A hard-hitting piece on Sarah Palin in the new Vanity Fair has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans over last year’s GOP ticket – tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin and revealing for the first time some of the internal wars that paralyzed the campaign in its final days.
Rival factions close to the McCain campaign have been feuding since last fall over Palin, usually waging the battle in the shadows with anonymous quotes. Now, however, some of the most well-known names in Republican politics are going on-the-record with personal attacks and blame-casting.
So what is Palin up to? From the fascinating Vanity Fair article:
In the aftermath of the November election, the conventional wisdom among Palin’s supporters in the Republican establishment was that she should go home, keep her head down, show that she could govern effectively, and quietly educate herself about foreign and domestic policy with the help of a cadre of experienced advisers. She has done none of this. Rather, she has pursued an erratic course that, for her, may actually represent the closest thing there is to True North. […] She created a political-action committee—Sarahpac—with the help of John Coale, a prominent Democratic trial lawyer. But just months into its existence the pac’s chief fund-raiser, Becki Donatelli, a veteran of Republican campaigns, suddenly quit. One person familiar with the situation told me that Donatelli could not stand dealing with Palin’s political spokeswoman in Alaska, Meghan Stapleton, who has drawn withering fire from Palin friends and critics alike for being an ineffective adviser. Also with Coale’s help, Palin formed the grandiosely named Alaska Fund Trust, to defray a reported half million dollars in legal expenses arising from a slew of formal ethics complaints against her in her home state—prompting yet another formal complaint, that the fund itself constitutes an ethical breach. Onetime supporters have become harsh critics. Walter Hickel, 89, a former two-term governor and interior secretary, and the grand old man of Alaska politics, who was co-chair of Palin’s winning gubernatorial campaign, in 2006, now washes his hands of her. He told me simply, “I don’t give a damn what she does.”
And on and on… So, do you think Palin will run for Prez in ’12?
“And on and on… So, do you think Palin will run for Prez in ‘12?”
One can only hope.
Vanity Fair is a great magazine. Just subscribed to it last month.
Ignore the troll in #1 please.
If Uncle Dave thinks the spat between Palin and the GOP is so awful, just wait another year or so, until hyper-inflation kicks in after double digit unemployment and socialized medicine becomes commonplace in the USA; then the Democrats will be all over the single-term Obama. The Obama media might even join in.
All I have to say is “abandon ship, abandon ship, she’s going down!”
@Alfred
Will Bush and Cheney be going to prison for what they have done? That would be 8 years of federal political, diplomatic and financial malfeasance.
#6 – Alfred1 – WE will imprison them for what they have done, they won’t get away with anything.
Und so sprach der faschist.
They aren’t going to win if she runs.
She’s just awful. She thinks that she’ll come across as intelligent, just as long as she keeps saying something – anything. It’s generally just verbal diarrhea.
You could argue that she needs to be better schooled in the way of politics – but the fact that she’s so confident of her greatness means she is incapable of being schooled, as she already knows it all.
So whilst it would be somewhat amusing for her to get kicked to the kerb yet again, it would be better for America for them to have a candidate that can give the democrats a real run for their money.
I wish she would move to Caliornia and take over for the nitwit here.
@#3,9 Opinions created by the Palin-hating media. She is hated because there is deep understanding that she can win while representing everything opposite from the “progressive” movement and hence the urgency to create as much damage as soon as possible.
She is the candidate that can give the democrats a real run for their money (or she’d be long ignored by media).
“And on and on… So, do you think Palin will run for Prez in ‘12?”
Stupid does kill from time to time right? I certainly hope so.
Lots of name calling but nothing really excitng.
I want to see some Japanese parliament style fight!!
Some Palin bitch slapping and chair throwing is really what the public wants.
#13 – Dallas – I want to see some Japanese parliament style fight!!
That’s the Taiwanese parliament. 😉
#13 – Dallas
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ziUUiK5hXEA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ht9WEpdi5JY
I know its slim picking on for the republican party. Mitt Romney is a tool and everyone else is old or got caught screwing around, but is Sara Palin really the best the republican party has to offer? This guy can speak Mandarin and has experience being an ambasador.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman,_Jr.
If she does make a run in 2012 she should have camera crews follow her around for a reality show.
Mitt Romney is a tool. Everyone else is to old or got caught screwing around. I know its slim pickings for the republican party, but is Sara Palin really the best the republican party has to offer? Seriously, this guy can speak Mandarin and has experience being an ambassador.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman,_Jr.
If she does make a run in 2012 she should have camera crews follow her around for a reality show.
#11, go read that VF article. The writer got most of his info from the pile of bodies she leaves in her wake. That pile is continuously growing, and they all say the same things.
Re: the hate comment…She’s not hated for her ambition or perceived ability, but rather for her narcissism. She is ridiculed by most because she doesn’t have the right stuff, and that should be obvious to anyone paying attention.
So go ahead and put her in one of those typical six-candidate debates in a primary, and she’s going to get waxed. Fear of her? No f’n way. Astonishment that she could have literally been a heartbeat away from the presidency….oh yeah, that would be a disaster even the hard core wingnuts would come to regret.
Huckabee is a religious nut but I could live with a guy like him….he has real brains and sense. Maybe Jindal too, but he doesn’t exude power, and I’ve seen 24 so I know he’s trouble. But Palin? Just shoot me, please.
#15 Yes. That’s what I’m talking about! The GOP needs to step up it up.
Seeing Palin bitch slapped by Cheney and Rush being porked with a bar stool is what the party needs.
Since Palin’s popularity is based entirely on her looks and not her brains, her window of opportunity grows smaller as she grows older.
while reading this article, I think of the picture of the snake eating itself, except it was an elephant.
I sure hope she runs I really love booing at politicians.
Mostly I ignore bastards like this arguing among themselves – but, I just happened to hear mention on TV of one of the neocons whose feelings were hurt by Kristol’s whine – and his response was, “You’re right. After all you did such a great job building the political career of Dan Quayle after his shot at Vice President.”
Har!
In 2000, the Republicans ran a shrub against the smartest guy in world. And the smartest guy in the world barely got 51% of the vote (which isn’t enough in Florida).
In 2004, the same shrub ran against the 2nd-smartest guy in the world, and won!!
In 2008, the Republicans ran a nearly-dead guy against the Chosen One. And nearly won.
My point is, for the Democrats to win in 2012 Obama has to fix everything (that the Republicans screwed up). Otherwise, as long as the Republican candidate is not dead or a vegetable, then the Republicans will win.
Ha, by 2012 there won’t be a Republican party to speak of.
Failin’ Palin might try to worm her way into candidacy but it’s going to be one big laugh fest. Issues? What are they and are they relevant?
I know what she will be busy doing – pallin’ around with hairorrists.
AlfredENewman
Please define statist. You use it so much in so many contradictory ways, I’m dying to hear your definition…
Just give me a president who doesn’t hear the voice of the Creator inside their head, and who doesn’t think that America has some sort of grandiose divine destiny to fulfill.
#25 Gary
Oh yeah, it’s much better to have a president who envisions himself as god, right?
26,
Wow. You really pulled that conjecture from left field. Well done!
#26 – contempt – Oh yeah, it’s much better to have a president who envisions himself as god, right?
You must be talking about Bush Jr, right?!
#27 – #28
I really enjoyed the Obamanations Mount Olympus act in Denver with the Greek Columns and… well I’m sure you get the symbolism.
Conjecture, I think not.
#29 Alfred1
That’s all well and good, but still – it would be nice to hear your definition of ‘statist’ nevertheless.