I think that Newt is, in fact, downgrading Palin, just as many so called conservatives have been doing. If Palin continues to stay in the spotlight and make her conservative “bones” as I anticipate she will, she will be almost impossible to take off of the top spot. It will be hers to accept or decline.

The rabid radical left will continue to hate her and be very vocal about that hate…lots of press. What most people don’t realize is that she pulled a lot of Dem voters over and some conservative moderates..but she just couldn’t drag that three legged pony across the finish line….I’m not sure any could have.

What Palin personifies is the conservative principles of small government, fiscal responsibility, individual freedom and responsibility, strong national defense and a common sense foreign policy. Those are winning positions…they win elections.

She also has tremendous blue collar support…she is “people” and people relate to her and she owes no one so she can continue to be that “Maverick” (I’ve come to hate that word)

I think it is time you go see a doctor. You are way too emotional. Newt said she was going to be one of the top contenders but out of many. What has sent you into a rage? Calm down.

One thing about AJ is he is very obstinate and close minded. He has chosen Palin for 2012 and every conservative better agree with him — or they will be labeled far right or “true”, part of the old and dead GOP.

With my open mind, AJ, I have never seen such a powerful array of conservatives coming to the fore. There is something I like in each of them. I could handle Palin without complaint. She is just not someone I particularly admire outside of her charisma. She is too evasive, she lacks a rigorous understanding of economics, foreign policy, and the world — from what I’ve seen so far. The stuff I look for in a leader in addition to having an element of ruthlessness about them. Someone who tells you exactly how they feel (one of Bush’s virtues).

I think its best to keep an open mind with all candidates. And if Obama does well, I may just pull the trigger for him.

And Palin has governed Alaska like a centrist in terms of social policy, she is not telling people how to live their lives or anything of the kind.

Real change comes outside Washington, there is nothing about the Senate, or any Senator that says change. Obamunism has already been tried, and failed in the Soviet Union. Yeah I know, leftists have a fondness for the old ways, but they have to let go.

The best America can hope for is the duh-Bama recession doesn’t turn into the duh-Bama depression, following FDR’s lead. If you hear the words “New Deal II” we’re cooked.

Sarah 2012, she’s a winner. I just hope she has the sense to not pick a ‘Biden clone” as running mate. BTW, anyone know hat rock they hide Biden under? Is it the same rock Michelle lives under?

What this country needs is the moderate independent party to throw out the existing miscreants and start all over.

I try not to be the “dupe” of anything, thank you. What I am, is skeptical – and I try to be equally skeptical of both sides of the political divides. Just because something is stated here, or the Daily Kos, does not mean I believe it. I simply ask for proof.

I recognize that the media coverage of Palin has been ridiculous. But, I put the blame for that partly on the media, partly on the McCain/Palin staff, and partly on Palin herself.

For example, the whole “shopping spree” fiasco was ridiculous. I’m not convinced Palin had a single thing to do with that herself – it looks to me like a couple of staffers made some really bad decisions, and it caused a huge embarrassment. Likewise, the Charlie Gibson “Bush Doctrine” issue was also blown completely out of proportion.

But, I’ve had a hard time taking Palin seriously since the Couric interview. Even you have to admit – she came out of that very badly. She simply was unprepared for any follow-up questions, and she was asked nothing that a candidate for national office should have been able to handle.

You made a lot of statements in this last comment about who she appeals to, and why they lost. What I am asking from you is, where are the numbers? Where is the proof that backs up your statements?

You fell for the media spin on Palin. Now try and think independently about Palin. She never once tried to impose any religion based policies on Alaskans.

If you are a dupe of the media there is no way I or anyone else can help you.

And yes, there is tons of evidence that Palin drew from across the spectrum. First off, realize how McCain Palin lost – the far right stayed home. Which means everyone to the left of them came out in droves.

Do you know who the PUMAs are? They support Palin. Look if you don’t want to see what is in front of your face you will not see what is happening.

Palin’s debate with Biden drew the largest TV audience of any of the debates this year. And that same debate was the most watched in history. That is drawing power like no one else in the nation outside Obama.

When she was on the stump her crowds were enormous, McCain’s were nowhere near as big when he was on his own. Those are facts.

