ADDED: I've changed the link to get to the specific story, which includes:
“Not being a candidate, you are unshackled and able to be even more active,” she said on... I look forward to using all the tools at my disposal to get the right people in there who have a servant’s heart.”A servant’s heart! That's new. New to the current political discourse, at least. I can see that it's a standard phrase in the discussion of Christian humility.
Posts
150 comments:
I thought so. Smart move on her part.
Big for Herman Cain too.
This cannot be news to anyone who has heard her speak over the past few weeks.
Who can blame her?
Not unexpected.
It is the party's loss, and America's.
Listening to her just now on Mark Levin, a LARGE part of it was "I don't need this," given the crap she and her family have gone through.
I think, though, that she should have tossed in a big GFY to those Republicans who have done as much to poison her as have any Dem (including the entire Romney camp and most of the McCain camp).
Damnit.
Good for her.
The press treated her and her family despicably, irrevocably unmasking their own lack of professionalism and ideological biases in the process. There is no chance they can return to their former status and there is a pretty good chance that she will eventually bring them down even farther.
I was right. Wow.
What do you want me to predict next? All prophecy suggestions are welcome.
It would have been brutal for her. Seriously, no one deserves that.
So the smear machine works again?
Or did she just not have the goods?
I tend to the latter view, but the smears were so ugly and pervasive that you never can tell.
One thing I owe to Sarah Palin is final and irrevocable loss of faith in the mainstream American press.
Good call. She can raise tons of money and be very effective in motivating GOP voters. I see Cain in the same way, not as a candidate, but as very valuable part of a movement.
Oh my God! What a heartbreak, what a huge loss to the Republican Party, what a joke she is and how could any intelligent person ever have taken her seriously?
Interview with Mark Levin (just concluded) available here.
She's young and has time. Let her brew for a while, do a senate run or a cabinent position, and prove herself. I'm glad that she decided to give it a pass this go 'round.
We're totally boned now.
WV endit
@Mitochondria:
"...what a joke she is and how could any intelligent person ever have taken her seriously?"
You mean, as opposed to the Fantasy Island inhabitant we now have as commander in chief?
Palin wasn't ready for the presidency. Neither in Cain. Neither is Bachmann.
I won't even mention Paul and Huntsman or any of the other sundry candidates who are living on campaign contributions. (That's not an insult; it's a respectable living.)
This is a two horse race barring the entry of Jeb Bush, or perhaps Christie or Rubio, but those two aren't ready any more than Palin.
I do hope Rubio is somehow involved, though, so we can have Mick's craziness swirl around us.
Toldja.
She can now spend the next 4 years suing Random House and Joe McGiniss.
and use the money to run for elective office or anything else she wants to do.
Please, Lyssa, you are smarter than that.
Sarah Palin has proven herself many times over, just as many others with more "experience" have proven themselves to be total disasters.
If she isn't proven enough to people's satisfaction by now, she will never be.
Sarah Palin has proven herself many times over
What has she proven? Palin has done nothing except govern a rural state (the most rural, and it's not close). She quit. Otherwise, like Obama, she gave a stellar convention speech.
Palin is Obama. She elevated herself over him today, though, by making a wise choice.
This means that Jack Armstrong will not have to eat his truck.
What has she proven?
If you would pull your head out, you'd know. And get some fresher air.
You let me down, Sarah! But I still think you're hot. So...not guilty!
A servant’s heart!
That's old. She's been saying that all along.
Bender -- Tell me what she has proven. She may have been a fine governor, but she quit. Otherwise, her job has been to write books and make speeches. What has Palin done up to this point to prove that she should be president?
Saying she has proven herself is a bit vapid without specifics. Wouldn't you say?
I think this is a wise choice for her and her family.
She can do enormous good now, and reclaim some high ground. She should throw her full support behind whatever candidate gets the nomination and campaign and raise cash for him/her like a madwoman.
Anyone who has been following my vital and important writings knows that I feel sorry for Palin. She was plucked out of obscurity by McCain and absolutely abused by leftists and the mainstream press. It has been a disgusting display by so many.
But Palin is not ready to be president. All the terrible things that have happened to her don't change that.
The thugs think they've won. We'll see how that works out for them next Nov.
Palin's used the "servant's heart" concept frequently since 2008. It's not new at all.
Anyone who has been following my vital and important writings....
Flaunt it, baby, flaunt it.
It's related to the concept of stewardship and, of course in this context, the concept of being a public servant.
I said above that Palin's used the phrase "servant's heart" frequently "since 2008," and a quick google search on her name and that term will so confirm. I suspect, but don't know, that she used it before 2008 as well, but that was before she was an international celebrity.
