69% of Republicans support 2012 Palin presidential run

[bascule]

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2012/69_of_gop_voters_say_palin_helped_mccain

 

If that's the case, it looks like Obama may already be set for a second term

[Pangloss]

I wonder if that includes the 20% of Republican voters who didn't bother to turn out for this election and in so doing handed the win to Obama. That's what I love about moderate candidates. Keeps the zealots at home where they belong.

[Realitycheck]

"We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how bout you!!!????

 

Palin 2012 Campaign Slogan

[Pangloss]

"We got spirit, 'yes we can', we got power, we're the man!"

[insane_alien]

I wonder if that includes the 20% of Republican voters who didn't bother to turn out for this election and in so doing handed the win to Obama. That's what I love about moderate candidates. Keeps the zealots at home where they belong.

 

and how many democrat voters never turned up?

 

loaded statement that.

 

i wonder how they can support palin, especially after it has been revealed that she knows less about the world than well, bush. and i wish i was joking about that.

[Sisyphus]

Polls for 2012 mean absolutely nothing for 2012 at this point, but its still interesting that people feel that way right now. It seems like the Republicans are split between blaming McCain for not playing dirty enough and blaming Palin for being embarrassingly stupid. Apparently the rumors about tension between McCain and Palin staffers were entirely true.

[Phi for All]

I feel the Republican frustration. I felt the same way about the Dems eight years ago. I'm looking for Obama to move closer to the center and help the Dems remain that way.

 

How can the Reaganites (a segment of the Reps I actually respect) get their smaller government when the Evangelicals want the government to legislate how Americans conduct their personal lives? How do Reaganites deal with the Neocons suddenly wanting to police the world?

 

Here in Colorado, an Evangelical attempt to amend our constitution to define life from the moment of conception was defeated by over 75%. Remember that until Obama, CO was a red state overall. This means that even platform Reps found the Evangelical approach too heavy-handed.

 

Tying McCain to Bush was a winning strategy for Obama '08. I think Obama '12 will have no problem tying Palin to multiple distasteful things.

[timo]

I wonder how they can support palin, especially after it has been revealed that she knows less about the world than well, bush. and i wish i was joking about that.

I don't think I've ever had a party's or candidate's proficiency or attitude towards foreign policy playing a major role for my voting behavior. How about you? I would expect that national issues overshadow anything else in a presidential campaign (or even outside of campaigns that national issues are -naturally- seen as the most important).

Also, while Mrs. Palin did demonstrate quite a lack of competence when measured by the standards you might expect from a political leader there's one thing that might put this lack of knowledge/competence in scale: She possibly still knows at least as much about foreign countries/politics as the average voter.

[ParanoiA]

Firstly, I'm not seeing a very logical judgement of Palin here. I think alot of the shallow nature we saw has more to do with being a marginalized VP cheerleader. She was definitely far more in lockstep with her running mate than Biden was. She was far more controlled, and restricted from view, so every moment of camera time was hyper-focused and analyzed. She didn't have a ton of interviews to recover with.

 

Biden, at least from my perspective, never really came off as a VP, but rather as a tried and true wise older gentleman appeasing the youngster like how you might stand behind your 10 year old in the convenience store when he handles his first transaction.

 

No, you don't achieve what she achieved in Alaska by being a ditz. You don't haggle with OIL COMPANIES, for crying outloud, and successfully walk away from the table with multi-thousand dollar paychecks going out to your constituency by being a dumbass. You don't infiltrate and fry corrupted republicans in their own club by being stupid.

 

No, the woman is definitely intelligent, and probably moreso in the area of business or domestic issues. She's not very worldly, that's for sure, and I look for her to remedy that over the next few years, hopefully with some travel and study. But if you all continue to underestimate her intelligence, you're going to get burned. And it's going to hurt.

 

Remember what our parents taught us...actions speak louder than words. Look at her actions. Her actions don't match the low assessment. And most of the "stupidity" comes from this evangelical approach to legislating morality, definitely her achillies heel. My two cents anyway.

[Riogho]

God, I hope someone slightly reputable decides to run for the GOP nomination, because I sure as hell don't want to be forced to vote Palin.

 

As a side question, I know here, in West Virginia, that when you are registered as a republican or democrat in the primaries you are only allowed to vote on that party, is that true in other states as well?

[Sisyphus]

 

As a side question, I know here, in West Virginia, that when you are registered as a republican or democrat in the primaries you are only allowed to vote on that party, is that true in other states as well?

 

20 states plus Puerto Rico and D.C. have closed or semi-closed primaries like that (including mine, New York). 17 have open primaries, and the remainder are other systems, mostly various forms of caucus.

[Riogho]

Actually, now that I think about it, Palin wouldn't have a shot at getting the nomination. Her support base (Evangelicals) would be split with good 'ol Mike Huckabee.

