Column: Palin keeps us guessing

By Jordan Stein

Published Dec. 8, 2009

Sarah Palin has been on book tour for her new book, "Going Rogue," for a few weeks. As part of this trip, she visited Springfield last week. As far as her plans for 2012 go, no one really knows what Palin has up her sleeve. She has been visiting lots of small towns and signing books but hasn't really used the platform to promote the views or use the rhetoric that made her so famous in the last presidential election. None of Palin's moves have come from the traditional political playbook.

Her resignation, book deal and book tour are all strategized angles for the White House in 2012. She was met with an unprecedented cult following when she was announced as John McCain's running candidate. Although I believe her to be a power-grubbing simpleton simply trying to capitalize her newfound fame to the fullest, the passion she inspires in extreme conservatives cannot be denied or ignored.

So, if she is aiming for the presidency, this obviously causes some concerns. She's a right-wing nutcase, for one. I know President Barack Obama falls pretty left of the middle for a president, but having Palin in the White House would be like having Ralph Nader in the White House, to use an extremist on the left. No. 2: She's incompetent. Just listening to the woman speak makes it clear that she's only capable of regurgitating talking points, platitudes and buzzwords fed to her by handlers.

Palin couldn't finish her tenure as governor of Alaska. Even after she lost McCain the election, she wanted to abandon her duty to leverage herself into a more politically strong position to run in 2012. To me, this signals her weakness as an actual leader and exposes her as the type of politician only interested in doing what is best for herself.

The question is will these obvious inadequacies allow voters to see how disastrous a Palin administration would be? The fog of hero-worship that surrounds her supporters' brains might not allow clear facts to shine through. If we see a showdown between Obama and Palin in 2012, a lot of disillusioned moderate voters might be forced to make a rash decision.

But the possibility of Palin winning the Republican ticket is slim. The Republican Party knows it needs to revamp itself in order to bring in new voters, to modernize itself. Rallying behind Palin is not the way to do that. Palin polarizes her own party and putting her on the 2012 ticket is a terribly risky move.

I'm obviously no fan of the woman, but you do have to admit Palin is an enigma. No one really knows what her plans or aspirations are. She's managed quite a feat by staying relevant this long after the election, even though she hasn't accomplished anything real. She's also playing a very coy political game, announcing nothing, but keeping everyone's eyes on her. Whatever ends up happening, I'm sure Palin will keep us guessing until the very end.

Jordan Stein is a senior political science major. She can be reached at jesf25@mizzou.edu