Sarah Palin for president?

No one can deny Sarah Palin’s charisma, common-sense approach to issues and media savvy, and few will deny she was an overall plus for the GOP this past election.

However, I find it rare in conservative and Tea Party circles for anyone to support her as the serious Republican presidential nominee in 2012, much less the winner. Conservatives are well aware of Palin’s shortcomings, yet the media seems to be rather blind to them at the moment. In fact, every time I turn on the TV, all I hear the mainstream talk about when it comes to 2012 nominees is that Palin is already the anointed savior.

The media seems to be intentionally ignoring everything they have mocked her for over the past two years. So I started asking myself: "Why?" I am not one to put much stock in conspiracy theories, but it does seem a bit strange. Her supposed base is not keen on her being president; yet, the media, rather than relegate her to political sideshow, is ordaining her the next GOP presidential candidate.

Now, we all know the media tends to be liberal, outside Fox News of course; so it does not seem to be in their political interest to bang the Palin drum. But what if, perchance, the media is pumping up Palin because they know she’ll lose a general election to Obama? Are the onslaught of media offers and free publicity a subtle means of saying to the GOP, “Look, here’s your nominee. We accept her and think she’s great. ‘Dontcha know’, we even gave her daughter a shot on the No. 1 TV show and gave Sarah her very own show on TLC?” Are they trying to give us a false sense of security in Palin's chances and distract us from all the reasons we know she's not the best candidate to defeat President Obama in 2012?

Of course, it could be that they are only in it because Palin means ratings. She’s the political equivalent of Kim Kardashian; putting her on anything means money for the network(s). Possibly, they could care less about Palin actually being the Republican presidential candidate; but then again, maybe that is exactly what they want.

Armstrong Williams is on Sirius/XM Power 169, 7-8 p.m. and 4-5 a.m., Monday through Friday. Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/arightside, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/arightside.