 

Look for Romney to make a campaign run. I liked Romney .

 

Then again, I really liked McCain before he changed to run for the presidency...

[ParanoiA]

Oh brother...if Romney gets the nomination I'll puke. Same with Huckabee, but not as violently. Romney looks like he wants to heal me on TV in front of his congregation or "put me in a car" with bad credit - I'm not sure which trumps the other.

[Sisyphus]

I agree on both counts about Romney, but at least he's obviously smart. I still think you're greatly overestimating Palin. She's not her ditsy caricature, but she's not Presidential material, either. I've watched the Alaska gubernatorial debates. She's the only one at the table not saying anything. She's just "sassy." She seems to have won her elections almost entirely with wedge issues (mostly abortion - for a small town mayor's office!) and innuendo to appeal to the socially conservative base, like implying her opponents weren't "real Christians." Maybe that shows a good political instinct, I don't know. That stuff worked, after all. She would probably come off better if she was more experienced in broader issues, it's true, but the thing is, I don't understand how an intelligent person, especially an intelligent person who claims to be interested in politics (or, you know, is governor of a state), could be that "unwordly."

 

That said, she has managed to hold on to a lot of supporters, which tells me it's possible she'll get very far. I very much doubt she'll be the nominee, but the farther she gets, the more likely it'll be that I puke.

Edited November 8, 2008 by Sisyphus

[jackson33]

If so many feel Palin is their best change to dethrone Obama in four years, this would disqualify the theory of her being the cause for defeat. The squabbling with in the Republican was IMO over who that VP person should have been. Most advisers in McCain's camp came from the primary losers camps, or the candidates themselves. I would suggest McCain and his some what moderate stance in the past few years and his campaign to attract moderates/independents (not the base) was the death blow and even before the actual nomination. Palin then the lifeblood of any possible resurrection.

 

If the Mother of five in a reasonable happy marriage and having a real life outside politics, WANTS to even seek higher office, their are already top campaign managers on her doorsteps, would NOT surprise me if 'Rove' himself one of them. I would bet they have outlined a program, starting with getting into National Politics ASAP (the Senate) learning some Spanish and planning on spending time in Caucus States in two years. That would be much different than becoming VP and a questionable goal....

[ParanoiA]

Yeah, it's really pretty silly for the McCain campaign coordinators to scramble and find a scapegoat like Palin. There was no real excitement for McCain, and Palin helped bring what little there was. It's funny how they're trying to blame her when in reality, without her, they would have lost embarassingly bad. I wouldn't be surprised if it looked like 1984 again, with red switched for blue.

[Phi for All]

God, I hope someone slightly reputable decides to run for the GOP nomination, because I sure as hell don't want to be forced to vote Palin.

Riogho, do you consider yourself a platform Republican? I'm seriously curious about the dilemma I proposed in post #7 about the Reaganites. Trickle-down actually isn't horrible in practice (though it always made me shudder as a concept), but Reagan probably never figured so many jobs would go overseas, hobbling the effectiveness of the economics.

 

You've made your feelings known about the Evangelicals. How do you feel about the Neo-conservatives? Do you think the party has been splintered by these seemingly conflicted agendas? It certainly lead to some weird objections to Obama. He was simultaneously called an Islamic sympathizer, a communist, an atheist, a socialist, and a fascist in addition to being a liberal Christian Democrat.

[Sisyphus]

Yeah, it's really pretty silly for the McCain campaign coordinators to scramble and find a scapegoat like Palin. There was no real excitement for McCain, and Palin helped bring what little there was. It's funny how they're trying to blame her when in reality, without her, they would have lost embarassingly bad. I wouldn't be surprised if it looked like 1984 again, with red switched for blue.

 

I'm not sure about that. She got a lot of people excited who otherwise wouldn't have been, but she also turned off a lot of people, chiefly moderates (who otherwise like McCain) and conservative intellectuals. I'm only speaking from my own experience, here, but I don't know anyone who was won over by her addition to the ticket, and I do know several people whose votes were lost. Moderates who switched sides or went from undecided to Obama, and even staunch intellectual conservatives who couldn't bring themselves to vote for her and stayed home. For myself (more or less a moderate liberal sympathetic to libertarian conservatism), I wouldn't have been upset with a President McCain, but the thought of a President Palin is unbearable. You apparently had a different experience, out in... Missouri, right? This is probably going to sound extremely snobby, but I don't mean it that way. It just seems like she pushed out the people the Republicans desperately need in favor of the people they should be distancing themselves from.

[ParanoiA]

Well, I'll concede to your analytical skills here. You're probably right. My feeling was, up until she was selected, that if he went with yet another white male conservative suit, that Obama was going to run away with it. I believe the entry of "minority" candidates, for lack of a more appropriate term that escapes me at the moment, stole the foreground even though it wasn't batted around out loud really all that much.

