(Mark Mccinon-Daily beast)......former Bush and McCain strategist Mark McKinnon says Palin is getting stronger by the day—and will be ready to take on the Obama agenda (or his vice president) in three years or seven.
Yet, despite buckets of criticism constantly flung her way, she’s got a lot going for her. Just like George W. Bush, people and the media constantly “misunderestimate” her. No matter what you think about her politics, this woman is tenacious, fearless, and savvy. John McCain’s former chief of staff, Mark Salter, said it best: “What she knows, you can’t teach. And what she doesn’t know, she can learn.”
She got thrown in the deep end before she could swim. As my friend Stuart Stevens said, “It was like picking someone of the street and telling them they had to take the MCATs the next day.” But, she dog-paddled furiously, thrashed about, made a lot of waves, and managed not to drown. And now she’s got her water wings. And she’s working on her strokes. And by 2012 or 2016, she’ll be a lot stronger.
It you need evidence, check out her appearance Friday with Wolf Blitzer. I disagree with my friend and sponsor Tina Brown on this subject. I think Palin knocked it out of the park. It was a long and substantive interview. Kudos to Blitzer and CNN for giving her a full 15 minutes of airtime. And she more than held her own. Talked about a natural gas-pipeline deal that is good a deal and smart politics. Talked about Obamanomics. And laid a pretty good beating on David Letterman.
But at the end of the day on this one, score one for Palin. She looks like a good and righteous mom defending her kids and Letterman looks like the cruel punk that he is.
She’s getting stronger. And when asked by Blitzer about her plans for reelection as governor in 2010 or about a run for president in 2012, Palin demurred. Whatever she decides, she’s going to be a player. She could get reelected and still run in 2012. Or, she could get reelected and not run in 2012, but go out and be a celebrity on the circuit supporting the nominee and earn a lot of points for 2016 (assuming the Republicans lose in 2012, a pretty good bet right now). Or she may not run for reelection and load up for 2012. But, my bet is that whatever she decides, she’ll be on the stage in 2016. And by then, she’ll be a lot stronger. And by the Salter theorum, she will have learned a lot.
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