Palin Considers Senate Run
Sarah Palin at the governor’s picnic in Anchorage, 2009 ~photo by Jeanne Devon @ themudflats.net
They said it couldn’t happen. They said she was done.
But she does not like being done.
At the very least Sarah Palin is making headlines with idle threats. At most, she actually is doing what she says, and considering a run for the U.S. Senate.
“I’ve considered it because people have requested me [to] consider it,” Palin told conservative radio host Sean Hannity on his show.
Ever the reluctant leader. As a matter of fact, she told Sean Hannity once that George Washington was her favorite founding father for just that reason. He wasn’t seeking power and prestige, or a place in the klieg lights, but his loyal subjects demanded it. It’s just like what’s happening with Palin, only in that case it was actually true.
“I’m still waiting to see what the lineup will be. And hoping there will be some new blood, new energy. Not just kind of picking from the same old politicians in the state that come from political families.”
By “the state,” she means Alaska, to answer your last question. She’s not seen much around here these days, and has purchased and spent a great deal of time in a large stone dwelling in Scottsdale, Arizona. McCain fans will be pleased to know she’s not a threat at this time.
So far, the only two in the Alaska race against incumbent Senator Mark Begich are current Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell, and a candidate who ran with Palin’s praise and blessing last time, Tea Party Republican Joe Miller. Miller won the nomination of the Republican Party outright, but lost in a three-way race for the seat to incumbent Republican/write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski.
But, if Palin is considering a run against Miller, and considers him after one failed senate attempt one of those “same old politicians,” then it may have something to do with a story we uncovered back in 2010. An internal email obtained by The Mudflats revealed that in exchange for Palin’s endorsement of Miller, a reciprocal nod was expected, and fireworks ensued when it didn’t come. Miller, in a clear effort to distance himself from Palin, (whose approval rating in the state of Alaska was lower than Barack Obama’s at the time) refused to state directly that he thought Sarah Palin was qualified to be President, when asked in an interview.
In return, Todd Palin blasted him with an angry email in which he said, “Joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works, is it to be completely one-sided?” Todd Palin then told Miller that a fundraising post on Facebook that Sarah had been working on would not be sent, in retribution for his less than enthusiastic support.
Regardless of whether the chill in Palin/Miller relations had anything to do with his loss, lose he did. and now, Begich’s seat is the one up for grabs.
Begich, the former two-term Anchorage mayor was elected in 2008, defeating incumbent Republican Ted Stevens who, at the time, stood convicted of seven bribery and illegal gift related felonies. Prosecutorial misconduct got charges dropped, and Stevens was killed in a plane crash two years later.
Begich has been sticking with a mostly left-leaning social agenda, but has been tacking far right on oil development, gun rights, offshore drilling, loosening regulations on petroleum exploration, opening ANWR, and not coming out against the Pebble Mine project. This has the Democratic base in fits. He’s also been squishy on civil liberties in the case of the National Defense Authorization Agreement, but voted right in line with Murkowski, a Republican. He’s been widely criticized in progressive circles as being far too right, and has even characterized himself as a Rockefeller Republican.
But of course, even red is not red enough for the ex-half-governor.
“Sen. Mark Begich has got to be replaced,” Palin told Hannity. “He had not done what he had promised to do for the people of Alaska, which is to represent what it is the nation needs in terms of energy development.” Why she picked the one thing he probably aligns closest with her on to harp about is anyone’s guess.
“Because he’s on the wrong side of the aisle, he has to go along to get along with his Democrat leadership, and that’s a shame,” she continued. “That’s a waste of opportunity for our nation.”
A Harper poll from earlier in the year posed the question to Alaska voters how they would vote in a Begich vs. Palin matchup. Begich came out ahead 47% to 40%. Harper is right-leaning firm, but the results are still disturbingly close considering that the last time Palin held elected office in the state, it didn’t turn out so well.
The same poll showed Begich leading Treadwell 44% to 34%, and Miller by a whopping 59% to 29%.
Numbers guru Nate Silver of the New York Times had this to say about the Alaska race:
Mark Begich, the Democratic incumbent in Alaska, is one of the more unusual cases: his approval ratings are adequate, despite having a rather liberal voting record in a deeply red state. Part of this may be because Alaska is idiosyncratic, with a large number of independent and libertarian-leaning voters that do not fit neatly into the ideological spectrum. Still, what tips this race slightly into the “lean Democratic” category is the possibility that Joe Miller, a Tea Party favorite, could win the Republican nomination and then face considerable problems next November.
