Looking at the immediate fallout of Sarah Palin’s announced resignation as Governor of Alaska, a big question is whether she has a future in the Republican Party. It’s also worth asking whether she has a present in the Republican Party — that is, do Republican politicians want her around to campaign for them?
Taking a look at the headlines, it’s starting to look like there’s significant variation on this question. Some don’t want her around, some are hedging, and some are still quite eager to see her.
For starters, Palin is apparently not wanted by Republicans in New Jersey, which has a hot gubernatorial race this year. “We don’t have any plans on having her in,” said New Jersey GOP chairman Jay Webber. Then again, New Jersey is a blue state that went 57%-42% for Obama last year, and where Christian Right candidates can’t get elected dogcatcher — so this was probably the situation even before her resignation, too.
A much more complicated and ambiguous situation is going on with Bob McDonnell, the Republican nominee this year for Governor of Virginia. In an interview with ABC, he bluntly said he didn’t get her resignation, or know whether she’d be available: “I don’t know how this recent announcement — which I still don’t fully understand, I only know what I’ve read in the media — how that fully plays out, and whether she’s going to just prefer a private life or whether she still wants to stay actively involved.”
When he was asked again, McDonnell said that, yes, he would welcome her to the state to campaign for him, if the opportunity arose. “I think she’d be a good spokesman. She’s a successful governor in Alaska. She’s a popular governor in Alaska,” he said. “Got a lot of things done on taxes and regulations, and ethics. And those are some of the things that I’m interested in getting done here in Virginia.” That said, there are currently no planned events in the works.
Meanwhile, there is someone else at the other end of the continuum: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is facing a challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in next year’s Republican primary. Perry was endorsed by Palin months ago, and he now says she will campaign for him, and that he’s welcoming her support.
Also, the executive director of the Iowa GOP said that Palin is still a desired draw for their own fundraising events: “We’ve been pursuing Sarah Palin since January, and now that this has occurred, we are in the process of trying to find the right connections to get her here this fall.” So there you go.
