As I’ve noted often here, the confidently stated conventional wisdom has a way of being swept quietly under the rug when it’s in tatters and proven wrong and some area already reacting to this story with disdain:
Sarah Palin says she is seriously considering a run for the White House, and she believes she could beat President Obama in 2012, the former Alaska governor told ABC News’ Barbara Walters.
“I’m looking at the lay of the land now, and … trying to figure that out, if it’s a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family, if it’s a good thing,” Palin said in an interview scheduled to air in full Dec. 9 on ABC as part of Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People” of 2010.
Asked Walters: “If you ran for president, could you beat Barack Obama?”
“I believe so,” Palin said.
There are any number of scenarios where — given the right (or wrong depending on your viewpoint) set of circumstances Palin could win the GOP nomination and the Presidency.
In a profile to be published in the upcoming New York Times Magazine, Palin told reporter Robert Draper “I am,” when asked if she was weighing a 2012 run. “I’m engaged in the internal deliberations candidly, and having that discussion with my family, because my family is the most important consideration here.”
Palin said her decision would involve “evaluating whether she could bring unique qualities to the table,” admitting the biggest challenge would be proving her record.
Taken together, these two interviews sound like a GO...all but officially declared.
Look for GOpers in the establishment and her potential rivals for the nomination to look for ways to take exception to her comments. It also would not be unexpected to start seeing some news stories quote unnamed sources offering unflattering comments or tidbits (if some emerge). But you can easily project a scenario where in early primaries votes are split between other candidates and Palins wildly enthusiastic supporters, particularly those in the Tea Party movement, give her a string of victori
The irony here: for years it was assumed by Democrats and many in the news media that the first woman to become President would be a liberal or modrate Democrat. Now it has shifted — and speculation centers on a conservative woman. Could Sarah Palin’s Alaska be followed by Sarah Palin’s White House?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.