Relax, Mr. Lord

Someone is obsessing...
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Sarah Palin raised a few eyebrows last week during her appearance on Fox News' "Hannity" program when the discussion turned to the third party option. When asked by Shawn Hannity what she would say to Donald Trump if he wanted to run third-party, Gov. Palin answered:

"You know, what? A year ago, I would have said, please don't even consider third-party. We've got to shore up what is good, and strong and principled within the Republican Party. And we've got to run on a Republican ticket, stand strong on the planks and the strong platform that is the GOP.

Well, I think conditions have changed in this last year, where after the November midterm elections, we swept in a new crop of hard-core fiscal conservatives with a lot of common sense who have solutions that they want to see applied in order to get the economy back on the right track.

Well, too many in the GOP are still resistant and resisting that movement of this new crop of common sense conservatives. And if they are not careful in the GOP, there will be a third-party rise up, just like back in the day when the wigs finally went away and Republicans rose up. That is what the GOP should be fearing today, is the electorate will get fed up with business as usual in the GOP and a third-party will rise up.

Not that I want to see that. Because I still have belief, strongly, that the GOP planks are best for our country. But, they have just the machine that runs the GOP has got to be careful."

Asked in a follow up question whether a third party wouldn't split the vote and help reelect Obama, the governor acknowledged "that would be the fear," but added:

"But Sean, where the GOP though is still missing the boat is, look where we are today. We're on day 760 something of no budget in the federal government and that is the Democrats' fault.

And yet the public, for the most part is unaware of that, because the GOP doesn't have a concerted aggressive message against the Democrats being derelict in their duty to pass a budget.

Another point that the Republicans are missing right now that could be an opportunity to invite the third party in, and if they don't want to see a third party run, they'd better get their stuff together, is with Obamacare, they had promised, so many of them had promised, running on a platform of repealing Obamacare, and now some of them are kind of vacillating saying, well, maybe we can tweak it and not just repeal it and replace it. So, that's another point that they're missing there.

They're quite a few issues that the GOP had better get their stuff together on in order to make sure that Obama does not have another four years."

Asked again later in the interview whether she would support Trump if he run as a third party candidate, she said:

"You know, again, I still want to have that hope in the GOP that they are going to stand strong. And that there will be that very aggressive attempt and success in letting Americans know that we can do better. And we don't have to settle for the Obama, Reid and still Pelosi agenda that is part of Washington. I still have faith in the Republican Party that we can get this together.

What I mean Sean, by conditions changing, over the year, has been a result of that midterm election and seen that Tea Party Movement, independent Americans bringing in new people there to represent us in Congress.

And yet, still not seeing the transitional change that needs to take place in Washington, as a result of new people coming in. That has been a disappointment. I still have hope though that we can turn things around and we can get it together, so a third party wouldn't be necessary."

When Hannity asked her if she would consider running third party in this election cycle, she said:

"I don't foresee that right now."

Most political observers, especially those of us who have closely followed Gov. Palin's political career, understood the point Sarah Palin was trying to get across to the Republican Party with her responses to the third party questions. One notable exception is The American Spectator's Jeffrey Lord, whose eyebrow -- if not both of them -- still appears to be somewhere in the vicinity of his hairline. We wonder if he has slept since the interview aired Friday night.

In a nearly hysterical post on the Spectator's AmSpec blog Saturday, Lord characterized Gov. Palin's comments "a stunning development" and "shocking news." He couldn't seem to get over the fact that Gov. Palin said "right now" instead of just "no."

Lord is back today with a three-page dissertation on the Spectator's main page with the alarmist headline "Palin Ponders Third Party Paradox." The contributing editor felt the need to retell the history of how unsuccessful third party candidates have in various quests over the years for the presidency. he evidently believes that Gov. Palin and her supporters are seriously laying out a strategy to take over the Tea Party movement, forge it and ourselves into a modern day equivalent of the Whigs, and embark on a Quixotic quest for the White House, tilting at all windmills we may encounter on the way.

The only problem with that scenario is that taking over the Tea Party and forging it into anything would be like trying to herd cats. Tea Partiers are too independent-minded to allow themselves to be taken over by anyone, and the key issues which motivate them are too diverse to be neatly tied up in a convenient package. We doubt that a party platform could ever be written, especially when it comes to social issues.

