How Sarah Barracuda Becomes President

This NEW YORK magazine article,  2012: How Sarah Barracuda Becomes President, has much to recommended it.   Let's start by using it to answer a question Josh asked after I dissed John Boehner as the next speaker: "What's wrong with Boehner?" “ All those guys, they could try and turn it up and have the fervor, but voters are gonna read through it,” says Dowd. “It’s just not authentic to them, because they’ve been part of the Washington scene or taking part in state politics, where they cut deals and made compromises—which is part of governing but lethal in this environment. That assessment was aimed at establishment guys (Romney. et.al.) running for president, but it applies to Boehner as well.  In this regard John Heilemann displays an understanding of the Teaparty that few others have displayed.  He notes that in any other year Mitt Romney would be the GOP's  designated (can you say John McCain) candidate, but "his favorability among conservative voters is just 30 percent." “ The reasons are myriad, but paramount among them is his role in enacting a health-care law in Massachusetts that bears a striking similarity to the controversial (and loathed on the right) federal overhaul that Democrats passed this year. Others are similarly dismissed in a Teaparty environment: Pawlenty is an erstwhile liberal on climate change; Huckabee is widely written off because he lacks the capacity to raise big cash and his appeal is limited to Evangelicals We Republicans are so desperate for an ideas guy like Newt Gingrich that sometimes we even turn to Newt Gingrich, ... “[But] he is not a serious candidate for president. [Texas Gov. Rick] Perry’s a hero to Second Amendment zealots and shit-kickers alike. But Perry hasn’t given the slightest public indication that he’s interested in running, and even if he did get in, he might well prove no match for Palin in the anti-Establishment tier. How will the Establishment candidates cope with [Palin the candidate]? “The first thing it does is completely freaks them out ... And the hard part is, it’s going to be difficult for them to go after her, because she’s so popular [within the party] - Segue Bloomberg factor - in a nutshell. “ Moderate Republicans would rebel and turn to someone with business acumen - Bloomberg.  Running as a third-party candidate, he siphons off New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, and California. Denying Obama those states.  ... with Palin holding the fire-engine-red states of the South, and the president might find himself short of the 270 electoral votes necessary to win. Assuming you still remember the basics from American Government 101, you know what would happen next: The election would be thrown to the House of Representatives—which, after November 2, is likely to be controlled by the Republicans. The result: Hello, President Palin! There are plenty of  liberal laugh lines that leak through, but while I won't be putting money on this scenario right now, it's a very good effort.   RELATED - Watch Bloomberg: