I think the Tea Party endorsements are much more of a factor than Sarah Palin. The Tea Party is a mass movement of ideas and ideals, and the candidates who most fit within those ideals is likely to be the one to be endorsed by the Tea Party. It's almost a chicken and egg kind of thing, but many voters who would identify themselves with the Tea Party and who are unsure about a candidate, will (or might) be swayed towards the Tea party candidate. What Sarah Palin says will have little effect on that, especially if she endorses a candidate that the Tea Party comes out against.
Just take a look at what Palin is doing. Mainly, she's riding the coat tails of the Tea Party to keep her name out there and to get as many photo ops as she can. While she has become the de facto leader of the Tea Party movement, she still won't take control of it and really put herself out there. Remember during the whole presidential race deal where she shined in the limelight but wilted in the spotlight. She's making sure she's in the limelight with the Tea Party, and out of the spotlight. At the most recent rally, she was there alright, but as Beck's sidekick. She likes the attention, but not too much of it. As the Washington Post noted the other day, she has a finely-tuned ear to what draws attention in the political world. But with all her smoke, there's little fire behind it. She's not out there in front, but right there on the side, campaigning and endorsing others, but she won't commit to the spotlight, for fear of a crushing defeat and for all the nasty things the press will say about her. Instead, she's right there in the limelight, hoping that eventually there will be such an overwhelming outcry for her to run for president that it's a sure thing.
She wrote a book, shopped a reality TV show, and now her daughter will be trying to dance her way to reality TV stardom on Dancing With The Stars. That, too, will be milked for all its political worth. Sarah Palin, when all is said and done, is an opportunist, and 2 years from now, 6 years from now, she'll still be beating the bushes looking for that big opportunity. She's pounding away at what people want to hear, but most of her power and appeal is tied directly to her looks. She can talk the talk all day long, but will she be able to walk the walk when she looks more like Nancy Pelosi? Basically, many Americans are hitching their buggy to a semi-literate cutie who has trouble stringing a coherent sentence together. Isn't that adorable? She's a GOP cheerleader, nothing more.
Huckabee, Romney and Gingrich all have a better shot at winning the presidential race than Palin does. But she's headed to Iowa in a couple of weeks to be the keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Ronald Reagan Dinner, a key fund raiser for the party in that state. Beating the bushes to see what falls out. People will talk.
At least she's smart enough to keep turning down invitations to appear on “Meet the Press”, “Face the Nation” or “This Week.” Any potential political career she might have would be over in half an hour of word salad gibberish. She doesn't have enough palms or Sharpies for something like that.
I'm a big Sarah Palin fan, can you tell? I still can't get past the fact that as Alaska's governor, she had this big time speech where she went on and on about her not being a quitter, and then promptly quit. She quit school, twice, and has quit every job she's ever had. Her motto: When the going gets tough - quit! That's why she'll stay the cheerleader, since it keeps her in the spotlight enough for reality TV shows and books and speaking fees, but the going won't get tough.
