Sarah Palin's Odd Move

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin shocked the political world by deciding to resign from office by the end of July. The blogosphere is making assessments about her decision based on their opinions of her. If they like her, it is some how "brilliant." If they don't, she is a "complete moron." I want to take this a little deeper.

For disclosure sake, I'm a fan of Gov. Palin. She is the first major political candidate to fully embrace and epitomize Reagan's "3 legged stool" of limited government, pro family, and national security since the Gipper himself. Furthermore, she is the only candidate in years who seems to understand the morality of economics. In fact, in her resignation speech she mentioned that the stimulus package was "immoral" because of its redistributive nature and control it placed on the states. You simply don't hear that from politicians today, but that message is desperately needed.

Now, with that disclosure, I simply don't understand her decision at all. I read her speech several times and watched it as well, and the more I studied it, the less I "got it." With the information I have before us today, I have to come to one of the following conclusions:

• She couldn't stand the heat of constant scrutiny on the family and her and simply needed to get out. This may be noble, but it likely spells the end of a powerful political career. Furthermore, if they can't handle the governorship, they certainly can't handle the White House or even the Senate, where they would deal with the constant questions by the much larger and more hostile cadre of journalists in DC. Than again, she could take a decade off and have her kids much older and she would certainly be young enough to run. She could rightly hope they will forget her resignation, but they will also likely forget her.


• A much bigger scandal that will "stick" is about to come upon her. Palin has been plagued with scandals since August of 2008, about the time she received the GOP nod for VP. None of them have had any staying power and they all appear to be trumped up to discredit her. You get the sense with this announcement, that "the other shoe" is going to drop and it is going to be big.


• She wants a fresh start. Tired of getting exonerated of one scandal to make room for another, she might think this is the best way to create a new beginning. She will be free to travel the country and make large amounts of money as a speaker, accumulate the financial largess to run for higher office and build a name around the country. Barack Obama and George W. Bush were the only Presidential candidates since John F. Kennedy to have a full time job while running for President and get elected. Furthermore, Reagan, Carter, and Clinton were former governors when they ran, making it a great springboard for office. The difference between Palin and these others, were the circumstances of which she left.
  

My concern is that no woman or minority is going to have a prayer dealing with the mainstream media if they are Conservative. The left tries to place these groups on a plantation, stating they would have nothing without liberal policies. This is a very narrow view indeed, but those who break it will suffer.

The jury will be deliberating on this for quite some time. However, she is going to have a difficult time distancing herself from accusations of being unable to finish things, or being scandal plagued, or not tough enough, or several other things that will do nothing to help her case as a GOP front runner.

See Kevin Price's new video commentary on the subject here.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

McCain Chooses Sarah Palin

A few days ago I wrote about the likely choices of McCain for VP and although I mention Sarah Palin as an excellent possibility, I didn't see her in the final four. In fact, we heard little about her in the final weeks. Of my final four, I felt the number one choice would be a woman. It just happen to be the wrong one (Kay Bailey Hutchinson). Close, but no cigars.

I didn't expect Palin because I must have underestimated McCain. I thought he needed a woman to attract unhappy Hillary Democrats. But I thought that he would have his concern for experience (Palin is in her first term as Governor and was a mayor before), age (she is younger than Obama at 44), and the lack of electoral votes in Alaska (the least a state can have at 3) would work against her. In spite of these issues, I thought Palin was a dream candidate.

McCain, who is in his 70s, needed to prove he could make a bold move. He is known as a "maverick" and it has largely paid off over the years. I don't believe this will be an exception.

McCain needed someone with executive experience on the ticket. As a Governor, Palin knows how to lead government and not merely criticize it (which is about all Members of Congress do). Even though I predicted that Obama would choose Sen. Biden days before the announcement, I certainly think he could have been aided by a running mate with gubnatorial experience.

McCain needed a woman. I don't believe anything short of a woman or a minority would be acceptable in this election year. A woman, in light of the Democrat's problems with Hillary, was particularly helpful.

McCain needed to shore up his Conservative support. Palin certainly knows how to do that. She is one of the most conservative women in electoral politics today. She is pro-family and pro-life and can talk about such with the experience of having had a child with Down Syndrome. When the Democratic men try to talk with empathy about the challenges women can face with pregnancy, she certainly has a trump card.

A nice aside would be if McCain could find someone who could talk authoritatively about the Republican's strongest wedge issue -- energy. Who better than the governor of the state that the Democrats want to protect from drilling, yet she argues that such must be pursued.

This choice puts the Democrats on notice that they are no longer the only ones poised to make history this November.

Kevin Price's articles are found daily in national publications such as USA Today, Chicago Sun Times, and Reuters. Subscribe to his newsletter here.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review.

The Real Reason the Saudis Won't Provide More Oil

The media is up in arms over the fact that Saudi Arabia has told the United States that it won't be increasing its supplies of oil into the market. Talk show hosts have been up in arms, arguing that the Arab nation is gouging the US and other Western countries with high prices. Why don't they just provide more oil? Why be so greedy? Don't the Saudis know what we have done for them? It appears the situation may not be that simple.

According to energy economists, the Saudis are suppose to double its output over the next ten years. However, it is being reported by the New York Times that "capacity will probably stall near current levels, potentially creating a significant gap in the global energy supply" according to government officials and energy executives in both the US and Saudi Arabia. Just recently a friend of mine told me that the stock market advise newsletters were about to release this story. But it is really old news because the article is over four years old.

So over four years this story was out there, but little has been done about it. This is just among a long list of reasons why we have needed a national energy policy. Four years ago gas was a little more than half the price it is today. That was the time to take advantage of important information such as this, but I am sure the politicians didn't want us to be alarmed. Maybe if we ignored it, the problem would some how go away.

The United States is sitting on approximately 200 years worth of oil based on current consumption levels according to most analysts in the energy industry. It is at places we may not like to explore -- Alaska, the coast of California, and the coast of Florida. But our technological abilities to pursue such in a manner that is environmentally sound and with minimum impact is better now than ever and our freedom, economy, security, and future hang in the balance. We should have taken action four years ago. We should have taken action four decades ago. We certainly better take action today.

According to recent surveys on marketing, most advertising attracts sellers (others who want you to buy more ads) and not buyers. Do you want to know why? Email info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing audio" in the subject line and we will get it to you.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.