Do you doubt that Palin will be the nominee?

[Beet]

No.

Are people finally starting to wake up? This is what I was saying 5 days short of a year ago. As soon as Palin resurfaced in Spring 2009 to go after David Letterman, you knew that she wasn't going to be forgotten about and thus, she was likely going to be the next GOP nominee.

[Beet]

A few comments

1- Palin can hold her own in a debate, provided she is prepared. Witness the October 2 debate with Joe Biden. Nothing spectacular, but also not necessarily horrid.

2- She'll never make the same mistake she made with Katie Couric again. For one thing, the Palin campaign has done everything they can since then to shut out Katie Couric and CBS-- not because they think Couric is more hostile to them than other media outlets, but because Couric successfully embarassed her. The media has gotten the message: It's okay to be critical of Palin, just don't be too effective at it. Meanwhile, Palin's handlers will be sure to set the ground rules for future interviews and prepare much better.

3- All indications are that she's a great campaigner. The hallmark of being a good campaigner is being able to attract large crowds and get them worked with by delivering speeches and zingers.

4- All of that said, she is very polarizing and compared with other GOP candidates like Romney, would probably cost the GOP votes in the general election.

5- I'm not all that sure she's so anti establishment as she seems. After all, she endorsed TARP in 2008 when that was convenient. Then she criticized it later when that was convenient. This makes her no different from Obama, McCain, Bush or any other politician: they do what they do because it is convenient for power. It's human nature. It's the same reason why I'm so confident she will run for President.

Re: Romney. I believe he is intelligent. I haven't seen any evidence he can get himself grassroots support. It's not as easy as it sound.