Jeffrey Lord should realize that all Gov. Palin was doing by not completely closing the door and locking it on a third party possibility is trying to scare some sense into the GOP. By refusing to adhere to their own party's platform, some establishment Republicans are in danger of making themselves as relevant as the Whigs. If voters don't perceive the Republicans as offering a distinctly different program from what the Democrats are hawking, they will either, vote for the Democrats, vote for "none of the above," or just stay home on election day. So Lord -- who seems to be the only one obsessing over Sarah Palin's two little words "right now" -- should try to chill out. And he should really try to get some sleep.

- JP

Lisa mulls third-party run. What could possibly go wrong?

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A source inside the Murkowski campaign has told Shushannah Walshe that Alaska's Senior Senator may abandon the Republican Party to make a third-party run in a desperate move to try to hold on to her seat in the U.S. Senate:

If Murkowski is not victorious when the absentee ballots are counted and decides to wage an Independent party bid, they might consider using this option, which the source wouldn't describe, but did confirm they were seriously looking at.

"We are going to take a look at them and see whether the option is there or not, but it's a decision she (Murkowski) has to make," the Murkowski camp source said. "There is an option I know of."

[...]

Although it’s not exactly clear what options the Murkowski camp are now exploring, one possibility is running a write-in campaign, which would be a very difficult and unlikely option.

[...]

The other possibility: the Alaska Independence Party. Former Governor Wally Hickel lost the Republican primary in 1990, but won in the general by being on the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) ticket. A third-party run could work for Murkowski as the Democrat's candidate is largely unknown Sitka mayor Scott McAdams, but she would have to overcome the main reason the AIP exists in the Last Frontier: They are a secessionist party calling for Alaska to leave the United States. Obviously, Murkowski is not a secessionist, which Alaskans know, and an aggressive PR campaign promoting her independence rather than the AIP may be her only route back to Washington this fall.

In response, the Miller campaign pointed to heat Miller received in the primary because he left the Republican Party and then returned in protest over a dispute with party Chairman Randy Ruedrich, stressing that Murkowski doing the same would be “an uncomfortable thing to do.”

“It would be difficult ground to stand on. She loses the election and then says I’m going to take my marbles and I’m going home to be an Independent,” said a Miller campaign aide.

We see another problem with an AIP run for Murkowski. She went out of her way to criticize Sarah Palin for reigning as Alaska's governor, saying she was "deeply disappointed that the governor has decided to abandon the state and her constituents before her term has concluded." If Murkowski runs as the candidate of the AIP or any other third party, she will open herself up to criticism that she is abandoning her party in an attempt to hold on to power. It's one that the Miller campaign won't hesitate to use against Murkowski to define her as a rank opportunist.

- JP

Sarah Palin to GOP: Get back to where you once belonged

The astute lamestream media has has finally noticed, four days after the fact, that part of Sarah Palin's interview on Lars Larson's radio program where she addressed Larson's question of whether she would consider a third party run for the White House::

"Well, you know, it really does depend on — I think there are enough Republicans who are realizing, ‘Oh, whoops, some of those liberal Republicans have screwed up’ — I’m not including myself in that group — enough liberal Republicans have screwed up, and … the base of our party is common-sense conservatives, not obsessively partisan, but just wanting common-sense, free market principles, strong military principles to be implemented to get our country on the right track. And if the Republican Party gets back to that base, our party is going to be stronger and there’s not going to be a need for a third party. But I’ll play that by ear in the coming months, coming years."

Wow, you can't sneak anything past the intrepid Fourth Estate, can you?

At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey cuts through the media hysteria:

I see this as less of a story than it seems. It helps to remember that Palin made her political bones as a reformer, an outsider to her state’s GOP. In fact, Palin scored her initial statewide success by exposing corrupt practices within her own party. Being an outsider is part of her DNA, and part of her appeal within the party.

[...]

All Palin is doing is reminding the GOP that they can’t take generic unhappiness with the current Congress and administration for granted and just offer business as usual — and that’s helpful indeed.

We agree with Captain Ed. The party's first female vice presidential candidate is simply sending a not-so-subtle message to the GOP establishment: Get back to your Reagan roots or the shark you've jumped will either eat you or drown you. 

