I still don't think he made the right call with Palin. As a "base energizer" he probably would have done better with Huckabee, who probably would have been in the same ballpark as Palin on the issues, but without (to my knowledge) as much scandal-fodder, and at least some measure of quirky appeal outside of the base (what with the Chuck Norris and stuff).
If it's Jindal in 2012, I want everyone who wrote, or forwarded an email about Obama being a Secret Muslim to write or forward about how Jindal is a Secret Hindu. What do you think the chances of that are?
The Republicans are in need of some serious wandering-in-the-wilderness therapy. Get a load of this: Rasmussen's poll of the 2012 Republican presidential primary: Sarah Palin 64% Mike Huckabee 12% Mitt Romney 11% Bobby Jindal 4% Charlie Crist 2% Tim Pawlenty 1% Undecided 6% And the piece de resistance: Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republican voters say Alaska Governor Sarah Palin helped John McCain's bid for the presidency. Bwahwahwahwahwahwa.I think 69% of Republicans got confused. I bet Sarah Palin helped them get excited about McCain. She did not help him overall. I think the Republicans are going to need a lot of out-of-power time before they come to their senses. It took the British conservatives several years, and they didn't have the looney American right wing to deal with.
Note that just because Palin turned out to be a frighteningly ignorant backstabbing phony doesn't necessarily mean McCain was wrong to gamble on picking. The way things were going, McCain was narrowly but consistently behind. He was headed towards a respectable but inevitable loss. He needed to do something. It didn't pay off, but it might have been the best option available (assuming that he didn't actually give a damn about her inability to govern, that is).
Hail Mary passes usually don't work. But sometimes it's the best play to run.
UPDATE: More evidence that this defeat is driving conservatives more to the right. Rod Dreher: Honestly, this is the brain trust for the future of conservatism? The same folks that have been big players at the top of the movement food chain for lo, these many years? And they conclude that the problem with Republicans this year is that they weren't sufficiently Reaganist? And now they're slap-happy to be free of those pathetic RINOs that were holding the movement back? Man. Somebody take a snapshot of this moment. It's kind of like Andrew Ridgeley exulting in his future career prospects now that he's shaken loose of that loser George Michael.
"Republicans: still delusional"
4 Comments -
I still don't think he made the right call with Palin. As a "base energizer" he probably would have done better with Huckabee, who probably would have been in the same ballpark as Palin on the issues, but without (to my knowledge) as much scandal-fodder, and at least some measure of quirky appeal outside of the base (what with the Chuck Norris and stuff).
8:16 AM, November 08, 2008
Jindal is the one we'll have to watch out for in 2012.
And yes, the tinfoil hat factory has been putting in a lot of overtime.
5:20 AM, November 09, 2008
If it's Jindal in 2012, I want everyone who wrote, or forwarded an email about Obama being a Secret Muslim to write or forward about how Jindal is a Secret Hindu. What do you think the chances of that are?
3:12 AM, November 10, 2008
He is in fact an Exorcist
3:28 AM, November 10, 2008