 

I looked at the Palin pick as a sort of "proof" ploy that McCain is just as fresh, inclusive and ready for change as Obama. I felt, viscerally, that two traditional white male conservatives would just fall flat on their face, in the context of post-Bush animosity and an intelligent black male democrat with talented speaking skills pushing for change as if we'd never heard of such a thing before.

 

Granted, I knew McCain needed the conservative base and a Romney would give it to him, with intellect to boot, but I just couldn't see a chance in hell for them. But I'm no analyst either.

[big314mp]

Just to add to sisyphus's sample size:

 

I was going to write in Ron Paul and vote for him. But after the vice presidential debate, I decided to vote for Obama. Not on the merits of Obama though. On the (shocking) deficiencies of Sarah Palin. Her blatant anti-intellectualism, especially.

 

She may have been a brilliant political asset to McCain, but I can't imagine someone like that anywhere near Washington. I can't believe that the American public would choose someone that close minded to run this country. She represents everything that I hate in politics, so I voted for her to go back to Alaska.

 

And if the Republicans want her to run in 2012, then I think the Republicans have lost their marbles. I'd like to think that this election was a demand to move away from radical evangelical/neocon politics, and back towards the middle. But Sarah Palin is farther out there than any president, ever (maybe Andrew Jackson was farther out, but that was a different time).

 

I'd like to see the Republicans nominate someone who actually believes in small government, rather than just spouting off about how maverick they are. Please. Live up to your old ideas of government, and stop with this petty rubbish.

 

/punditry

[jackson33]

I'm not sure about that. She got a lot of people excited who otherwise wouldn't have been, but she also turned off a lot of people, chiefly moderates (who otherwise like McCain) and conservative intellectuals. I'm only speaking from my own experience, here, but I don't know anyone who was won over by her addition to the ticket, and I do know several people whose votes were lost.

 

The moderates and liberals that were to be in McCain's camp, were likely concerned with experience, War on Terror or increased taxes. The VP slot traditionally adds little or no help to the ticket. Those that opposed her being on the Ticket, were wanting another of the losers that ran for the number one slot, not unlike those wanting Clinton on there ticket. There was no apparent loss in either party by either party and the point...

 

Guess you forget about the pundits outside the Republican Party inter management, those that do NOT agree in total with the those members or the structure. Rush Limbaugh (Radio Audience of about 20M weekly), Hennedy of Fox News (Radio audience of 18m weekly and highly rated daily TV show), Ann Colter (author and advocate) along with at least a hundred others, National/Local that turned on the nomination from NO MCCAIN SUPPORT TO LIMITED into outright supported for the ticket. Rove, Gingrich or hundreds of others that DID favor other VP picks but supported the decision or the simple fact that pick drove MEDIA and the Dem's crazy. Even the media that supported Obama, making no bones about it, all commented on the enthusiasm during the RNC Convention and the CAUSE.

[Pangloss]

and how many democrat voters never turned up?

 

Dems did show up for this election. This time I guess the far right figured it wasn't worth it.

 

If anything I think that shows that the far right still (unfortunately) carries a lot of weight in this country. Had they turned out in full force McCain could have won the election, but that doesn't matter to them because McCain is not the person they wanted.

 

I think that's a GOOD thing. Let the extremists stay home and let the open-minded, persuadable, intelligent and objective moderates run the country.

[jackson33]

 

She may have been a brilliant political asset to McCain, but I can't imagine someone like that anywhere near Washington. I can't believe that the American public would choose someone that close minded to run this country. She represents everything that I hate in politics, so I voted for her to go back to Alaska.

 

Please explain the difference in 'Close Minded' and 'Convictions'. You and I certainly will not agree on many issues, but I would prefer to think your being governed by conviction, even passionately, but not closed minded.

 

US politics and personal convictions have little meaning in serving an Office for the total. Obama, may want to do certain things, certainly will try but in the end he will accomplish very little if he were to stick to his promises or his apparent desire to socialize American Government. There are to many checks along the road to prevent this or any major change in government. He, Palin or any person is limited to the enforcement of laws, the Constitution and the protection of the Union. Congress establishes the law and together they can change some things, but limited to the same. Most major changes, including 99% of welfare or any social issue is reliant and dependent on the State Government, rarely discussed.

[npts2020]

Personally I think a series of Palin/Obama debates would be very interesting, if not particularly enlightening.

[jackson33]

Dems did show up for this election. This time I guess the far right figured it wasn't worth it.

 

About 123m voted in this years election, as was the total in 2004. I have not seen any demographic statistics, but I would bet both the young and black votes were up dramatically. Estimates before this cycle ranged up to 140m turn out with 135 the expected. Some one stayed home, but suggest neither party was very enthused this year...other than those two traditionally democrat demographics.