This statement confuses me. I totally agree with the first part: yes, she can raise a crowd (although wasn’t the GOP attacking Obama for that not too long ago, with the “world’s biggest celebrity” thing?), and the base loves her.

But – what have you seen that gives any indication she can pull in any democrats or independents? Do you have a single (recent) poll that supports that?

And if she was such a help to the ticket – what state did McCain/Palin win that McCain would not have won without her? What parts of Indiana, Ohio, PA, FLA, Missouri, Nevada and Colorado did she “excite”?

To me, she represents the worst of the GOP – the religious, anti-science, anti-intellectual wing that AJ normally rails against. I really do not understand the support for her – what is she going to do that could possibly get her to pick up 270 electoral votes in 2012?

“…Mr. McMahon, 51, the newest member of New York City’s Congressional delegation, is largely seen as a moderate who is not particularly wedded to the right or the left. In fact, many of his colleagues in the Council say he is more of a pragmatist who is less concerned with political philosophy than with evaluating issues case by case.

His lopsided victory against that Republican rival, former Assemblyman Robert A. Straniere, in the general election — he won nearly two-thirds of the vote — has catapulted Mr. McMahon into the position of leading elected official on Staten Island, where the district is anchored, and landed him squarely on a national political stage. And as more New Yorkers — and Washington politicians — get to know him, they will encounter a politician who is seen as fitting comfortably in the center. …”

This is the kind of pragmatic, relevant centrist that Governors Crist, Palin, and Pawlenty, (and Rep Eric Cantor in today’s Washington Times) are trying to get the GOP to acknowledge.

Ideological rigidity can only go so far, on either side of the spectrum.

What I am reading here is not about centrism.

Palin is 44. She was so unfairly trashed by the media and the intellectual conservatives that I suspect she will need more than four years of substance to undo the damage.
I hope to see Gov. Palin take a leadership role in the Arctic Nations Group, which will help her international credentials while she secures her energy credentials and economic growth credentials during a second term as governor of Alaska.

For 2012, keep your eye on the new Senator from Nebraska, Mike Johann, former governor and pragmatic SecAg under Bush43. Watch his committee assignments. Will he get Foreign Relations and/or Armed Services? Bob Corkerof TN has been very strong on the Foreign Relations Committee.

will Mike Huckabee take on Blanche Lincoln for her Senate seat in 2010?

Think outside the box.

Citizen legislators not careerist inside the beltway lawyers. The country will be ready to lynch them!

I suppose you hadn’t yet found Debka when they were waiving their arms and hollering about an imminent US attack on Iran. And don’t get me started on their “exclusive” reporting on operations that never happened. Every time the US sends a carrier to the gulf, Debka claims they know for sure that this time we are going to attack Iran. It gets old after while.

I like her too, but Newt is right. She is clearly a player in the future. However, she will have to earn it on her own.

And, AJ, no one knew who Palin was before the election either. No one knew who Huckabee was before the primary (he’s a star with his own tv show now). People will know who Jindal is soon enough…..and, the primary election brings a lot of unknowns to the surface.

Palin touches me also. When she talks about America….she describes the country as I see it. She is very Reaganesque in many ways. Some would also consider her to be a “true conservative” of the “new guard”. I also think a “Palin campaign” would be much better run, more on message, better organized, better energized than a McCain campaign.

I am a bigger Jindal fan than a Palin fan. I would rather see Jindal run for President, and Palin for Senator for the time being….or, a Jindal/Palin ticket. The next four years may change my mind.

2008 wasn’t the “year of the moderate”; and 2012 won’t be the “year of the Palin”. However, Palin clearly has a seat at the table.

I’m more disappointed at the sniping by the Republican governors of Palin getting all the media attention at their last meeting on the future of the RNC than I am by what Newt said.

Jindal? LOL! The guy cannot draw crowds or interest like Palin. Forget about other alternatives. Until they can draw crowds like Palin, or garner the top viewed national debates like Palin did they are just not in the running.

Reality check – who knows Jindal outside LA and the GOP? No one. Want to lose another election, go with Jindal.

The reason is quite simple and obvious. Palin’s army of supporters will use her as a litmus test on the GOP to see if the GOP is ready to get out of their rut and listen to The People instead of the special interests in DC. Go against Palin and her supporters will determine the GOP is just not ready.