Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Word is that Ryan doesn't want it. Yet. He'd be fabulous, though. Articulate, gorgeous, with real world experience in business (executive experience), and uber-intelligent. Against anyone else, there'd be questions about his experience for the job, but against BO, that argument is simply laughable.

Also word that Rubio may not meet the "natural born citizen" requirement. Not that BO can really challenge that one (what's he going to say?), but it's probably something to sort out before we back him for the WH.

Sure would be better than the RINO stampede heading our way. Do we really need to relive 2008?

Sarah has been doing all the work, as far as I'm concerned, I really like Ryan. Hr'd be a great VP pic,

No. Palin has done all the grunt work. She's put her head on the chopping block since 2008, and she's never had it cut off cuz she's been right every time. When the boys are willing to work as hard as Palin, then, yeah, we can hand them the GOP nomination. If the GOP holds the House today, we need to look to Palin. It's high time that all the Beltway and other jackass Elites in the GOP gave credit where it is due and draft Gov. Palin. Any one of these guys can be her second, but I'd put her record of achievement over theirs any day. Even Paul Ryan has a record of great ideas, but not of achievement.

I've been hoping that Ryan would consider running since his performance almost a year ago at the bipartisan health care summit. I don't get the feeling that he wants to (which I base on nothing), but perhaps as more well-known figures throw his name around, he will be persuaded. I know that a ticket with either one of these names would energize me.

Ryan could run, but he needs to develop two levels of his rhetoric: One more Palin and Reaganesque, the second his normal rhetoric of being so well informed that his opponents can't easily argue against him.

Until then, I think he's a little too geeky for America to comfortably get behind.

I believe that ticket would be very competitive. Neither Ryan nore Rubio have yet been portrayed as embeciles by the media as Palin and Bachmann have (either Palin or Bachmann would be fantastic in my book - I just think the media has damaged them in the eyes of the independents).

Both Ryan and Rubio have strong fiscal conservative credentials, and Rubio being from Florida should be able to attract not only much of the southern vote but also a big chunk of the Hispanic vote from around the country.

The problem is Ryan has said he does not want to be president. I believe him. We may need to draft him. If we make him feel as though he's the only person capable of defeating Obama who has the guts required to make the extreme budget cuts necessary to save the Republic, it's hard to imagine him turning it down.

I know this won't be well-received by the Palin fans, but her negatives are simply too high to win a general election. I cannot even imagine the spin and attacks on her intelligence and "extreme" positions if she won the primary. In addition to energizing the base, this time around we need a strong candidate with most realistic shot at winning.

I know that for me, at least, I would be nervous before every debate if Palin was our candidate. I would not have that same concern for Ryan.

Although both have said they are not interested at this time, I think Paul Ryan/Condi Rice would be a fantastic ticket. I like Rubio, too, but Condi has so much foreign affairs experience, she'd be hard to beat. Let's draft them!!

Who knows perhaps the combination would be something that Palin would support.

Paul Ryan is terrific and so is Rubio. They would be quality choices...not sure about the timing, though I acknowledge there seems a huge dropoff after that in terms of charisma.

I haven't written off Chris Christie just yet.

Joe, weak-kneed Joe, it's clear you didn't watch Palin debate during the last election. Stop listening to the LSM spin. The woman's no dummy. I wish y'all would take a gander at her Facebook page and stop fishing in the barrel for RINO's who won't bring us any kind of victory. Deal with it. Sarah Palin is the architect of the GOP takeover of the House, and she's the best candidate for president cuz she is the one that Obama and the press fear the most. Incredible that y'all are STILL allowing the morons in the press to choose the GOP candidate.

Ryan has been asked about running. His answer is always the same; it is Mitch Daniels' turn.

Paul Ryan is terrific. And since I worry about the state of our national security, now and where it may disintegrate to by 2012, I think John Bolton would be an excellent choice. I would go for a Bolton/Ryan ticket. Two great minds--one for national security and international affairs, the other economic--exactly what our nation needs right now.

I love Palin, but I think her skills would be best utilized as RNC Chair.

I was thinking about Pence/Rubio...

Juba, I did watch the debate and I thought she out-performed Biden. I will admit, however, that I would still be nervous about her next debate performance. As to the spin, I do not listen to it - but a lot of voters do. I'm not calling into question her intellect, but others will. I like Palin, but as I said before, I think her negatives are too high to win a general election. The polls show that she is highly polarizing.

Make Paul Ryan Treasury Secretary!! ;)

Ryan won't run, his kids are too little. He is candidate for the future, not now.

Ideally, I'd like to see a governor run. We really need someone with that level of executive experience. Not that I'm hot for any of the obvious contenders.

