblence of the high-road.

  • http://dezignworx-ae.com tsquare

    1. I have no idea what Sarah is thinking… I just hope that she is.

    2. You guys… collectively… sound like you all got your ‘johnson’ stuck in your zipper. (This might be bad… but it’s not THAT bad)

    3. I had a day ending a week of getting my ‘johnson’ stuck in my zipper, totally unrelated to politics.

    4. Related to idem #1 it would be nice if there was a Republican that HAD A PLAN for once. I’m not ready to say Sarah is one.

    5. It’s a looooong way to 2012

    6. If she has a plan it might be for her potential advisories to take some of the heat for a bit… while she has time to both heal and then come back.

    7. Then again… who am I to know this?

    8. I really don’t care… much. I might later, but not now.

    Now… everybody take two adult beverages and twitter me in the morning

  • SirGladiator

    While noone knows for certain why she made her announcement today, all signs clearly point to it being the first major step in her 2012 Presidential campaign. Assuming that is the case, it was a brilliant move indeed! First, by bringing her right hand man, Lt Gov Parnell, into the office of Govenror she assures that her successful policies will be continued, keeping Alaska strong (in comparison to the rest of America which is hurting badly thanks to Obama’s mis-management). This frees her up to do something else that she does extremely well, and that is campaign. We all saw her campaign for Senator Chambliss in Georgia, how wildly successful she was in helping save that Senate seat. She will now have time to do that for candidates across America this year and next, setting the stage for her own 2012 campaign.

    In making the announcement the way she did, she also accomplished something else, she made the left believe not only that they’ve ‘defeated’ her, but now they will also be distracted for t weeks, maybe months, salivating over the prospect of some ‘scandal’ that is entirely within their own minds. While they’re speculating over the various fictional scandals, she will be shoring up her 2012 Front-runner status for real. By the time they realize what’s hit them, she will be stronger than ever. Another brilliant move by Sarah Palin!

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    and the Lib’s have 99% of the MSM to do their bidding.

    We need some Conservatives buying up some Papers while they can be had on the cheap and reform them to at least “balanced.” Papers could make a come-back, but not if they remain the one-sided dribble they’ve been for decades.

  • redneck_hippie

    however, she is set to make lots from her book deal already. The bottom line for me is what she will do with that money. I will be watching, but I suspect money is a means to her, not an end.

  • bs

    I echo your sentiments.

  • Vegas_Rick

    And you’re wrong. They were tough a Ronnie, but the were never this nasty. The values and standards of the times would not have allowed it.

  • wgsampson

    I agree completely with your comments, but we should be able to help destroy her detractors. Just because she is leaving the field doesn’t mean we have to, and it is a target rich environment. Redstate has done a great job trying to get to the bottom of the leaks from the McCain campaign, but at this point I don’t trust any of them. It is time for a full scale blood-letting, and so what if there is a little collateral damage. As far as I am concerned every last adviser to McCain must be run out of the business. It must be made clear that if a former McCain adviser is on your team you will be made to lose.

    Remember Sarah!

  • Vegas_Rick

    I could not disagree with Erick more!

    Regardless of what anyone may think about Palin’s intelligence, abilities as Governor, or her performance during the campaign, I can’t believe anyone can site evidence that she is weak, a quitter, or scared of the media and pundits.

    To put this in military terms; Sarah Palin is pulling out of an indefensible tactical position, to one where she can overwhelm the enemy with return fire. I believe from this new tactical position, Palin will launch a multi-pronged assault on the media, Obama and the leftist congressional leaders.

    I don’t know whether this operation is in preparation for the larger assault on the 2012 Presidency or not.

    But I do believe that Sarah Palin is about to join the battle. Pass the popcorn
    ! :)

  • JadedByPolitics

    you know that thing we Conservatives like FACTS….jeez….pathetic!

  • davo119

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-mackinnon/palin-vanity-fair-envy-an_b_224632.html
    Have at ‘em.

  • penguin2

    I like your reasoning. It has been atrocious and a travesty the attack on Sarah and her family. Up thread people said others “weather it.” Not a conservative woman with five children. Look at the way they went after Hillary. There is extra leverage by the MSM because they are women.

    I hope that nothing more mars this individual. Whatever her weaknesses or faults; the vitriolic hatred of the left, the MSM and the backstabbing of the elitist GOP, are a stain and shame upon this nation.

    Personally, I am glad for her to return to her family and rest. If she can ever do anything again for this country, I am sure she will. Lord knows why she should even bother.

  • DONTREADONME

    I for one am sick of watching people in this country destroying people through the processes used by the DNC and sycophants. If she resigned to withdraw her family from this garbage, she did the right thing. Screw the garbage she had to put up with, raise your family, it is the best.

    There is no reason to continuously defend yourself in court over and over again, wow, democrats you guys are some really classy wusses.

