Elijah Friedeman, the Millennial Perspective

Is Sarah Palin winning? Columnist Michael Wolff certainly thinks so.

I have said this before: There are only two political stars in the country. One is president, the other is Sarah Palin.

And yet Sarah Palin has been dismissed by almost every reputable political news source. Even Fox News seems skeptical when it comes to Palin.

While the usual political news sources have seen everything going wrong for Palin—scandal, personal oddness, intra-party hostilities, myriad family problems—everything, in fact, has been going right for her. The Palin plan is working.

Modern politics is all about phenomena with organizational skills. Lightning struck Sarah Palin in a way that almost every political professional found hard to believe (and stomach). What seems even harder to swallow is that she has the discipline and the desire—and enough of a mind for details—to have already put in place a capable plan to develop, exploit, and build the most distinctive political profile in the Republican Party.

Sarah Palin is just getting started.

Is Palin still a viable national candidate? I honestly don't know, but she has positioned herself as a staunch proponent of conservatism, whether or not that title is deserved. And as the sweetheart of the religious right, she should have a chance to separate herself during the next three years from the pack of would be Republican candidates.

That being said. If Palin has her sights set on a 2012 run for the White House, she must hit the books. Her lack of foreign policy experience was evident during McCain's presidential bid. This fact was glossed over by many conservative pundits who pointed out that Obama lacked in that department as well. Yes, and look where Obama has gotten us in the first months of his presidency.

To successfully get the Republican nomination in 2012, Palin must rebrand herself. Now, she is viewed as a reactionary conservative, which is true to some extent. She must now graduate into the Reaganesque style of politics by making lucid arguments for her positions. Talking about 'death panels' garnered her the support of many hardcore conservatives, but these conservatives won't carry her to victory on game day 2012. Palin must appeal to conservatives, both Democratic and Republican, who want lower taxes and a safe America. If she can successfully rebrand herself and gain a greater knowledge of the issues at work in the world today, Palin will be a force to be reckoned with come November 2012. 

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