If Palin does hop in the pool, the Alaska senate race will be the one to watch on the national stage, both for its relevance to the balance of the senate, and its popcorn ability. Already one of five states in play to potentially determine the majority party, the fundraising potential of the race would rise astronomically if Palin entered the picture. Palin would be able to raise well from a national base, and Begich from a national base who never wants Palin in a position of power again. They’d rather have her stay in the seat she’s in – behind a desk at Fox News.
Rumour has it that rwnj in Texas lege plan to outlaw the birth of girls to put abortion behind them once and for all.
I’m either clairvoyant or hallucinating. Begich comments on Palin for Senate wuz here then it wuz gone,again> What zup?
replenish the Botox coffers
get revenge on Joe
promote new book
stir up the diehard fans
get name in the news
What’s the downside?
Anybody else get a visual of
Lucy holding the football for good old Charlie Brown?
How about the boy who cried wolf?
Quitting Grifter$ are gonna grift and quit until the courts tell ’em they can’t.
If she weren’t such a hatemonger, I’d say pfffttttt.
But like the Southern Poverty Law Center,
http://www.splcenter.org/
I keep an eye on her and her ilk.
*giving them thatLook, over the top of my glasses*
Feel that frisson, $arah?
Careful what you ask for and whatnot.
How’s that Look at ME! thing working for ya?
You may get more than you bargained for.
Something orange would go great with popcorn.
ptui ptui ptui
thatcrowwoman
Oh, the humanity!
The Tundra Turd merely has the scent of a new grifting opportunity in her nostrils. Play it for all it’s worth and for as long as possible to fill her coffers.
Fool them once, Money in the bank,
Fool them twice, oh,, why not ?
Breaking news-if Palin gets to run for Senate then Slipstream gets to have the pony he has always wanted.
Pony! Yaaayyyy!!! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!
Loons on strike.Decorah eagles on strike. Even the birds are wary about losing privacy rights. Damn those rwnj!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3041292/posts
Iz she or izn’t she? Only the Shadow knows if Snookie is an Alaska resident. Of course she could accidentally mispell resident with a P prefix and take Obama’s job.
The Nordstrom’s in Scottsdale will miss her.
I’d like to pop some corn and watch this debacle, but she doesn’t have the nerve to do more than make empty promises, which is her stock in trade.
Her Fox contract required her to announce on Hannity that she might run … giving him the big ‘scoop’. She’s not running for anything, but Murdoch wants her to act as if she is somehow relevant.
Mud… PLEASE tell me this isn’t true ??? She would be the laughing stock of the nation and REAL bad for the reputation of Alaska… Geeezzz…
Again.
Hmmmm rilly?
And how exactly has she progressed Alaska since she unshackled herself from the pesky restraints of a PC title being Chief Executive and Commander in Chief engaging in trade missions with Russia and whatnot? Living vibrantly, she still couldn’t manage to use her bullhorn to defend her two signature pieces of legislation that got her the national spot-light in the first place:
ACES, completely reversed by her Gubernatorial replacement – Sean Parnell.
AGIA, a half a billion dollar exercise in futility – never has or ever will break ground to bring “energy independence” for the country’s emission-smelling thirsty markets.
This woman can’t hack anything more than 2 years, she’s got the spottiest resume in the country. She is patently unemployable. Talk about a toxic servant’s heart.
What this woman really can’t hack is a lack of money. It is summer and maybe she needs another vacation paid for by someone else. So, after referencing Sarah Pac over and over in her on line postings, she comes out and threatens to run for Senate. And in order to do that she needs money. So the true believers reach into their wallets, shell out their rent money, and when it comes time to file to run, she comes up with some excuse about how she can do better for the country by not running. Just like she did when she was hinting at running for President.
Snowdrift Snookies epitaph-“I could’ve been a container.” Exit stage edge of Earth. “I’m fallllllllllllin…………….”
Hopefully this is the final corner that she has painted herself into. If she continues to tease to collect for her PAC then doesn’t run, she will lose more supporters (like Eric Erikson of Red State who had enough of her during the presidential tease). If she does run, she will face a nasty primary where Joe Miller will throw a fair amount of mud her way as will the Alaska GOP who will point out how little she has done for the people of Alaska since quitting as Gov.. If she wins the primary, she’ll likely lose in the general and will now be referred to as the losing candidate–a very public national humiliation. And even if she wins, she’ll have to work. She won’t be able to have Todd by her side in conference meetings, or on the floor until 2AM, he won’t be allowed security clearances and she’ll be in hot water if it is found out that she shared sensitive information with him. And if she should be subjected to an ethics violation as a member of the Senate, quitting will be the death of her career. Not even Fox will want to touch her again. If she thought the scrutiny in Alaska was tough, she ain’t seen nothing yet!
