Why Sarah Palin Shouldn't Run — Or Why She Should

Mona Charen spoke at the Jewish Policy Forum panel in Los Angeles, along with David Horowitz. Michael Medved began the talk with a discussion of electoral politics, and at some point the panelists got to talkin' about their favorites for the 2012 presidential race. Ms. Charen endorsed Mitchell Daniels (not my favorite, for reasons some might recall). And that's interesting, since we find that Ms. Charen's not hip to a Sarah Palin presidential bid. See, "Why Sarah Palin Shouldn't Run" (at Memeorandum). And this passage is worth consideration:

She is wildly popular with a swath of the Republican electorate, it's true. And, as a conservative woman politician told me, the consultants (who get paid the big bucks win or lose) will doubtless descend upon her with game plans showing how she can win in Iowa and then cruise to the nomination. Maybe. But the general election would be a problem, since 53 percent of independent voters view Palin unfavorably, according to a recent Gallup poll, along with 81 percent of Democrats.

RTWT.

Fair enough. But my sense, beyond this, is that Ms. Charen is looking at presidential politics a bit clinically. Extreme emotionalism devolved to a form of secular worship in 2008 and the election of "The One." Ms Charen's right to note the dangers of it forming on the right heading into 2012. But skimming over this a bit more, Ms. Charen yearns for a conservative politics almost entirely divorced from popular culture. I doubt we're ever going back to a time of Reagan, much less Goldwater. But check the comments at the post (Townhall has a well organized comments section). If the sentiment there gives any indication, the GOP nomination is Palin's for the taking. And why not? Sarah Palin is a force of nature. She embodies all the best of the American spirit, and her family emobodies all the best of the American citizen. We don't know if she'll be a good president. Leftists had no clue if Barack Obama would be a good president. Democrats picked Obama on faith. There's danger there, sure. My sense is that Palin's attuned to popular sensibilities in a way the Barack Obama has never been. She's anti-elitist. She stands against the elite-arugula entitlement that is the essence of the Democrat-Socialist hegemonic power agenda. And Sarah Palin learns. She's open to ideas and feedback. If President Obama had even an ounce of those qualities he'd have a much better chance of avoiding early retirement in 2012 --- quite possible at the hands of Sarah Palin herself.

RELATED: "Sarah Palin Rallies GOP at 'Victory 2010' in Anaheim."

Cross-posted from American Power.