Friday, July 03, 2009

Completely Unfounded Political Speculations

You thought this would be a slow news day, being the beginning of a three-day weekend? Hah! Sarah Palin, proving once again that she's such a loose cannon that no one can even predict what kind of things she'll be a loose cannon about, has resigned from the governorship of Alaska, giving no reason besides wanting to avoid being a lame duck. That's weird and unexpected, and I always like the weird and unexpected in politics.

And here's my probably biased and only vaguely formed expectations of what Palin will do now:
  • Run for President in 2012 -- that's the given.
  • Speak several times a month to adoring crowds at about $50,000 a pop, to get some money to cover her legal expenses and just buy nice stuff.
  • Hunker down and write her book, so it can come out early next year with the intention of influencing the mid-term elections.
  • Possibly join a major think tank -- she's not a lawyer, is she? if she was, I'd expect her to become a name partner of some big firm that does a lot of lobbying -- or similar Republican-dominated institution, for a steady salary of probably more than she made as a governor without many demands on her time.
  • Possibly start up a foundation or other organization dedicated to "making America strong again" or "fighting socialism" or something else red-meat sounding, which will serve to keep her in the news.
I really doubt she'll run for the Senate from Alaska in 2010; it sounds like she's friendly with the Republican incumbent, Lisa Murkowski. And moving to another state to run for the Senate from there wouldn't generally be a good political move, particularly for a politician as associated with her home state as Palin. (Not to say that she won't do that -- what's great about Palin is that she does crazy, self-destructive things like resigning sixteen months before the end of her term -- but that it wouldn't be a good idea for her long-term strategy.)

But what she won't do is hunker down at home quietly with her new baby; this move, if nothing else, is designed to let Palin get down to the Lower Forty-Eight much more often, if not permanently.

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Listening to: Marykate O'Neil - Nothing I Say Or Do
via FoxyTunes

3 comments:

Brad Holden said...

She is not a lawyer. The foundation thing could be spot on. It certainly matches what she states her aims are.

My god that speech she gave was weird.

C. C. Finlay said...

There's always the possibility that there's another scandal brewing and she's leaving early before it breaks publicly.

I also wonder if there's not the possibility that, given her background in broadcasting, she might become host of her own show on Fox (or something similar).

Anonymous said...

A think tank -- that's a good joke, Andy.

Jeff Ford

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