Ed Ross: Clinton vs. Palin in 2012? Stranger things have happened.

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At the Daily Caller, what Ed Ross finds significant about the recent PPP poll showing that three out of four Republicans beat President Obama in hypothetical matchups is that the fourth -- Sarah Palin -- has him tied up at 46 all. The significance is in the irony that Democrats and Vichy Republicans have written off the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate as unlikely to win the 2012 election, but the results of the PPP survey and other polls belie that, says Ross. With each passing day, the Mama Grizzly In Chief is increasingly demonstrating her viability as a candidate. Ross had written five months ago that "There is a path for Sarah Palin to become the 45th President of the United States, if she navigates it effectively, and it’s not just wishful thinking." Now he sees others coming around to his way of thinking on the question.

Ross is intrigued by a potential matchup between Hillary Clinton and Governor Palin. The obvious media draw would be the prospect of two women battling each other for the White House. But Ross defies the conventional wisdom against, this time declaring that among the prospective GOP candidates, it’s Gov. Palin that could be the most difficult for Secretary Clinton to beat:

Clinton’s strategy -- or Obama’s for that matter -- running against Romney, Gingrich, or Huckabee is to portray them as the same old white-male establishment Republicans the party has been offering up for decades, that they represent the past, not the future, and the failed policies of the George W. Bush administration. In 2008 Obama used that approach effectively against John McCain, and Clinton can use it effectively against them.

Women voters will play an important role in the 2012 with or without a woman on the ballot. Concerns about the economy, health care reform, and other pocketbook issues have them very concerned. More so than in past years, it is women that could cast the deciding votes.

Because the majority of women traditionally vote Democratic, that gives Hillary the advantage with women if she’s running against a middle-aged white-male Republican. If Sarah Palin topped the Republican ticket, however, that calculus doesn’t necessarily hold. The ranks of conservative women are growing, they make up a majority of Tea Party supporters, and many Independent and some Democratic women are drawn to Palin.

Past polling on women’s attitudes toward Clinton or Palin doesn’t necessarily predict how they might vote in 2012 if these two women were on the ballot. Voters won’t view Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin through the same lenses they viewed them through in 2008. Liberalism’s excesses and failures during Obama’s term will have diminished the value of the liberal “Hillary” brand, and the left’s attempt to portray Sarah Palin as dumb and uninformed will have been exposed, as it largely has been already, for what it is—fear of Palin’s appeal.

2012 is still geological ages away in political terms as the cliché goes, but the possibility of a Clinton-Palin contest is not far fetched. Both women are major political forces in their respective parties, and both have their eyes on the Oval Office. Stranger things have happened in American politics.

Read the full Ross op-ed at The DC.

- JP

Hillbuzz won't support Obama, even if Hillary is his VP

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Sally Quinn and other Democrats are starting to push for Obama to replace Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton as his vice president sometime after the midterm elections. Their Plan B is for the two to switch jobs, with Jovial Joe -- who has suggested that Iraq be partitioned along ethnic-religious lines and that we give Iran a check for $200 million ("no strings attached") to try to buy the mullahs' friendship -- becoming Secretary of State. Clueless Quinn includes among her "reasons" for the cockamamie idea:

Clinton also appeals to independents, but importantly, she would neutralize the effect of Sarah Palin. Whatever Palin came up with, Hillary could best her -- and the Tea Party crowd as well. The Republicans would lose their "year of the woman" argument.

How do Republicans lose the "mama grizzlies" argument if an unprecedented number of conservative women become governors, senators and congresspeople? Does Quinn seriously believe that Hillary Clinton being shuffled into the vice presidency will somehow cancel out record numbers of conservative women being empowered at all levels of government?