As an aside, can we state seeing more realistic images of Ms. Palin http://www.thinkinghousewife.com/wp/2012/08/palin-chic/
Boy howdy, that picture is one big cautionary tale about looking ridiculous in your old age.
$arah who?
Exactly, Zyx!!! That’s what I’ve been thinking since 2008!
The Legislature showed up with the “Where’s Sarah” buttons …….. but I wanted to know who Sarah was. She rarely showed her true self during the McCain/Palin campaign — just, I think, pandering to the media — and I would still like to know who that person is — although in Alaska we know how she can falter. It will be interesting ……….
But I’ll tell you, one of my favorite movies now is “Game Change.” Man, I’ll tell you, it is exactly the picture I had of that last presidential campaign. In fact, I could have predicted some of those scenes.
If she ever gets to the Senate, heaven help us.
If she does run, won’t she have to quit FOX?
NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ol’ $creech is just teasin’ her grifter base and sniffin’ out headlines. She doesn’t live here anymore.
Can you imagine this Adderall-addled bobble head with her blow up boobs coming out from behind the protection of her Facebook/Twitter bunker and 1) actually speaking/ mingling with Alaskans; 2) taking unscripted questions from Alaska media (and national); and debating the likes of Begich, Treadwell and Miller?? They can speak in complete sentences and keep their facts straight.
Meanwhile, $tupid $arah can only spew the same old tired divisive hate speech with no new ideas or inspirations.
The half term, half wit is so delusional, she actually believes Alaskans like her. What a pathetic hypocrite.
Ol’ $creech is just teasin’ her grifter base and sniffin’ out headlines. She doesn’t live here anymore.
Can you imagine this Adderall-addled bobble head with her blow up boobs coming out from behind the protection of her Facebook/Twitter bunker and 1) actually speaking/ mingling with Alaskans; 2) taking unscripted questions from Alaska media (and national); and debating the likes of Begich, Treadwell and Miller?? They can speak in complete sentences and keep their facts straight.
Meanwhile, $tupid $arah can only spew the same old tired divisive hate speech with no new ideas or inspirations.
The half term, half wit is so delusional, she actually believes Alaskans like her. What a pathetic hypocrite.
$arah’s not running for anything. She has a new book to sell.
That makes sense. She will garner more interest in the book if she ‘hints’ she is running.
She would also have to give up Fox news if she declares.
This way by ‘thinking’ of running, she keeps her fox news job, people donate to her pac and she promotes her book.
She needs to be careful though. Too many times saying she ‘may run’ and her base will give up on her.
My guess is that although Palin has polled in one instance more competitively than Treadwell or Miller, a Palin run would be a good thing for Begich. I get the feeling Begich basically has no base. Republicans don’t like him because he’s a Democrat, and many Democrats don’t like him because he basically votes Republican. A considerable danger to him is that in an off-year election, his uninspired supporters just stay home. As Miller found out, nothing motivates people like fear, and Palin definitely inspires fear. A Palin run would bring out the wackadoodles in droves but it would also bring out thousands of people for whom the thought of “Senator Palin” flying around the country to get her nails done raises a cold sweat. Anyway, I doubt Palin is serious. If she lost a Senator try, any remnant of her political career would be over. If she won, she’d have to work … for six years. I’m guessing this is the same peek-a-boo schtick that she played when she claimed to be considering a run for the presidency. Great for publicity and funding, not so much for work.
Yeah, but maybe ….. just maybe …… she’s been hanging around since the Miller thing, thinking she could RILLY be a SENATOR!
Remember, she’s got this saviour complex ……… I’m the chosen one, you know.
I would never, ever NOT take her seriously. She’s just too scary.
Can a resident of Arizona run for senator from Alaska?
Darn good question …….. anyone got any details on her, and on that?
Darned tootin’ she’s going to run! She’d NEVER pass up the opportunity to have gobs and gobs of More money collected for her personal piggybanks…errrr, her PACs.
