Sarah Palin and 2012 – I Was Wrong

I said she wasn’t running for President, but clearly she is. The book tour is extremely well-timed, as her PAC needs to rake in $$ in 2010 and hit the ground running in 2011. Watch as she turns book interviews into observations on public policy and current events, replete with what sound like pre-tested sound bytes. Is it working? For now, maybe. Even negative op-eds sell books, and its amazing how strong some of the animosity is (Bob Scheiffer saying she “has no future in politics“; David Brooks saying “she is a joke“). Surely they go too far (folks like Scheiffer and Brooks spend their days surrounded by elites). That said, a title like “going rogue” is unlikely to help her gain serious consideration by a wide range of Americans.
Should she? Probably not. She has pockets of strong support, but also high negatives. She is simply not sufficiently knowledgeable on the issues in our day, and while her Reaganesque, common sense conservatism is winsome, she needs a greater depth of understanding and oratorical finesse to successfully extend her support base (the way Obama, for example, came from relative obscurity to electrify the Democratic party).
I see her as a force in the resurgent conservative movement, but not as the GOP nominee in 2012.