    So, good on her for getting out of this mess, heck, she made it farther than I would have, this kind of crap done to my family and with my temper would have gotten some sycophants in the MSM and DNC hurt, seriously. I am not kidding.

  • IJB

    …May be the only thing that might get the Left to back off attacks like the ones on Palin’s family.

    If their families start getting dragged through the mud, it might get them to think twice about doing the same to our side.

    Assuming, that is, you believe people on the Left actually *care* about that their families! (FTR, I think some do, but I think some don’t and use them as nothing more than props.)

    But doing what we’ve been doing isn’t working.

  • JadedByPolitics

    ” I will work to get those who love America elected no matter whether they are an R or a D but not on the money of Alaskans”….she ain’t going anywhere!

    Can I just say she screwed the oldstream media again and they are po’d…heh!

  • DONTREADONME

    because frankly you have degraded into school yard children living off scuttlebutt about people outside of your “in” crowd. Does not take much intelligence or courage, to do what you people did, it does take intelligence to address your stupidity and it takes courage to walk away from your bull sh*4 when you start to destroy lives.

  • peg_c

    I’m amazed at the latent sexism that resides beneath the surface here. Then again who am I kidding. She’ll draw me if she appears anywhere near me, and that is not true of another Republican on the planet. What really makes me irate is the cowardice displayed by virtually all elected Republicans while Palin has withstood attacks that would make all the men I know dissolve into mewling puddles. And that’s the truth. None of them stood up for her, let alone stood with her.

    Women are way tougher than men. They also tend to be quitters, and that’s not a contradiction. Women have options; men don’t. I don’t know if Palin is out of elected politics for good or not but she’s no quitter.

    Jeri Thompson has been involved with SarahPac. I would not be surprised if Palin and Fred are cooking up something. Also, Mark Levin is very smart. He is guessing she’ll run for pres. I admit I doubt that.

    It was very interesting listening to the radio today and hearing all this unfolding live.

  • john_barry

    Sarah Palin referred to the financial toll sham ethics charges were taking on her. Now with this decision she has disarmed her enemies. In addition she can spend more time with her family but is also free to travel widely without the charge of neglecting her duties as governor. I suspect that she will throw her support behind one candidate for the 2012 nomination and thereby exercise her undoubted influence.

  • Martin Knight
  • mbecker908
  • Mayhem

    The recent draining of the GOP field is likely to create a vacuum in 2011 that will draw new candidates and personalities into the primary that would not have otherwise been prompted to jump in. When the pendulum swings radically in one direction, it inevitably swings back. What seems like a loss now will probably open up new, unforeseen paths for the party that may even be more beneficial than what we would have had.

    We shall see.

  • http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

    if she is a “Republican” talking head, we need to disown her as the interloper she is. A Pox on Her and Nicole Wallace the other “non Republican Talking Head”. Treat them as if they are a whining 2 year old, ignore them.

  • DONTREADONME

    did you mean in politics, life, or career? I would hope you said that with some anger or disgust?

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    about the magnet on her Mothers refridgerator….

    “Don’ explain it: Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway!”

  • peg_c

    My sentiments exactly.

  • peg_c

    Mark and Sean were involved, too, supposedly.

  • penguin2

    I’m okay with what Erick said, he is making some early observations based on current political situations. I do remember the old saying of “never say never, because never is too long”.

    That said, I think she is an incredibly strong person and tolerated the hate-filled campaign against her, better than anyone could have expected. I’d like to think she is freed up now to really speak for many of us. She can take on Obama, the MSM, the left, etc. in a way that she could not in office.

    It may appear she has ceded the battle, but not the war. For selfish reasons, I hope she will continue to speak out. If not, then it is a loss for us.

  • Scope

    I agree with you. She was upbeat, and positive in her speech. Remember the Libs playbook- isolate it, personalize it, and ridicule is the best weapon. They have isolated Palin, and have done the most rigorous campaign against Palin in modern times. Of course the disastrous campaign staff for a moderate presidential candidate would have to destroy her, as she was a conservative. I went to a Palin rally (no McCain) and talked to everyone around me. They were there for Palin, and reluctantly were voting for McCain. She got the vote for the Republican ticket, not McCain. The vote in 2008 would have been a really big landslide for Obama, if it was not for Palin. That was a big accomplishment. I love how all the anti-Palin people here are now gloating.

    In her speech today she very clearly laid out a plan of getting Alaska politics back to normal. I did not see her backing away, but, moving her state forward, without the distraction of her popularity. Her speech was another from the heart, and will resonate with many. She is for real.

  • ColdWarrior

    I haven’t heard the entire speech, as Fox News never played the whole thing. I heard the last five minutes of it on the radio, and it did seem that she is going to use her “liberation” from her duties as governor, and her freedom after July 26 to travel outside the state whenever she wants to, to good use. And I think she will start attacking “the main enemy” — Obama and his puppet masters.

