Roger Simon: I was right about Sarah Palin

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In an op-ed published by Politico, Roger Simon says, "I told you so." Here are some excerpts:

More than 13 months ago, I wrote a column that began: “Sarah Palin can be the Republican nominee in 2012. I am not saying she will be, but she can be. Those who underestimate her do so at their own risk.”

[...]

Now, more than a year later, I have not changed my mind about Palin’s political potential. This is not based on the polls — especially a recent one showing her in a 46 percent to 46 percent tie with Obama in a hypothetical 2012 face-off. I don’t believe such polls tell us anything meaningful.

I am basing my belief now, as back then, on Palin’s ability to connect with the base of her party. Name a bigger name in the Republican Party today. Heck, name any name in the Republican Party today.

[...]

Since unsolicited advice is a columnist’s stock in trade, I had seven suggestions for Palin, back last summer when she was still governor of Alaska: Dump Alaska, surround yourself with people smarter than you are, pick a handful of issues and stick to them, study up, don’t believe you can’t do it, don’t go changing and don’t worry about failure.

Whatever Palin has been doing since then seems to be working. And I have noticed a certain change in how the media are viewing her. In a recent column giving advice to journalists, Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic wrote: “Be humble about conclusions. ... Sarah Palin may not be ready to be president today, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be ready to be president tomorrow.”

In even better news for Palin, her political opponents continue to dismiss her. Mark Halperin wrote in Time magazine recently: “An adviser to Mitt Romney ... says of Palin, ‘She’s not a serious human being.’”

Which leads me to believe that Romney needs to get himself some new advisers.

Read Simon's full Politico piece here.

- JP