Newt Gingrich Nailin' Sarah Palin's Political Coffin Shut

Newt Gingrich is making a genius out of me. I've been saying for a long time that the GOP is looking to jettison Sarah Palin as a candidate for 2012. While I have accumulated a mountain of evidence of this, Gingrich pretty much spells it out. Asked, by Christianity Today, who are the GOP's leaders, with Palin and Jindal as a starting point (Who do you see as the emerging leaders in the Republican Party: Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin?) , Gingrich goes through every Republican he can think of, even someone named Linda Lingle, but...

You didn't mention Sarah Palin.

Wow, there seems to be a lot of that going around. I call it "Sarahmnesia." Gingrich's self-contradictory response almost sounds like a veiled threat:

Sarah Palin has an obvious role if she wants it. The question for her has to be, are she and her family willing to go through another couple of years of the kind of media coverage that they currently get? Is she willing to do the kind of development of national issues and development of a national profile that would be required? She is a celebrity in her own right. She is probably the most successful figure in the party right now, and she's a formidable figure. I think to go from there to becoming a national leader would take a significant amount of work.

So, she's the biggest thing in the GOP, and that hurts her nationally? It doesn't make any sense.

What does make sense is Newt's "friendly warning" that a presidential campaign will mean more scrutiny, more revelations of an embarrassing, personal nature by "the media" (aided by what kinds of leaks?).

It's a shame the GOP are trying to destroy her, and I hope it doesn't work. Sarah Palin deserves strong, principled opposition, not to be kneecapped by her own side for getting too big for her britches.

Tommy on: Daily Dose:

• Newt Gingrich Nailin' Sarah Palin's Political Coffin Shut
• New York Times: Ann Coulter's Makeup Takes 40 Minutes
• DC Tea Party Video Exclusive: Clash with Counter-Protesters

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