Actually it's fairly clear what Sarah has in mind now.

As I noted in my first post on this thread (3 July 2009 4:03 PM):   think Reagan.


She envisions herself as the female Reagan.   It's certainly true there's the same minimal grasp of any issue.   But there the parallel stops.

Not being a student of history (to say the least), she does not realize Reagan opted not to run for a third term as California governor, so by 1974 he was free to travel the nation building up a reputation and amassing political IOU's he could then collect. Without an accusation of deserting his post.

He did not quit in his first term as governor.

And he came close to getting the nomination--from a sitting president.



She does however realize that, as I've noted earlier, Sanford is now finished as a rival for 2012, and therefore his potential financial backers are up for grabs. And EMILY (Early Money Is Like Yeast).   She also has a passionate fan base- (of yahoos, but unfortunately they do vote)-- and she's not seen as used merchandise, as are Huckabee and Romney. She imagines she'll get more of the female vote than they will (of those who vote solely based on chromosomes).

Further, as we saw in 2008 on the Democratic side, the Iowa caucuses are indeed important. The Republican Iowa caucuses are stuffed full of Right to Lifers.   There she reigns supreme-- of the likely candidates she alone can claim to have "walked the walk".

So between now and then her plan is to roam the nation (a la Reagan) supporting Republicans, appearing at various rightist fora, talking about her book (which will easily solve all her money worries, thanks to the multimillion dollar contract), and further building up her reputation as an attractive, aggressive "real American".

It all hinges on the economy. If the economy has not recovered substantially (e.g. from 9.5% unemployment) by 2011, voters will be in a mood to take it out on Obama and the Democrats.   In that gloomy scenario, some Republican will be the beneficiary in 2012. Sarah aims to be the one.

Not good to underestimate her.