Gloves Coming Off As Romney Aide Attacks Palin

The Palin and Romney camps have already started trading barbs in what could be a preview of the race for the GOP nomination in 2012.

Doug Mataconis · · 11 comments

In a sure sign that her potential opponents consider a Sarah Palin run for the Republican nomination in 2012 a likelihood, a recent column in Time Magazine includes what can only be called a shot across the bow from the Romney campaign:

Few express much regard for Palin’s ultimate chances. One adviser to Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and, by traditional standards, the putative 2012 frontrunner, says of Palin, “She’s not a serious human being.” Another Romney intimate warns, “If she’s standing up there in a debate and the answers are more than 15 seconds long, she’s in trouble.”

The Palin camp swatted back in The Politico:

In potentially the first inter-staff dust up of the 2012 presidential race, an aide of Sarah Palin is hitting back at Mitt Romney’s camp for saying the former Alaska governor is “not a serious human being.” (…) Asked about the comments by POLITICO, a longtime Palin aide unloaded on Romney’s staff. “It shocks me that anyone would try to do that,” the aide said. “You’d think we’d all be working together toward a common goal – that being 2010 – and that should be the focus right now. Those who try to claim the mantle of Reagan would be good to follow one of his most sacred tenets.” “For Washington consultants to sit around and personally disparage the Governor anonymously to reporters is unfortunate and counterproductive and frankly immature,” the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, continued.

Well, all I can say in response to that is welcome to big time politics, buddy.

It’s fairly obvious that anyone who runs against Sarah Palin, assuming she ever runs for anything ever again, is going to hit her on her relative lack of experience and her disengagement with issues beyond repeating platitudes — something that can be seen fairly evidently in this recent appearance on The O’Reilly Factor. And if the Palin camp thinks that this little comment from an anonymous Romney aide is “disparaging,” just wait for what the media and the Democrats are going to put her through.

If Palin runs, she sure isn’t going to get a coronation.