One more thing about the Griftzilla From Wasilla yesterday: there’s Sully’s now legendary take on Sarah Palin getting into the race as an independent Wednesday afternoon:
The obvious problem is that she would all but guarantee the re-election of Barack Obama. Is she delusional and narcissistic enough to plow onward regardless?
You betcha!
One, Sully’s not exactly the most objective observer of all things Trig Sarah Palin. Two, running as an independent would be way too much work. If you ever thought Half Term here was going to put in the long hours needed to do that, you’re nuts and still are. Three, Sully’s right about her guaranteeing an Obama win, meaning the Powers That Be in the GOP money pit must have already made it clear to her that they would have spent tens of millions to crush her like a tin can at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Four, she’s still playing this grift as long as she can. It required her to actually do a grand total of nothing and she gets attention. That’s all she ever needed. (Well, that and the money from the rubes.) And five, even Republicans don’t want her to run.
Sarah Palin is egomaniacal and bull-headed. But she’s not stupid. She’s stayed out this long as I said she would…but hey, the veep slot will be open in 2012 again.
Voila. Grift 2.0. Be interesting to see who else comes out and says “Oh yeah I never thought she was running and never thought she had a chance to win.”
deep cap
Good news is that she’s helping keep the Media employed. Without her as bait, they’d get practically no advertising revenue at all.
cathyx
I’m convinced she’s looking for a VP position.
Cat Lady
All of her supporters hate Romney, also too. They’re not going to play nicely with the money boys.
Amir Khalid
@cathyx:
Dear God, I hope not. She’s not qualified to be VP, a job with few defined duties besides understudying POTUS. In fact, she’ll be even less qualified in 2012 than she was in 2008.
Violet
@cathyx:
If she’s looking for a VP spot she’s going to be sorely disappointed. No new candidate is going to pick the failed candidate from the last go round, even if that candidate was seen as a good choice last time. The new candidate will want to be seen as his or her own person, not just recycling someone from last time.
Plus, it’s not like she’s done anything in the last three years to make her a more attractive candidate than last time. If anything she’s a worse candidate, with the quittin’ and griftin’ and tee-vee-showin’ and so forth.
Amir Khalid
Guardian blog post on the Quitta’s decision. Note the cruel headline.
JGabriel
Zandar:
CBS:
I rest my case.
.
Alex S.
I like how some people were so smug and said that she’d have to be loony to tour around in Iowa and New Hampshire with a huge bus with the US Constitution on it and give partisan speeches, and then not run for president. They could never admit that they were fooled and that they prolonged the scam with their interest. This includes Sully, Jon Stewart, even Nate Silver.
dmsilev
@cathyx: Not a chance. She was a disaster for the McCain campaign, both in terms of public perception and also in interfering with the internal operations. Nobody in the GOP field is anywhere near stupid enough to pick her.
RossInDetroit
I blew this call. The permanent record will show that I predicted she wouldn’t be able to stay out of the race. Money and ego would be too attractive.
But if the GOP campaign dough ATM has eaten her card, so to speak, then there really isn’t a point to her carrying on.
It will be interesting to see where she pops up in the next 13 months, and whether she’s given a role supporting the nominee.
PeakVT
No candidate will be interested in Palin for Veep, except maybe Gingrich, so he can hit on her.
cleek
up until this summer, i thought she’d run, for sure. and i thought she had a decent chance of getting the nom. then Bachmann grabbed all that Hot Crazy Conservative PTA Mom action away from Palin, and i knew Palin was done.
JGabriel
Zandar:
I never thought Palin would win the presidential election, but I did think she would run for the GOP nomination — not so much because she wanted it, but because it would be necessary for maintaining enough relevance to keep the grift going.
I’m not sure how she expects to continue collecting six figure speaking fees as an unsuccessful Vice-Presidential candidate now that a Presidential race is under way.
.
Zifnab25
@RossInDetroit:
That’s just the thing, though. She’s getting her milk without a cow in sight. She can keep grifting and just dance around the edge of the debates to tantalize her supporters. Frequent appearances on FOX. Paid political speeches. It’s pure win.
cathyx
I didn’t say anyone would select her as their VP. But I think she’s egotistical and self-obsessed enough to think they might.
