If Sarah Palin is looking for success in a 2016 presidential campaign, she has to convince some pundits that she’s serious about running. There are political observers, however, who believe she might hold some magic as a Republican party nominee.
Doug Mataconis of Outside the Beltway believes Palin has no interest in running for president “because it gets in the way of being famous,” either as a conservative spokesperson or a celebrity.
Urgent: Do You Support Sarah Palin for the GOP Nomination? Vote Here Now
Although Palin has hinted at a run for office in 2016, Mataconis pointed out that she did the same thing during the 2012 campaign.
“She’s interested, as she has been from the start of this media circus, solely in Sarah Palin and having attention focused on her,” Mataconis wrote.
James Delingpole agreed somewhat in an article for The Spectator, saying Palin “has decided there’s more fun and money in being a stand-up comic, lefty-baiting uber-troll and Tea Party kingmaker, all of which she does brilliantly.”
However, Delingpole also mentioned Palin can be Reaganesque with “the ability to bypass the left-liberal media and connect directly with people, explaining what conservatism is really about — more liberty, less government mismanagement and interference — in a way which doesn’t sound doctrinaire or off-putting.”
M. Joseph Sheppard sees the possibility of a Palin run in 2016 as Jeb Bush’s running mate, or even in a Palin/Bush ticket. It would work either way to unite the GOP, repairing rifts between the conservative wing and establishment of the party,
Sheppard wrote in American Thinker.
Urgent: Who Should the GOP Nominate in 2016? Vote Here Now
Bush would be necessary on the ticket to win Florida, a key state in the 2016 presidential election, he explained. Both Bush and Palin are experienced campaigners.
“Having Palin on the ticket would bring in a massive energy, enthusiasm and commitment from her great mass of supporters, as she did for McCain in the most hopeless of circumstances,” Sheppard wrote.
Dustin Hawkins, a conservative writer for
About News and a campaign activist, wrote that the media has already vetted Palin thoroughly and would have to focus on her ideas in 2016.
“She is inclusive. She reaches out to everyone,” he wrote. “She is an effective speaker.” Her selection may be risky, but no riskier than the GOP’s last two nominees, he added.
Writer and commentator S.E. Cupp sees fear from the media as a reason Palin has constant publicity.
“As unserious, irrelevant, and stupid as the liberal media insists Sarah Palin is, they sure do spend a disproportionate amount of time paying attention to her every move,”
Cupp wrote for Townhall Magazine. “And all the overcompensating can’t totally mask the fear that Palin’s new online network might actually be something.”
Vote Now: Which Potential GOP Candidate Would You Support in 2016?
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.