Sarah Palin runs in 2012

[Samof94]

How well does she do if she runs in the primary???

[darklordoftech]

This would prevent the rotating anti-Romney candidates from rising in the polls. Bachmann, Perry, and Cain would do as well as Lindsey Graham did in 2016.

[Agonized-Statism]

She's Romney's primary arch nemesis throughout the primaries, like darklordoftech pointed out, but ultimately falls short. It wouldn't be for nought, however, because she would be in a great position to force Romney to be more combative- IMO, an explicitly Tea Party Romney carries Florida, outperforming ours.

[Fuzzy Bear]

If she won the nomination, she'd carry all the Romney states except NC.

[holtridge]

If she won the nomination, she'd carry all the Romney states except NC.

You really think Palin would have gotten 190 electoral votes?

[Fuzzy Bear]

If she won the nomination, she'd carry all the Romney states except NC.

You really think Palin would have gotten 190 electoral votes?

That's her ceiling.  The only states I might consider as soft are AZ and MAYBE IN or  MO.  That would have put her at 159 EV, but it would have required an extraordinary amount of luck.

Palin was much more well-regarded by the GOP base in 2012 than she is now.  Today, she's viewed as a quitter and a loser, but that wasn't the case in 2012.

[holtridge]

If she won the nomination, she'd carry all the Romney states except NC.

You really think Palin would have gotten 190 electoral votes?

That's her ceiling.  The only states I might consider as soft are AZ and MAYBE IN or  MO.  That would have put her at 159 EV, but it would have required an extraordinary amount of luck.

Palin was much more well-regarded by the GOP base in 2012 than she is now.  Today, she's viewed as a quitter and a loser, but that wasn't the case in 2012.

Things would have really had to fallen in place for her to win Georgia and Missouri.