Palin in Comparison

Two Governors, both alike in letter 'P'. Pawlenty and Palin. Both contenders for the Presidency. But one of them is making moves that will likely cost them supporters. And its not the one you think. Governor Palin's stepping down from office could not have come at a better time for her presidential aspirations for three reasons.

First, she needed to step down from the spotlight. She's like a media vampire: the spotlight does not do good things to her. Her die-hard supporters will continue to ignore her loose grasp of metaphors, but the moderates won't. If she keeps her speaking to paid gigs at conservative conventions, she'll bolster her skills as an orator, which was one of her weaknesses in the last election. Once she becomes more comfortable with being in public speaking situations, she'll come across better.

Second, she needs more time to get her family life under control. Not much will stop her family's struggles from becoming gossip fodder, but by stepping down from office, she'll have the ability to devote her full attention to the family, which hopefully will minimize opportunities for there to be gossip in the first place. If she can keep the voters convinced that there won't be any surprises in her personal life, she'll be better off.

Lastly, let's look at her supporters. Even though Bristol Palin's pregnancy should have been a sticking point for values voters, it didn't have too great an effect. Liberals called it hypocrisy, conservatives denounced the attacks on her family, and the wheels of democracy kept on spinning.

What Palin has to do is use the years running up to the election to convince moderates that she's up to the task. Considering that they still voted her as VP (and put her one heartbeat away from the presidency), it's not going to be too hard of a sell. Give Obama's economic plans a few years, see if inflation runs its course, and she could gain enough support from fiscal conservatives to win the election.

So what's wrong with Pawlenty? Why isn't he in a great position? He doesn't have as good name recognition outside the midwest, and he's got a harder task ahead of him: earning the respect of the hardline conservatives. To them, the willingness to sign Franken into the Senate seat so readily shows weakness. Sitting on the decision for a small but reasonable amount of time would have earned their respect, while alienating only a few moderates. The payoff would have been big.

Palin and Pawlenty are on opposite sides of the good for the self- good for others. Pawlenty may have hurt his future chances, but did it for the good of the state. Palin's approval ratings were down even among conservatives, but she bettered her chances for the Presidency. This does not mean she'll do a better job than Pawlenty (believe me, the opposite is true), she's just better suited to get there.