In the Event of a Brokered Convention, All Bets Are Off

                 "Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run;
            Hurry and scurry puts you further behind." - Proverbs 21:5 MSG

If Sarah Palin’s most electrifying speech at the CPAC did not convince that only she can articulate Americans’ concerns and vision for our nation, then Obama has just been handed his second term. The CPAC event proved that only she  can rouse the unexcited base to their feet. Only she can energize and move voters to go out to the polls. Only she can unite us to defeat Barack Obama.

The Republican Party has four good men running for the GOP nomination. Without a doubt, any of them could do a much better job than our current president  is doing right now. However, it is highly uncertain how these men would withstand the avalanche of relentless and coordinated attacks of Team Obama, the Democratic machine, the Journolists  and their LSM cohorts come general election time. Make no mistake that the Obama campaign will make sure that this election would absolutely be about smear after vicious smear because the president cannot run on his dismal and disastrous record. Only one Republican has survived the Alinsky attacks  from the Left for years and came out still standing - stronger, wiser and prouder. We all know that person to be Sarah Palin. Only she has the smarts to throw the media into a convulsive tizzy and still have her message ring out loudly and win the argument.  

This year's Republican primary season has been a very fluid race.The rise-and-fall in the polls of the candidates plus the lackluster enthusiasm of the base make credible all the talks about the realistic possibility of a brokered convention. If a brokered convention is what we end up having, "all bets are off". We need to nominate someone who has the fortitude and fire in the belly to defeat Obama - Sarah Palin. But she would need allies in Tampa. Voters pick their candidates but delegates pick the nominee. PLEASE BE A DELEGATE FOR SARAH PALIN. That is the only way she can clinch the nomination.   

If you have not considered it yet , please explore the possibility of becoming a delegate. Your state’s delegate filing deadline may or may not have passed yet. Even if your state's primary/caucus has wrapped up, the qualifying period to be delegates may still be open. Different states, different rules but the best place to start is to go local.  Even if Governor Palin is not a candidate (yet), let your county GOP official know that you will vote for the best candidate at that time, but in the event of a brokered convention, you will be voting for Sarah Palin.  Please visit GOP Convention 2012 . It has everything one needs to know per state (contact information, filing deadlines and selection process, etc.) to become a delegate . Here is another good resource from RNC for Life with compressed view of delegation selection process and filing dates.

Today, some of us may be in support of one of the declared candidates but we all share ONE goal: get Barack Obama out of the White House. If this primary race goes down to a brokered convention, we need to come together and get behind the strongest Republican to take on the incumbent president. We must nominate someone who has the clear and proven track record of true reforms, of fighting corruption and cronyism from their very roots and symptoms, of actual accomplishments that have had real-life benefits to the people and of unwavering commitment to our Constitution, our freedoms, time-tested values and principles.  Given a brokered convention, we must coalesce around a patriot whose message is ingrained in her conservative character - Sarah Palin.  

Let us stand together to restore America!

An Open Letter to GOP Voters

Dear  GOP Voter,

                             "Test all things; hold fast that which is good."
                                                                - 1 Thessalonians 5:21 

In a few weeks or months, you will be heading to your state caucus or primary. By then you probably have picked a candidate to vote for - or not. 2012  is probably the most consequential election of our time and  in your hand rests the direction our country will be going in the next four years and beyond.

President Obama in 2008 promised to usher in an era of hope and change. He vowed to fundamentally transform  America so we could be a more perfect union.

Transform America he did but not for the better.  Obamacare.  $15 trillion in debt ($4T of which was added by his administration).  A  98%  debt-to-GDP ratio. High unemployment  rate. Unresolved housing crisis. Solyndra. Fast and Furious. These are his legacies. President Obama proved himself to be a master at class warfare, dividing Americans and pitting them against each other, oblivious to his own inconsistencies and clueless in addressing the problems our country is facing.

We see in Washington right now a broken system, with lawmakers unabashedly pandering to special interests, squandering opportunities and the taxpayers' money without accountability, where only the connected wins. The problem is not just the policies coming out of the nation's capital but also the pervasive and deep-seated culture of political deals and paybacks that are ruining all that America stands for.

We need a new leadership, beginning at the White House and "the challenge is not simply to replace Obama in 2012 but the real challenge is who and what we will replace him with."

Among the GOP presidential candidates, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich displays an authoritative grasp of the issues and policies. But it is also his commanding  knowledge of the ins-and-outs of D.C. politics that he used to enrich himself. A politician since 1978, he is the very embodiment of crony capitalism and permanent political class. The pundits are now scrutinizing his Freddie Mac connection . We can soon expect Team Obama and the media to join in in picking apart the activities surrounding the  American Solutions for Winning the Future  and  other companies he founded since he left the Congress. 

The other frontrunner, former Governor Mitt Romney, whose shifting convictions and positions on issues so repulse some voters that the conservatives in Iowa secretly met up to blunt his campaign and his ” inevitable” status.  A famous flip-flopper, he’s run as a moderate, a liberal and  a conservative depending on who his opponent was.  He may be the establishment’s  favorite  but the rich, stiff, uncharismatic Mr. Romney simply cannot connect with average Joe-six-pack. Polling at low- to mid-20’s  in spite of  five years of campaigning for the Presidency, voters simply aren’t lining up behind his candidacy.