She’s hoping for her own TV show.
Steeplejack
@Amir Khalid:
Your link broken. I fix.
JGabriel
@dmsilev:
I don’t know about that, Rick Perry is pretty dumb. It might be safer to say that no campaign adviser is stupid enough to let his candidate pick Palin.
.
Bill E Pilgrim
@RossInDetroit: Sarah will be remembered for the innovation of taking the traditional route of cashing in after serving in the White House, and proving that you could actually just skip step one.
Future practitioners will include Joe the Plumber in his “Had I been elected President” book tour.
NonyNony
@cathyx:
I disagree, but I’m convinced that she’ll make it LOOK like she’s interested in the veep position.
She needs to do what she needs to do to keep the money rolling in. If that means rolling the rubes into thinking she wants a veep slot, so be it.
What will be interesting is if Mittens gets the nomination. How will Palin position herself there? Does she go the Angry Tea Party route, denounce the Republican candidate as a RINO and drum up money from the Birchers, or does she instead go with the “following St. Ronnie’s 11th commandment” and say nice things about Mittens while being ready to stab him in the gut once he loses the election. Which one makes her more money – being the angry (yet attractive) face of the Tea party, or being the dutiful Republican Party cheerleader? Decisions decisions…
Amir Khalid
@cathyx:
Point taken about rhe VP slot. But as to the TV show, whether she gets another one depends on how well she keeps the spotlight on herself. Of her main assets, her looks and her perceived chances of becoming president (shudder), one is diminishing and the other is gone.
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack:
Whoops, sorry about that.
DanielX
Meh. Running as an independent or as anything at all would be too much work for Starburst Sarah. I mean, part of the definition of being a grifter is going for the easy bucks, and offhand I can’t think of anything more grueling than running for national office. Aside maybe from winning and then actually having to, you know, work at it. Snowbilly Snooki extracted more from the rubes by dragging out “the decision process” than she would have by getting in the running when the others did. This has been sort of like the presidential campaign as reality show, and it works for her very well.
Also, too – I have to admit that the Republican “debates”, amusing/horrifying though they’ve been so far, would have been truly enriched by Our Sarah’s unique take on the English language and American history. Word salad aside, it would be hard to top Paul Revere warning the British, but it could be done.
“The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor as a matter of principle because they hated Roosevelt’s soshulist policies, and our boys in uniform had to pay for it!”
“Getting us into two wars and massively expanding government was an example of George Bush’s sheer genius because it forced us to cut spending!”
Oh, wait….
Certified Mutant Enemy
Romney-bot 2000 might need a running mate from the totally bat-shit crazy wing of the GOP…
Certified Mutant Enemy
@cathyx:
I’m convinced she’s looking for a VP position.
Because it worked so well the last time…
Comrade Javamanphil
@JGabriel: I would have gone with “Assumes facts not in evidence” but your rebuttal works as well.
Zandar
She can make six figures at this point just by doing nothing. It’s the American dream. The press will hound her for the next several months about the GOP Veepstakes and all she has to do is spout her usual world salad nonsense once in a while and chain e-mail her flunkies when her bank account gets under a mill.
Ash Can
Sully’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And I’m sure Snowbilly will find ways to keep the grift going, albeit on a smaller scale.
amk
@Steeplejack: Thanks. Typical brit humor.
RossInDetroit
@Certified Mutant Enemy:
But wouldn’t that be Bachmann now?
Kirbster
The announcement was an anticlimax. Palin ended what little was left of her political career in January of 2010 with the infamous “Blood Libel” speech in the wake of the Tucson massacre.
Gilles de Rais
As I said in a previous thread, she was paid to get out.
I’d like to know how much, and who paid.
The Other Bob
People here might have had different predictions on whether or not she would run, but everyone at BJ based their prediction on the same thing: will running (or not) benefit her financially?
I went back and forth on how she cold best keep the cash flowing.
As to Romney’s running mate: If the decison were today, I bet he would pick Herman Cain. R’s still think that putting a black guy up will automatically gain them black votes, as if African American’s only base their votes on skin color.
