Two pieces of great news for John McCain:
- In her book, Sarah Palin left what seems to be a strong hint that she is going to run for President.
- Sarah Palin is open to a Palin-Beck ticket in 2012.
On the first item: ABC News' Teddy Davis connected the dots between a passage in Palin's book and comments by Mary Matalin which taken together seem to be a fairly strong indication that she's planning a 2012 bid.
She suggests, however, that her resignation has left her in a strong position to run for president by touting comments to CNN by a well-known Republican strategist who thinks Palin's move was "brilliant."
"One of the only commentators who called it right was Mary Matalin, who noted that my strategy would disarm my opponents and free me up to travel and raise money and awareness for worthy causes," writes Palin.
The Matalin reference, which comes on page 381 of "Going Rogue: An American Life," is the closest Palin comes in the book to discussing her future electoral plans.
So what is it that Matalin said? The short-version: in response to a question by CNN's Suzanne Malveux about what Palin's resignation meant for her 2012 chances, Matalin described the move as "brilliant."
Here's a transcript:
MALVEAUX: We've been getting a lot of different feedback from Republicans, some who are scratching their heads, others who say this is going to damage the party. And -- and there are others who are a little bit more open-minded about what this means for her chances in 2012.
MARY MATALIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it's really brilliant, with two caveats, one being that there's nothing else, ala the Sanford fiasco. There's nothing else that we don't know. If all that's there is what we see right now, it's brilliant.
And, secondly, that she has a plan and people have a plan to put up with the conventional wisdom, chatterati (ph) and the political class saying how stupid it is, because it's brilliant.
On the substance, there's the key economic issue -- I know everyone says -- thinks it's health care, but it's really energy. And she's the queen of energy.
And the second big issue for 2012 will be the role of government. And she has a record of reform and ethics reform and making government smaller and reigning in spending -- all those issues that are getting increasingly important as Barack Obama expands on his agenda.
So -- and her delivery was incredible -- a charis -- a less charismatic person probably couldn't pull it off. But as -- as already referenced, she will be freed up and liberated in the way Mitt Romney is here to run around and raise money and get political chips by spending it and get political capital. And she is still raising the kinds of crowds and money that she always did.
So at first blush, to people with -- tainted by the Beltway -- and I include myself. My first reaction was what?
And my second reaction -- because I'm at my farm. I guarantee you, if I go down to the Wal-Mart in the Shenandoah Valley, there will be a huge hoorah for this. And normal Americans like that message of, you know, the price of public service should not be personal destruction and the costs of that.
Remember, Palin says Matalin's commentary was "one of the only" examples of a pundit getting it right. Whether you agree or disagree, given that Matalin's basic point was that Palin had made a "brilliant" move to position herself for a 2012 presidential bid, it isn't much of a stretch to call this a strong indication that Palin will in fact run for president.
Of course, if she does run for president -- and she does win the Republican nomination -- this raises a question. Who will she pick as her vice presidential running mate?
Well, believe it or not, Sarah Palin is open to tapping Glenn Beck to run by her side. Glenn Beck! Seriously! The. Glenn. Beck. Via Ben Smith, Palin in Newsmax:
It's no secret that former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Fox News host Glenn Beck share great respect and admiration -- so their fans can be forgiven for wondering: Is a "dream ticket" of Palin-Beck ticket is completely out of the question?
Perhaps not.
Palin initially chuckled when Newsmax broached the idea. But then she had some serious words of praise for the popular Fox personality.
"I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I'm not there yet," Palin tells Newsmax. "But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He's a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he's so bold I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it, and he's very, very, very effective."
Oh, please, Sarah -- do it! Pretty please! Palin-Beck 2012. If you really care about your country, you've got to do it!