Dan Bartlett: Palin Missed the Mark

Fmr. Bush Aide Says Alaska Gov. Was Not Straight About Resignation, Needs to Shore Up Her Political "Achilles' Heels"

(CBS)  So far Sarah Palin has given no further clues of what she plans to do after leaving the governor's office behind.

The most recognizable face of Alaskan politics is stepping down even though her term should last another 18 months.

"I have given my reasons," she said at her Friday announcement. "No more 'politics as usual,' and I am taking my fight for what's right - for Alaska - in a new direction."

Palin made it clear what she called the politics of destruction played a role in a decision that left many scratching their heads.

"Although it may be tempting and more comfortable to just kind of keep your head down and plod along and appease those who are demanding, 'Hey, just sit down and shut up,' but that's a worthless, easy path out," she said Friday. "That's a quitter's way out."

So, she quit.

When asked what his reaction to Palin's surprise announcement was, Dan Bartlett, former aide to George W. Bush, said, "Just that: What?"

Appearing on CBS' "The Early Show," Bartlett said the Alaska governor has once again left both supporters and detractors scratching their heads, and did not leave much of a road map going forward about what her political ambition might be.

"I kind of view this as a two-step process," Bartlett told anchor Harry Smith. "She believes, probably, she has outgrown the governorship of Alaska. She's going to spend some time getting her family affairs in order and charting a course that will give her the opportunity, potentially down the road, to seek higher office."

"From your perspective, is she an asset or liability to the party?" asked Smith.

"I think it's too early to tell," he replied. "I think there's a core part of our party that really does appreciate what she brings to the table. She generates a lot of coverage obviously, and has become a lightning rod. But if she harnesses that in a positive direction and demonstrates over the course of the next couple of years that she can be a positive force for the party and shore up some of her liabilities, like on foreign policy . . . she needs to do a lot if she decides to run for president.

"So this is still an untold story, Harry," Bartlett said.

The former White House Communications Director and Counselor to the President said Palin draws support due to what he called her raw energy in which fans see an authenticity. "That's why I think where she missed the mark on Friday, by leaving people guessing, I think she's not coming forward in a very straight, direct way, really telling what her intentions are," he said. "It's this kind of vague language she was using. Well, is she or is she not? I think that was a mistake."

CBS News correspondent Terry McCarthy said that if Alaska voters are disappointed at their governor quitting mid-term, Palin still has significant support in the Republican Party on a national level, built up rapidly last year after John McCain named her as his running mate. Some say she may try to parlay that support into a bid for the White House in 2012.

"The rank and file of the Republican Party look at Sarah Palin and see part of themselves in her," said Roger Simon of Politico.com. "She will attract large crowds of Republicans especially, just by virtue of the fact she is Sarah Palin."

But with no official platform from which to campaign, her critics say that by resigning now she will start to see that support erode.

Palin, characteristically, is keeping her thoughts to herself.

"I think of the saying on my parent's refrigerator, little magnet that says, 'Don't explain, your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.'"

People who know Palin say she doesn't like to take much outside advice, said McCarthy. She likes to rely on her own political instincts. It remains to be seen whether this time around her instincts have got it right.

And what advice would Bartlett give to Palin?

"Going forward, what she needs to do is demonstrate she can be there for the party during the mid-term elections next year, and then work on finding some way to demonstrate that she can play on the international stage. That's been one of her big Achilles' heels during the last election cycle. I would tell her, over the course of the next 18 to 24 months, to find ways to demonstrate that she can have a seat at that international table as well."

[timothyjo]

but than all repiblicians miss the mark ! no wonder 79% idenitify with her LOL

[gunndee3]