This goofy notion being floated by Quinn and other muddled thinkers shows just how desperate the left has become, as Obama sinks slowly into the oil-soaked Gulf of Mexico. It also clearly demonstrates how afraid they are of a possible Palin candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination. But if many Clinton supporters are like the Hillbuzz crew, Plan B is doomed:

We know why Clinton didn’t hit Obama harder, because the threat against the Clintons was that Team Obama would nuke them with not just the race card, but a full-on race war against the Clinton brand in the black community, permanently alienating them from a base they needed to win back the White House. As we keep telling you, Clinton’s hands were always tied in this, because if Obama and his black surrogates actually mobilized the black voter bloc against Hillary…and kept that mobilized against her in the general election, she would have lost the presidency in her one shot at the big job…and Obama would have just gone on to become the nominee in 2012 after her defeat.

Now, John McCain has never explained why HE didn’t hit Obama with everything that was out there on him, considering blacks were going to vote for Obama no matter what…so perhaps threatening race wars was what Team Obama did behind the scenes to McCain to tie his hands.

Governor Palin wanted to hammer Obama nine ways to Sunday, but was restrained by McCain. For the record, this is one reason there’s no wonder in the world that we so strongly support this woman…and believe she is the only one out there who can and will defeat Obama in 2012. She will be restrained by NO ONE when it’s her campaign, and she will pull no punches. Run, Sarah, run.

[...]

Frankly, there is just nothing in the world that could happen to make us ever support an Obama presidential campaign, because we do not support having this inexperienced, fumbling, effete, America-hating socialist as president under any circumstances. He is bad for this country. Every day, he damages our nation more and more. If his agenda is not to tank the economy and ruin America, then his incompetence is making that happen any way. Either way, he should be a one-termer.

Hillbuzz says that if Hillary Clinton became either Obama's VP or his VP nominee, she would lose the considerable respect they have for the former first lady and New York senator. Further, they believe that the only way to rescue the republic from Obama's incompetence is to defeat him in 2012, no matter who his running mate happens to be at the time:

Our goal is to make Governor Palin the Republicans’ nominee in 2012 because we believe she is the only person we can see on the field who has what it takes to save this country and get our nation back on track. We believe in her more and more every day, and love the fact she has the guts to do a lot of the things we wish Hillary Clinton had done in 2008 to Obama…but was restrained from doing because of all of Obama’s race threats.

There aren’t enough words to tell you how refreshing and thrilling it is to see that the Governor is not afraid of anyone, and is willing and able to be a vocal thorn in Obama’s golden, laureled crown slowly driving him insane by speaking the truth about him in every way she can.

Team Hillbuzz, like so many Sarah Palin supporters, back her because she has "the guts, strength, and determination to keep reminding Americans this would-be emperor has no clothes."

- JP

Raj: Sarah & Hillary smiling over Obama's low approval rating?

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Examiner Raj Rajagopalan cites the latest daily tracking poll results from Rasmussen and who besides Gov. Palin and other conservatives may be smiling over them:

President Obama’s job approval has dropped to historic low of 42%... An overwhelming majority of Americans, 57% of them, disapprove of the job President Obama is doing.

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These numbers should be extremely worrisome to President Obama.

These numbers should be music to the ears of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton.

Sarah Palin is fast emerging as the “Heir to Ronald Reagan”, and is one of the top favorites to win the 2012 Republican nomination. Conservatives see her as the “Next Ronald Regan”. Sarah Palin should be fastening her seat belts, given the downward spiral of Obama’s job numbers; she stands a good chance to move to the White House in 2012.

The Clintons may be rejoicing too, looking at Obama’s pathetic approval numbers. You never know, Hillary may challenge Obama in 2012 Democratic primaries. After all, Hillary lost the 2008 Presidential bid by a razor thin margin. After all, even Republicans would agree that Hillary would have made a better President than “Incompetent, Inexperienced Chicago Thug” Obama, any day, and any night.

While it's true that Hillary Clinton would be more competent than Barack Obama, she is every bit as much a radical leftist as he is, despite the centrist perception her image consultants labored to construct for her. Which, in our opinion, makes her even more dangerous than the man in the Oval Office. Just imagine how much farther down Karl Marx Highway Obama would have driven us if he actually knew what he was doing.

h/t: roy y

- JP

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton: Is Obfuscation Intellectual?

