Why Palin Shouldn’t Run, as Told by a Conservative

Like many of you, we have been a bit dispirited since the midterm elections. But one thing cheers us, and that’s the thought of, as my Facebook friend put it, conservatives eating their own kind.

At the right-wing blog, TownHall, columnist Mona Charen lays out her reasons why Sarah Palin should not run for president, and by extension, why no one should vote for her.

The Republican nominee should be someone with vast and impressive experience in government and the private sector — and a proven record.

Charen: ‘Palin compares herself to Reagan. But Reagan didn’t mud wrestle with the press.’

After the 2008 campaign revealed her weaknesses on substance, Palin was advised by those who admire her natural gifts to bone up on policy and devote herself to governing Alaska successfully. Instead, she quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week), and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity. Now, rather than being able to highlight the accomplishments of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, we get “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” another cheesy entrant in the reality show genre. She’d so much rather be out dog sledding than in some “dull political office,” she tells the audience. File that.

…She compares herself to Reagan. But Reagan didn’t mud wrestle with the press. Palin seems consumed and obsessed by it, as her rapid Twitter finger attests, and thus encourages the sniping. She should be presiding over meetings on oil and gas leases in the North Slope, or devising alternatives to Obamacare. Every public spat with Dave Letterman or Politico, or the “lamestream media,” or God help us, Levi Johnston, diminishes her.

…Perhaps the former governor should not be blamed for the decisions of her adult daughter. Yet there in the audience we see Sarah and Todd Palin, mugging for the camera and cheering on their unwed-mother daughter as she bumps and grinds to the tune of “Mamma Told Me (Not to Come).” …The momma grizzly was apparently unfazed by — or, equally disturbing, unaware of — the indignity. And this is supposed to be a conservative culture warrior?

…Some of Sarah Palin’s 2010 endorsements were sound and arguably helpful. Others betrayed flightiness and recklessness. Tom Tancredo, Palin’s choice for governor of Colorado, has ridden his anti-immigration hobbyhorse in a style perfectly suited to alienate Hispanic voters (describing Miami, for example, as a “Third World” city). The endorsement of Christine O’Donnell was irresponsible and damaging, losing a seat that would certainly have been a Republican pickup absent Palin’s intrusion into the race.

Charen goes on to suggest that instead of aiming for the White House, where she would be an utter disaster, Palin instead step up to fill an impending void. Much as we hate the thought, Charen is right. Palin really would be perfect as the next Oprah.

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