Congressman Ron Paul, whether you agree with his positions or not, is a principled man but his base is a tiny sliver of the general voting population. He' ll never be able to compete with the billion-dollar war chest of President Obama. The other candidates, whose place in polls have fallen like a rock or as static as a boulder, simply have no plausible path to the nomination.

Given the high disapproval ratings of  Pres. Obama, unseating him is supposed to be a walk in the park. We have a frustratingly lame field of GOP candidates and none of them is breaking out decisively ahead of the pack. It  is understandable why most Republican voters still have not committed  to one particular candidate. There is the greatest possibility that the eventual winner of the primary elections would not be able to garner 50%   of the delegates , which could pave the way for a drafted candidate.

At this point in the primary season when the filing dates for candidacy for 2012 have all but passed, is it a useless endeavor to talk about or even consider a write-in/draft candidate? The short answer is NO and the short explanation is: BROKERED CONVENTION.

By definition, a brokered convention  is a " situation in the presidential primary and caucus process where there are not enough delegates obtained for a single candidate to obtain a majority for the presidential nominating convention. Since no candidates receive enough votes on the first ballot to win the nomination, the convention is brokered through political horse-trading and multiple ballots. "

Two articles have explored this topic, "A Rogue Convention: How GOP Convention May Surprise in 2012"  and  " The GOP Needs a Brokered Convention" .  For a fair and balance reading,   here is another article that suggested a brokered convention is not likely to happen. Then you can decide for yourself , given the weak and flawed GOP field and the gravity of our  challenges, if these times call for an uncoventional Convention, an unconventional election and, yes,  an unconventional candidate whose name is not even on the ballot: SARAH PALIN.

Last October, Sarah Palin announced that she would not be seeking the GOP nomination in 2012 for the Presidency yet also vowed to keep fighting the fight to restore a government that is truly representative of the people. Indeed, great leaders do not seek power nor a title to make a difference. They are CALLED to serve. General Dwight Eisenhower  repeatedly said no to demands for him run for President but the "I like Ike" draft movement marched on. In 1952, he went on to become our 34th President.

As things stand right now, it does not matter much whether Romney, Gingrich or Obama wins the election. Candidates will say whatever the voters would like to hear but once in the Oval Office, it'll be Party/Politics over People on Day One. It is better to take a once-in-a-lifetime chance for "sudden and relentless reform" than settle for the status quo.

PLEASE WRITE-IN SARAH PALIN.

• Writing-in Sarah Palin sends the message how dissatisfied we are at the current weak and flawed GOP presidential candidates .
• Writing-in Sarah Palin now takes votes away from the GOP candidates which ensures that in the end not one of them goes to the Convention in Tampa with the majority of delegates.
• Writing-in Sarah Palin sends a message to the Republican National Committee and the GOP establishment that they cannot “anoint” a nominee for us.
• Writing-in Sarah Palin sends the message that we will not settle for a nominee who is an entrenched fixture in good ol’ boys’ network, swam in the same Washington swamp and willingly participated and profited from his political connections.
• Writing-in Sarah Palin does not conflict with her decision to not seek the GOP nomination because we are the ones seeking it for her without exposing her family to more malicious attacks.
• Writing-in Sarah Palin gives us a one-shot chance  to send to the White House a true commonsense conservative who shares our values and vision for America, a proven reformer with  solid record of serving the interest of the people, who respects and abides by the Constitution instead of circumventing it to fit what is politically popular.  

HER WORDS MATCH HER ACTIONS and she has the record to prove it. That cannot be said of the GOP candidates and President Obama , and indeed most, if not all, politicians of our time.

She knows how to take on the corrupt system and signed the most sweeping ethics reform in Alaska.She went line-by-line to veto half a billion dollars of unnecessary spending, the largest in the state's history. Her strong and sound economic and fiscal policies resulted in a Triple A credit rating upgrade. She exposed and fought the collusion of the mainstream media, the Democrats and the GOP establishment. She protects the unborn. She ran a prudent, ethical and truly transparent government. She knows how to revive the economy and secure our national security through energy independence. She  understands the complexities of the oil industries . In Alaska she brought together all the elements that created private sector jobs, maximized the benefits of these natural resources to her constituents without choking the oil companies with unreasonable regulations and tax system yet protects the God-given pristine beauty of the environment.  Only she possesses that expertise.

A government of the people, by the people and for the people. She did that in Alaska. She will do that for all of United States.

Your vote has the power to lift this cloud of malaise and pessimism brought  about by Pres. Obama . America is the original Comeback Kid. We can bring back Morning in America. We get one chance in 2012.  Make your vote count.

 PLEASE WRITE-IN SARAH PALIN.

God Bless America,
Your Fellow American

Author: Nancy Labonete

(Note: If you agree with this letter, please share this link , or copy and paste the whole piece then share with your family and friends via e-mail or Facebook, post it in your blog, share it on Twitter or with radio show hosts or whatever means available to help spread the word. Thank you very much.)

UPDATE: Here is a compelling article from Larry Sabato, a political analyst, suggesting that the Republican presidential field may not at all be settled yet.