Palin a political genius?
Posted by Richard on July 15, 2009
Willie Brown, former Speaker of the House in California and former mayor of San Francisco, thinks Sarah Palin is a political genius:
The pundits are wrong. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor was a brilliant move.
Palin has some of the best political instincts I have ever seen. She became a pop-culture superstar overnight when John McCain made her his veep pick, and she's still second only to President Obama among politicians the public is interested in. Even in liberal San Francisco, she'd be front-page news if she ever came to town.
But that kind of celebrity comes at a high price. What a lot of people don't know is that Palin entered Alaska politics as a reformer attacking the corruption of the state's Republican establishment. As such, she was the darling of the Democrats – until she hooked up with McCain.
After the election, with Palin back home but positioning herself for a 2012 presidential run, it was clear she would catch nothing but ridicule from Alaska's Democrats. It was not going to be pretty.
If Palin wants to play on the national field, she has to be free to move around. She has to be able to drop into Indiana, Ohio or Tennessee and help Republican candidates raise money. She has to be available for radio and TV.
She has to be like Gavin Newsom, free to roam around the country, safe in the knowledge that things will pretty much take care of themselves back home.
…
The pundits call her a quitter, but let's be honest – the pundits never liked her to begin with. Better to take one hit for stepping down and move on than to stay in Alaska and die a death by a thousand cuts.
Governor or not, Palin is still the biggest star in the Republican galaxy. After all, who else have they got?
Over at Conservatives4Palin, commenter Nancy put tongue firmly in cheek and posted this news update:
Thousands of people are lined up on the Golden Gate Bridge threatening to jump. The scene is described as chaotic, with the crowd 5 deep, jostling each other to get to the edge. It is reported that the words "Governor Palin" and "political genius", were in a sentence together, and that is what has sent this entirely lefty crowd, literally to the edge.
Authorities have brought in giant big screen tv's, playing a loop of President Obama's speeches, handing out cups of kookaid, and saying soothingly, "unicorn".
Footage from news helicopters shows the crowd dispersing, and tragedy has been diverted, because of the quick thinking of police. No one actually jumped.
Ethics complaints are going to be filed against Governor Palin, by the thousands though.
Unicorn?
David Bryant said
“… tragedy has been diverted”?
Willie Brown is a pretty cagey guy when it comes to politics in California. I’m not sure he’s entirely right about Mrs. Palin, though. I think she just got tired of all the guff, and she wants to take a breather before deciding what she really wants to do next. dcb