    Thank you.

  • cars

    that even if the Dems were using nefarious methods to ferret out scandals of GOP leaders that scandals need to be present in the first place in order for there to be a payoff.

    No Democrat forced Sanford to go AWOL to see his paramour.

    If Palin is trying to get ahead of a breaking scandal perhaps I suggest that now is a little late to want to spare her family.

    This is just speculation however and whether there’s another shoe to drop remains to be seen.

  • cars

    If she’s really intending to run for office again her statements about not wanting to be a lame duck governor aren’t going to serve her well.

    Nor, to be truthful, would any of that speech. It was too vague and rambling and really lacked a coherent message. If the intention was to go out with a bang as a set-up for something else it was distinctly lacking.

    I think it was done on the spur of the moment for reasons we’re not party to at the moment. It didn’t appear to me to be the move of a confident and savvy politician.

  • bs

    That’s exactly the kind of logic the leftists use when accusing us of “latent racism” when we disagree with Obama.

    Get. A. Grip.

  • DONTREADONME

    claims latent sexism then turns around with sexism.

  • smagar

    Where is it written that public figures are expected to bear/pay for frivolous legal charges?

    If Bill and Hillary can get rich off their books, then why can’t Sarah?

  • GB221

    Another brilliant move. A great leader. She will lead the movement for the return of Reagan’s vision for America.

  • redneck_hippie

    doing whatever she wants to do with her money. What I have an inkling she wants to do with part of that money is help support her family while she works on toppling the communistas. She will no longer be drawing a salary unless she takes another paying position.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    She has a kid who’s going to be needing help for years to come. Her older kids are the targets of vicious attacks. The Democrats are going to do their best to gang-rape her for her re-election campaign. The nominal head of the Republican party last year turned around and betrayed her, as has his Presidential campaign staff.

    There’s only so much a person can be expected to take before looking out for #1.

  • http://beaglescout.wordpress.com LJ “Beaglescout” Miller

    Governor Palin is a capable woman. I?m sure she has some plan that she?s carrying out. And God bless her with that plan, because the Democrats are way too far on the left, their non-stimulus-stimulus, bailouts, regulatory overreach, and nationalizations are destroying the economy, and we need a charismatic national voice who will hammer them on it.

  • AKSteveB
  • Achance

    Remember that? Joan Baez sang it From Every Stage about Ronald Reagan. No, it wasn’t about kids or a wife, but it was pretty tough stuff.

  • salvage

    Palin was a proto-Nixon; a loathsome, self-serving, self-pitying whining ball of self-entitlement who thinks that the rules apply to everyone else and to themselves selectively if at all.

    Her speech all but confirms that. Is it really a conservative value to walk away from your job? Leaving someone else to clean up your mess? I know, it’s because David Letterman made a joke that no one would have noticed if Team Palin hadn’t started screeching about it. That’s really what you want in a Presidential candidate; someone with skin so thin you could make sushi out of it.

    Oh I know Erik, I’m banned, I’m soooo banned! Because you too are a loathsome, self-serving, self-pitying whining ball of self-entitlement and that is of course why you love Palin so. You’re both dolts cut from the same pathetic bolts of cloth.

  • pilgrim

    .

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    You know, you really shouldn’t hit your mother. She deserves better.

  • bs

    But I’m too lazy to do the research on this one… they’re obviously too brain-damaged to be worth the effort.

  • TNJim
  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • drkven

    Sarah Palin’s situation reminds me of how Col Stauffenberg was abandoned by everyone in the heat of battle.

    Who in their right minds would dare standing up for anything in the GOP after this? Total victory for Obama&CO. I am abandoning the battlefield after this one. When you watch someone holding offuntil reinforcements arrive and the same reinforcements run like rabbits, it is time to rethink what brought you to the field to begin with.

  • drkven

    of why Sarah left.

    She was god enough to rally conservatives for MC Cain, but when she is in need, she gets as much help as the average victim in Darfur.

  • mbecker908
  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Red State’s not the one leaving the battlefield here.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    That’s not to say I look unfavorably upon Sarah Palin for looking out for her kids, but to blame Republicans for that I think is silly.

  • drkven

    “Up the dosage of meds”.. Sure, I realize now what this one has opened.
    Sorry that a simple-minded dumb primary doc offers some thoughts. I guess I should just shut up and leave politics to the “experts”. What do I know about how politics works. However, I know enough to know that there will be no more contributions in the next years to come unless some heads are rolling throughout the party.

    Agree with Mr Stevens with one correction:

    Red State is not the ONLY one leaving the battlefield here.

  • mbecker908

    Can’t use REPLY TO THIS.

    Sheesh.