Should the GOP 'man up' and reject Sarah Palin?

GOP leaders are privately terrified that Sarah Palin, a potential presidential nominee, will "devastate their party in 2012," says Joe Scarborough in Politico. The right-leaning MSNBC host and former GOP congressman's solution: The Republicans need to "man up" and publicly challenge the unelectable, Reagan-trashing "reality show star" with a "weak résumé" before it's too late. Would undermining Palin now save the GOP or do "puerile, schoolgirl insults" — as one blogger described Scarborough's remarks — cause more harm to the party? (Watch Scarborough's comments)

Stop Palin, or lose: I agree with Palin on most issues, says Joe J. Harvey in RedState. But she can't articulate why our ideas are right, and the GOP needs a standard-bearer with a lot more "substance" and experience to fight Obama. "We all know" that pretending "Palin is presidential material is just delusional, and we need more conservatives like Scarborough speaking candidly" to avert disaster.

"Scarborough and challenging Gov. Palin"

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Scarborough's the dumb one: The "Palin is too dumb" line is bad enough coming from the "liberal media," says Jeffrey Lord in The American Spectator. That's what they say about all serious GOP presidential figures. The "dumb — really dumb" people are "those inside the Republican political-consultant complex" who think "circling the wagons" against a person of "enormous accomplishment in life" like Palin will help them in 2012.

"Is Sarah Palin too dumb to be president?"

Taking on Palin is a "suicide mission": Scarborough's call for a "preemptive strike" does smack of Beltway "hicks from the sticks" elitism, says Taylor Marsh in her blog. But "Joe and the Republican boys' club" do face a real dilemma: A member of the "Republican intelligentsia" like Mitt Romney won't excite the Tea Party voters, and Palin might snatch "defeat from the jaws of victory." Whoever can get Palin in the VP slot again will be "kingmaker."

"Flop sweat over Sarah"