Palin's absence from convention may expose rift

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin waves during a Tea Party Express rally in Manchester, N.H.

/ Getty Images

This article originally appeared on RealClearPolitics.

If one of Mitt Romney's goals in choosing a running mate was to mine the same mother lode of conservative excitement that John McCain tapped by picking Sarah Palin four years ago, there's one additional dilemma for Romney to address: Palin is still around.

A day after Romney unveiled House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential pick, Palin suggested in a statement posted by her Fox News colleague Greta Van Susteren that she would not speak at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.

"This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I'm excited to hear them," Palin said in the statement, which was widely interpreted to signal that hers would not be among those voices.

Palin's apparent decision to steer clear of this year's convention came almost four years after she took the 2008 presidential race by storm with her speech accepting the GOP vice-presidential nomination in St. Paul, Min. -- a performance that electrified the party faithful and received almost universal praise from previously skeptical pundits.

Within days, the McCain/Palin ticket had surged to the lead in the RCP Average before a series of public stumbles and the near-collapse of the nation's financial system led ultimately to the Republicans' defeat.

Though the differences between that vice-presidential rollout and his own are innumerable, Romney's selection of Ryan has likewise generated a surge of enthusiasm in the conservative base that had previously rallied to Romney largely by default.

According to Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul, the Republican campaign raised $3.5 million online in the 24 hours following Romney's selection of Ryan, and the GOP ticket was greeted over the weekend by the largest crowds of the former Massachusetts governor's candidacy, though the numbers have been less massive than the tens of thousands who regularly turned out for Palin's 2008 appearances.

Though she has faded from her once commanding perch on the national political scene, Palin's role in the Republican Party heading into the campaign's final stretch remains a consequential matter for the Romney team to address.

The former Alaska governor has demonstrated a continued ability to wield significant influence, particularly in Senate and House primary races, but her penchant for doing things her own way has left the lingering possibility that she could either boost the standard-bearer or become a thorn in his side.

For this reason, it was notable when she initially offered only a lukewarm reaction to Romney's selection of Ryan.

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[wackee]

Palin for president 2016

[notreich]

She decided she was not going to be a big wheel at the covention just like she decided she was not going to meet with Margaret Thatcher in England after all (after the Thatcher camp issued a statement saying they would not demean Thatcher by having her meet with a "nutcase.")

[RangerDan107]

Palin IS white trash to most Republicans. A right wing conservative with her non-silver spoon in mouth background just doesn't fit. Arrogant a$$es with rich overlords, how pitiful and sickening has the republican party become?

[KennethKrieger]

Romney and Ryan will concentrate on talk about cutting Social Security and Mredicare instead of growing the economy.Sarah has always run agianst waste and control of government. Ryan and Romney are RATCRATS (combined name for Democrats and Republicans). I would love to have Sarah speak in prime time at the convention on energy. DRILL BABY DRILL. I do not want any more ta;lk about entitlements until the Federal Government becomes lean and mean. Waste money on retired workers, never on people who have never worked. KENNETH KRIEGER CAPE CORAL, FLORIDA

[ralphing]

She's like the smell that lingers when you leave out a fish and it starts to rot. Very difficult to get rid of that smell no matter what you do.

[cntrygirl3]

The reason she isn't speaking is she isn't invited. The woman is an embarrassment to the party and to the country. She is a quitter who never had to work for anything and made a point of back stabbing those who helped her. Come on she isn't important enough for this.

[margroks]

She remains an idiot who had no business running for VP. She was foisted upon McCain and thinking that anyone in the US wants to know what her opinion of on anything is an illusion in her own mind. That said, the Republican candidates are kowtowing to the Tea Party extremists just fine without her help.

[MarkInOhio]

mitt himself is an awful lot like Sarah Palin. Isn't that good enough?

[tafhdyd]

"Gov. Palin is an important voice and leader in the Republican Party," Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said in an emailed statement to RCP.

If true, the republican party is in deep doo doo.

[tvwatcher5345]

i just want to see her vote on election day, to her and the rest of the republicans come out and vote for the mormon and the roman catholic it will do my heart good (i also think it will be hysterical)