Is Sarah Palin Now the "De Facto" Leader of the GOP?

With echoes from the celebration of Barack Obama's historic 2008 Presidential election victory still faintly audible, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin seems to be trying to put her losing effort as John McCain's running mate in the rear view mirror. ASAP. The week of November 9-16, Palin made the rounds of seemingly all the political talk shows in an attempt to rehabilitate her negative image with nearly half of all American voters polled.

In a question and answer session at the recent Republican Governors Conference in Miami, FL, Palin took queries from the media with several fellow GOP Governors standing behind her on the stage. It had the appearance of sort of a coronation for 2012. Until Texas Governor Rick Perry stepped in, at least. Perry's explanation was that the conference was running behind on time. I don't believe that for a second, do you?

With several GOP Governors in attendance who just may have presidential aspirations themselves, including Florida's Charlie Crist and possibly Rick Perry, it seemed a bit presumptuous on Sarah Palin's part. How does a losing Vice Presidential bid by a candidate with 49% negatives make one the frontrunner for an election still at least a couple of years away?

I'm sure former GOP Governors such as Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and others are asking themeselves the same question. While there is no question that Sarah Palin is still a ratings magnet and creates a major internet buzz, appealing to the hard right GOP base is nowhere near enough for her to be put on such a pedestal.

In interviews, Sarah Palin called the McCain operatives who leaked certain information to the media "cowards" and seems to be running against the GOP as surely as Barack Obama did. Palin has repeatedly criticized the Bush Administration and other Republicans, especially on the subject of the deficit.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee let it be known that he wanted the #2 slot on John McCain's ticket. While Huckabee publicly supported Sarah Palin, it had to sting the Huckster, as he is known in Arkansas, to be passed over for the VP slot by such a novice as Palin. After all, Huckabee was a Governor for a decade to Palin's less than 2 years as a state's chief executive. Now for Huckabee, Romney and other GOP Presidential 2012 hopefuls, it has to be a bitter pill for the others for Sarah Palin to be paraded around as the GOP standard bearer after 2 months on the ticket of John McCain.

With a late October appearance on Saturday Night Live and all the interviews, Palin appears to be frantically trying to mend her fences with the voting public, going over the heads of GOP "Kingmakers" in the process. It may be awhile before we know whether Palin's efforts are successful or not. One of the more interesting aspects of all this will be to watch the infighting within the GOP in the wake of John McCain's defeat by nearly 8 million votes, the GOP loss of 22 House seats, 5 or 6 Senate seats and the ongoing unpopularity of George W. Bush.

It's quite unusual for the Republicans to be infighting like this. It is, of course, commonplace for the Democrats to behave in such a manner afteer losing 7 of the last 10 Presidential elections pre-Obama. We are not accustomed to seeing this sort of thing from the GOP and I don't think they quite know what to think about it themselves. It should make for 4 years of entertaining theater (of the absurd?) for Dems and guys like me, though. While I'm a registered Democrat, I consider myself an Independent, for the most part.

Mike Huckabee, you and other GOP 2012 GOP Presidential candidates better get your games together and challenge Sarah Palin for control of the rudderless ship known as the Republican Party. The wreckage of the Bush-Cheney years loom in the form of a huge iceberg and turning to Palin might be the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titannic.