Howard Dean: Sarah Palin could defeat President Obama in 2012

Warns it is dangerous for Democrats to dismiss her.
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There is at least one prominent Democrat who takes Gov. Palin seriously. Former DNC chairman Howard Dean, in an interview with The Hill, warns that Sarah Palin could defeat President Obama in 2012:

Dean says his fellow Democrats should beware of inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom that Obama would crush Palin in a general-election contest next year.

“I think she could win,” Dean told The Hill in an interview Friday. “She wouldn’t be my first choice if I were a Republican but I think she could win.”

Dean warns the sluggish economy could have more of a political impact than many Washington strategists and pundits assume.

“Any time you have a contest — particularly when unemployment is as high as it is — nobody gets a walkover,” Dean said. “Whoever the Republicans nominate, including people like Sarah Palin, whom the inside-the-Beltway crowd dismisses — my view is if you get the nomination of a major party, you can win the presidency, I don’t care what people write about you inside the Beltway,” Dean said.

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Dean served six terms as Vermont's governor, ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, and chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. He is considered a trailblazer in using the internet to raise funds and organize at the grassroots level.

- JP