Plus Cain will well-represent the bat-shit crazy wing of the party.
danimal
@JGabriel: I pretty much agree. I still think there is a chance she will take a late plunge (Jan/Feb 12) just to keep up the interest and make a big splash, but she was never ‘in it to win it’ this year. I just thought her business plan required an attempt at running.
Somebody will jump in and run third party as the anti-Romney if Mitt gets the nomination. There are enough Republicans who would rather gripe and stifle Obama (added bonus: profits!) than follow Mitt.
Shlemizel
GEE! SULLY WAS WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING?!?!?! Hard to believe . . . maybe, long after it matters he will write a mea culpa that won’t matter either.
RossInDetroit
Tomasky’s interesting today. He thinks that with the heart throb candidates (Chris, Sarah) out of the race the GOP will settle for Mitt because he looks inevitable. Barring a Perry comeback. Worth a read.
Dan
She can make the most money by selling her endorsement to the highest bidder.
Butch
Oh, just to be free of that whining screech of a voice for a while….
piratedan
well lets see how the media narrative is doing today…..
msn.com reports that 28 protestors were arrested during “wall street” protests and then links to the msnbc.com story that actually goes on to talk about how the unions are joining in on the protests and then showing that they are linked to the college campus events.
yahoo.com doesn’t even list the protest on its top 10 news items but reports that 99% is its top trending twitter thingy…
Grumpy Code Monkey
@dmsilev:
Never bet against the stupid.
Schmidt claimed on 60 Minutes that Palin brought votes to the McCain campaign. Not enough to make a difference of course, but he claimed that the margin of defeat would have been larger without her (that is, if they had picked one of the also-rans from the primary instead: Mittens, Grampa Fred, RUDY!, etc.). Given that Republican voters seem to be basing their picks on entertainment value this time around, if the situation got truly desperate I could see the Romney campaign saying, “well, what the fuck, why not.”
Corner Stone
This was so predictable I can’t believe it even has to be mentioned.
beltane
@Kirbster: Yep, that was the beginning of her downward trajectory. Despite the superficial media hype, she became nothing more than toxic waste from that moment on. It was a FB posting too far.
Sarah Palin and Hank Williams, Jr. should do the county fair circuit together. They can appear between the tractor pull and the pig races.
Corner Stone
“Good evening, San Diego. I’m Veronica Corningstone. Tits McGee is on vacation.”
Villago Delenda Est
@JGabriel:
I think what Zandar means is Sarah’s not stupid about opportunity costs, as in will she make more money by extending the con vs. actually delivering to her fanbase. She knows she can tease, almost indefinitely, and still have a nice income from it.
Also, she’s seen what her mentor in the “running for President” con Newt Gingrich has done this year, and she doesn’t like the results. Newt has sabotaged his income stream by not teasing his fan base, but by running and, predictably, alienating it, as he (and his Stepford wife) are not willing to do the work needed to be a serious candidate.
She’s a savant in this case, much as Al D’Amato was. Otherwise, yes, bone stupid. But very shrewd about how to make the most bucks out of her situation.
Corner Stone
@Gilles de Rais:
I’d like to hear more of your rationale for this conclusion.
beltane
@Grumpy Code Monkey: That may be, but they’ll still have to pick a freak with a new face, not a has-been, rancid old freak. Fortunately for the Republicans, they have a deep bench of freaks to choose from.
Eliot Rosewater
It wouldn’t necessarily be about winning. She could even win a few states.
As a somewhat successful third party candidate the talk circuit and book circuit would be most lucrative.
Mark B.
Perry’s not done yet. He has a ton of money, and if he focuses more on spouting meaningless talking points instead of trying to think on his feet, he’ll probably do better in the remaining debates. He probably needs an earpiece like they gave to Dubya.
Redshift
@Grumpy Code Monkey:
Just like the McCain campaign! But even so, I think a shiny new thing would be more entertaining than a rerun, even if the rerun has diehard fans hoping for a revival.
Linda Featheringill
@Gilles de Rais: #31
I had not thought of that but you could be right. It makes perfectly good sense and might be considered a good investment to someone who is engaged in king-making.