When unemployment goes above 10% and remains double digit through 2010 because Obama, Pelosi and Reid pushed the stimulus through without putting in provisions that would've mandated new job creation, the democrats will be defeated regardless of who the opposition is in 2010. As for Palin, while she may not be the best or brightest conservative candidate for national office, she is 100% correct about one thing: Washington and the media don't get it ... at all. The DNC blame game is not working anymore. The American people just aren't buying the "Everybody Blame Bush" game the DNC and White House team keep lobbing at Dubya and more importantly us each time they have another oopsie. A majority of American voters are simply fed up with elected officials, regardless of party, who can't get the jobs we hired them to do ... done. Likewise, a majority of us agree that the national media manipulates the news to fulfill their agenda vs. simply reporting it in an unbiased manner. Together, those two majority opinions provide more than sufficient momentum to swing the pendulum back to the right in 2010, even with an Ichabod Crane heading the Republican party. I'm not clairvoyant, but I do see a new network and a new party coming soon --- both conservative ... that will become the rallying network and party for the majority of us Americans who are firmly moderate conservatives with no one addressing what we want or need. The DNC is way too liberal for us. The Republican party's talking heads in the media and in a few key elective offices should just retire, resign, or simply go away. It's time for moderates in both parties to morph into a new Conservative Party with a major network that addresses our majority-viewpoint core values so 70% of the nation can unite together and get us fully upright and functioning as a nation once again.

[CLoverNYC1]

The media along with the liberals and secularists are busy riding the hate wagon, gleefully bashing Sarah Palin, her baby and family non-stop.

But she keeps coming back, and polls show she has a substantial following in spite of it all. All that hate is not working people. It's having the opposite effect.

Meanwhile President Obama is going full steam ahead with his global new socialist order, and enjoying the relentless media free pass and obvious bias in his favor.

I remember when it was journalists' job to bash the President. Now they consider him "... sort of like god..." lol

[LionsandLights]

Palin was a complete unknown until McCain used her on his "hail Mary" attempt. He's sorry he did, as it became very clear very quickly that she was woefully unqualified, unprepared, and short of ability - an absolute lightweight. She could not name a single Supreme Court Case, she could not name a newspaper or magazine that she reads, she could not speak coherently about US foreign policy or the bailout or anything else, and she did not even know what the Bush Doctrine was. The list goes on. Sorry, but that is PATHETIC. How someone can take her seriously is a mystery. Lightly educated, aspired to be a beauty queen, bible-thumping backwoods queen of vapidity involved in low-brow payback schemes against state troopers. President of the United States?! More like the Tonya Harding of politics. And today it was announced that her biggest base is the uneducated. Imagine that. Those who don't know what they're talking about think she's great. There certainly has to be a better Republican option than this, for the sake of us all. This is our country, not a board game. I wish her well in her personal life, but compare her in any way shape and form to Obama (or your local cabby for that matter; or a bunny rabbit), and she is about as far over her head as anyone I've ever seen, in any position, in any field. Please. The idea of Palin as a Republican frontrunner for President is a bad joke and is every Democrat's dream. Must be a conspiracy in there somewhere.

[talk_down_2_you]

Why not quote someone from the present instead of a 70-year old WW2 reference... she's just quitting in another direction. She got there the latest with the leastest to paraphrase an even older war reference.

But at least she's doing what's best for Alaska. Quitting. It's all someone else's fault isn't it? Liek Bush, she will never admit to being wrong or being a wrong doer. Some people call that lying.

[hockeymom441]

yeah!!! I can't stand hearing about her ramblings any more! Even her resignation speech was incoherent. I still can't believe McCain's people vetted this moron. A simple 1 minute conversation pretty sums it up: mindless vacuum. I actually feel really badly for her... the real idiots in this debacle are the ones that thought she was VP material. Sure she's nice, pretty and popular, but we all know were that criteria gets us! As a woman-role model, she's clearly set us back a few decades. Nice work, Sarah! She's never failed to disappoint those who think a woman can't handle a tough job. Quitting as Governor is the icing on their cake.

[DoubleHappiness88]

Dan Bartlett and Sarah Palin are male and female specimens of the same species of idiot.

[DoubleHappiness88]

**Dan Bartlett: Palin Missed the Mark**

Translation: Pot calls kettle black.

[uuforyou]

Palin is an IQUITAROD dogsled competitor who can't even finish a race.

[ponygal]

As a mother, I can understand trying to protect your family. If she wasn't the involved in the presidental elections, she would be just another Governer, her family, especially her daughter and new grandchild would not be constantly under the microscope, with lies and private things all out for everyone to see/hear. She has decide to go a new direction, something less toxic to her and her family, she will be sadly missed, she has done a lot for her state, but it seems all you hear is all the gossip magazines attacking her family. It was a very unselfish thing to put her children first, before her career. Hopefully she can find something that is better for her and her family.

