Key Excerpts from NY Times Story on Palin
"Assuming her departure does reflect a strategic decision to prepare for a presidential campaign — Republicans have been wondering why she quit so abruptly — Ms. Palin may be looking to the next few years to do what Nixon did to prepare for his successful run for the White House in 1968."
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"In fact, Nixon used the next four years to quietly refurbish his image, building ties with the conservative wing that was becoming ascendant in the Republican Party, ingratiating himself with Republican senators and candidates for governor by campaigning on their behalf, and becoming better schooled in issues. (He even made efforts, albeit decidedly limited, to fix his difficult relationship with the news media.)"
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"Yet Ms. Palin is in a different place than was Nixon — or any other politician who has gone the rehabilitation route. She is viewed disparagingly by many of the elites in her party, no matter how many conservative Republicans have flocked to her. She has grown increasingly unpopular in her own state and nationally; 43 percent of respondents in a CNN Poll in May viewed her unfavorably, compared with 21 percent when Senator John McCain of Arizona chose her as his running mate last August."
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"Yet the dominant reaction of Republicans has been befuddlement. Her move may play well with her strongest supporters, but her political instincts and stability were once again being questioned in other circles of the party, which had already been wary of her after last year's election. That is hardly a development Ms. Palin could welcome as her party is looking for a candidate who can endure what could be a very tough race in 2012."
