It's a rare day indeed when we find ourselves in full agreement with Rick Moran on any topic, but in an American Thinker Blog post Sunday, he echoed some of the same points we have been making for weeks:
By sheer force of her personality and charisma, Palin is slowly changing the narrative about her that arose during and after the 2008 campaign. Her personal numbers have been climbing since her book "Going Rogue" came out, and it appears to me that the more the American people see of her, the more they like her.That Sarah Palin is running for president is clear. What is not so clear is in which election cycle or cycles she will make her charge toward the White House. Will it be 2012, 2016 or 2020 -- or some combination of the three?
Mark Ambinder thinks that she sounded like a candidate for 2012. I'm not so sure. She's awfully far behind in terms of building a campaign staff, fund raising, and lining up support in key states. This is not to say she can't catch up. But I think realistically, she has to make a decision before November and between now and then, she can do some stuff that are candidate-like, but leaves her options open. That would seem to be the smart move given how far away 2012 really is.
However, the longer she waits to commit to running, the tougher it will be. Romney, Huckabee, and Pawlenty have been running almost before the cheers for Obama died down following the 2008 election. There will come a point where Palin will be squeezed because her rivals will have snapped up the best political pros, the top fund raisers, and the most important endorsements. That point arrives earlier every election. It will be interesting to see how she plays the game.
- JP
