Twitter's space restrictions make it difficult to express detailed thoughts . . .

It's a perfect fit then.

She might be "ready" by 2020, but by then she won't be hot anymore, so she'll have lost the Rich Lowerys of the world.

The mind reels trying to understand why anyone would follow Palin's Twitter entries. But on a positive note, it's encouraging to realize her sheep can read.

Even a super-abundance of charisma cannot make up for her shortcomings in experience and knowledge.

if this recession goes deep depression on us, charisma might possibly trump just about everything else.

good old unbelievably hackish, arrogant and stoopid fred! okay ! you go, fred!

dont forget, this guy can turn on a dime at any moment, and palin will be the mother of jeebus

However, the question looms - Has she lost Al?

How anyone can think that Palin should run for either the House or the Senate is beyond me. She'd have to convince Alaska voters that they should elect her to another office even though she already quit on them once. Her opponent would have a field day replaying quotes from her resignation speech in a political commercial, especially the part about her wanting to effect change from the outside.

Chuck Todd, reporting from Moscow (where he says he can see Alaska) gives us the ultimate oxymoron of the day, when he uses 'Sarah Palin' and 'conservative thinker' in the same sentence. . .

SHE QUIT! She didn't leave office at the end of her term, she didn't lose an election or choose not to run. SHE QUIT. Politically, she's roadkill. Oh she may still have the support of the strangest elements of the Republican's base, but will any of the big money who fuel campaigns bankroll a candidate who might abruptly quit if elected?

Her options as a political entertainer are wide open, but as a real politician? She's dead.

Charisma? She's a smirking, vacuous, narcissistic sorority girl, the female George Bush. What is it about Republicans that make them mistake that combination for charisma? Is it that, no matter how old they get, they still long to hang out with the popular kids from high school?

Given Fred Barnes predictive track record, she's a lock for the GOP 2012 nomination.

This man thinks "Palin ... is the most exciting Republican figure to emerge in decades". Need I say more?

Fred Barnes is a lukewarm Republican. If he and the rest of us thought Sarah was ready to be a heartbeat away from POTUS nine months ago, think how much more ready she is now. I subscribe to the let Sarah be Sarah philosophy. Her natural political instincts are worth far more than all your liberal analysis.

"By stepping down, she's cut her experience short: it now consists of a meager two and a half years as governor of a thinly populated state."

So now that she has stepped down in July 2009 Sarah Palin's two and a half years of state office represent meager experience, but in the fall of 2008 her less than two years were sufficient for being a heart-beat away from the presidency.

Right on Fred B., right on. Reality is a bitch.

Unless Palin can successfully undergo metamorphosis, this is the end of the road for her.

She certainly can't write -- the proof being she wrote her last speech and it proved to be a direct reflection of her thought process: rambling, disjointed, and without substance.

She doesn't take advice or direction, so she likely would not stand to have a ghostwriter or a truly professional editor for her upcoming book. It would be in her best interest to get serious help with the bok, but I doubt she will.

For basically the same reason, she can't host a show week in and week out. The show would be all about her. How many guests would want to sit and back in her glory instead of talking about their own book, or legislation, or run for elective office? And once she opens her pie-hole, she doesn't stop so they would effectively just sit there.

She could be a regular or guest pundit on some of the weekend shows, but she could have been doing that already, and she hasn't. Maybe the distance of Alaska is the reason, but she has flown to the lower 48 for other invitations, so not offering her 'wisdom' to the teevee viewing public must have some other motivation.

Now, she also could go on the speakers' circuit. That might not be so lucrative. The hordes that turned out for her were not the monied, well-heeled crowd. McCain/Palin events were free, and she was given her designer wardrobe. How many of her devoted fans are able to pay the price of admission for some of the big-ticket speaking events? How long would it be before her events started to be recorded in red ink?

Palin has a very small market now that she has thrown away the only thing that gave her legitimacy in the eyes of the party at large.

Aw, c'mon SRW1, all she would have had to do was "Run" the Senate. Now, what "experience" is needed for that?

That's it, Benen. Keep kicking someone when they're down.

Sarah believes she can make more of a contribution as a private citizen rather than a governess. What is so difficult to understand about that?

Now that she is out of government the liberal MSM and the blogging chattering classes should leave her alone.

It should be of little suprise that Fred Barnes thinks a table has 3 legs. While he pines about her lack of experience and expertise, he completely neglects the trait that completely obliterates Palin as a national political prospect - responsibility.

The biggest sin in Palin's announcement is her neglecting all of her sworn responsibilities. It's inconceivable that Fred Barnes, or any other hack pundit, would miss this. However, it doesn't play well with Barnes' fantasy about Palin returnining to national office down the line, so maybe it's not so inconceivable at all.

berttheclock, you may not have followed recent constitutional developments. The OVP now is the fourth branch of the federal government and the VP does not only run the Senate, but the whole executive as well. And without being accountable to the Congress.

Barnes: By stepping down, she's cut her experience short: it now consists of a meager two and a half years as governor of a thinly populated state.

