CNN commentator Jack Cafferty revisited his favorite punching bag on
Monday's Situation Room: Sarah Palin. After referring to one of Palin's
reasons for her resignation, that she wanted to avoid becoming a lame
duck, Cafferty cracked: "She was already lame." He also
predicted that she would become a mere "thumbsucker" if she's no longer
considered a contender for the 2012 presidential race.
Cafferty began his 4 pm Eastern hour "Cafferty File" segment by
recounting the decision of the Alaska governor to resign at the end of
July. He continued by briefly mentioning how Palin became famous after
being named as John McCain's running mate, listed the "lame duck"
reason for resignation, and then made his crack: "Palin, who was thrust
on to the national stage as John McCain's running mate against
President Obama, defended her decision as a move to avoid becoming a
lame duck. Love her or hate her, Sarah Palin's able to - she was already lame - Sarah Palin's able to electrify the conservative base of the party like no other Republican in the country."
Before asking his "Question of the Hour," the commentator predicted
that "it's time for the spin doctors, once again, to try to come to the
rescue and explain why what Sarah Palin did was a good idea- good luck
with that. It's like what they were called on to do after the
interviews with Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News. That was another
good idea. The deal is this: real conservatives don't quit." His
question: "How does Governor Sarah Palin's resignation affect her
chances for 2012?" He followed this with a semi-lament: "I will miss
Governor Palin for a purely selfish reason- she generates more e-mail
than any other single subject on 'The Cafferty File.'"
Anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Cafferty whether or not the Republican was
"going away." He replied, "Well, I don't know what she's going to do,
but won't have the same impact if she doesn't carry the- the mantle of
governor of Alaska, and if she's not considered any longer a serious
contender for presidential nomination, she becomes, in the vernacular,
a thumbsucker" (for those of you in Rio Linda, to use one of Rush
Limbaugh's phrases, a "thumbsucker" in this context is a whiner who
appears childish). The CNN anchor laughed at this label.
At the end of the July 6 hour, the CNN commentator read nothing but negative responses against Governor Palin:
CAFFERTY: Question this hour is, how does Governor Sarah Palin's resignation affect her chances for 2012? David in Texas says, 'If I quit my job at a smaller company, wait until 2012, and then go down the street to the larger company, I'm not going to get the job, either as an hourly worker, a manager, or a CEO. Palin has ended her political career.'
Larry in Texas: 'I was always taught when the going gets tough, the tough get going, in all areas of life. It's when things are tough that the true character is exposed, and in her case, she's a quitter and always will be. Regardless of her political aspirations, her goose is cooked now. Maybe people will realize- those who supported her- how fortunate we are she isn't one heartbeat away from being president.'
David in Virginia says, 'It depends on who you ask. I don't think it drastically hurts her chances of being the Republican nominee, especially among the rapidly thinning field, but it makes being a viable national candidate nearly impossible.'
Diane in Pennsylvania has a theory: 'Something's very wrong with this picture, Jack. She's not finishing her current term, not going to run again. Somebody got something on her, and I don't think it's going to be pretty. Think about it- if these guys aren't resigning after playing footsies in bathroom stalls, or having a friend in Argentina, what the heck could she have done?'
Jeff in Hawaii says, 'Who cares? Caribou Barbie has shown consistently she's not only unaware of the nuances of global and domestic policy, she's unwilling to learn. To end her term early because the job's too hard or too demanding just shows she's in over her head.'
And David in California: 'Her chances in 2012 for president are negative numbers. Her chances in 2012 for a show competing with yours are pretty good.'
- Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.