You can find this phrase and the related concept going back to Pilgrim days, Professor Althouse. It's really, really not new.
The only surprise is that she finally announced her decision.
Everyone knows Obama is a shoo-in for the re-election with the biggest margin for 2nd term. He is the chosen one. You better believe it.
Palin knows she cannot handle the onslaught from Obama and the press (NYT, NPR, etc.)
Christie knows he can screw up just like Perry.
Everyone knows that GOP can only think of 2016.
The re-election is already happened.
NB: At the K-street shindigs, the number of people that come increases every time. It is just incredible. Everyone wants to be part of the WINNING team. Just like Charlie Sheen.
Peggy Noonan even wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed about Palin in September 2008 entitled "'<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122059352189503479.html>A Servant's Heart</a>,'" picking up on Gov. Palin's use of that phrase.
Sorry, I'm not fussing at you Prof. Althouse, nor trying to pile on. It's okay that this struck you as new, and I agree it's interesting. You just hadn't noticed it before, but it was there.
Wait a minute! America's Politico just came in here as somebody else! -- then deleted and posted as himself or herself. I did not recognize the screen name.
Fascinating.
First I eat a whole bag of Chips Ahoy and now this. Will the diarrhea never stop?
The left was really sweating bullets there. Whew!
@&
Saying she has proven herself is a bit vapid without specifics. Wouldn't you say?
Any specifics Palin would have been met with vilification, scorn, and threats.
Palin will put on her big girl pants and get on with it...but what sort of society is the left creating? I do worry about that.
Resentments and fantasies are being stoked that the left cannot control. We've seen this script play out in the past and things will get ugly. They always do when a group of people think the rules don't apply.
Any specifics Palin would have been met with vilification, scorn, and threats.
So you aren't going to list any.
Teabags, Refudiated!
Sad day for the Alt-tard klan.
J -- Is this sort of like John Edwards and his plan to eliminate the poor? Or is it like John Edwards being sent to jail?
How much do you think John Edwards can bench? I think that's important for his imprisonment. Don't you?
They should be now, garage. A Palin run was Obama's best chance. Now we'll have no distractions from Palin or Christie and we can choose from a remarkably strong and diverse field the man (Bachman's done) who will kick your boyfriend's ass.
You know, AP, when you guys get done with sticking your dicks in each others mouths at La Citronelle, you might want to pay attention not only to the polls, but you also might want to wonder why it is that the local Federal workforce --- as blue as blue can be --- thinks that the present administration is the most amateurish bunch of bozos ever to waltz into town.
It's not a campaign this time. You clowns are the incumbents, and actually have to run on a record.
Good fucking luck on that!
America's Politico is satire. Make a note of it.
He is the chosen one. You better believe it.
The re-election is already happened.
Everyone wants to be part of the WINNING team. Just like Charlie Sheen.
LOL. I love America's Politico.
I wish I was invited to those K-street parties! I want what you wizards are having.
@Yashu,
"I wish I was invited to those K-street parties! I want what you wizards are having."
No, you don't. However real AP may or may not be, the real K Streeters and political operatives are about as interesting as a conclave of vinyl siding salesmen.
So the field willbe Perry ( the winner,)Romney the worst option,Pawlenty and Cain.
Perry- Rubio would do it
we can choose from a remarkably strong and diverse field the man (Bachman's done) who will kick your boyfriend's ass.
So strong and diverse they were courting someone for months who didn't want the job?
Jose: Rubio is already scared of Obama. He knows Obama can wipe the floor with him at any time. In fact, Rubio already preempted his own defeat by announcing that he is not going to be a VP.
You see, everyone knows. No one can defeat the POTUS Obama. No one. No one. He is 2nd-term. Election has already happened. The 100days of new term are already going through changes (last time I checked, it was 3rd draft). There is a campaign to put him on Mt. Rushmore. The library will be in Hawaii. The GOP is scared. So scared that everyone is saying no because of family reasons.
… the real K Streeters and political operatives are about as interesting as a conclave of vinyl siding salesmen.
That may be, but the O-juice (or O-powder or O-leaves or O-tabs) they're taking make WINNING warlocks of them all. Just like AP. Shine on you crazy diamond.
Thank merciful God.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Notice, however, that she said she wasn't seeking the GOP nomination. I don't think she'll run indie, but she's not ruling it out.
Sarah Palin is a brand at this point. If she were to undertake something like a presidential bid and lose, that brand would end up like New Coke.
David said: One thing I owe to Sarah Palin is final and irrevocable loss of faith in the mainstream American press.
Me, too.
A servants heart is not new, you have not been listening.
