Monday, October 5, 2009

Steve Schmidt: Palin Would Be "Catastrophic" For GOP in 2012



(Theatlantic). “I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican candidate in 2012, and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we would have a catastrophic election result.”

“In the year since the election has ended, she has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base. … Th[e] independent vote is going to be up for grabs in 2012. That middle of the electorate is going to be determinative of the outcome of the elections. I just don’t see that if you look at the things she has done over the year… that she is going to expand that base in the middle.”

Schmidt is the highest ranking former member of McCain’s inner circle to openly criticize Palin. He has largely remain silent since the election, being one of the few McCain staff members privy to entire vice presidential selection process. Partisan political allies have blamed Schmidt for unflattering leaks — including the famous, unattributed quote that Palin had “gone rogue” in the final weeks of the campaign. Schmidt has denied being the source of the leaks, though he has acknowledged tensions with Palin during the campaign.

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" (Churchill)