I said I was not going to blog during the holiday weekend and need to significantly reduce the time and energy I spend on the political junkie stuff but Governor Palin made me take a break from marinating chicken.
Let this marinate: if Palin is leaving the governorship to fully focus on connecting with the people in the lower 48 and running for president, be concerned…be very concerned. The soon-to-be former governor and I were born in the same (as was First Lady Obama) so I kind of support her achievements on some level. But, I thought Palin was going to study policy and issues in preparation for a presidential bid—IN ADDITION to being governor. The first thing out of the mouths of Palin supporters will be Obama…part of a senate term…president.
(At this point, a wiser person would stop writing and go clean the grill.)
President Obama, the community organizer, was president or editor of the Harvard Law Review and spent much time down state in Springfield in the legislature. Before I walk away from regular blogging altogether let me say one thing I feel in my gut: Obama and Hillary ended the primary battle last year when he said he would make her Secretary of State, push for real change and if it doesn’t work, he would gracefully admitted failure and be a one termer—greenlighting Clinton 2012.
I have always said that stacking the deck is important and I was cool after the presidential field got down to McCain, Romney, Obama, Clinton and Huckabee. If the economic doesn’t recover, I don’t want to see Obama beat up for four more years but Romney would be the logical one at that point because he has a strong finance and business background and Newt would be a close second. To seriously put Palin, in the same conversation with Clinton, Obama, Gingrich and Romney is tripping if she doesn’t step her game up.
On the other hand, she could be the next Oprah…..okay Hasselbeck.
Project Logic Ga 
1) Palin will not be President in 2012.
2) Palin may very well be the nominee in 2012.
3) Until the Republican party has its on cathartic moment, where it can truly admit why and how it screwed up from roughly 1998-2008, all internal positioning is roughly akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
4) Nominating Palin – or what the heck, Ron Paul – could give us the absolute butt kicking we’ve earned so that we can finally get back to figuring out not just what it takes to win, but what it will take to effectively govern.
5) Both of us should be spending more time on the grill right now. Happy 4th!
Icarus: I can’t call it; I can’t call it but I tell you what: I have family in town until this weekend and I am going to enjoy the little ones company, thank heaven I don’t have kids to look after 24/7 and decide if this blog for me is a huge waste of time.
I will tell you why. Sunday Morning on CBS had a cover story about pundits and so-called experts yesterday—good stuff. But as wise members of my community have told me for 45 years, at the end of the day it is about money and power. Elected officials can say this and that publicly but it comes down to the coin and influence.
Being a hopeless optimist, I wrongfully assume that the political middle was about to get large since the far-right took a beat down after the last few years. If the GOP wanted to be competitive, they would need to come toward the middle without compromising too much.
Wrong answer because my buddy Ray called me from the coast on election night and I asked him if his party would be moving to the center or staying put a letting the chips fall where they may. Without pause, Ray said, “let the chips fall where they may because once you flex on who you are and what you firmly believe, you are admitting that you were wrong all along and that is not the case.”
I finally get what Ray was saying. You can take me back to the days when members of the Georgia congressional delegation were force to deal with everyone in the district because the districts were somewhat balanced. I can say that Dems for the most part have always listened to everyone because GOP businessmen were needed for campaign dollars and listening to everyone is the correct thing to do. On the other hand, the Newt lead revolution ushered in an era of some GOP members and staff functioning under the mindset that if you supported the other guys or if we disagree clearly, let’s not waste each others time.
I should sell my original Blue Dog pin on ebay because those guys are on the verge of changing the political landscape. First, the Dems took the House and Senate because the Blue Dogs created a comfortable place inside the Dem Team for those in the center. Next, they pulled the Dem agenda to the middle enough to balance the far-left. Finally, they are fighting the far-left to make the agenda more realistic (That is what the GOP should be doing.)
So, one would assume that the GOP is mounting a counter offensive that includes a Blue Dog type division inside the Red Team but remember that Ray and every conversational Republican says, “We are right and we won’t back down. Let the chips fall where they may.”
I wrote an old blog post called “Sooner Drown” last year about now GOP candidates would not accept public support from moderates because their base would not understand….Alright then.
When I heard Governor Palin’s geese news conference, I kind of felt sorry for her because she was rambling and could not say what she really wanted to say. I hope she makes a zillion dollars and enjoys her family but presidential material…no. Again, Romney is solid and I like Governor Tim Pawleny’s style. Obama v. Romney or Pawleny….I can live with that. Palin’s control over the masses is scary…Again, do I want a president like me…no. The Oval Office is no joke and I want someone fully prepared to address the seriousness of the task.
Ray was right.