I would have voted for Sarah. She has more brains, more guts than that moron we have now. However I am relieved she isn't running, because the main stream media would sink to even new lows (if that is possible) in their revolting lies and attacks on Sarah and her family. And i do believe not running will give her the freedom to go after the media and bury it. God Bless that Lady.
Too bad but given the stupidity of the average conservative, she didn't really have a chance.
After all the other conservative midgets fall away it will be Romney vs. Perry. All the moderates will vote Romney and Perry is a terrible debater, so it looks like Romney.
This means the lawsuit is a go, I take it.
This means the lawsuit is a go, I take it.
I hope so.
I wish Sarah Palin well.
I wish she would have run.
I wish she would continue to work to destroy the mainstream media.
I wish Andrew Sullivan would spontaneously combust into a pile of burning beagle shit.
I wish Joe McGinniss would be visited in the night by an ex-green beret with a grudge.
I wish I had a watermelon.
Seven Machos said...
Sarah Palin has proven herself many times over
What has she proven? Palin has done nothing except govern a rural state (the most rural, and it's not close). She quit. Otherwise, like Obama, she gave a stellar convention speech.
Oh, shove the "quitter" thing. It's last refuge of morons at this point. She was being bled white financially and had no choice.
And the nature of Alaska's rurality (?) may make it that much harder to govern, so that argument doesn't necessarily hold water.
She worked her way up the political ladder without a hubby or daddy to bankroll her and didn't toss her principles, was governor of one of the few "strong governor" states in the country, was able to work with the Democrats without becoming a RINO, actually reformed the political landscape in her state, has been a thorn in the side of the Lefties up to and including galvanizing opposition to ZeroCare (death panels?), and has survived the media slime machine.
Yeah, I'd say she's proven herself.
I wonder who's she going to support Romney or Perry?
That should be interesting.
Called it. In 2008.
In 2012, the Republicans to watch won't include Sarah Palin. Bobby Jindal, on the other hand, is one to watch, if he cleans out the Augean Stables of Louisiana politics. And don't count out Mitt Romney.
Well, Jindal still has 2016 or 2020 to hope for. As for Palin, in the words of the once and, probably not future, king Rick Perry would say - adios, mofo.
She was being bled white financially and had no choice.
I like Palin, as I have said here many times. It is clear, however, that she is not ready to be president.
I also like Bill Clinton, by the way, who was ready when he run (and didn't run in 1988 because he knew it wasn't the right time). And speaking of Clinton, his legal bills were also staggering. But he knew -- as Palin certainly knew -- that lawyers could be paid with the buckets and buckets of cash from speeches and books.
Money was not and is not a problem for Palin. Don't delude yourself.
I'm sad in some ways but glad in others.
Sad that we won't get to see the dynamism that a Palin Presidency could have brought to our ailing economy and ailing national spirit.
Glad, because I think she can be one Hell of a Rainmaker. That is the role I always thought she would take.
To be behind the conservative candidate (Cain?) and marshal the strength of the awoken giant....the Teaparty.
With Sarah as our Joan d'Arc there may be some hope that we can cast out the stink of the progressives and exorcise the government of the evil that has taken it over in the last 40 years.
NB: At the K-street shindigs, the number of people that come increases every time.
Honestly, this is a lot more than I want to know. I mean, I'd heard them called circle jerks, but...
wv: ingyrobi. I think this is one of the practices at the K street shindigs.
You know what would be a great place for her. The Supreme Court.
A regular person on the court. Not a lawyer. Not an academic. Not a college egghead.
I would love to see it just to see all the lawyer's heads explode.
FWIW, I recall her talking about the "servant heart" idea.
A rabble rousing politican on the court. That would be some fun shit.
She could write her opinions on Facebook.
That would give all the high and mighty pointy headed poindexter professors a stroke. Hee.
Bender said...
Not unexpected.
It is the party's loss, and America's.
====================
Not really. 2/3rds of Republicans didn't want her to run. She was in the high single digits in polls that had her in the mix. Above Bachmann, but below Newt.
Hard to see it as America's loss, as well. Women had 2 years in a smally populated state as her only executive experience, then quit. And did nothing in the last 3 except have her and her writers throw out a few snappy one-liners the rubes gobbled up.
Now I think she is poised to get a nice chunk of change from Random House in an out of court settlement. Money and fame are her thing...not leading the country.
Trooper York said...
You know what would be a great place for her. The Supreme Court.
A regular person on the court. Not a lawyer. Not an academic. Not a college egghead.
I would love to see it just to see all the lawyer's heads explode.
================
If you want a clown in highheels, why not have one of the Jersey Shores bimbos on SCOTUS? Snookie? No college egghead she!