Redshift
@JGabriel: I thought the same thing — I thought she would get in for a while, then quit with some BS victim reasoning, just to keep the grift from fading.
cleek
@piratedan:
MSNBC’s only mention is actually pretty good – a story about an older white-collar type who can’t find a job.
Redshift
@Grumpy Code Monkey:
Except, of course, that those weren’t their only choices. They had every Republican in the country to choose from rather than the ones egotistical enough to think they could be president; they could have picked someone competent as well as interesting.
In any case, it sounds like more of the kind of reasoning that brought us the financial crisis — “If you consider only the votes we gained by picking Palin, and ignore the losses…”
Biff Longbotham
Wow, Zandar. Not too modest, are we? Please reprint that post where you say you’re the first to note that gum sticks to bedknobs.
ppcli
Naw, no presidential try, no VP try. Now that she’s got the money she needs for backing, she’s for the big score: she and Henry Gondorf are going to take Doyle Lonnegan for everything he’s got.
Svensker
@Alex S.:
I don’t think they were fooled at all. I think Sarah didn’t understand that her star had fallen so far. She knew there were some strong head winds against her but thought when she showed up on her bus tour, adoring crowds would descend from the heavens and carry her forward to victory and the nomination. The first attempt fizzled. She tried it again and that fizzled. She threw out another book and a movie, hoping that would spark things, and those fizzled. I think her last hope was that folks would get so freaked out during this round of looks at the candidates that there would be a clamor for her to swoop in and save the GOP. There weren’t no clamor, and Sarah finally had to admit that her magic pixie sparkle dust wasn’t working any more.
So now she will try to convince people to work with a servant’s heart to elect ignorant-ass candidates. I can’t imagine she’s very nice to the help, though, so I don’t think the servant thing will work either.
Certified Mutant Enemy
@Redshift:
McCain wanted Pawlenty or Lieberman, but he needed placate the totally insane wing of the GOP.
Reality Check
She can be far more powerful as a leader on the sidelines. The media gang rape of Palin made it impossible for her to run.
In any event, I’m changing my endorsement from Perry to Romney. Perry has imploded, so it’s Romney, a common sense businessman with extensive private sector experience and intelligence to match. Watch out.
jwb
Palin was being kept in reserve in case she was needed to be deployed to take out Perry. With Perry’s recent implosion, the bosses released her to get back to her usual grifting. She’s not getting in as an independent—unless the powers cut off her money spigot—because she’s in it for the wingnut welfare.
Yutsano
@Reality Check: You’re a parody now.
jwb
@Reality Check: This is the funniest thing I’ve seen you write here. That change of endorsement is priceless.
Reality Check
@Yutsano:
I’m not the one supporting the guy with the 37% approval rating.
Villago Delenda Est
@Reality Check:
For what? Falling body parts as Obama casually chews him up and spits him out after the first debate?
karen marie
@Dan: Yes, but who with an actual chance to win would be willing to buy it? Seems to me a Palin endorsement in the general would be the kiss of death, in part because it would mean she would be out campaigning for them.
Reality Check
@Villago Delenda Est:
TOTUS isn’t “chewing out” anybody. Last time he got lucky and ran against a guy who was dying from old age. Not this time.
Svensker
@Reality Check:
You mean those gotcha questions like “What newspapers and magazines do you read?” ? Yeah, totally brutal.
Reality Check
I’m also looking forward to the Biden-Cain debate. Very much.
Villago Delenda Est
@Reality Check:
What color is the sky in your world?
Yutsano
@Reality Check: Oh please, do bring on Willard of the “What do I have to say to YOU to get your vote?” fame. The man flip-flops more than an orca at Sea World.
(Note to FF: orca is a word.)
Svensker
@Reality Check:
Uh huh. Maybe they can talk about Cain’s understanding of the Right of Return. That should have folks rolling in the aisles. And Cain can explain why “Niggerhead” really isn’t racist AT ALL and only racists would think so. He’ll have to bring Rush along to make sure he gets it right, tho. Or maybe he can wear a Rush earphone so he doesn’t wander off the reservation.
karen marie
@Redshift: Nicolle Wallace’s remark that “there were discussions about whether, if they were to win, it would be appropriate for her to be sworn in” makes me doubtful in the extreme that anyone would remotely consider her for VP again. I seriously doubt that Mittens will want even her endorsement. Perry and Cain are perhaps desperate enough but, if their advisers have any smarts, they’ll keep their distance and any endorsement on the low-down.
