Post-election Palin - breaking free of McCain

[ArfinGreebly]

Palin can benefit from a study of The Iron Lady.

There are moments when that "stately dignity" is just the right thing.

The folksy moose-hunting mom, bitch-on-wheels persona, blended with the dignified Iron Lady thing will be someone with broad appeal (no pun intended).

What she will also need is more exposure.  Lots.

The Conservative base wants to like her (and already does, really), and wants to hear from her that she will not abandon them.

The "more refined" conservative (?) part of the base will need to be shown the regal side.

And, finally, she needs the velvet-over-steel countenance that Maggie did so well.

Oddly, I think she can do all that.

She needs to make her allies comfortable and her enemies squirm.

Career line?  Governor.  Keep Alaska above the fold.  Drive prosperity.

And hunt more moose.

[agricola]

Palin can benefit from a study of The Iron Lady.

There are moments when that "stately dignity" is just the right thing.

The folksy moose-hunting mom, bitch-on-wheels persona, blended with the dignified Iron Lady thing will be someone with broad appeal (no pun intended).

What she will also need is more exposure.  Lots.

The Conservative base wants to like her (and already does, really), and wants to hear from her that she will not abandon them.

The "more refined" conservative (?) part of the base will need to be shown the regal side.

And, finally, she needs the velvet-over-steel countenance that Maggie did so well.

Oddly, I think she can do all that.

She needs to make her allies comfortable and her enemies squirm.

Career line?  Governor.  Keep Alaska above the fold.  Drive prosperity.

And hunt more moose.

Actually, if she is to follow the way of Margaret she will reinvent herself, hire a voice coach and increase her national profile by becoming the national leader of the opposition. 

Look, I understand why the reasons why some think she should remain as Governor but I cannot see how doing so would solve her current problems.  IMHO the best way for her to do this is to go to Washington, publicly lead the GOP elements there and start digging for dirt - there will be some, and nothing removes a reputation for dumbness better than skewering some Obama flunkies in committee.

[Monkeyleg]

Agricola, I agree that she needs to get and retain a higher national profile. But she does so at the risk of losing one of her strong suits: that she's not a Washington insider.

I must admit that I'm very biased in favor of Palin, so it's not easy for me to look at the whole picture. There are things I don't understand, though, such as why she's been skewered for having an Alaskan/Canadian accent, while Bill Clinton was never called stupid because of his Arkansas drawl.

[ronnyreagan]

IMHO the best way for her to do this is to go to Washington, publicly lead the GOP elements there and start digging for dirt - there will be some, and nothing removes a reputation for dumbness better than skewering some Obama flunkies in committee.

I agree. I'm not going to pretend to be a Palin fan, but I think that getting beyond Alaska will be key for her. Despite her insistence that "Alaska is really a microcosm of America" it is anything but that. Her debate performance convinced me that she is fine governor for Alaska, but she never seemed to get beyond that.

And please also don’t tell me she is an “energy expert.” She is an energy expert exactly the same way the king of Saudi Arabia is an energy expert — by accident of residence. Palin happens to be governor of the Saudi Arabia of America — Alaska — and the only energy expertise she has is the same as the king of Saudi Arabia’s. It’s about how the windfall profits from the oil in their respective kingdoms should be divided between the oil companies and the people.

[longeyes]

No, Alaska isn't a microcosm of America, but then neither is NYC or D.C.

There is no way that Sarah Palin, unless she radically changes her value system, is ever going to be beloved of the highly degree'd Transatlantics.  She had them--in the wrong way--from "NRA" and "moose" and "Down's Syndrome baby."  Palin is a mortal threat to a sub-culture that believes it is the only future when in fact it is already seeded with its own self-destruction.

[Waitone]

There are times when identification with DC is desirable.  Now is not one such time.  Despite all the rhetoric of change we face challenges far beyond a political messiah.  I think the future will show being associated with DC to be a distinct liability.

[agricola]

Agricola, I agree that she needs to get and retain a higher national profile. But she does so at the risk of losing one of her strong suits: that she's not a Washington insider.

I must admit that I'm very biased in favor of Palin, so it's not easy for me to look at the whole picture. There are things I don't understand, though, such as why she's been skewered for having an Alaskan/Canadian accent, while Bill Clinton was never called stupid because of his Arkansas drawl.

That would be a risk, but I think that in the short term it would have far more positives than negatives, especially if it was seen as a prelude to 2012 (it wouldnt be as if she was going there as a careerist). 

The Obama presidency will make mistakes, will help to bring in controversial legislation and will allow someone to build a reputation while in opposition - as nearly all governments with a mandate do.  She really needs to be that person - after all, it seems to me that she already has a large part of the core support behind her (even the BBC suggested half the Republican vote were more happy about Palin than McCain, it could be a bit more than that).  Those people will probably be on-side in 2012 anyway.  The people she has to convince are those people who (obviously) those people who got suckered into voting Obama this time around, and IMHO the best way of doing that will be to criticize and attack in DC and then run on "I told you so" in 2012.