Oh, so they aren't actually saying they want Palin gone, you are merely giving your opinion?
I have read enough comments from GOP leaders so it is an opinion based on facts.
CEDAR CREEK, Tex. – As Sarah Palin launched her book tour Wednesday before the type of adulatory crowds she drew to GOP rallies last year, top Republicans here grappled with how to handle a figure as polarizing as she is popular.
A year after Palin attracted a crush of foreign reporters to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting following the presidential election, the same group gathered without their former colleague—and before a considerably smaller media horde.
But now as then, questions lingered among the attendees about what role Palin would play in a party now seemingly on the rebound but divided by conservatives between pragmatists. As demonstrated by the fans she drew at her first book tour stop in Michigan, the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential nominee still retains a loyal following among the GOP base.
Yet, as was on display among the governors, consultants, lobbyists and party officials in attendance at this conference at a resort outside of Austin, Palin enjoys only tepid support if not outright skepticism among the party establishment.
Elected Republicans and most other GOP heavyweights are loathe to criticize her for fear of offending her supporters, a voting bloc that includes many of the grassroots activists candidates rely upon.
So when asked about the party's buzz machine they took pains to choose their words, focusing on the energy she generates among her followers while at the same time offering clenched-jaw assessments indicating a great desire to discuss any other subject.
"She’s a great gal and people like her and I bet she sells a lot of books," offered Mississippi Gov. and RGA Chairman Haley Barbour, touting the crowds she drew last fall for the GOP ticket.
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle also focused on the Palin-as-pep-leader angle.
"I think she brings a lot of excitement," said Lingle. "I think she brings a kind of energy you need in any campaign."
Two new GOP governors had to confront the What To Do About Sarah question more directly, however.
Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell and New Jersey Gov.-elect Chris Christie both declined to invite Palin to their states during campaigns this year. Asked why they didn't want the former governor to stump for them, the two went to lengths to avoid giving the obvious answer—that she would turn off a portion of the electorate.
Christie, running in deep-blue Jersey, said he only brought in out-of-state politicians if he had a personal relationship with them (as in the case of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani) or if, like Minnesota
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, they had become governors "in similar circumstances and could tell a narrative to the people of New Jersey how Republican ideas could work."
Left unexplained was why he had Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both from right-leaning states, in to raise money.
McDonnell, hailing from a more conservative-inclined state, went even further to explain why he never invited Palin.
