Fear and Loathing on Capital Hill

I love it when republicans squirm and shutter at the sight and sound of the up and coming Sarah Palin. Such was the case this past weekend when everywhere Gov. Palin went she drew hoards of adoring fans and supporters. This most recent Sarah Palin coming out party was "under reported" to say the least:

Sarah Palin has begun to get on the nerves of Republican senators who say the former GOP vice presidential nominee is taking her own White House aspirations entirely too seriously.

But those same senators may have their eye on a 2012 White House run or be friends with senators with presidential ambitions. And Palin, who does not have a lot of Washington connections, energized the party’s grass roots in 2008 while bucking the D.C. establishment, leaving much of the party’s elite grumbling about her appeal to the conservative base.

Several GOP senators offered searing criticism of the Alaska governor when asked in recent interviews whether she could pose a credible challenge to President Obama in 2012.

“She has to hunker down and govern and show she’s not a joke,” said a GOP lawmaker who represents one of the southern battlegrounds of the 2012 election. (ed. note: talk about arrogance! Maybe the existing clowns on Capital Hill should be required to prove they're not graduates of Barnum & Bailey's Clown School!)

Palin re-emerged in the national political spotlight this week, attending fundraisers in New York and sitting down for an interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity.

But her high-profile foray to the East Coast has not been without its stumbles — and a scheduling spat with the Senate and House Republican fundraising committees threatens to raise more questions about her viability as a national party leader.

The sad fact that republicans are uncomfortable when true conservatives come around is very, very telling about the present day republican party.