The one Republican who could call 2008 a breakthrough success career wise is Governor Sarah Palin. She may not be the Vice-President-Elect, but she rose from being a recently elected governor of an often ignored state to one of the prominent national leaders of the Republican Party. She can thank John McCain for that, but every week that passes since the election, it seems more and more that Palin does not just want to be one of the leaders of the Republican Revival, she wants to be the leader, especially come 2012, and other are already working to make that happen.

Starting on November 5^th, Palin went on an interview-spree, speaking to the media more than she ever did during the presidential campaign. After months of overtly criticizing her, the media pulled a 180 and defended her from “un-named McCain aides” who ridiculed her off the record. In the post-election interviews, she has come across much better than she did in her pre-election ones. Although she didn’t provide the specifics journalists and policy wonks crave, she connected with the American people, especially conservative Republicans. It was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that she wanted to be the leader of Conservative Republicans, a compromise candidate Huckabee’s religious right could accept as well as Romney’s fiscal conservatives.

Of course this means former Governors Huckabee and Romney were not going to be part of her cheering squad. At the Republican Governors Association meeting shortly after the election, it was also apparent that her fellow current governors, some of them possible future primary rivals, would not be jumping on her bandwagon either. They were upset when a brief press conference turned into the Sarah Palin Show, with them standing behind her as if they were her flock. Palin didn’t offer any new ideas or original criticism at the RGA meeting, and after saying Republicans shouldn’t focus on the past, her speech did exactly that. Her critics say she’s not knowledgeable enough to impress a national electorate and that she can never connect with centrist Americans Republicans need to win back.

Yet can anyone think of someone right now better positioned to lead conservatives? Huckabee and Romney have as many detractors in the party as they do supporters, Newt Gingrich is old news, and Bobby Jindal already said he does not want to run in 2012 (although that could change easily). Palin has something Republicans are greatly lacking, popularity. Her record in Alaska is nowhere near as far-right as most people would assume and she is charismatic enough to bring in non-Republican voters if she has the right message. But I am not ready to call her the new voice of the Republican Party.

I was a Palin fan even before McCain picked her, and very happy he chose her even if she was to the right of me. I don’t think she has done anything to earn the spot of being the main “Republican Voice” or Republican leader however. She should definitely be a voice in the Republican Reformation, and a leader of the conservative movement, but there is a big difference between a and the. Some Republicans I’ve heard from are a bit too eager to find a leader (outside the RNC Chair race). When it comes to Palin or with any one of the other names being thrown out there, maybe we should focus more on what we want the message to be before we figure out who we want to deliver it.

Last 5 posts by Abel S. Delgado

• Let’s Support the Cantwell-McCain Bill - January 6th, 2010
• Deeds Gets Dirty, Doesn’t Win Anyway - November 2nd, 2009
• Obama & The Berlin Wall - October 25th, 2009
• The Nobel Prom King - October 11th, 2009
• Bureaucratizing Interrogations a Horrible Idea - August 28th, 2009