This is a little picture that should not obscure the big picture:
1. Palin is still the front runner for the GOP nomination in 2012. And she is much more polished than her fumbling words when she quit as Alaska governor. Every day she gets rid of more rough edges. She might even read a magazine some day. The days of her putting her foot in her mouth were when she first hit the national scene and she has gradually gotten rid of some of that.
Meanwhile, she is out of the crosshairs of being an elected official facing various probes for bad conduct. Don't forget that Nixon was accused of corruption in the Eisenhower years. He made a comeback in 1968 and all the corruption was forgotten then during the election.
Palin has found a way to sell herself, be on favorable TV venues, and rile up the base which loves her. Limbaugh and Beck will defend her. They'd get ratings-lynched if they didn't. It is a fact that to get a nomination you have to appeal to the base and it is in the final election that you move back toward the center. Palin is appealing to the GOP base better than anyone else even if some GOP party hacks don't like her. In terms of star appeal within the GOP nobody holds a candle to her and she is sassy, snotty and folksy on the stump just the way the GOP base likes it out in "heartland." She may have had extra-marital affairs and relatives out of the Addams Family, but the GOP faithful will forgive all that as they forgave and ignored the Aqua Buddha charges and elected Rand Paul. If Rand Paul can make it, why can't Palin, at least as far as the GOP nomination? And Palin likes GUNS. To the GOP rank and file who are hypocrites enough to be for screwing around as long as it doesn't involve gay activity, Palin is seen, affectionately, as THE CHEATER WITH THE HEATER. To them she's HOT. And she's got the FOLKSY down. You betcha. They're completely fine with her. Rove is coming from GOP Beltway, not the HEARTLAND as far as Palin is concerned.
2. Even Rove ended up endorsing O'Donnell after throwing his spitballs at her. The party hacks will fall in line with the Tea Partiers as things build toward 2012 just as many did during the election. I would even wager that most GOP Beltway party hacks are even okay with abortion. But they know that the base would lynch them if they said that so they are all against abortion. They all have their wet finger in the wind to see how the party faithful are feeling. The party faithful and party activists are for the Tea Party and Palin.
3. Palin can be very vicious and she isn't going to take a threat to her lying down. She will go after Rove just as much as he is going after her. She knows how to wield a stiletto. I disagree that that foments civil war within the GOP. Rather, it beats back the challenge Rove is making. Never underestimate the GOP base' willingness to embrace idiocy. People at the Beck rally didn't even know what Beck had said in the months leading up to the rally. All they knew was HE CAN DO NO WRONG. Same with Palin. It's the fuhrer principle. Once they latch on to the LEADUH, that person can do no wrong. It's "Sieg Heil!" all the way. With Palin now as the star of the GOP rank and file it is ROVE who is now the outsider, not Palin anymore, and if he becomes a threat to Palin she will eat him alive. How much of a grass roots following does Rove have compared to Palin? If he tried to hold a rally for himself, who would show up compared to her? Palin will play the victim up against the ESTABLISHMENT if Rove keeps at it. The base will love it. Limbaugh will be in her corner on that one and Beck too. They'll ignore everything Rove says in terms of its substance and the new mantra will be "Stop picking on Sarah!" Could Rove appeal to the base in that way? Impossible.
4. In the above video Mitch Daniels was mentioned as a possible "Reagan-like" alternative to Palin who could appeal to both ends of the GOP. Here's a report on him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ujoQ4WP5N4That report shows he has much less charisma and personal star appeal than Palin. He is no Reagan. Reagan was an actor. Daniels is relatively lackluster. And he pissed off social conservatives by trying to bury their issues. And he tried to RAISE TAXES. FINITO. End of story. He will never get the GOP nomination. If this is really who the GOP's got as an alternative to Palin, Palin is going to get the nomination. Daniels tried to raise taxes??? Forget it. Palin will eat him for lunch.
5. The video proposes that Palin can't win a general election and therefore she won't get the GOP NOMINATION. This is absurd, a total non sequitur. The base just got a big boost winning the House, they smell blood and they are not going to be focussed on winning the 2012 final Fall election. They are focussed on storming the ramparts to seize the GOP nomination and convention in the summer of 2012. They couldn't give a flying crap about appealing to the post-nomination middle at this point. The idea that the GOP base is going to suddenly now start worrying about moderates and independents when they have just made huge gains is ridiculous. They will see Rove as a sellout against "the dream" and side with Palin.
Rove is merely grousing and bellyaching. He will be run over if he keeps it up.
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