REPLIES TO THE CURRENT QUESTION

Our question last week was:

What future do you think Sarah Palin has in the GOP, and how can she enhance it?

Here are your answers.  The name of a writer is included only if he or she actually placed a name at the end of the message.  Otherwise, we assume the writer wished anonymity and "name withheld" is inserted.

In the interests of full disclosure I have to state that, living in the NW, I was a Sarah Palin watcher and fan long before she became a vice presidential candidate and pincushion for every dart the Democrats and their fellow travelers in the media could sling in her direction.  That having been said, I am dumbfounded by her decision to bail on her responsibilities as governor.  So far, I have been unable to come up with a coherent reason for her doing this. My sincere hope is that it will, in the end, be to her credit and benefit.  

So, my question for myself is, "Does she have a political future at all?"  It is extremely difficult to "enhance" nothing.  At the end of the last election, she clearly was viewed by the Democrats as their biggest threat; hence, the unrelenting media dump on everything from her children to her Piper Cub on the lake.  She was clearly bothered by the criticism and her reactions were occasionally a little over the top.  She needs to revisit her acceptance speech and remember that she described herself as a "pit bull with lipstick."  Pit bulls don't cut and run when the criticism turns hysterical, they just growl and keep on chewing.  

So, my advice to Ms. Palin is this:  If you want a political future and aren't simply packing it in and going home to Wasilla, then it's time to become a politician, God forbid.  Take a deep breath, do your homework on matters of state, and then come out swinging.  Learn by past mistakes, realize that a hostile media will parse every word you utter, looking for anything to make you look bad; so, keep your ability to speak to people as individuals, but do it with care.  Hard to do?  You betcha, but Reagan was the master; so, study his public persona and learn from it.  You have put yourself in the position of not running for anything at the moment.  Take advantage of that and speak to issues and not personalities.  There will be time for character assassination later.  You're way too young to be an "elder" statesman, but that doesn't prevent your acting like one.

Don Newell
Vancouver, WA

I've always been enthusiastic about Sarah Palin.  She has the intelligence, work ethic, and proper American values to be a successful politician even against an Eastern intellectual elite that finds her anathema and will stoop to the most vicious and personal attacks.  And, as others have pointed out, Urgent Agenda included, she has stumbled on more than one occasion, leaving her numerous enemies on both sides of the political spectrum with ammunition to further bludgeon her reputation.

To correct the elites and to take blunt their personal attacks she can do a lot worse than to take a page out of Mitt Romney's playbook.  Focus on issues and solutions. She has already demonstrated her ability to articulate an intelligent and coherent energy policy.  Study the foreign and domestic problems confronting us today, including the creeping socialism of BHO, and explain how harmful the solutions of the left are to America, and how conservative solutions will benefit all Americans.

Go on the stump for Republican candidates.  There will be two more elections before 2012.  Palin has enormous support among movement conservatives. Support for a run for high office begins by building an A-list of supporters.  Get out in front of audiences on behalf of candidates who support a strong defense and an entrepreneurial economy.

Whatever the personal results of her efforts, enthusiastic spokesmen for conservative values can only help the country in the long run.  Even if she never attains higher office, she can be a big cog in the machine that overthrows Obamaism.

Alan Weick