That would make lawyer's heads explode! Is a high school diploma a necessity to be a judge? I think judges escape the rule lawyers appearing before the Court are bound by that you must be admitted to the Bar in the relevant jurisdiction to practice before a judge in court...same with a HS diploma.
I'll go out on a limb and predict that Palin doesn't sue over the McGinniss book.
... staking a live man to a rock is harsh. Please reconsider you barbaric proposition.
LOL, 60 Grit. But like Prometheus, Obama's been too skillful, too brilliant, too audacious a champion of mankind.
I'll go out on a limb and predict that Palin doesn't sue over the McGinniss book.
Agreed. If she sues, he gets to depose her and seek evidence about every detail she disputes. And every detail she doesn't dispute will be assumed to be true by virtue of its omission from the suit. I doubt either prospect sounds good to Palin. And she seems to do best when she acts like she's going to do something, then doesn't.
"The decision to relocate debate prep from the campaign trail, which is where McCain did his prep, to Sedona, was to isolate her and help her overcome the shock of becoming an overnight celebrity. There certainly were discussions — not for long because of the arc the campaign took — but certainly there were discussions about whether, if they were to win, it would be appropriate for her to be sworn in."
On the plus side, Alpha, Palin isn't facing time in a fuck-me-in-the-ass prison like the last grossly unqualified Democratic vice presidential candidate to lose.
Seven Machos said...
She was being bled white financially and had no choice.
I like Palin, as I have said here many times. It is clear, however, that she is not ready to be president.
Agreed in the sense that she needed 2 terms under her belt to have the requisite experience. If she finds an appointive post (Sec of Energy, f'rinstance) or an elective office (Senate, big city mayor, etc.), she would have the appropriate resume credentials.
I also like Bill Clinton, by the way, who was ready when he run (and didn't run in 1988 because he knew it wasn't the right time). And speaking of Clinton, his legal bills were also staggering. But he knew -- as Palin certainly knew -- that lawyers could be paid with the buckets and buckets of cash from speeches and books.
Willie has the emotional maturity of a 3 year old. He wouldn't be fit for dogcatcher, much less POTUS, in a thousand years. He ran in '92 because he thought Poppy was vulnerable.
And his legal expenses were defrayed by his rich friends - the Clintons have no other.
Money was not and is not a problem for Palin. Don't delude yourself.
Baloney.
"There certainly were discussions — not for long because of the arc the campaign took — but certainly there were discussions about whether, if they were to win, it would be appropriate for her to be sworn in."
If they happened everyone involved must have been drunk. The idea that a President would dump a VP after she's been elected is insane.
It sounds like something out of a bad novel.
Good play on words. Currently, we have millions of so-called public servants.
Clinton was just lucky. He was elected in '92 because of (1) Ross Perot (2) the bad economy and (3) Bush I was lame RINO.
Even in '96 with a booming economy he couldn't get 50% of the vote.
Funny how everyone forgets he lied under oath, pardoned Marc Rich, and had one of the most corrupt administrations ever.
Ed -- Do the math. Politicians like Clinton and Palin can easily charge $100,000 for a speech. Really, really good lawyers charge $500 per hour. A mere 15 speeches gets you a half year of full-time work from two of the best lawyers in the country. Thirty speeches and a couple abroad would pay for all the legal work she could ever need.
That's not including book proceeds, legal defense funds, etc.
Money was not a problem for Palin when she quit her job. She certainly knows that. Why can't you admit it.
I was right. Wow.
Me too! I was giving her credit for being smart enough not to run.
Do I get a prize?
Meanwhile, she's making bunches of money and talking about policy without the hassle of trying to defend her record. What could be better?
Servants heart is common in spirituality. It's trying to align ones minds with ones capabilities and do what is spiritually best for the object of ones intentions and desires. It makes some people dull and others saints.
You people talking all about servants and hearts need to focus less on it and more on proper apostrophe usage. That's greatness.
she stood against entrenched corruption in Alaska.
She built an oil pipeline.
She endured the rabid ramblings of a putrid set of media minds at a depth no one has before in history of the us. She will make it easier for woman to run for office by exposing misogyny in a lot of voters. That in itself is a big boon to the country.
If I recall correctly it was not lawful in Alaska for a serving Governor to make money in this way.
If I recall correctly it was not lawful in Alaska for a serving Governor to make money in this way.
Do you mean by making speeches and writing books? It's probably not lawful for the president of the United States, either, and if it is lawful, it isn't done, anyway.
So what? What part are you missing? You think lawyers get paid right away? You think Clinton's lawyers did?
