What is Sarah Palin?

Certainly there has been much speculation about whether Palin is a celebrity or a politician, Trig’s mother or Grandmother, and whether she has a servant’s heart or a serpent’s lower intestine. The answer to these questions may relate to your willingness to believe everything you hear, or your quest for the truth. The question all of us can agree on is “To which political party does Sarah Palin belong?” She has been a registered Republican since 1982. She ran as a Republican in the Mayor’s race and the Governor’s race. She ran with John McCain on the Republican Party ticket in 2008. A common perception is that Palin is a Republican.

As early as February of 2010, Palin was chosen as a leader of the Tea Party movement, and gave the keynote speech at the Tea Party National Convention. One-and-a-half years later she is giving the keynote speech at the Tea Party rally in Waukee Iowa, this Saturday, Sept 3rd. Many speculate that she will use this appearance, and the media attention associated with this event, to make her announcement regarding the 2012 race. So what does it mean if Sarah Palin “announces” her bid for the Presidency? Does this mean she is going to participate in the Republican primary? The answer seems to be “unequivocally maybe.” It appears that she may announce that she is going to run, but she may not declare which party she intends to represent. Is the Tea Party a separate political party, or simply part of the Republican Party?  That is a $100 dollar question.  Logically, Palin  won’t win the Republican nomination. All of the polls show her trailing far behind other Republican candidates. Karl Rove, George Bush and even Barbara Bush have openly demonstrated their disdain for the Empress.  John McCain has been asked repeatedly if he would endorse her, and he has declined. Palin has not participated in the Republican debate, or the Iowa Straw Poll.

However it may not matter to Sarah Palin that she wouldn’t be able to secure the Republican nomination.  Looking back over the last two years, all signs would point to a lack of devotion to the best interests in the GOP. Palin endorsed Sharon Angle of Nevada during the primary race for the GOP senate seat. Sue Lowden was Angle’s opponent in the Republican Primary. Sue had been the Chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party, and was a Republican state Senator in Nevada.

By endorsing Sharon Angle, the Tea Party candidate, instead of Sue Lowden, Palin prevented Sue Lowden from winning the primary, and paved the way for the victory of Harry Reid in the general election.

Again in Alaska, Palin endorsed Joe Miller instead of the Republican incumbent, Lisa Murkowski. Obviously Palin was not committed to helping the Republican Party, or she would not have endorsed any candidate other than the Republican favorite Lisa Murkowski.

Palin has been quoted many times saying that “contested primaries are good for America’s political process.”  Palin threatened Tea Party candidates when she said “P.S. Everyone I talk to still believes in contested primaries.”

This threat was in direct opposition to the House Republican leader’s efforts to reach a compromise and prevent the disaster that would inevitably follow the failure of Congress to raise the debt ceiling. Laura Ingraham, a conservative, commented:

“But in the end, does it actually advance your cause? And does it advance the cause of fiscal restraint, which I think we all have?”

For the last six months we have wondered if Palin would run for President. Perhaps we should have been asking what is her political party, and whether she would run as the GOP nominee, or the Tea Party candidate? Because she could run as a Tea Party candidate, separate and apart from the Republican candidate, Palin may be a threat even if she fails to win the Republican nomination. History shows that Palin is not adverse to splitting the party as she did in the senate races in Alaska and Nevada. We would be the fools to expect anything different in the 2012 Presidential race.

In support of this theory that Palin will ultimately run as the Tea Party candidate, conservatives4palin has predicted this outcome saying:

“Many prominent political analysts and Republican operatives have expressed skepticism that Palin is seriously considering a presidential bid, since she has not taken many of the steps that candidates traditionally take before jumping into the race, such as signing early-state consultants, contacting key powerbrokers and boosting their travel schedules.

But Palin has a long history of shunning the Republican Party machinery and taking an unconventional approach to campaigns — a mind-set that appears to have been in play throughout the past several months.”

Perhaps it is the GOP that should be most concerned about Palin’s intentions to run in 2012.  Either they don’t know her as well as we do, or they are afraid to admit it.