Oh, yeah, she’ll run, alright. And she’ll drop out for some convoluted ‘reason’ [having to do, of course, ‘with better serving Amur’ca as a private citizen’, or some such equally ridiculous blather] as soon as she figures she’s padded her bank account enough to give some ‘breathing room’ for the next couple of years.
And when she’s dropped out, she’ll sit back and enjoy Another megaload of money that she’s only had to spew divisive, inaccurate, and blatant misinformation to Palinbots, to ‘earn.’
‘sides, she can’t stand to be out of the spotlight for more than a half-a-week at a time…running for senate puts her back into the national dialogue again, and she just laps that stuff up. She adores being adored.
She’ll run.
Yup, Beth, I think you’re right. She’s got this vision that she’s going to save RILL AMERICANS and all that stuff. It’s hard to imagine someone being so whacked-out, but I think she is.
I’m not sure ….. in her nutso mind, I don’t even know if it’s money (although I’m sure someone is telling her that). But I think she feels she needs to save America somehow, and her mind is like no other we’ve ever seen in a politician — ever.
And about dropping out — yeah, that’s probably a foregone conclusion. But that remains to be seen, and needs to play itself out. Based on her history, well yeah ……… it’s a foregone conclusion.
So Ms Palin does requests. Okey dokey,put on a pair of bib overalls and jump off a cliff,lemming.
WHOA, Mike!!!!!!!!! TOUGH GUY!!!!!!!!!!!
Well let her show up to Alaska…got a copy of that July 2nd email that made her resign…let’s talk about it now…
okay. I’ll bite. Let’s hear about that email.
ask the moderator for contents of that email…
First someone would have to tell her just what it isthat a senator does. I don’t think she yet understands what a vice-president does. Put it on flash cards maybe. But think who would be on her staff if she won. Bristol would be in charge of Googling answers to questions about the country of Africa and locating exotic places like Egypt, Willow would be the official hairdresser and Piper could be in charge of refreshments (think she is good at lemonade) and Todd could be in charge of intimidation and procuring for friends of the family. Tripp could play with Trig so Trig wouldn’t need any help from speech or special education professionals. We know she is already protected against witches thanks to the African pastor who visited her Wasilla church. See? Perfect full employment opportunity. What could go wrong? Besides, she would only last about 18 months so there would be a a reliable Tea Party theocrat like Miller, Lehman or Treadwell appointed to replace her.
Magpie, that’s the saddest thing of all.
Is that what our country has come down to?
If WE can’t find someone better, then it’s OUR fault for not electing them. That’s why it’s so important that we get our best people to run for office, and GET THEM ELECTED.
Just think, everyone ……. it really could come down to Bristol on Google. Is that who you want to represent you?
We all know the types of folks Sarah appointed as commissioners, etc. when she was in office. They were not qualified, and they were her friends. So …… as senator, well, probably no one would be qualified either. Total loss for Alaska.
You are so right, Yukonbushgrma! And I raise you from total loss for Alaska to total loss for the country.
You are so right, Yukonbushgrma! And I raise you from total loss for Alaska to total loss for the country.
AMEN, Magpie !!!!!!!!!
She’s just firing up the grift machine.
I tend to agree!! If she were serious she would be showing up in Alaska at events and seeing how she was received.
As usual she is full of hot air and looking to pump those who revere her to donate more $$$. I won’t use the $$ “*hore” word as to her ‘rill’ reason, but that is my opinion.
Vic, you’re right about that one. If — and I say IF — she were smart, she’d be back here in AK telling Alaskans how great it would be if we elected her. But somehow she doesn’t think she needs .. or wants .. to be in Alaska anymore.
Being a US Senator means *representing* your State, and in our case it’s Alaska. I don’t know if Alaskans have figured out yet who this woman is and why they would want her to represent them.
I don’t see her as an Alaskan anymore. Just plain and simple.
I hope Malia Litman’s work pays off. And just in time. Mrs. Palin and the Grifters is one group that needs to be taken off the American top 50. Oh please, let a scandal erupt. Volcanic. Ashy. Red hot. Destruction. But first, a little popcorn. Because you know, Shadenfreude
Hey- Palin and the Grifters is a great trash rock band name! Their signature song (from Cabaret): Money, money, money”
Just a thought…
“But she doesn’t like being done”
yep.
And let the Circus act begin !!!! ooohhhh, can’t WAIT for SNL !!!
You know it…!!
BUT — they gotta bring back Tina Fey!!! What an act! The woman is incredible.