Gingrich/Palin In 2012 or Palin/Gingrich? You Decide

Share |

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday he's seriously considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination and will announce his decision early next year.

With his and Sarah Palins name always making leading the watercooler discussion, the question is:

Will it be Gingrich / Palin in 2012, or will it be Palin/Gingrich?

The question is rhetorical of course. There is not a building large enough to accomodate both egos at the same time regardless of the line up. Here's the big elephant sitting in the middle of the room for the GOP.


Someone left the gate open and now the Teabaggers have crashed the party. Their RNC chairman Micheal Steele has out gaffed Vice President Biden and for some reason, party leaders believe "doing nothing' about Steele is the best strategy for a party that has been anointed in the minds of Americans as the "Party of no", or "HELL NO!" according to the House Minority Leader.

We shall see in November.

"I've never been this serious," Gingrich said.

Gingrich's comments Monday that he's never been this serious about seeking the White House sparked plenty of commentary on the Web, with several, including some on the right, expressing doubts about his chances. The Question is: Is there room for Sarah Palin this time around and if there is, will she be at the top or bottom of the ticket.

Here is what the pundits had to say about 2012:

Anybody but ... candidate

"Who, exactly, would Newt's constituency be in the primary? He'd be an 'anyone but' candidate, wouldn't he? He's got a Ph.D. and years of Beltway experience, which should appeal to the 'Anyone but Palin' crowd that worries about her qualifications. He's been outspoken about his faith in God, which makes him a reasonable 'Anyone but Romney' choice for base voters who are oncerned-cay about ormonism-May. He's nationally famous and fully capable of dishing out thick cuts of red meat in his stump speeches, which leaves him as a viable 'Anyone but Pawlenty' alternative worried about T-Paw's lack of star power against Obama."  Allahpundit on Hot Air

Excluded middle

"Could he win? At this point, probably not. Folks like Gingrich and Sarah Palin are pitched as being the future of the fragmented Republican Party, uniting voices who can bring folks together with a common, general message. But the truth is that both sit too far to the right. Elections are won by in the middle, not the extremes. Victorious candidates like Obama or George W. Bush win because they figure out how to tap undecideds at the center of the spectrum. Winning votes of their base is a given." -- Daniel Stone, Newsweek

Experience matters

"It's also important to note that Gingrich isn't a Johnny-come-lately. Gingrich has been a regular visitor for at least the past five or six years. His commitment to helping Iowans over a long period of time could become an extremely valuable asset if he ultimately decides to run for president." -- Craig Robinson, The Iowa Republican


2012, Year of the Newt

"2012 is an excellent year for Newt to pick. The Republican presidential candidate cupboard is as awful as it has been in a long time. The list of likely Republican contenders for the party's nomination right now includes Perry, Romney, Pawlenty, Jindal, Palin, Huckabee, Barbour, Thune and a few others. All of those contenders have real issues to overcome if they are to secure the nomination, however ... Gingrich has the experience, backing, organization and wherewithal to win the Republican nomination, but he has perhaps the strongest negatives of any other Republican in the field (other than Palin). This should be interesting." -- Publius on the Fourth Branch.


 
Now he's ready?

"Now that Newt Gingrich has his ducks in a row, having declared his faith in God, married the love of his life, gotten over his habit of writing bad checks, being reprimanded by the House of Representatives for ethics violations and fleeing from the halls of Congress for the hallowed halls of Fox News, he's ready. ... My suggestion? Gingrich/Palin. It's a sure-fire winner." Barbara Morrill, Daily Kos.


Never a doubt about Palin

"I've always thought Palin would run -- though it flies in the face of the MSM group think inside the Beltway." -- Jay Newton-Small, Time


De facto front-runner

"By December, she will almost certainly be the de facto front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination. By the time the Establishment GOP wakes up to this reality, it may be too late for them to do anything about it." -- John Ellis at Real Clear Politics



Competence, anyone?

"Given that independents' central issue with Obama will be his failure to fix the economy, it is significant that other Republican presidential aspirants are preparing to run on competence -- and Palin is not." -- Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic



Grass-roots hero

"Big bucks from small donors will be more important to Palin than it was to Obama since she'll be cold-shouldered by plenty of establishment Republicans in the primary and she knows it. ... The idea of Palin as grass-roots hero also plays perfectly into the media's narrative of her as some sort of populist Bircher siren, so if she comes up with a gigantic small-donor number in the next quarter, they'll be only too happy to broadcast it for her." -- Allahpundit on Hot Air