- By Lisa Graas, Special Guest Contributor
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CBS News interviewed Dick Armey, who heads up Freedom Works, regarding the future of the Republican Party. Regarding Sarah Palin, Armey had this to say:

"The first thing that drives them nuts about Sarah Palin is that she's authentic. She is who she is, on her own terms. In many respects she's everything that Hillary Clinton pretends to be. She became the governor of the state of Alaska not because she was someone's daughter or sister or wife, but because on her own terms on her own initiative, she became the governor."

"She's not wishy-washy. She says exactly what she means and makes it quite clear so there can be no misunderstanding. Clarity is considered by the left to be intellectually diminished as opposed to obfuscation."

Admittedly, I do spend some time wondering why the liberal mind deems Sarah Palin to be lacking intelligence. I had always chalked it up to their elitism that makes them confuse her accent with a lack of intelligence. As someone who speaks with a Southern accent who also happens to have a high IQ, I know something about that. It happens to me frequently. Armey may have something here, though. Could it be that the liberal mind expects intelligent people to speak in extraneous meanderings? 

I'm also intrigued by the comment "she's everything Hillary Clinton pretends to be". Would Hillary Clinton have the position that she has if not for her husband? I doubt it so, on this point, I agree with him without compunction. She would likely be a very high profile attorney if not for her husband's political rise. In fact, I might venture to say she'd be sitting on a federal court somewhere......but presidential hopeful? Nope.

Mind you, Hillary is a very accomplished and intelligent person. At the same time, she is a master at obfuscation. When asked by Congressman Chris Smith how she could have brought herself to accept the Margaret Sanger award for her work in expanding abortion even though Margaret Sanger's agenda was to eliminate the minority population, Clinton reminded him that the Founding Fathers were slave holders. My, how she can catch us off guard with what seems at first glance to be a brilliant retort. None would argue that the Founding Fathers had an agenda to keep the slaves in permanent bondage. Slavery was not their main agenda. On the other hand, Sanger's entire agenda was to bring about a somewhat systematic elimination of those she deemed to be unworthy of life, including the poor and minorities. This is just one example of Clinton's ability to practice piercingly effective deceit.....but it is deceit, nevertheless. What may sound good at first hearing is revealed by some investigation to be quite sinister. On the other hand, in considering Palin's public statements, what may sound quite sinister at first hearing is revealed by some investigation to be, in many cases, utterly brilliant and decent.

Also today, Michael Petrilli, writing at the Wall Street Journal, claims that Palin supporters are "anti-intellectual" and that Palin is "unable" to name newspapers she reads. I wasn't expecting to see a suggestion in the Wall Street Journal this morning that I am "anti-intellectual". As a devout Catholic, my heroes include Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa and when I want to pleasure myself, I study the Summa Theologica. Petrilli is engaging in a generalization that simply doesn't fit reality. I find myself perplexed, as well, that he believes Sarah Palin can't name a newspaper she reads. Did he watch Media Malpractice or, for that matter, the Oprah interview for the story on that? Has he read her op-eds in the New York Times and the Washington Post?

I don't know that we will ever get to the bottom of the reasoning behind this hatred, but I do sometimes wonder, do those who said such things about Ronald Reagan have any regrets now? It's my fallen nature that urges me to ask this in pride because, when Sarah Palin is our next president, I'd like to hear some apologies from the likes of Petrilli.

- Lisa

Lisa Graas is editor of several websites, including the Palin Twibe Blog.

Quote of the Day (November 17, 2009)

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Hillary Clinton:

"Well I'd absolutely would look forward to having coffee, I've never met [Sarah Palin] and I think it would be very interesting to sit down and talk with her... I'm ready to have a cup of coffee, maybe I can make a case on some of the issues we disagree on."

- JP

Here comes another Palin book

Actually, we suspect that this one will be more of a Hillary Clinton book, since author Anne Kornblut covered Hill's presidential campaign for over two and a half years for the Washington Post. We don't know how much space her tome will devote to Sarah Palin, because publisher Random House (via its Crown imprint) has released nary a blurb nor other information about Notes from the Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win. We find it interesting that Crown was the publisher of both of the books that were supposedly written by Barack Obama. (That's right, liberals. Open a can of worms, and you're sure to get some on you.) 

