I don't do well on the political stage

[rabid1st]

Last time I mentioned Sarah Palin, I lost a few LJ-Friends. But...I honestly cannot understand this woman's appeal. And now...she's quitting her elected job because she doesn't want to be a lame duck Governor.

Seriously...WTF?

Palin was first elected in 2006 on a populist platform. But her popularity has waned as she waged in partisan politics following her return from the presidential campaign. Her term would have ended in 2010.

Palin expressed frustration with her current role as governor.

"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.

Isn't that what people who believed in her elected her to do? Be governor?

She would like to be President, but only if she can be popular? Otherwise, it's just a waste of time and money serving the public good.

On a separate but related note...it has been brought to my attention that she must quit now to run for President in 2012. Really? Does it start 3 years out these days? Puh-leez!

Rae

Comments

[rap541.livejournal.com]

I just think she's incredibly deluded if she thinks she is a serious presidential candidate. And I am always annoyed at people who quit their elected office for a higher one.

[nwhepcat.livejournal.com]

The idea that I'm going to be hearing about her nonstop for three years makes me want to stick my head in the oven.

[phdelicious.livejournal.com]

There are a couple of ppl on my Flist who are betting on how long it takes for new of another scandal to break, though I suppose it could just be her wanting to run. Blergh. I was getting used to not having to hear about her ALL the time.

[adriana-is.livejournal.com]

If she can't even run the state of Alaska without one controversy or another, I seriously doubt (still) that she is equipped to run the entire nation. She can be popular as pie but when it comes to knowledge and common sense she fails to fit that bill.

Honestly, I hate it when politicians leave one job hoping to run for a bigger better one.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

What I don't get is how her being cute and down-home translates to the world stage. I agree she's spunky...but so what? And what got me in trouble before was when I said she was hardly comparable to Hillary Clinton even if, as I was doing, we discounted Hillary's time as First Lady. Hillary presented herself as ready for the world stage...Palin is just cute and folksy. And I would have thought that Republican women would be insulted by that...but apparently...they were not.

:grin:

I just don't think we can afford not to care about government anymore. We need some new way of vetting candidates...because all of the ones we get offered sort of suck.

Rae

[adriana-is.livejournal.com]

I remember feeling really offended that she was compared to Hillary Clinton and even more offended that a lot of women thought she was just so great for the GOP. I honestly believe that Palin sank McCain's chances for winning. At least, IMO, it would have been a closer race without her in the mix. To me, it showed that McCain was seriously out of touch when he selected her as a running mate. Had he selected someone like Condi Rice, I could have respected his choice. Instead he selected this Barbie doll who makes me cringe everytime she's on TV. (shudder)

[karie22.livejournal.com]

I remember feeling personally offended as a woman when McCain selected her. To me, it felt as if he were saying "Women are stupid, flighty creatures. All I have to do is put a female on my ticket- it doesn't matter what her caliber or level of intelligence- and all the women in the country will go 'yay, girl power!' and vote for me."

If I had been holding on to even the slightest hint of a thought of voting for McCain, it was over the moment he pulled her on board. And I'm sure there were a lot of other people who were still unsure who quickly jumped off his train when she started opening her mouth and showing how unintelligent she was, and calling things like incestuous rape a "less than ideal situation".

That was mostly my point

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

...which alienated people way back when...I said I felt it was insulting to women to assume that any old female would do on the ticket. It would have been different if McCain had chosen Elizabeth Dole or one of the other outstanding women in his party. But this choice seemed to be degrading toward women...and the only thing I really enjoyed was how she took most of the thunder out of his ticket.

Once upon a time I was quite fond of McCain and had he retained his integrity and stood up for his views on torture and the environment...AND put a qualified woman on the ticket...he might well have swayed me to his side. But he sold out on every issue and then insulted me to boot.

Rae

[adriana-is.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! His choice for running mate said that very same thing to me (only you expressed it way better than I did). And, there were some women that were impressed by his choice. Unfortunately, as you stated, she opened her mouth and all sorts of nonsense came out of it. I could go on and on about this but I'll save my rants and hope that her resignation is NOT a precursor to announcing her Presidential candidacy in 2012 (shudder)

I hate this as well...

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I hate it when politicians leave one job hoping to run for a bigger better one.

But, to be fair, they have little choice when the media is already talking about who will run. They need to get their names in the press very early these days to even be ALLOWED to run. Which is something that is seriously wrong with our system...we don't REALLY get to pick our candidates...the press picks them for us.

Something like 28 people ran for President last time but we only heard about Obama, Clinton, Edwards, Huckabee and McCain and it was very quickly wittled down to McCain/Obama/Clinton.

Still...I think the reason Palin gives here...is offensive to her supporters. She may be planning a run for President but what she said was she didn't want to be Governor if she was a lame duck...having nothing to do but actually Govern. This makes it quite obvious...she's in the political business for personal glory, not because she wants to serve Alaska.

Rae

[doctordiehard.livejournal.com]

The speech today was completely batshat. Here's a person whom the AIP claims was one of their members (and her husband's ties to them are clear) who "infiltrated" American political parties, who came under serious ethics violations investigations including abuse of power and unethical funding. Today she claims that all the ethics violations claims were "frivolous" and were things like photos with fish and "answering questions from reporters" and that she and her staff had to spend their time on these instead of on state progress.
Nooooo. Those things were what the comedians made fun of her for. Did she have to respond to Letterman or others? The ethics violations are still quite serious, and glossing over them does not make them go away.
My laughter over all this probably doesn't come through my text here, but I'm laughing!
Your comment on "personal glory" is right on!

[princessblue791.livejournal.com]

There are those who see her as the one to save the republican party and then there are those who are even members of the said party who know better. The woman doesn't have the sense God gave a slinky. Do I think people will vote for her? Since Dubya, I no longer doubt the insanity of voters. She exactly that, Bush in a porn star's body.

[karie22.livejournal.com]

The day that woman becomes President is the day I apply for citizenship in Canada. I'm just sayin'.

[binah1013.livejournal.com]

That press conference reminded me of her Couric interview. Her mouth was speaking lots of words, but she wasn't saying anything that made a whole lot of sense.

She stepped down because the media was so mean? Weak sauce. I'm thinking there is a scandal in the works.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I am also expecting another scandal to break. But I hope she just goes away. That would be refreshing. I don't even watch the news networks and I'm sick of her.

Rae

[webeh.livejournal.com]

I can't help but think how much will have to be spent just to elect in a new governor.

[starry-eyed.livejournal.com]

The only thing good about any of this will be if I get Tina Fey back as Sarah Palin. Other than that, the idea of having to put up with hearing about her all over again is unbearable. :{