Believe me, lawyers who charge $500 an hour can and will wait a couple years to collect a $1,000,000 tab.
Do you get it now?
New math, apostrophes are irrelevant.
The kids dont use them anymore
If I recall correctly it was also illegal (or legally risky) to receive uncompensated services. All the options were hashed out at the time.
Legal degrees are very overrated. A normal regular common sense citizen would be a better protector of the righs of the regular guy.
Not some Ivy-league anti semitic douchebag. Just sayn'
He ran in '92 because he thought Poppy was vulnerable
I believe he (or Carville) admitted they first thought (in '91) '92 was designed to get him recognition and connections for '96. Many Dems expected Cuomo to run in '92.
Oh and the Brewers are getting smacked around.
A grand salami and another tata.
Nice.
And Snooki is a much more moral person than Ruth Buzzi Ginsberg and a wiser Latina than Justice Sotomayor.
She learned the one thing you need to learn in college be it the Ivy league or Staten Island Community College.
Don't mix vodka and tequila.
If I recall correctly it was also illegal (or legally risky) to receive uncompensated services
There's nothing uncompensated about paying someone later for what they do now. Further, it would be breathtaking if someone in legal trouble could not trade money for legal services because the money and the legal services would not be traded exactly contemporaneously. How do they own a home, or lease a car? I would challenge that law from a number of constitutional angles, and I would win. As I say, though, I highly, highly doubt that is the law in the first place.
Face it, dude: she simply quit. Nothing wrong with that. I salute her. But it wasn't something she had to do.
Philippians 2:5-11 is one of the texts that give rise to the idea of a servant heart. It is a Christ-like quality.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Best analysis I have seen to date on why Sarah Palin would not make a good presidential candidate is from Ann's post on July 25, 2011.
"The material — which impresses some people, even to the point of getting confused into thinking that the movie is good — shows Sarah Palin's rise to power in Alaska and her excellent achievements and immense popularity as governor. The problem is that all of this happened in the context of boldly and bravely challenging the corrupt Republican establishment. This made her very popular with Democrats in Alaska. She worked in a bipartisan way, mainly to extract money from oil and gas resources in Alaska, and that was popular with everyone, pushing her ratings above 80% in Alaska. She was raking in money for Alaskans and challenging the big corporations (and their inside dealings). What's not for Democrats to like?
But once McCain brought her in as the vice presidential nominee and she launched into ripping up Barack Obama, her ratings plummeted in Alaska. And non-Alaskans never got up to speed about the things that had made her popular in Alaska."
Once she hit the national stage she was no longer a middle center person and lost her appeal to indies and moderate dems.
Caplight, is your blogger profile photo from your friend's memorial service?
Cedarford and I can enjoy this development.
Palin was always an "identity candidate" just like Obama. She represented the idea that someone not of the the monied class or educated elite could come in and be President. Someone with a large family, children and conservative values. No crony capitalist ties. The Wal Mart politician.
These are all really great things. I like all these personal characteristics just like a bunch of voters in 2008 respected the fact that Obama could be the first black President.
The problem was the fact that she did not have enough intellectual heft to dispense with her critics. And by that I don't mean Andrew Sullivan. I mean conservatives like myself and other independents who frankly knew that she would get absolutely cut up in meaningful debates and media interchanges that she couldn't avoid if she ran for President.
The other problem she had was quitting as Governor. Very few of us conservatives would have walked out on our job like she did. For someone whose main weakness was having people take her seriously, you just can't do that. She compounded that error by using the time to do reality TV. Worked great for her fans. But worked against her with the people she needed to convince.
I'm glad that people liked identifying with her, but as we learned with Obama, that isn't enough.
America's Politico blew his cover with the Charley Sheen remark. Funny guy.
=================================
Re: Palin, I'm happy for her because she is going to be much happier not running for president, let alone winning the presidency. She is going to enjoy her life much more and is still going to accomplish a bunch. For example, I am sure that she will be blasting the lefty media non stop.
She is still young. There is plenty of time for her to change her mind down the road.
Read Sullivan's piece on this. Too much. The man is unhinged about Palin.
"It's a fitting comparison: achievement versus resentment, creativity versus narcissism, hope versus fear. I know which one will get the bigger headlines tomorrow. And there is some comfort in knowing it will pain her."
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/rejoice-.html
Peter Hoh
Where my buddies and I eat breakfast together everyday we retired my late friend's chair for a month by putting a Harley shirt on it and setting out his coffee mug. That is a picture of it. Thanks for noticing.
she would get absolutely cut up in meaningful debates and media interchanges
She did fine in the VP debate. Granted, her opponent was Joe Biden. In her book, she says Couric asked some questions over and over, until Palin just looked at her with a "huh?" Why the McCain campaign wasn't prepared for MSM editing hatchet jobs is the big question. They ought to have had their own video camera at the very least.
