2010 Rising Karma: Palin, Perry, Romney, William Daley. Palin will be nominee.

By Bernie Quigley

- for The Hill on 12/26/09

History turns in a moment: Harper’s Ferry, Trafalgar, Dien Bien Phu. The Democrats may have seen such a moment with Ben Nelson this week in Nebraska so it might be worth marking that page. At year’s end it is worth looking forward to what is likely to rise ahead. These four will be key: Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and William Daley.

Sarah Palin: She was seen from the very beginning as a rising star – a cultural awakener similar to Andrew Jackson – bringing a whole new cultural paradigm to the political process; a new heartland spirit of individualism and self reliance as per Emerson and Barry Goldwater. The widespread, deep and immediate hysteria in the MSM was a sure indication that she was a threat to the old temple and would be a vital new force in the rising century. This week the non-partisan Research 2000, which conducts research and focus groups, states simply, “Palin will be the 2012 GOP Nominee.”

Rick Perry: “I love Sarah Palin,” Perry said in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. The Tea Party movement has found wide support this past year. Recently 41% chose it over Democrat or Republican. Texas governor Perry was the first to stand publically with it and he has not backed down. The influential conservative marketer Richard Viguerie of the Reagan-era Christian Coalition supports this movement but has lamented that this “Constitutional moment” has no leader. Perry is the leader and his status will rise with this movement. The Conservative Party initiatives at NY 23 and the huge Republican victory in Virginia’s governor’s race reflect this new paradigm.

Mitt Romney: Romney has kept a low profile this last year while Perry and Palin have spoken out. But in a speech several months back he called the Town Hall and Tea Party activists “courageous.” There is in fact nothing radical in these initiatives and nothing particularly controversial. They simply go against the ingrained conventional wisdom and the conditioned reflex. To look at some of Romney’s speeches and talks when he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney has long been considering issues that are popular now with the Tea Party people as simple organizational principles evolved from the Reagan Era. He essentially has no conflict with these groups. As it was with Andrew Jackson, at the core of this new public expression is the rise of the western states to political maturity and economic prominence. The main question going into 2012 is who will Palin pick for running mate, Perry or Romney?

William Daley: Stated here first in the Big Question forum at The Hill several weeks back: Obama’s Democrats are in trouble. They need to start again with William Daley prominently in the front room. Suggested that Obama might bring in Daley and his friends, New York mayor Mike Bloomberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger and start from scratch. This weekend, as the Democratic Congress touts its big victory, Daley sounded a warning. In a Washington Post interview he wrote, “Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come.”

Daley, a long-time Democratic activist, is in Washington Post columnist David Broder’s opinion, “ . . . one of the canniest Democrats I know.” Broder said Democrats should heed Daley’s “steer to the center” advice.

Obama is not listed here as part of the 2010 rising karma because his momentum is receding and his status and organization took a major hit at Copenhagen. His profile will continue to recede if the Democrats don’t change their ways. Connecticut senator Chris Dodd was critical this past week of the poor Senatorial decorum of the new people in Congress. It should be expected when Democratic publicists and advisors sent up a constant call in 2008 for a “rock star.” And one new senator in Dodd’s sight is in real life a standup comic. For five years the Democrats have passed over some their best, brightest and most capable people for “rock stars,” celebrities and utopians. Daley saved Al Gore from catastrophic failure in his race again George W. Bush. If Obama does not bring him in and get a new start, the Democrats will not hold against the rising conservative tide.