Matt Patterson: Palin Rising

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Matt Patterson, a National Review Institute Washington fellow and author of Union of Hearts: The Abraham Lincoln & Ann Rutledge Story, admits to having been a Palin skeptic in the past. While the author admired the former governor's "considerable" political talent, he had his doubts about how much interest the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate had in "substantive" policy issues, as well as her understanding of them. Patterson also questioned Sarah Palin's decision to resign as governor of Alaska and assumed that she was making a "potentially career-crippling" decision. In an op-ed published at Big Government, Patterson writes:

But then a funny thing happened: In November, Mrs. Palin debuted her memoir “Going Rogue” with great sales, which was not a surprise, but also with a luminous and successful press tour, which was. The interviews she gave in promotion for her book (at least the ones that I saw) were much improved from those given during the 2008 presidential campaign. Palin seemed to speak about both herself and national issues with greater verve and confidence.

Other stars are aligning for Palin:

Several of her potential rivals for the 2012 Republican nomination find themselves suddenly, perhaps fatally, compromised by recent events.

Now Patterson has an entirely different opinion of Sarah Palin than the one he harbored just a couple of months ago. He believes that she is preparing to make a serious run for the White House. And though the former governor still has work to do, Patterson says, the prospect of Sarah Palin becoming the first woman to be addressed as "Madam President" no longer seems impossible to him.

Sarah Palin continues to accomplish what is perhaps the most difficult task of her political career. She is changing people's minds about her. The full Paterson opinion piece is here.

- JP