This was so obvious really more money can be made with less work than running for office, and as David Frum has pointed out her influence has just about ended.
Why is it McCain's fault that Palin didn't bring a video camera? If you are going to be an outsider, be an outsider. Don't blame McCain's ineptness and awfulness for your own awfulness.
Imagine saying the same thing about Lyndon Johnson, or George H.W. Bush, or Harry Truman, or Richard Nixon, or even Al Gore.
Moreover, the vice presidency is a separate and distinct office from the presidency. The reason we choose the candidates the way we do is to lower the chance of assassination, nothing more.
I think Chuck Todd had a fair rip on a tweet tonight. He wondered sarcastically if Palin would have an open 45 minute press conference to take questions like Christie did yesterday regarding his decision not to run. His point being he knew she would basically do some friendly media with Levin and Greta and call it a night.
I'm sorry I am fixated on this, but I want my candidate to be able to communicate well in all environments whether friendly or hostile. The job demands it. And I am not supporting Rick Perry partly based on how badly he did in the debates.
You just can't discount the ability to think on your feet. And communicate your ideas without scripting and a teleprompter. For a bio chemist working in a lab, the skill isn't needed so much. For the leader of the free world......critical skill.
Smart move for Palin. I think a competitive presidential race could have shown her to be a weak candidate. Did anyone see her talk with Hannity at the Iowa state fair? It wasn't as bad as a tired Rick Perry, but it was close. She's making a lot of money with her books, speeches, Fox News appearances and reality TV gigs. No reason to risk the Palin brand with a failed presidential run. I can't read her mind, but waiting until the last minute to announce she wasn't running is exactly what a person who wanted to maximize the very public interest that fuels her various side projects would do.
I also disagree with those who say the race is down to Perry and Romney. I think the last two men standing will be Cain and Romney.
Cain is not experienced enough to be president and should not be president. Moreover, someone who cannot win at the state level should not even try to win the biggest election of all.
Herman Cain will make a great cabinet member. He would also make a great spokesperson, but that job is beneath him.
Why did the McCain campaign give her briefing books with his positions on issues and buy clothes for her family? When she hit Obama successfully on her own, they bad mouthed her to the press.
Truman, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, and Ford had zero executive experience before the Presidency (maybe that explains some of the messes they made), far less than Cain, yet the Republic survived. Whether another term of Obama will cripple us permanently is another question.
OK, Truman had been a Captain in the Army--more than zero.
Ralph -- I think you miss the point. Would you berate Reagan, Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, or Bill Clinton if any of those people had a bad interview and there was no independent video of the entire interview? That's the question.
One of my dad's Navy friends was interviewed by 60 Minutes in the 70's. They edited it to make him look terrible. They can't get away with that with Presidents, but after Rather in 2004, the McCain campaign staff should have been prepared--that's what they're paid for. Palin foolishly relied on their competence and national-level political experience, and admits to that. Johnny and staff didn't realize he'd been supplanted as media darling.
Ralph -- You are assuming a level of organization between presidential and vice presidential candidates that just isn't there. You also keep insisting that McCain and his staff should have had the foresight to protect Palin. Why? Would you feel the same way about Bob Dole had Jack Kemp had a bad interview?
Your whole argument belies the fact that Palin wasn't ready.
A servant's heart is actually one of the most well-worn Palin phrases out there. But it's still beautiful.
I am trying to keep my spirits up in what is turning out to be a catastrophic news day.
I'll try to get back to Althouse soon, guys. Missing you all.
Cheers,
Victoria
The gang at Tammy Bruce's blog is devastated. Just read the comments.
http://tammybruce.com/2011/10/open-thread-palin-is-not-running.html#comments
You are assuming a level of organization between presidential and vice presidential candidates that just isn't there
She didn't have an organization--that's my point--it was the McCain campaign's job. They run the show for both candidates--didn't you know that? The VP is there to do the P's bidding. If he's canny and connected, some of his people get to join the main staff. Her people were still in Alaska running her office in her absence.
One can do a perfectly good interview and have it edited into incoherence and then spun into oblivion. Which fucking Bush Doctrine are you talking about, Gibson?
I also disagree with those who say the race is down to Perry and Romney. I think the last two men standing will be Cain and Romney.
Cain has not even been vetted yet. Few "movement" conservatives that think with their hearts instead of their brains have gotten past "black man that does excellent preacher-speak with a firm tone, cancer survivor, Pizza exec, and "9-9-9". I like the Herminator, but the vetting will show a thin resume, even the pizza exec stuff ended back in 1996 when the Board replaced him, and the 9-9-9 plan appears to be a catchy, but unworkable plan.