@Linda Featheringill: I doubt she was directly paid. Threatened with ending her grift, perhaps.
Reality Check
@Yutsano:
In the private sector when the facts change you have to change your mind or go out of business. Romney understands that. Maybe you would too, but you’re probably a government employee sucking the public teet.
Villago Delenda Est
@Svensker:
Over the weekend, Cain had some good things to say about that particular issue.
He was taken to school and slapped around by the Fat Nazi Fuck on Monday, though, told to get back into fucking line.
On edit: Oh, I see you updated your post to include that most telling point.
Cain immediately said, “yes, massah Rush!” and got back into the fucking line.
Villago Delenda Est
@Reality Check:
You’d never give credit for someone in government changing their position because they became aware of new information that made that position less than optimal.
I used to do that all the time when I was a government employees sucking at the public teat.
In the US Army.
Reality Check
@Villago Delenda Est:
National defense is one of the core commitments of the federal government under the Constitution. You’ll hear no complaints from me on paying soldiers.
OTOH, “diversity officers” in the Department of Heatlh and Human Services getting $100k golden pensions from the taxpayer? Not so much.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Redshift:
No argument from me on that score. If I had been in Cooper’s place, the questions I would have asked would be things like:
1. How did you let yourself get into the situation of having to scramble for a VP pick two weeks before the convention? What were you doing between March and August? Power-napping?
2. Why were you reduced to using Google to find a running mate? Was there no one in the party (other than Kristol) you could call to give you a name? Was the party machine that useless or hostile to McCain?
I would hope that whoever runs the eventual nominee’s campaign is smarter than Schmidt (well, no, I don’t, but you know what I mean), but I can see them being tempted. You know and I know and most everyone else knows that Sarah Sparkle is bad and old news, but she is a name, and sometimes that counts for more than anything else. And if she’s standing next to someone who doesn’t look like he’s going to keel over or explode in a fine pink mist in the next five minutes, she may suddenly become more palatable to a lot of voters.
No, I don’t expect that to happen; God doesn’t love me that much (which is fair, since I’m an atheist and all). I realize that this is mostly fantasy on my part. But I’m not prepared to write it off completely.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Certified Mutant Enemy: Bacchaman is better for the VP than Palin. She doesn’t antagonize her fellow conservatives like Palin does. As it’s been pointed out Bacchman has drunk Palin’s milkshake.
Reality Check
Bacchman would be a good VP for Romney, but I’d still have to go with Cain. Nothing drives liberals up the walls like an authentically black conservative.
Cat Lady
@Reality Check:
The morons in your own fail parade of a party hate Romney – they don’t think there’s any difference between him and Obama, and he wears magic undies if you know what I mean. People don’t vote for Vice Presidents either, unless it’s Palin, and she’s not coming through that door.
ETA: If you think Romney is going to pick Bachmann so she can go around spouting stupid shit that he’s gotta walk back every other day, I want what you’re smoking, cuz it’s some good shit.
Reality Check
@Cat Lady:
Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line.
The Evangelicals might have some issues but let’s be frank–they’re yesterday’s news. They’re really very early 2000s. They need to shut up and get in line, they had the their turn and now the issues are economic and fiscal conservatvies/libertarians are in the driver’s seat. The increased Mormon vote out west in Colorado and Nevada will make up for any losses from the Evangelicals in the South anyway. Besides, does anyone seriously think Obama is going to win any southern state this time (Florida doesn’t count)? Not even the
People’s Republic of Virginia will vote for him.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Reality Check:
LOL Dude, continuously disavowing what you just said and trying to avoid have any position on anything is called CYA in the buisness world. Go see the pointy haired boss in Dilbert who runs from the room when a decision is being made. What, do you think Scott Adams makes that up?
Svensker
@Cat Lady:
They didn’t like McCain either, but they sucked it up and voted for him. Sarah helped with that, of course.
They’ll suck it up and vote for ol’ Mitt, too. Reality Check (the irony! DougJ is that another one of yours?) is leading the way already. They hate Obama way more than they dislike Mitt.
