Sarah Palin

A Palin 2012 Run Would Be 'Catastrophic' for GOP, Says Former McCain Aide

By Garance Franke-Ruta

The post-election sniping continues -- and how.

Speaking at the First Draft of History conference at the Newseum in Washington on Friday morning, former John McCain chief strategist Steve Schmidt took some none-too-subtle swipes at McCain's former running mate, Sarah Palin, calling a 2012 presidential campaign by her potentially disastrous for both the Republican Party and the country.

"I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012, and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we would have a catastrophic election result," he said, according to a report by The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder from the conference.

"In the year since the election has ended, she has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base. ... The independent vote is going to be up for grabs in 2012. That middle of the electorate is going to be determinative of the outcome of the elections. I just don't see that if you look at the things she has done over the year... that she is going to expand that base in the middle," he continued.

"It's fairly inconceivable she could be elected," Schmidt said, according to another Atlantic report.

Since the 2008 election, Schmidt has made several forays into criticizing positions held by his more socially conservative GOP brethren. In April 2009, he gave a speech outlining his support of same-sex marriage, staking a position that put him to the left of McCain and also President Obama.

"For the party to be seen as an anti-gay, that is injurious to its candidates in places like California and Washington and New York," Schmidt said at the time.

He also criticized the prominent role of religion within the party, saying it risked turning the GOP into a sectarian party, rather than the big tent he hoped it would be.

Posted at 10:55 AM ET on Oct 2, 2009 | Category: Sarah Palin

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Previous: A Good Friday for Obama? | Next: Palin's Book Gets a Cover to Judge



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