They run the show for both candidates--didn't you know that?
Fundamentally, ridiculously false. Vice presidents have their own staffs and campaign staffs.
The VP is there to do the P's bidding.
Again, absurd. The vice presidency is a wholly independent, separate office.
It's fascinating that you have bought into the carefully orchestrated idea, though. Naturally, presidents and their vice presidents wish to have you see that they are some united team.
Your whole argument belies the fact that Palin wasn't ready
Who is, besides Cheney? Every Republican nominee gets it in the face with both barrels. She drew huge crowds, and despite the elite sneering, McCain would have done even worse without her.
The vice presidency is a wholly independent, separate office
On what planet? Warmpiss?
You mean they willingly go to all those foreign funerals?
Ralph -- Do you dispute that it's a wholly separate office?
Try this one: how do you get unseat a sitting vice president?
The VP does not even have an office in the executive branch, much less a staff, unless the President gives him one.
It's pretty funny that Palin is not running but the bashing doesn't stop.
You know when I was a kid and watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom they are said one animal had the worst temper and was the worst to deal with and the one you had to fear the most.
And that animal was....the RINO!
Ralph L said...
Truman, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, and Ford had zero executive experience before the Presidency
=======================
Truman was a colonel at his final rank, commnding the Missouri National Guard. He was a Captain in WWI. Truman was also a small businessman owning a farm and a failed clothing shop that went under like most businesses in his area in the Depression. And an exec in the Pendergast Machine.
LBJ was a staff officer who rise to Commander in WWII. In the 50s, guys like Sam Rayburn and LBJ ran Congress as execs - they called the shots.
Nixon was a commanding officer of S Pacific Combat Air Transport Command - setting up and operating bases where the Japs were not around or on land taken from the Japs. One of the most critical assignments in the War in the Pacific. He rapidly rose to full Commander. 8 years as VP in the highest exec circles - including serving as acting President for a
month after Eisenhowers major heart attack, though the public was told "Ike is stil in charge" then for another 10 days when the President was again incapacitated. Then one of 5 leaders that rebuilt and saved the Republican Party after the Goldwater Debacle.
JFK had his own smaller WWII command, but was was considered a natural leader like Nixon the day the two walked into Congress.
Ford didn't have the exec experience. An affable, long-serving Congresscritter.
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All had far more on their resumes than Palin or Obama.
Try this one: how do you get unseat a sitting vice president?
Ask Agnew--and LBJ.
but was was considered a natural leader
By all the friends his daddy could buy.
Nixon got there on his own steam, and was in the arena for decades, but he didn't get to run much until 1969. His authoritarian style and personal quirks didn't serve us well. Ditto LBJ, in spades.
I did not read & don't intend to read Andrew Sullivan's piece on this. But the passage vza quoted at 10:20pm--
"It's a fitting comparison: achievement versus resentment, creativity versus narcissism, hope versus fear. I know which one will get the bigger headlines tomorrow. And there is some comfort in knowing it will pain her."
-- is just… sigh. I reached for a word like "despicable"; but given the context-- the untimely death of a great man-- I just find this terribly depressing. Doesn't Sullivan realize-- whatever his personal obsession with Palin, the black bile she elicits in him devouring him from inside-- that he's dishonoring Steve Jobs by marking his death with a completely irrelevant exercise in hate, loathing, contempt?
What's the point of linking the two? How is this "a fitting comparison"? We mourn a man's death-- and this is a proper occasion to wish "pain" on someone who has nothing to do with him or his death, a proper occasion to relish the thought of that person's pain? WTF? You're taking comfort-- comfort!-- in headlines about Steve Jobs eclipsing news about Palin, taking comfort in the pain you're projecting she'll feel, and she's the one in this picture emblematic of "resentment"?
I wonder if tomorrow Sullivan will feel any shame or regret for writing this. There is some comfort in knowing it might pain him: not because I wish him pain, but because I feel pity for him, for the state of his soul, as a human being; and that twinge of pain, of shame, would indicate there's still some hope for him, some hope for his psyche.
It must be terrible to be so consumed by hate for someone that you cannot mourn, that you cannot honor a man you ostensibly admire, that all you see before you, clouding everything before you, is your hate. Like having a toxin in your blood, without antidote.
The vice president has a separate, independent staff, paid for by taxpayers.
Agnew resigned.
I'm sorry you haven't thought through the issue. It's an interesting one.
I am afraid you are mistaken my friend.
Andrew Sullivan is not a human being.