Not only has she cut her experience short (and derided the concept of being responsible by keeping one's commitments) but in stepping down she's gone miles out of her way to avoid the opportunity to build up more experience and demonstrate her capabilities, assuming she has any.

There may be a plurality of GOP primary voters who are OK with this, although I'd bet against it. But there's certainly no plurality of 2012 general election voters who would feel that way.

In the unlikely event that the GOP's become nutty enough by 2012 to hand her the nomination, the general election will be a Dem landslide, regardless of the state of the economy.

She doesn't take advice or direction, so she likely would not stand to have a ghostwriter or a truly professional editor for her upcoming book. It would be in her best interest to get serious help with the bok, but I doubt she will.

Palin's attention span wouldn't allow her to finish a 2,000-word essay, much less a book. She does have a ghost -- Christian writing dynamo Lynn Vincent. However, I agree with you that the governess (I love this so much; don't ever change, Al Parody) will overrule this person's best professional advice in the most comical ways possible.

I foresee lengthy passages viciously advancing the hundreds of personal vendettas she's been fighting since high school, more comparisons between Palin and the Virgin Mary (though she's also not going to be able to resist portraying her treatment by the media as a crucifixion), self-congratulatory parenting tips and other highly amusing fare that she'll have been strongly advised against including.

The majority of Americans want Obama to take a cue from Palin and step down now.

I disagree with Barnes. Palin never had any chance at winning a general election so the Presidency wasn't within her grasp no matter what she did. But I think this increases her chances of winning the Republican nomination. Those chances were very low before, and their base rallies around their own. Sure, it seems like she is toast right now, but wait 18 months before gauging whether this worked or not. She will be giving tons of speeches in that time and perhaps turn around the party faithful once they get a chance to see her in person.

True, she did something no one has ever even contemplated before and apparently committed political suicide, but her whole appeal is based on being a political outsider so she didn't really have a chance doing anything else. Face it, she had no interest in actually governing so the next 18 months would have been a total disaster for Alaska if she hadn't resigned. At least this way she is giving people a chance to get over her huge weaknesses. Maybe it works and most likely it doesn't, but I really don't think rolling the dice will hurt her long-term compared to the alternatives.

Myke K: "The majority of Americans want Obama to take a cue from Palin and step down now."

All the voices in your head don't get to vote. Actual polls still show Obama with popularity in the low 60s, and I seriously doubt any of those people want him to step down now. Nor do I think most of those who disapprove of Obama really want him to step down and let Biden become President.

Shalimar @ 9:57
"Face it, she had no interest in actually governing so the next 18 months would have been a total disaster for Alaska if she hadn't resigned."

Raises a question: Would Sarah Palin want to govern as the POTUS, or is it for her all about the glizz and the glory of the office?

The majority of Americans want Obama to take a cue from Palin and step down now.

Myke(?)K, your misread of polling data may only be equaled by a possible misread of your birth certificate.

I'm still just shaking my head that the Post's Rucker could see her resignation speech and her follow post and tweet, all complaining about how badly she was treated, and then write "Not one to fit comfortably into convention -- and not comfortable being a victim, either..."

That's it, Benen. Keep kicking someone when they're down.

Well, yes. That's exactly the point. Make an example of Palin. Kick her into total submission until the public realizes stupid people should not hold political office.

[Fixed it for you. --Mod]

Al, you are ever so cute when you show your archaeic side.

Fred's real problem is his clear belief that "drawing crowds" makes Palin a great candidate. Car wrecks and airplane crashes draw crowds too Fred. Half the people who come to hear Sarah speak are the same folks who come to watch someone dive off a high tower. They want to observe the phenomenon.

The other half are, unfortunately for you Fred, a tiny portion of the American electorate, filled with anger, frustration, biases and greed. Hardly the foundations for a national party movement.

Fred....I think you need to move to Alaska, get yourself a cabin about 35 miles in at Mile Marker 384 on the highway to Fairbanks and settle in for the winter. Hopefully your internet connection will fail and we can be spared your blathering.

I'm sure St Sarah will have no problem drawing crowds, as long as Ted Nugent and Charlie Daniels agree to volunteer their services, have a few NASCAR drivers pass around as greeters and have free Glock's for door prizes.

I love how in that tweet she blithely conflates resigning with not seeking a second term. She did that in her speech as well. She's clearly aware that resigning looks bad and she's working hard to spin it. A day or two before that speech she was thunderstruck by something on the horizon, panicked, and got OUTTA there. What is it and when we'll see it too is anybody's guess.

Palin's message is, again, incoherent.

Palin's "message" is ALWAYS incoherent! That's what she is, an incoherent, incompetent idiot.

The majority of Americans think you're a blithering idiot lacking frontal lobes and opposable thumbs, "Myke K" - but then the fact you're from Orange County explains everything, the land that proves white male Republicans are lower on the evolutionary scale than amoebas.

You're so smart, TC. No one can put one over on you.

Did Fred Barnes use his summer vacation to visit the reality-based world? That was weird!

Also, note how well his criticism of charisma-only presidency fits W. Which suggests that it's actually a fine strategy for the race for the Republican nomination, but not so good for actually holding an elected office. Or maybe there's even a limit to how far that can be played with the Republican side... one can only hope.

