Filed under: News
As the world continues to come to grips with the death of Osama bin Laden on President Barack Obama's watch, some politicians like Sarah Palin are refusing to recognize the President's role in the takedown.
During her speech at a recent fundraiser in Colorado, the former Governor of Alaska minced no words in crediting Obama's precursor, George W. Bush, for the execution of the fallen al-Qaeda leader.
"Yesterday was a testament to the military's dedication in relentlessly hunting down an enemy through many years of war," she said to a crowd of spectators at Colorado Christian University. "And we thank our president. ... We thank President Bush for having made the right calls to set up this victory."
After a brief silent pause, the audience exploded into cheers and a round of applause.
Monday's event didn't quite jibe with the potential Republican candidate's initial response. She released a statement via Facebook on Sunday night immediately following the breaking news.
"Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude," she wrote. "God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible... May God bless our troops and our intelligence services, and God bless America!"
If Palin does in fact decide that she will run as a 2012 presidential candidate, she may want to revise her campaign strategy. According to a recent Gallup poll, suggest that roughly two-thirds (60%) of Americans would not vote for Palin during the next election.
That telling statistic puts the 'New York Times' best-selling author in the same company as another possible 2012 candidate, Donald Trump. According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, just nine percent of likely voters said they were excited about a Trump candidacy, while 58 percent of voters said they wouldn't vote for the mogul under any circumstances.
"Sarah Palin and Donald Trump suffer from the reality that, as our mothers told us, 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression,' " said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll. "You could call this the 'no way' measure."