Awwww cuz Palin has done "all the grunt" work we should just give it to her?

Leave aside the fact that she is incredibly polarizing figure in all sorts of important states.

Ryan, Rubio, Jindal, Christie, Demint, Pence, etc etc... 2016 is looking to be an amazing year for conservatives. Seeing as none of the above named have any desire to run for President (or in the case of 4 of those run for VP) 2012 is going to be torturous.

Unless Marco Rubio can show that his parents were citizens at the time of his birth, he is ineligible to run for POTUS. People should just forget about Rubio.

John Bolton and Sarah Palin are my personal preference for the White House. A third person is Alan West but I think West needs to be tested in the house before having a firm opinion on the man.

Sarah Palin has been the only one who has been prepared to go up against Øbama and his policies. John Bolton is the Foreign Policy wonk.

Mike Pence needs to get the executive experience as governor before contemplating a run for the White House, and really, the same goes for Paul Ryan.

Paul Ryan would make an excellent Treasury Secretary.

Also, forget Chris Christie in the White House. I think what he says and how he takes on the unions is good, but he has been a let down in critical areas such as the issue of the GZVM. No thanks. He would make a very good Attorney General and yes he would get the convictions including one very big one which most of us desire.

As for Jindal - his parents were not USA citizens when he was born. That makes him a citizen according to the 14th Amendment, but not a Natural Born Citizen. He is also a non-contender.

The question isn't whether or not Palin is stupid. The question is whether or not the general public perceives her as stupid, which they do outside of deeply red states. Palin would have a hell of a time getting to 260 votes. You think the press was hard on her and soft on the One in 2008? If she were actually on the Presidential ticket, 2008 would seem like never-ending puff pieces on Palin by comparison. She'd be slaughtered by the press. They would be running debates where Obama would get asked softball questions about policy, and Palin would be grilled on whether or not Bristol's Dancing with the Stars Success is due to her fans being extremist birther nutjobs.

Maggie's observations appear sound to me, including one regarding a big prosecution.

What appears unsound to me is the fear, expressed by several commentators, of the legacy media in re Sarah Palin -- and by implication the entire 2012 election -- and her so-called "negatives" (as measured by whom, BTW!).

Sarah Palin is not afraid of the legacy media or their liberal arts faculty/trial lawyer/trust-fund baby supports. Why should anyone else be? To fear those tergiversators is unseemly. To fear at all is despicable.

Everyone experiences fear, that is human and is also an epistemological function. But to act in fear, or to plan in fear, that is not human and it is reprehensible. Humans do not consult their fears.

And who calls Sarah Palin's "negatives" negative? Legacy media, RINOs, union leaderships, superannuated goddesses from "the 60s," trial lawyers, liberal arts faculties, race hustlers, trust-fund super-rich oligarchs, affirmative action bureaucrats. In other words, all the right people. When those people align against one, they attest one's goodness and power. They are the finest credentials Sarah Palin could have. They affirm she has everything needful.

And one should be afraid of them, and their narrative about Sarah Palin? Be afraid of God, perhaps, but not those trouble-makers.

Why not, rather, overwhelm them with courage, confidence and truth and cheerfulness? Courage is a negative in the eyes of voters and people generally? No it is not. Who hates courage are the cowards -- in today's parlance "the leftists" -- not the creatives -- in today's parlance "the conservatives."

And finally, who is a conservative going to vote for in an election between Sarah Palin, in either ticket position, and the occupier of the White House or any other member of CHAOS, save perhaps Jim Webb.

It's time to take on the legacy media and their liberal arts faculty/trial lawyer/trust-fund baby supports and make them feel the sting of rejection. Hold them by the nose and kick them in the pants. Hit their clay feet with the truth, do that in as many ways as are possible, all that occur to one to do, and above all else, do not fear. It's time to roll.

"Wouldn't it be easier just to agree now on a Ryan-Rubio ticket, and save everyone an awful lot of time, effort, and money over the next year and a half?"

Ah, there's the rub. You don't go from 0 to 60 without a national campaign effort and the fire in the belly to win the primaries first--not to mention the other shoe, the general election.

Also, there's the problem of lack of executive experience and showing that either of them can actually get things done. So far it's all talk.

Perhaps Ryan will be able to show expertise in accomplishments in the next two years in the House, but probably not if he's running a national campaign. He would have to be Obama2 with lots of no shows on key discussions and votes.

Kristol is often quirky in assumptions--such as the one above that democracy and winning votes against other attractive candidates doesn't really matter. He likes to play the "If I were king . . ." game.