Archive for "Gov.Sarah Palin"

Gov. Sarah Palin Steps Down. Why?

Published by Pamela Gentry on Monday, July 6, 2009 at 9:51 am.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announcement she will step down.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces she will step down.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst
July 6, 2009 – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin set off her own fireworks for the Fourth of July weekend with her announcement she would be stepping down as governor, 18 months before the end of her term.   

Speculation on why Palin decided to leave office has varied . She wasn’t really clear in her announcement Friday.  The often-rambling remarks pointed to several reasons, all required interpretation:

1) She was quitting politics entirely to spend more time with family; she also implied she could be just as effective outside of government.

2) She has her eye on higher office; possibility running for president in 2012.

3) She wanted to protect Alaska’s fiscal stability and avoid the cost of numerous investigations into  alleged ethics violations. 

All or none of these could be the real reason Palin is ditching her day job.

  She has  kept a pretty low profile since her announcement but promised her supporters she would keep them in the loop via Facebook and Twitter.  On Saturday Palin’s posting on Facebook appeared to indicate that she would seek a larger, national role — citing what she said was a “higher calling” to push for conservative causes nationally.

It appears she has decided to develop a fan base through social networking sites. This would also give her a list of folks to call on later for donations and to pull grassroots support.

My guess is Palin has had enough of moose hunting, consignment shopping in Wasilla and falling oil prices at home and has her eye on Washington.  This resignation was the first step in her plan to get the ball rolling. 

Some think she’s made the wrong move -  but only time will tell.  It will be interesting to see if she can hold the national spotlight without holding the elected office that brought her national notoriety and a spot on the Republican presidential ticket in 2008.  

Some Alaskans felt Palin’s heart hasn’t been in the job since she returned from the presidential campaign. That could be a reason as well.

Political pundits including myself can only guess why Palin decided to call it quits.  But one thing’s for sure: She has left the GOP perplexed and provided a lot of water cooler prognosticators.  

 
Do you think Palin would be able to beat President Obama in 2012?

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Right Fight?

Published by Pamela Gentry on Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 1:46 pm.


Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

March 5, 2009 –  The feud between Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh isn’t really a fight at all. After all, they’re as cozy as two bugs in a rose bud when it comes to conservative issues. But all the snuggling stops when the issue shifts to whom the party should crown as the official message deliverer.

 

The irony of all this infighting is the GOP has resorted to the constant flow of symbolic moves by the party rather than those motivated by substance.  Republicans have been successful with their formula rooted in their ability to define themselves, their issues and their agenda. 

 

 All of this “drama” between Limbaugh and Steele began when the talk show host said he hoped President Obama’s economic plan would fail.  Steele tried to temper Limbaugh’s remarks by calling the talk show host an “entertainer” whose comments were “ugly and incendiary.”

 

Limbaugh was offended and blasted Steele, which brought about an apology from the elected leader of the RNC.   Now folks are questioning who’s the real leader of the Republican Party?

 

Bill Sammon, Fox News' managing editor summed it up best on the Bill O’Reilly’s Show saying, “I think that Steele is the head of the Republican Party and Rush Limbaugh is the head of the conservative cause in this country. “

 

My theory is that all Republicans and party leaders are smarting from defeats in the 2008 and 2006 mid-term elections.  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) , the nominee in 2008 wasn’t favored by most conservative members of the party and even moderates were slow to warm to his candidacy.

 

For some reason the party has now decided to create a façade of change which includes pushing the party's minority members out front.

 

First with the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) as McCains’s vice presidential choice with hopes of wooing Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters; then electing Steele, an African American, to head the RNC; followed by the recent selection of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindel (R), of Indian ancestry to give the Republican response to the president’s address to Congress.

 

All of this has been designed to put a new face on the Republican Party without bringing about a clearly defined new message or renewed  agenda.  That could be why the infighting is making more news than the issues they care about.

 

Sammon made an observation about the Limbaugh- Steele battle: “What’s interesting about this dispute -- when Steele talked about Rush Limbaugh, he talked about 'ugly,' he talked about 'incendiary,' he talked about 'he's an entertainer.' All of those criticisms were about style or tone, not about substance. “

 

He went on to add, “Steele and Rush don't represent some sort of fundamentally different and disagreeing factions within the right… They're basically on the same side of 90 percent of the issues.”

  Would you consider the Republican Party now that the party's leadership is African American?

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