I speak not of some inevitable GOP nominee for presidency nod in 2012, but of Sarah Palin herself. The former Governor of Alaska has made herself a household name since being chosen by John McCain as his VP nominee in the 2008 elections.
She resigned as the Governor of Alaska and since then has accrued a fortune with her book, book tours, speeches and she has become the face of the Tea Party, while not officially, she is in high regard with the members and people show up when she talks.
She speaks and those that love her, hate her and even those that have grudging respect for her while not being supporters, all write about it, bloviate about her words and her sheer presence..
So, yes, in that regard, Palin is unstoppable.
That isn't what the shaking-in-his-boots-hiding-under-his-bed-freaking-out-at-the-very-mention-of-Sarah-Palin, Andrew Sullivan is talking about when he headlines a piece with "The Unstoppable Sarah Palin".
He quotes John Ellis in saying :
As the Republican avalanche of 2010 builds -- and I saw a poll the other day of a Democratic-leaning state Senate district on Long Island where the "right track" (8%)/"wrong direction" (83%) was unlike anything I had ever seen -- Palin has smartly positioned herself as the champion of the conservative counter-revolution. By December, she will almost certainly be the de facto front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.
By the time the Establishment GOP wakes up to this reality, it may be too late for them to do anything about it. Their view of Palin is that she's useful to the party because she can help keep "the Tea Party types inside the tent." And maybe she can serve coffee while she's at it. Palin's view is that (1) "the Tea Party types" are the party, (2) she is their standard bearer and (3) anyone who thinks "the Tea Party types" are there to lick envelopes and knock on doors should think again. They're there, she asserts, to take back their party and to take back their country.
"She's too stupid" is what the Establishment GOP really thinks about Sarah Palin. "Good-looking," but a "ditz." This is unfertile ground, since Palin can turn the argument on a dime and say: "They drive the country into bankruptcy, they underwrite Fannie and Freddie, they bail out Goldman Sachs, they fight wars they don't want to win, they say enforcing the immigration laws is silly and they call me stupid! I'll give you a choice: you can have their smarts or my stupidity, which one do you want?" A large number of GOP presidential primary voters will take Palin's "stupidity" in a heartbeat.
Sully then ends his piece with a dramatic "Know fear".
The amount of entertainment this Sullivan gives us conservatives is unending. Hell we should pay him for the shows and the laughter we achieve.
Is Sarah Palin unstoppable in regards to becoming the 2012 GOP presidential nominee?
No, after all, everyone thought Hillary Clinton was inevitable, unstoppable and look what happened there.
Palin does appeal though, to women across the country, even those that are not her supporters and she has garnered some respect from some unlikely places.
She appeals to people who have had to worry about paying their bills, those concerned about what Barack Obama and the Democratically controlled Senate and Congress are doing to our country financially, the federal debt, the taxes, etc...
Yes, she has appeal, she has supporters and she has a damn good shot at grabbing the 2012 GOP nomination.
Personally speaking, I like Palin and the more the Palin haters, such as Sullivan go off the edge over her, the more attention she gets from those that do not choose who to vote for by party, but instead choose those they agree with more on issues.
You know what they say, any publicity is good publicity.
Although it is too soon to worry about 2012 and the next presidential campaigns and who will and won't be chosen, since Sully brings it up so hysterically, while not unstoppable, if the GOP do pick Palin as their nominee in 2012, people will have to ask themselves some very important questions.
Since it is a given that Barack Obama will campaign for reelection, should Palin be chosen as the GOP candidate and no other Democrat takes the Dem nomination from Obama, it would leave the field and the choice between Palin and Obama....... who would the American voters choose?
The question wouldn't be is Palin ready (could she really do worse than Obama?), the question would become, can we afford another four years of Barack Obama?
If that ends up being the single most important question in the 2012 presidential election, would I vote for Palin over Obama?
You Betcha.
.