Palin - LePage 2012

I wish I could take credit for the idea of Sarah Palin running for President in 2012 with Paul LePage as her running mate, but I can't. I actually first read of the concept in the comments section of a story published at MaineToday.com. The news article that generated the comment had to do with newly elected Maine Governor Paul LePage saying, on camera no less, that the NCAAP could "kiss my butt". The news story has been extensively covered so I won't belabor the point here.

The reason I think a Palin/LePage ticket would be so awesome is that I cannot think of two politicians more alike in their ability to divide the electorate into starkly partisan camps. Sarah Palin is ardently adored by her supporters; the rest of us pretty much think she is a joke.

So it is with Paul LePage. He was elected governor of the state of Maine with a plurality of 38% of the votes cast, which of course means that the other 62% of the voters cast their votes for someone else. It has been reported that almost all recent gubanatorial races in Maine have been won by candidates who received less than a majority of the votes cast. In this light, LePage's 38% plurality does not seem to be out of line with other elections, but I think in this case there is a difference: those that voted for Paul LePage love him, but those who did not would have preferred to see ANYONE but him elected. He's a man the Tea Party loves and everybody else doesn't. He was nobody's second (or even third) choice - those that didn't vote for him voted AGAINST him. Like Sarah Palin, he's that devisive.

When the election results were final and it was determined that LePage was Maine's new Governor I, and I think most Mainers, wished him well and hoped for his success in guiding Maine into the future. Now less than two weeks into his administration I have grave doubts about his ability to unite us and move the State forward. The opposite is true, it seems. Paul LePage seems to have no regard for any interests other than his own and no respect for any person or group that would advance a point of view contrary to his.

The Tea Party has it seems to me a "my way or the highway" mentality - either you agree with them or you are wrong. There can be no middle ground, and therefore no basis for compromise. Sarah Palin and Paul LePage both seem to embody this spirit and that's why I think they would make an ideal ticket for the Presidential election in 2012. And hopefully no strong third party candidate will emerge to create a scenario where they could actually win the election with less than 50% of the popular vote.

PALIN/LEPAGE 2012 - I may have a bumper sticker made up so I can promote the idea. And I hope that the vast majority of citizens who are NOT Tea Partiers will be sufficiently afraid of the prospect to vote for their opponents.