[ChiefP]

to libscrytoo: Are the republicans and independents that criticize or as you say "taunt" her also pathetic. Remember, she is the one that ran for office. No one asked her into our lives. She thrust herself onto the scene. Onbviously she can make a lot more money outside of the service sector and more in the private sector. Also, your second sentence: "To" should read "Too" and blindfolds is one word. By the way, do you see the "whole picture?" You sound awfully partisan. It could just be me though.

Personally, I think she is leaving so she can be surrogate mother to Bristol and Levi's second love child. :-)

Personally, I think she is leaving so she can be surrogate mother to Bristol and Levi's second love child. :-)

[shockolit]

Yesterday, I read the Vanity Fair piece on Palin. I hope you will all go to their site and read it. No one should support her until they have read this. Person after person after person, telling their experiences with her. It is sad that there are very few people who know her well who have anything good to say about her. There are, of course, the ones that worked for her. Soon, they too, will be free to say what they think. Of course, her most ardent supporters will be afraid to read it. Some of her supporters might read it and not be bothered by it at all, because they have the same casual disregard for the truth that Sarah has. Just, please read it.

[ribbie149]

If someone had written Sarah Palin as a character in a film, no one would have believed that such a plastic, mindless entity could exist at the highest levels of national politics, but that is what the Republican Party has come to. Their response has been to blame the media for "gotcha" journalism instead of wondering why they put forth a candidate who couldn't name a single magazine that she reads or ONE Supreme Court decision besides Roe vs Wade. We get what we deserve more often than not, but what did Alaska ever do to deserve her? I will miss her- she was unintentionally one of the funniest national figures of our lifetime. If you take any credence in Forrest Gump's observation, "Stupid is as stupid does", Sarah Palin is one of the great existential heroes of our generation. She will make a wonderful addition on Fox Noise.

[quickly101]

She will never nor should she ever be elected to the Presidency. She is not strong enough mentally. I think she is a nice lady who is very loving of her family. She should have NEVER have entered the public arena if she can't take inappropriate things said about her or her family. I hope she exits public life and takes care of her family. That happens to be far more important than gaining public office. Good people don't do well in public life, you have to be a crook or skin of steel to serve in the public domain.

[kathymac007]

Governor Palin is a woman of great principle and political sensitivity. Inspired by the conversion of Arlen Specter (D) to the democratic party, she wanted to make her eventual transition to become a democrat in the following months to be seamless. God bless America and Sara's courage in her time of political transition from the dark side.

[GiveMeFreedom]

Maybe she made a very, very shewd move! Maybe she thinks she can also get millions to write a book and more millions to go on the lecture circuit.

Let's see, Bill Clinton went from a net worth of $1 million when he left office to over $100 million today in 8 short years. Now he had to earn around $180 million to have around $100 million today after taxes (U.S. and N.Y.). Under his tax laws he would have paid around $8 million more in taxes than under Bush 43, so he did OK with GWB as President.

With the higher tax rates in 2011 of 39.6% (4.6% more than today) plus the health care "excise tax" of another 4.6% coming, that is 9.2% higher income tax on Ms. Palin. So if she gets $30,000,000 this year and next year, she saves around $2,750,000 in income tax. Not sure about you, but this is a lot of money. So maybe, just effing maybe she decided to cash in while the cashing in is good for her and her family. $2,750,000 will pay for her special needs childs care for a lifetime after her husband and she are gone.

So liberals, rejoice, she is providing financially for her family.

[imnho]

When she says that she is not a "quitter", she reminds me of Richard Nixion saying "I am not a crook."

Politcally speaking she has sef-distructed with the grace of a lemming jumping off the cliff.

[rolleisl26]

Hmm I thought her 15 minutes were up I guess she is trying to extend it She will have more time to thump her Bible with her daughter and her illegitimate grandchild.
What I would like to know is why Republicans tell us to do things one way and they do as they please.They are the ones with no morals.