Craig Robinson: Sarah Palin Does Things Her Own Way

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Craig Robinson, former Political Director of the Iowa GOP and Editor-in-Chief of The Iowa Republican, opines that despite all of the negative perceptions about her, Sarah Palin is "a force to be reckoned with":

Instead of validating my list of concerns at last Friday’s event, her thirty-five minute speech made me think that maybe I’ve been a little too tough on her. Maybe people like me are holding her to a higher standard than we have for other potential 2012 candidates. And maybe all of those things that people like me think are negatives are actually positives that could make her a truly unique national candidate.

I walked away from Palin’s speech impressed. Obviously, I had low expectations for her, but a number of people that I spoke to following the event were also pleasantly surprised. While Palin will never have as much issue substance as someone like Newt Gingrich, there was plenty of red meat in her speech on Friday night, especially in an area where most candidates lack any real credentials – foreign policy.

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If Palin is interested in a 2012 presidential run, she would be wise to continue to stress foreign policy issues. Not only did she skewer Obama’s foreign policy, but she was comfortable delivering such a message.

As for her combativeness with what she calls the “lame stream news media,” Palin has nothing to lose by going after them. It is obvious that many of the political reporters have already cast judgment on her and seem to be just waiting for her to step in it. However, her confrontation with the press isn’t going to hurt her any with voters in the Iowa caucuses or any other primary. In fact, if she’s able to withstand their scrutiny throughout the primary process, the general election should be a piece of cake.

While Palin still has some large obstacles to overcome, I’m more interested in watching her do things the way she wants to do them instead of the traditional way longtime political operatives and media types are used to seeing them be done. There is no doubt that she does things differently than most potential candidates, but that doesn’t mean it will not work or be successful.

Sarah Palin made one thing abundantly clear on Friday night – she does things her own way. What many of us have failed to admit is that, despite of all of the criticism that she has received, she’s been extremely successful in doing things her way.

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It appears that Gov. Palin's Reagan Dinner speech went a long way toward winning her some newly-found respect in Iowa. That bodes well for her future political prospects in The Hawkeye State. Read the rest of Editor Robinson's assessment at The Iowa Republican.

- JP