Palin Says She’d “Help” With A Brokered Convention

Sarah Palin continues to lob grenades into the 2012 race for the Republican nomination:

Former Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday that a brokered Republican presidential convention was a possibility and that if it happened she “would do whatever I could to help.”

“If one of the nominees, one of the GOPers, doesn’t get enough delegates, it could go to a brokered convention,” said Fox Business Network’s Eric Bolling in an interview. “If it does get to that, and someone said, ‘Governor, would you be interested,’ would you be interested?”

“For one, I think that it could get to that. … If it had to be closed up today, the whole nominating process, then we could be looking at a brokered convention. … Nobody is quite there yet, so I think that months from now, if that is the case, all bets are off as to who it will be, willing to offer up themselves up in their name in service to their country.”

“I would do whatever I could to help,” she added, her voice rising.

I’m not entirely sure what game Palin is playing here. She’s stood on the sidelines throughout this campaign, and while there was a time when it seemed like she was on the verge of endorsing Newt Gingrich (as her husband did shortly before South Carolina’s primary), but she’s never taken that step. Now she seems to be arguing for whatever it takes to drag the GOP race out as long as possible. Does she do this because she has the best interests of the GOP, or conservatism, at heart? Or is she under the delusion that she could somehow waltz into a divided Tampa convention and take the nomination away from people who have been running for it for the better part of a year? Or is this just her newest way of keeping her name in the papers?

Given what we’ve seen from Palin for the past four years, I’m going to go with the last option personally but you can make your own choice.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Moosebreath says:

    “Or is she under the delusion that she could somehow waltz into a divided Tampa convention and take the nomination away from people who have been running for it for the better part of a year?”

    The most likely implication. Totally consistent with her opus until now — she wants the rewards without the work. And the funny thing is, if there is a divided convention and none of the candidates can win a majority (not a likely circumstance, but a possible one), the chance of Palin being the nominee is fairly high, being known by all and having a hard-core group of supporters.

  2. DRS says:

    Or maybe the Higher Ups at Fox told her she was put on the payroll for a reason and she’d better get out there and generate some noise and attention.

  3. OzarkHillbilly says:

    “I would do whatever I could to help,” she added, her voice rising.

    Sooo…. What? She is going to commit suicide if it goes to a brokered convention?

  4. Buffalo Rude says:

    @Moosebreath: That would be my dream situation. A brokered convention where the Alaskan Grifter plays a prominent role or perhaps lands on the ticket.

  5. anjin-san says:

    Totally consistent with her opus until now — she wants the rewards without the work.

    You beat me to it.

  6. To quote the late great Shel Silverstein, “And some kinds of help are the kind of help, that helping’s all about. / And some kinds of help are the kind of help we all can do without.”

  7. Fiona says:

    Or is this just her newest way of keeping her name in the papers?

    This is my guess. She hasn’t been getting nearly enough attention of late, so she needs to gin up some interest before she fades back into obscurity.

  8. David says:

    This just gets better and better, I may have to start buying my popcorn in bulk.