COMMENTARY | Sarah Palin is weighing in on the GOP nomination race. She appears to have something to say about everyone and has little positive to say. It's almost embarrassing for the Republican Party to have her voice an opinion. Palin comes across less like an expert on campaigning and more like a washed-up booth babe trying to show she does have something useful to say.
Of particular note are her recent jabs at Mitt Romney. She's calling him out for not being far enough to the political right. The former vice-presidential candidate might be suggesting Romney adopt a stance more like her own. According to CNN, Palin said, "You have to have the tea party patriots enthused and energized in order to win this nomination, and more importantly in order to defeat Barack Obama."
It sounds to me like a call for Romney to realign his politics with Palin's. That might be a mistake. For starters, Romney's politics and views differentiate him from the rest of the pack. They make him seem more reasonable to left-wing voters than some of the other candidates. More important, his stance is working. He's winning states and gaining delegates.
Palin called on Romney to explain "shifts in ideology" over the past few years. It looks like she wants him to justify himself to her. That's a shocking display of hubris from a woman who still has a hard time justifying her stances on issues from apocalyptic Christianity to shooting wolves from helicopters.
If the right wing wants a candidate who can unseat Barack Obama and win the presidency, it can't choose a candidate who will polarize the nation. Romney's relatively moderate stance lets Democrats see him as a reasonable candidate. When you compare him to a man like Rick Santorum, who equates marriage equality with bestiality, according to his statements in an Associated Press interview, it's easy to see why the voting public might prefer Romney just as he is.
