Interview with Scott Conroy

geoff [and others] are confused by Sarah's smile... [UPDATE]

I've long felt that much of the underestimation of Sarah Palin--given her impressive record as an executive as governor of Alaska--is really more about her deep personal happiness (blared out by the elated smile that serves as its public avatar) than about how she tackles policy. In our diminished postmodern world, a smile is a yellow warning light to many. 

So for geoff and others suffering from any of the above why don't we cut to the chase regarding questions of policy and check out this excerpt from Cashman and Nelson's Sarah Takes On Big Oil [STOBO].  Since the question isn't really is Palin smart or even is she secretly, beneath the freakin vernacular, a policy wonk, but is she an effective executive?  And this book answers that question.

Cashman and Nelson offer a slightly technical and politically detailed report from their vantage point as oil industry newspaper editors and in doing so show Palin's unusual gift for grasping a complicated, gordian knot type issue and slicing into it by recruiting and assembling uniquely insightful experts that are willing (that's the rub, since most experts are invested in outcomes, some legit some less so) to actually solve a politically calcified problem.

Cashman and Nelson are senior editors at Petroleum News, an Anchorage oil industry newspaper whose subsidiary published their book.  Petroleum News has an interesting website that explains its philosophy:

Petroleum News' editorial objective is to provide readers with solid, trustworthy and timely information about the oil and gas industry. The news bulletin service and Petroleum News are frequently the first publications to break significant stories from Alaska and northern Canada.

Our news staff does not rely on press releases for information. Rather, we keep abreast of permit filings, lease reports and interactions with government agencies that often prove to be the forerunner of major happenings.

So geoff, go at it. Invest in a copy of STOBO.  The link is to the publisher, who's electronic version is cheaper than the Kindle version of the book.  Or at least read the 9 page excerpt.

h/t Conservatives4Palin

UPDATE:
Must see video from the 2008 campaign, featuring a Lloyd Marcus cover of Sarah Smile:

Bret Bair's Profiles

Asterisks mean will not run or who have overwhelming obstacles to being successful:

Governors and former Governors:
*Mitch Daniels
Haley Barbor
Mitt Romney
Tim Pawlenty
Sarah Palin
Mike Huckabee
*Chris Christie
Bobby Jindal

Senators:
John Thune
Jim DeMint

Representatives
Mike Pence
*Newt Gingrich


Long Shots:
* Rick Perry (Gov)

Rick Sanatorum (Former Sen)
Ron Paul (Rep)
Donald Trump





*Rick Perry and Chis Chistie are convincingly denying a run, Mitch Daniels insulted social conservatives too much by not understanding that social conservatives see our national debt as a moral issue and make up a large portion of the Tea Party.  Newt Gingrich burned too many wives.


But generally Bret's list is establishment or establishment compatible.  Pawlenti and Jindal are not standing up tall enough in order to resist our coming catastrophe.  Ron Paul unnerves people on defense.


My feeling is only Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin are the serious Tea Party compatible candidates.  I think for Palin to decide not to run (and I take her at face value when she says that) even DeMint would have to step up the rhetoric a bit, and frankly that's hard to imagine.


So my bet is on Palin being the best candidate and win the primary.  She will successfully paint a vision that our nation's founding principles being the way out of our current crisis. Whenever she decides to fully engage with the the LSM she'll thoroughly exceed expectations and win over independents.

Bush 2012?

A close first cousin of Jeb Bush, John Ellis, is floating the idea on his blog of a Presidential run for Jeb in 2012, as an anti-Palin independent!  Sad the elites see being pro-illegal immigration as the only path to the Mexican-American vote.  And it sounds like a Bush run this time without putting on a show of conservatism.

It would be the Bush Family Hopes to Find a way to Nudge down the Deficit against the GOP/tea party coalition and the Obama Lefties.  If it worked the downside/upside (depending on how you look at it) would be the almost certain end of the GOP.  I suspect Palin will make this scenario increasingly unlikely by continuing to bring around independents and proving herself the great unvarnished solution to our debt-laden future.

Perfect Preview of How Palin will Dominate 2012 Election

It's obvious that Palin has a perfectly honed knack for summing up political frustrations--just like she did in Alaska when she put the Governor's jet up for sale on e-bay.  By scribbling on her hand she perfectly rendered the difference between Obama and herself.  The Hawaiian Spend-aholic vs. the 'el Cheepo of vacation visor fame.  The clunky, heavy and fragile teleprompter vs. a single black pen.  It shows she's game to allow, and encourage, a partisan minority to grow in it's hate for her as she solidifies and delights the independent middle.  Even if Gibbs and company see through her strategy they can't help themselves from piling on and at least keep the Obama base happy.

hat/tip Hillbuzz...