According to Greta Van Susteren, Kornblut's book will to some degree deal with the media's coverage of both women candidates during the 2008 campaign. A tip of the Stetson to Greta for that morsel of information and the preview of the cover. Cracked Ceiling, scheduled for release December 29, 2009 (just after the Christmas shopping season!) is available for pre-order here.

- JP

Politico: Palin camp just said 'no' to Clinton bailout

Jonathan Martin, in a Politico.com piece says that John Coale tried to convince the Palin camp to use funds from SarahPAC to retire Hillary Clinton's campaign debt:

Coale made his case to Palin at the Iron Dog snowmachine competition in Fairbanks, where Todd Palin was competing over Valentine’s Day weekend. His broader aim, say Palin camp insiders, was to help Palin develop a relationship with the former first family that he thought could bolster the polarizing governor’s standing with Democrats and independents.

Palin was amenable to getting acquainted with the Clintons but was skeptical of using her PAC to help the former first lady.

She expressed concern to aides about Coale’s request that weekend and a few days later directed Meg Stapleton, an Alaska-based campaign aide, to tell Coale that she would not help retire Clinton’s debt.

“While we appreciate your efforts and recognize that a friendship with the Clintons is appropriate, the governor believes (and I concur) that using SarahPAC to pay down Hillary’s debt is not a prudent use of the money,” Stapleton wrote to Coale in a Feb. 17 e-mail, a few days after he made his pitch to the governor. “Contributors who chose between heating their homes and sending in a contribution because they believe in Sarah would be crushed.”

As for the governor's political strategy:

With only occasional departures, Palin has now settled on focusing her energies at home. While Palin recently joined a group of top Republicans in a well-publicized effort to rebuild the party, it came only after questions were raised about her absence. But advisers indicate that she’ll weigh in only on Alaska-centric issues such as energy.

And of the thousands of invitations she gets, Palin plans to attend only out-of-state events that have an Alaska hook.

“As we’ve been trying to make clear, the governor is entirely focused on Alaska and not on the national scene,” said Stapleton. “That is to the frustration of some who have their own political ambitions for her.”

Palin has set up a Twitter feed that is almost exclusively focused on Alaska issues...

Coale spouse Greta Van Susteren, in a post on her blog, denied the premise behind this entire story Friday, but Politico decided to publish it today nevertheless. Why let the facts get in the way of a good political yarn?

And what would a Politico Palin article be without a slap at the governor? First the misleading headline. The "Palin camp" did not "eye" an alliance with Clinton. Coale did, and he plays both sides of the street. Then there's this:

Some top Republicans who are sympathetic to Palin understand her short-term political imperatives at home — her approval numbers have fallen considerably from last year, when McCain would often defend her against critics as “the most popular governor in America.” They compare her to an incredibly gifted athlete with raw skills but no coach to help her develop a pro game.

“What she really needs is somebody who has good political sense to move to Alaska,” said a Washington-based Republican who wants her to succeed. “And until that happens, she is going to continue floundering.”

Floundering? She's doing exactly what most political advisors, both of the professional and the armchair variety said she has to do - stick close to home, build a record of success in Alaska and work hard to win a second term as governor.

She's not floundering. She's doing her job.

- JP

Goofy drive-by media delusion of the day

Greta Van Susteren blogged today:

"My husband was just told that a news organization is snooping around …asking…. whether he told (asked?) Governor Palin to use her (Gov Palin’s) PAC to pay off Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s multi million dollar campaign debt. Now that might be a hot story to some — if it were true or even possible."

Greta goes on to explain that not only is such a bizarre notion illegal, but her spouse has no formal connection to the governor or her PAC, and he has helped candidates from both major political parties.

You have to wonder what's in the Kool-Aid the drive-bys are drinking, and which news organization exactly was asking the question. My money's on the one that rhymes with "PMS 1-2-3."

- JP