2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has taken issue with Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly of the top-rated “O’Reilly Factor”. The reason is that the pragmatic and often caustic host referred to the likely long shot candidacies of Donald Trump, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Palin as constituting a GOP reality TV show. In short, O’Reilly was insinuating they would be a sideshow and likely distraction from the candidates who have a serious shot at winning the party’s nomination. Those candidates would be former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and to a lesser extent former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democrat nominee, is expected to raise $1 billion towards her party’s nomination. Any serious GOP contender will need to raise a comparable amount of cash. O’Reilly was merely pointing out that the three “Reality TV” candidates he previously mentioned lack that type of donor support. In his view, they lack any realistic chance of winning the nomination.
For her part, Palin essentially invoked Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” She believes that from the outset the Democrat nominee will have a tactical advantage with the media fawning over their candidacy and seeking out negative stories on the GOP nominee.
For this reason, the party should stay unified and be supportive of anyone seeking the nomination. Admittedly, Palin’s remarks appeared to be thin-skinned for a lady known to be quite thick-skinned. She has yet to announce a formal run for the presidency.