- JP

Lars Larson Interviews Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin fielded questions Thursday on the Lars Larson Show. Some highlights...

Former Gov. Palin was asked about then-Gov. Mike Huckabee's decision to commute the sentence of a criminal who years later would murder four police officers in cold blood:

"It was a bad decision, obviously. But my heart goes out to Huckabee. I love him. I feel bad for him to be in this position, but I feel even worse for the victims' families in this situation... I do feel badly for Huckabee, but it's a horrible decision that was made."

She was then asked if she had granted any pardons or clemency as governor of Alaska:

"No, and I think most Alaskans know me well enough to know that I don't have a whole lot of mercy for the bad guys. I'm on the good guys' side, and yeah, I'm all about redemption and recovery and reform and all that, but I will always err on the side of clemency should be stricter and harder on the bad guys."

Larson asked the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate if she would run as a third party candidate:

"That depends on how things go in the next couple of years... Some liberal Republicans have screwed up, and the base of our party's common sense conservatives -- not obsessively partisan, but just wanting common sense free market principles, strong military principles to be implemented to get our country on the right track -- and if the Republican Party gets back to that base, I think our party will become stronger, and there's not going to be a need for a third party..."

Listen to the full interview here.

- JP

Beck thinks Sarah is preparing for 3rd party run

Glenn Beck told Bill O'Reilly on The Factor that he thinks Sarah Palin is gearing up for a third party run:



We don't think so. We think she wants to take the party back from the Vichy Republicans just like Ronald Reagan did 30 years ago (Back then they were called Rockerfeller Republicans). Of course, returning the GOP to its Reagan roots and making it actually live by the principles spelled out in its platform depends on the Republicans inside the Beltway getting a clue, and so far they are clueless. Time will tell.

h/t: Freedom's Lighthouse

- JP

Media 3rd Party Palin meme: There's no there there

Newsday's Spin Cycle blog finds it curious that Frank MacKay will be visiting Alaska at the same time that Gov. Sarah Palin will be officially resigning her office at the July 26 Governor's Annual Picnic.

MacKay, you see, is national chair of the Independence Party of America (IP) -- not to be confused with Alan Keyes' American Independent Party (AIP), which is a different political animal altogether. MacKay's party is, according to Politics 1, a leftover splinter from Ross Perot's broken Reform Party of the 1990s:

After two years of openly feuding with Ross Perot's allies in the Reform Party, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and his supporters bolted from the party to launch the new Independence Party in 2000. While this splinter party shared the Reform Party's call for campaign finance and other political reforms, the IP shared Ventura disagreement with the more social conservative and trade protectionist views espoused by the Reform Party. The IP -- which describes itself as "Socially Inclusive and Fiscally Responsible" -- is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-medical marijuana, pro-gun rights and fiscally moderate.

[...]

As for a national party organization, the Independence Party essentially doesn't have one. It seemingly consists of separately organized state affiliates with no central national leadership or organization to coordinate activities. Thus, each state entity goes its own way -- and support (even in Minnesota) is clearly dwindling.

Spin Cycle quotes MacKay as saying that he will be in Arkansas Alaska at the time of the governor's resignation is "just a bizarre coincidence." Yet the blogger seems to be intrigued that Wasilla is on MacKay's itinerary. We tend to believe Mackay, who also says that his travel plans were made before Gov. Palin made her announcement.

But the best reason to take him at his word is the fact that MacKay is a close ally of Jesse Ventura, the ex-wrestling ex-governnor of Minnesota. Ventura is not a Palin supporter,  nor is he even an admirer. On CNN's Larry King Show earlier this week, Ventura call Gov. Palin "a quitter" and said that she could never make it as a Navy Seal. Seeing as how only men are eligible for that elite Navy unit, Ventura is only half right.

Also, while Sarah Palin is not the extreme right wing idealogue the hard left claims that she is, we doubt that her social conservatism is soft enough to abide the Independence Party's socially libertarian views. Plus, we don't believe that Mackay's party is sufficiently conservative on fiscal matters for Sarah Palin.

None of this logic matters one whit to the media, which will continue to push the third party Palin meme. But that might just be what the governor wants the mediacrats to do. It certainly will get the attention of the GOP establishment. And Sarah Palin has a few things she would like to tell them.

- JP