Cat Lady
@Svensker:
I would argue that they were voting for Palin, not McCain. Starbursts are powerful things, and Cain is no Palin.
Triassic Sands
Fixed. The only speculation there has been about Palin running has been among the MSM scribblers who have nothing better to write about. Recently, Palin called for an infusion of cash from her supporters “in case” she decided to run. It was one of the more deplorable (and transparent) acts of recent history. Prior to her announcement that she would not run she apparently hadn’t done anything that she would have needed to do if she were even considering a run. The woman is a pathological opportunist whose greed far exceeds her desire to work. Big surprise for a Republican.
Nevgu
Yawwwwn, more ridiculous Failin fluffing from one of the Coles latest typing monkeys.
The fact she announced what anyone with half a brain knew for over a year now simply is not enough for you wankers. No, now let’s start speculating if she will run as an independent.
Get a friggin life monkey.
Chyron HR
@Reality Check:
I like how not even a troll thinks it’s possible for Cain to actually win the GOP nomination.
But hey, at least Massa Romney will let Herman have his table scraps, so how dare you libs call Republicans racist?
SRW1
@Reality Check:
Thanks, buddy, you providing some entertainment value today.
karen marie
@Reality Check: You mean as opposed to someone wearing whiteface? Or are you saying he’s authentic because he’s a true-believing “conservative”?
It never fails to amaze me how people like yourself are more interested in nominating someone for their annoyance factor rather than their ability to competently fulfill the duties of office. Sad, really.
Blue Galangal
Um. Yeah, she is stupid. The only reason she’s not running is because she’s even lazier than she is stupid.
Triassic Sands
@Reality Check:
Oh, I don’t know, stupid Winger trolls are pretty good at it too.
As far as Cain for VP, it would be a perfect choice for Mitt, what with his background with the Civil Rights leading Church of LDS. Cain would show that Mitt’s no bigot, even if most Republicans are.
Either that, or if you’re the 1% and you’re too big to fail, you just get the taxpayers to save your sorry asses.
Thanks, Delusional Check, that’s a great description of why the GOP has been running this country straight into the ground for decades.
Great Republican Mind-Changers (and famous GOP businessmen):
George W. Bush, the Mind-Changer — deafening laughter.
Mitt Romney — the Mind-Changer-Every-Damn-Minute — Jeez, Mitt, make up your mind, will you?
Ronald Reagan — surprisingly able to change his mind, but my gosh, SAG president? That’s a UNION!!!, RC, OMG, what was Reagan a Commie? Then, long-time sucker at the public teat; eight years as California governor, and then another eight as a president with a stellar fiscal record. Of course, after his presidency he enjoyed retirement with his cushy government pension (something he didn’t need at all).
Apparently, RC, you aren’t familiar with the private sector records of these two stellar Republican businessmen.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Reality Check:
There’s a telling line.
Modern Republicans go on and on about freedom and liberty, when what they crave most of all is order. Conform, get in line, vote for whom we tell you to, and everything will be just fine.
Geoduck
I’ll admit, I more than half-expected her to run as an independent. It would have let her keep the scam running without having to worry for a moment about actually being elected.
Tonal Crow
I misjudged this one. I expected her to ride a wave of teatard demand into the frontrunner position. Will the teatards really support Romney?
ornery
Wow, new poster Zandar, I didn’t know Sully said something. Thank you very much for the important information.
My friend’s pet chihuahua’s burps sound like big bubblewrap being popped. Thought you’d like to know.
JoJo
I don’t see the evangelicals voting for Romney in the primaries no matter how hard the GOP establishment pushes him.
mclaren
Assuming Palin isn’t lying and she actually doesn’t run, I certainly got this one 100% wrong.
JoJo is right, though — the evangelical fundamentalist Christians who make up the base of the Republican party are simply never going to vote for a Mormon. Ever. This makes the Republican primaries very tough to call at this point.
The Thin Black Duke
I think you’re wrong, mclaren.
Fundamentalist crazies are pragmatic, after all.
Voting for Mr. Magic Underpants might be a sin, but letting a n*gger go to the White House for a second term would be an abomination.