President Palin? That's the Next 'Open Door' She Wants to 'Plow Through'

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 8:37 AM on November 12, 2008.

Christopher Orr noted that as recently as Friday, Sarah Palin told reporters that she's ready to get back to the people's business. "[E]very day is a full day here in the governor's office," Palin said. "It's gonna be busy days here just like it was busy days on the trail, being the governor full-time in addition to being a candidate. Now, of course, we get to concentrate just on one of those."

While I don't doubt that Palin is ready to focus her energies on one of the responsibilities, I'm not sure it's the one she was elected to do.

A couple of nights ago, for example, was the first of a two-part interview with Fox News' Greta van Susteren, during which the Alaska governor talked about her clothes, her reported ignorance, her perspective on the political landscape, and her future plans.

Ms. Palin directed most of her media criticism at liberal bloggers, whom she twice called, "those bloggers in their parents' basement just talkin' garbage."

But she had a kind word for President-elect Barack Obama, who she said called her during the campaign to wish her luck.

"He was cool," Ms. Palin said, with almost a giggle. "He said, 'good luck, but not that much luck.'"

On the question of whether Ms. Palin will run in 2012, she answered, "This is what I always do. I'm like, O.K., God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I'm like, don't let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is. Even if it's cracked up a little bit, maybe I'll plow right on through that and maybe prematurely plow through it, but don't let me miss an open door. And if there is an open door in '12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plow through that door."

For those keeping score, that quote included six references to an "open door," and three references to "plowing" through it. Palin, in other words, seems to have given the next presidential race quite a bit of thought.

As for "concentrating" on "being the governor full-time," Palin appeared on NBC's "Today" show yesterday morning, and talked to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, and will speak at the Republican Governors Conference in Miami tomorrow.

"[E]very day is a full day here in the governor's office"? Perhaps, but not for the reasons one might expect.

Tagged as: president, gop, cnn, 2012, palin, plow, wolf blitzer