Two words - Bill Kristol

The only man more wrong about everything than Fred Barnes.

Darsan:
It is a tossup who is wrong more often. Barnes mutters; Kristol sickers. Both are consistenly wrong or way off. Clearly the conservatives need better spokespeople.

Gee. Palin's self imposed political purge over the weekend took me by complete surprise, I have to say. How many ways can republicans spell T O A S T? Simply astounding, in real time.

Sarah believes she can make more of a contribution as a private citizen rather than a governess.

That's a great image, Al, Sarah Palin as Mary Poppins. Pure gold. Keep 'em comin'.

Palin tweets "info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again...."

there she goes again, always spinning and lying.

She didn't choose to 'not run again",

she resigned with a year left in office.

She is a failed Gov who couldnt even muster the courage to fight and stay a full term. but how she govern and do her book tours next year?

Watching someone, sans anesthesia, perform a boot strapectomy on themself is truly a horrific sight. Palin showed guts in doing it.

"Critics are spinning..." What does she expect think when she just gives up her job with no explanation as to why she's doing it? Perhaps the spin wouldn't have happened if she had been forthcoming in her reason to quit.

As to her constant whining about the Media, Twitter, Facebook posters & asst bloggers: does she really think it's going to get any easier as she embarks on whatever journey she's chosen for herself? If she thinks she can win those battles, she's even more naive than we thought.

Although Barnes is an incredibly hackish pundit, I think Bill Sammon might like to have a word with you about sheer bootlicking prowess.

Why is it never disclosed that the 'Weekly Standard', 'Fox Noise' are subsidiaries of Rupert Murdock GOP propaganda machine?

Fred Barnes is just another of many Murdock sockpuppets.

Bill Sammon, Fred Barnes, Bill Kristol, Karl Rove, etc, etc are all Rupert Murdock sockpuppets collecting Murdock's wingnut welfare.

Murdock is behind the 'Weekly Standard', 'Fox Noise' as well as the 'WSJ' pulling all the strings like a puppet master.

"There's stiff competition, but I'm comfortable describing Fred Barnes, of Weekly Standard and Fox News fame, as the nation's most hackish, reflexively partisan pundit. Pound for pound, word for word, it's hard to match Barnes' vacuity and inanity."

Indeed the only person who comes close is you Steve...

TC, @ 11:33,

MIke K is in Orange County, CA. MYke K is, I suspect, in Illinois. Watch for that tell-tale I-Y difference, before you take off like a rocket to nowhere.

Actually, where *is* the I version? Haven't seen him in a while. Must be dragging his granddaughters around the ruins of Europe again...

Ha! I read Barnes' piece--and almost did a search on Google images: can it be THAT 'Fred Barnes'?!

Based on what I've seen and heard about Twitter, it reminds me of an electronic equivalent to the pet rock. In any event, Twitter's empahasis on truncated expressions of truncated thoughts swirling around in truncated minds should serve as the ideal mirror, and possibly the final mental cesspool, for Palin's personality.

I still believe she's had enough of the responsibility of politics...she has been offered a multi-million dollar position with Fox which will accomplish 2 things for her...money and a lot more fun without the responsibility (she loves the camera with her beauty pageant mentality).

She's not all that bright and has had to do very little to get where she is as others have done all the work for her...she doesn't like the responsibility of governing or of the work involved with any job...just the "title"( "I wanna be queen..."). Others see their 'wanna be selves' in her but I see her as a national joke...completely lacking substance who was not even qualified to be Mayor of the tiny town Wasilla.

She is the result of cultivated ignorance. She is a fame and money grabber who has done nothing 'for' the people but has gotten so much 'from' them.

One female caller on the "Ed Show" claimed Sarah just got abused by the press, saying "Hell there were even rumors about her child not being her child and rumors about her intelligence and her family she just couldn't get a break so I adon't blame her for resigning. But you watch, she'll come around and give the dems a run for their money in 2012..."

Note how "facts" are labeled "rumors" and how easily this woman skipped over the controversies created by Palin herself that caused such discussions she labels rumor. It was far from a normal birth situation when it came to Trig...that is a fact not rumor. Her interviews with Couric and Twerp Gibson revealed her ignorance and lack of depth and substance...fact not rumor.

Seems when the press said something this woman didn't like about Sarah like quoting her with commentary...they were spreading rumors rather than stating facts. Even Barnes interjects what he wants to be there in Palin rather than seeing what is really there. She has no foreign policy experience or even credible knowledge. She didn't run the state of Alaska, she was told what to say and do by special interests. These are not rumors but facts her supporters choose to ignore. In "that" respect Charlie. Oh I just read everything...all of them Katie. Palin created her own fantasy world in a huge 'appearances only ego that once exposed to reality...collapsed. Barnes wants to continue the fantasy.

All you liberals that have attacked Sarah may be thrilled now, but don't count your chickens yet. Sarah Palin belongs to and was BORN IN THE USA. Fred Barnes is a hack? You guys live in a fantasy world.

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