Palin 2012 'Catastrophic' for GOP: McCain Insider

Ex-gov has no centrist appeal: strategist

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 2, 2009 4:43 PM CDT

Copied

Palin 2012 'Catastrophic' for GOP: McCain Insider — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces that she is stepping down from her position as Governor in Wasilla, Alaska on Friday July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Robert DeBerry)

If Sarah Palin is the 2012 presidential nominee, the Republican Party "would have a catastrophic election result,” the top strategist for the McCain campaign said today. Steve Schmidt foresees the 2012 election being won by the party that can sway the independents who backed Barack Obama in 2008. In the past year, Palin “has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt, who has long been a Palin detractor, told the Atlantic. “I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate."
(More Steve Schmidt stories.)

Report an error