WASHINGTON – On the sidelines sat Sarah Palin. I’m guessing with Trump’s rise, but also Michele Bachmann taking some energy out of Iowa, Palin’s been receiving a lot of fan mail and encouragement from Tea Party people to please consider running in 2012. It’s also her only real shot, as politics doesn’t wait for anyone. Her fans yelping… The Tea Party needs you, Sarah! Michele Bachmann can’t win and we can’t let Trump use our movement! Run, Sarah, run! This is the chant she’s been waiting for, the push she’ll need to move, because she can’t disappoint the people.
Yesterday in Wisconsin, Sarah Palin appeared very much like a candidate. “The 2012 election begins here.”
It looks like Donald Trump sucking all the energy in his direction is waking everyone up.
Karl Rove, which Joe posted on yesterday, Andrew Breitbart and even Sarah Palin are getting loud.
Watching the Right come unglued as their circus primaries unwind is the most fun I’ve had watching politics in a very long time. Seeing Sean Hannity’s face fall when Mr. Trump criticized Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget on Thursday was a priceless moment on Fox TV. Now that Donald Trump is “leading” in a meaningless poll of mostly unannounced candidates, the Tea Party peanut gallery is chiming in with something developing that could help nudge Sarah Palin into the 2012 presidential race sooner. If Trump would run as an Independent then, well, no matter who wins the Republican primary, we might actually have an interesting election.
First the establishment came for Sarah, now they’re after Donald Trump. Over a week ago I wrote he’s the the un-Obama. Rich Lowry picks up that thread, as the Republican Right begin they’re onslaught to take Trump down a notch, because the entire Republican field is making the GOP look like a collection of seriously wacky nitwits.
Trump wants to be the anti-Obama. Obama is too soft; Trump is tough. Obama knows nothing about business; Trump is God’s gift to American capitalism. Obama is painfully thoughtful in his affect; Trump is brash. They share much more important qualities in common, though. Like the Obama of 2008, Trump is an arrogant celebrity with a talent for branding who knows much less than he thinks and vastly overestimates his ability to fix the country’s problems. We’ve been here before. Give me humble. Give me boring. Give me wonky. Give me anything but another celebrity apprentice.
Yesterday Andrew Breitbart tweeted a couple of missives in support of Palin:
My goal is to intro David Mamet & other prominent @SarahPalinUSA supporters to Palins. In Hollywood there are tons.
I’m still waiting for the wrong position @SarahPalinUSA has taken. Or idea she misstated. They hate her because she is right.
Mr. Trump told Rush Limbaugh on Friday (audio) that he might be surprised about what he decides. The tone in Mr. Trump’s voice was mischievous enough to tease he’s closer to running than not. Again, I’m still not convinced, though his interviews this week sound far more aggressive than he has earlier, no doubt bolstered by the polls.
But the Tea Party freaking out over Donald Trump catching fire means something is shifting. The establishment elite had to eventually speak up, so that was a given.
Donald Trump’s best bet has always been as an Independent, with a trial Republican balloon the way to get there. However, therein lies the conundrum. There’s really no path to winning as an Independent, which means his pledge of only running if he can win is put to the test by the backlash going on right now by the Tea Party who are balking that Trump could take the Republican nomination, which is up for grabs.
Or maybe this whole Tea Party – birther thing will end with Mitt Romney winning the nomination, but I just don’t see how he makes it through the primaries. Does the Republican establishment still have that kind of power?
Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.