And everyone knows that the Vice Presidency is not worth a bucket of warm piss.
Which is a lot more than what Andrew Sullivan is worth.
But how about those Cardinals?
And those Brewers!
A bet a little warm piss is running down their legs right about now.
The vice president has a separate, independent staff, paid for by taxpayers
From a budget submitted by.... The President, with little to do in the executive branch but the tasks and issues and access he delegates. I believe the Senate gives the VP an office with a desk and a telephone, but I hear it's got a rotary dial.
Of course, Presidents since FDR have kept their VPs more or less informed and in the tent, pissing out.
During the campaign, there's one campaign organization with one idiot in charge but two names on the bumperstickers.
From a budget submitted by.... The President
...and the Congress, which includes the Senate, where the Vice President has a vote.
Look, dude, no one is saying the vice president is important. You seem to have this belief -- it's hard to know, as you shift around -- that the vice president takes orders from the president. This is simply not true.
Your original point -- that the vice presidential candidate is somehow reliant on the presidential candidate for clothes and interview fodder -- having been eviscerated, you plod forward.
So plod on. Tell us more that you think you know.
Also, you have the order completely backwards. The president does not submit any budget to Congress, except cosmetically, for political purposes. As a function of law, all budgets are crafted in Congress and submitted to the president to sign or veto.
It's interesting. You seem to get all your politics by what you think you see in the news. Hence, it's all very superficial.
"I was right. Wow.
"What do you want me to predict next? All prophecy suggestions are welcome."
Will the sun come up tomorrow?
"This cannot be news to anyone who has heard her speak over the past few weeks."
This cannot be news to anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear and a brain to think.
The woman never intended to run for President and she never will; she's an opportunist in this to cash in while she can, with the ancillary benefit that the attention paid her feeds her boundless vanity.
Anyone who expected she might actually have run--or may in future--or who believes she has even the faintest of qualifications for the office is deeply divorced from reality.
I also disagree with those who say the race is down to Perry and Romney. I think the last two men standing will be Cain and Romney.
As much as everyone is trying to push Perry out for the race for Romeny or Cain, both men with substantially less experience, it's not working for me. Most people didn't watch those debates and are still interested in Perry.
"...Palin is not ready to be president. All the terrible things that have happened to her don't change that."
Yep, it must be terrible to be plucked from obscurity and be rewarded with fame, adulation, and wealth, especially when one hasn't the goods to do anything truly productive. Getting called names is small price to pay to win the gold ring.
told ya...too lazy to do the homework...its why she quit her job in the first place...
I would gladly have voted for her, but I respect her choice. It will unchain her in her ability to go after the people who have screwed up America, and that includes members of both parties. It's her Obi-Wan Kenobi "Strike me down and I will become more powerful than you can imagine" moment.
If winning the presidency was about what "should" happen or a candidate's political resume, Obama would not be the president.
If Perry had prepped better for the debates, he would be walking away with the nomination. He failed to do so, and the polling shows this to be far more a race between Cain and Romney. Check out Gallup's polling on "positive intensity," which is strongly favorables minus strongly negatives. Cain dominates Perry these days.
Media intensity on Cain will increase. Most of what he's shown me so far is that he can handle it.
So Obama is severely criticized for lack of experience, but a pizza company CEO is now the favorite of the GOP?
You guys are too much...
You guys are too much...
Hysterical.
Robert Cook wrote:
"Yep, it must be terrible to be plucked from obscurity and be rewarded with fame, adulation, and wealth, especially when one hasn't the goods to do anything truly productive."
Wait, when did we start talking about Obama?
Did she say that she is not a going to be a candidate? Or did she say that she is not going to be a candidate for the GOP nomination?
I think the latter, clarifying that she did not have a 3rd party run in mind.
That leaves her open to file to run in Democrat primaries.
Imagine how heads would explode at the mere possibility.
John Henry
The president does not submit any budget to Congress, except cosmetically, for political purposes
I was a contractor for the Air Staff in the 80's. The DoD budget originates in the Pentagon before going to the NSC and then Congress after the SOTU. The President has considerable pull in Congress over the Defense budget--if he wants something, he usually gets it, because Congress doesn't want the responsibility. My boss and I wrote the first draft of a letter from Reagan to get Rep. Cheney to approve a program upgrade he wanted to kill. Later, Sec. Cheney killed the whole aircraft program and his own pet project that he'd wanted to use that money for.
If you think the VP doesn't take orders from the President, especially during the campaign, there's no controlling legal authority to your brain.
I just remembered that I forgot to come into this thread and write, "I told you so."
Now where are all the people who said anyone who thought she wouldn't run was a Palin hater?
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