A reader quotes Paul Burka:
"I think Palin is playing her cards very smartly. She has the biggest following of any Republican, by far. She has 100% name identification. She is a free agent. I think she’s intent upon running, and I think Rick Perry had better watch out."
Look at Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter in that recent Fox interview, dumping all over her. They are getting bolder, venturing that she might be "stupid" despite liberal criticism. Joe's book and its details are looming. People can sense the mess that's coming.
She's done. She. Is. Done.
Another agrees:
I've had fun, these last few months, sending the same "Sarah Palin isn't running" email to you every few weeks. I write them largely to entertain myself – and I find myself very entertaining. But I think you need a serious talking-down.
And it starts with a question: after what is now a couple of years of exposing (very humorously, I think) the sociopathology of the Palin clan, and watching as high-school-quality machinations of Todd'n'Sarah unwind and are eventually exposed, do you really think Palin is capable of the kind of nine-dimensional chess game you seem to be implying in "If Perry Falters…"?
Palin has a devoted following that's just below the support of people who are actually campaigning – and just slightly above the number of people who believe the pyramids were built by aliens. You seem to believe her popularity will grow when she hits the campaign trail. I think there's no candidate as popular as an undeclared candidate.
In this Republican season, it's especially true. Every Golden Child candidate who looked good standing in the wings withers in the spotlight, and off the media go looking for their next crush. Mitch Daniels begets Haley Barbour begets Michele Bachman begets Chris Christie begets Rick Perry. Perry, now actually running, is dropping in popularity, and your roving eye turns back to Sarah, with her bloc of consistent support that will surely, surely propel her to power. In this case, I think, Ron Paul's experience is instructive: Sarah, like Paul, has a popularity that will not wither, but also will not grow.
Palin's an idiot. You, of all people, realize that. She's not executing a grand strategy. She's doing what makes her the center of attention, which is what she has done her whole life. Give her credit: she's a savant at pushing certain media buttons, and she uses the segment of conservatism that wants nothing from their politicians but an ability to annoy liberals and the ATM of wingnut welfare to keep the cameras grinding away.
But she isn't going to run for President, because that would be the end of her. She'd be miserable and have to answer questions and take responsibility for things, and that's not what she's about.
She reminds me, in a way, of Marion Berry's assessment of Jesse Jackson. Berry, disgraced but nonetheless a real politician, said of the constantly kibbitzing Jackson, "Jesse don't want to run nothing but his mouth."
That's Sarah. She's not running. She's never going to run.
The Dish 