Palin for President?

People are already talking about the 2012 election.  Of course one of the biggest stories is Sarah Palin.  Many conservatives are excited about the prospect of her candidacy.  I liked Sarah Palin as a VP candidate.  Someone like John McCain doesn't needs someone with all the experience in the world.  She would have been extremely helpful in guiding America towards energy independence and reforming the energy grid, which should be the top priority of any administration right now.  She is also clearly reform-minded, which would have been a good help to John McCain.  She is also has a track record of cutting spending, which would be very helpful, as the current growth of government and the national debt should be a top priority.  She didn't have enough experience to be president, but that's overrated. She was running for vice president, not president.   Obama had practically no experience.  But he had time to mature over the campaign, she didn't.  Many other successful vice presidents have had similar level of experience as her.  Today, advisors and handlers are so important that one person doesn't have that much power and is certainly not alone.  Besides, if something would have happened to McCain (of course this is a double-hypothetical case) she would have likely had experience as a vice president.  She didn't make me any more unsteady than Joe Biden, who seems a little bit bombastic and brash.  (Some of his statements made me wonder if he was trying to throw the election.)  I don't believe for a second that she was as dumb as the media made her out to be.  She couldn't have become a governor that way.  It would be hard to believe she is a diva as well, or she wouldn't be the most popular governor in the country.  In looking at old clips and seeing lower-pressure interviews with her, she is clearly a smart, well-studied woman.  The presidency is a completely different situation.  She wouldn't just be somebody's helper.  Palin clearly does not have the breadth of knowledge or experience to be in charge of the country right now, especially in terms of economics or foreign affairs.  However, there are many things I admire about Mrs. Palin.

1. She seems like a genuinely warm and caring person.

2. She isn't a "politician", she has tackled corruption and excess, even in her own party.  It is a very impressive thing for her to put the state's jet on Ebay and cut the governor's chef.

3. She doesn't seem like an insane partisan like so many politicians, she repeatedly talked about people of all political persuasions finding common ground and such, and actually displayed this in Alaska.  Interviews with her as a mayor show a very humble, practical person.

4. She is not wealthy or elite like so many politicians, but comes from a working class background.

5. She has personal connections to issues, again unlike many politicians, a son in Iraq, a special needs son, a teenage daughter who is pregnant.

That said, I would prefer if she didn't run in '12.  I probably wouldn't vote for her, unless she shows she has significantly increased her knowledge.  Personally, I would like to see her join the senate.  I think she would be a very strong presence and could do some things.  Perhaps she could then think about running in 2016.  But as it stands now, there are several other people who I would support before her.  I like Palin, but I'm not one of these far-right conservatives that thinks she is fully qualified to be president now or wants her to run in the next election. She is a great governor and perhaps a good presidential candidate someday.  She's too conservative for my taste, but I still think she could be a candidate I could vote for someday, but not anytime soon.