There is a great debate within the Republican Party regarding Sarah Palin.  Many believe she should be the Presidential nominee in 2012.  Many others believe she would be an absolute disaster.  Many believes she is the face of conservatism.  Many others believe she is the face of all that is wrong with the Republican Party.  The question is, can she win?

 

What will it take to win the Presidency in 2012?  It will take popularity; Sarah Palin has this covered.  It will take a strong conservative to provide the public with a different option than a typical liberal Democrat and a fiscally irresponsible Republican; Sarah Palin has this covered as well.  It will take an effective speaker to articulate her positions and to reveal the failures of the current administration; Sarah Palin excels here.  It will take a fiscally responsible candidate that the public can trust with their money; Sarah Palin does not have the trust of the American public due to her short time in office, her disastrous interviews with Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson, and her recent resignation.  As conservatives will pretty much always vote Republican and Liberals will pretty much always vote Democrat the only ground that can truly be gained and measured is by selling conservatism to the independents and more importantly the uninformed, the uninterested, and the uninvolved.  This is where Sarah Palin runs into trouble.  She seems to know what the right answers are to excite the base, but can she sell conservatism to independents and those new to the political process?  If the Republicans can't win over the new voter bloc in 2012, they have no hope of winning.

 

Therefore, it would be a mistake for Sarah Palin to be the Republican Presidential candidate in 2012.  She has received the knocks of being too divisive, damaged goods, and yesterday's news, but an inability to sell conservatism would not only destroy any chances of taking back the White House in 2012,  it would severely damage the overall conservative movement, as well.