What could possibly explain Howard Dean crossing over into la la land and actually saying that Sarah Palin could beat President Obama in 2012. That is the craziest political statement I’ve heard all year. His reasoning is as weak as his apparent grasp on reality. The Hill has some details for us…
“I think she could win,” Dean told The Hill in an interview Friday. “She wouldn’t be my first choice if I were a Republican but I think she could win.”
Dean warns the sluggish economy could have more of a political impact than many Washington strategists and pundits assume.
First of all, Howard, would she be your second or third pick? But not your first? If you were a Republican, that is. That’s some qualifier to the crazy statement that followed. Wow!
It is true that the economy will have a lot of impact on the elections, that’s for sure. But leaping from Sarah Palin, who isn’t even running and won’t, to the fact that she could beat President Obama, even if the economy is still struggling – is just off the hook crazy. In order to win an election, you actually have to run in the primary and win. Sarah Palin doesn’t have the work ethic to do what needs to be done to get to that point. Hell, she quit half way through her first term as governor of Alaska. What makes Howard Dean think that she would actually take on the monumental task of running for president. There is absolutely no freakin way that Sarah Palin could possibly handle that. But let’s just suspend that fact for a second and look at Howard Dean’s point. It’s just astounding how large a leap Howard takes in his thinking. More from the Hill piece…(emphasis mine)
“Any time you have a contest — particularly when unemployment is as high as it is — nobody gets a walkover,” Dean said. “Whoever the Republicans nominate, including people like Sarah Palin, whom the inside-the-Beltway crowd dismisses — my view is if you get the nomination of a major party, you can win the presidency, I don’t care what people write about you inside the Beltway,” Dean said.
Well Howard, there is a good reason why the Beltway crowd dismisses her, have you been in a cave since 2008? The woman has not done anything that would prepare her for consideration as a serious candidate. And that “if” in “if you get the nomination”…well, Howard, you can’t just roll past that “if”, sorry. That’s a 64 pt “if” in a 12 pt world. She has spent the last few years cashing in on her name recognition and it continues to this day. It’s almost laughable even talking about her as a serious candidate, in my opinion. The most obvious evidence that she won’t run is the fact that Fox News has kept her on the payroll. They cut loose New Gingrich and Rick Santorum, terminating their contracts with Fox News as of May 1, 2011, because of their conflicts of interest. Not Sarah, she has no intention and no desire to ever run for office again. That would be way too much work. Just think about how much “gotcha journalism” she would have to endure if she were to run. Blame the inside-the-beltway crowd if you want, but the woman is not running for anything in the near future. I doubt she will ever run for office again. Why would she, she has a compliant media that will cling to her every high-pitched-rising-inflection word salad she utters. She’s got a pretty sweet gig going, if you can get it.
But continuing with the suspension of reality and taking it to Howard’s batshit crazy end. IF she were to actually run and IF she were to actually get the nomination, there is no fucking way she could beat President Obama in a general election. Can you imagine them in a debate? Can you imagine Sarah Palin telling us about “The Palin Doctrine” or her strategy for peace in the Middle East? It’s just so far off the ranch that you have to wonder what could possibly make Howard Dean say such idiotic things. Is it the Obama Derangement Syndrome progressed into a full blow disease which has started eating away at his brain? I’m just asking. Maybe some of you excellent readers can shed some light on that, as you often do.
Update: I just came across this poll at The Raw Story where 2/3 of the people surveyed said they would definitely not vote for Sarah Palin. 42% of Republicans said they definitely wouldn’t vote for her. But of those people who would, she’s taking their money from them. She’s slick!