A new timeline where the former Gov. of Alaska wins the Presidency:
Prologue: The Rising Star
Sarah Palin entered the race after Labor Day in 2011, much to the surprise of the media and the Republican Party. She quickly rose to the top of the pack, even topping Gov. Romney in some polls. By Christmas time all the major candidates had announced:
Mitt Romney
Sarah Palin
Tim Pawlenty
Newt Gingrich
Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain
Gary Johnson
Ron Paul
Rick Santorum
The Result of the Iowa Caucus produced a Gov. Palin victory.
Palin: 34.3%
Bachmann: 31.5%
Romney: 22.9%
Other: 11.3%
With a victory in Iowa, she headed into New Hampshire hoping to effectively end the candidacies of Romney and Bachmann, her biggest competition. However Romney staked all his chips on New Hampshire and pulled out a major victory over Sarah Palin.
Romney: 49.6%
Palin: 22.4%
Other: 28%
With a victory in South Carolina for Palin and victory in Nevada for Romney, Palin and Romney went into Super Tuesday effectively even, the end result produced no clear winner for the nomination. However following a few contest at the end of March Romney began to see his lead decline in delegate and Palin seemed to pull away for the nomination. Following a decisive win in Texas Palin effectively ended Romney's campaign for the Presidency.
Chapter I: It's the Economy, Still Stupid
As Palin became the presumptive nominee Pres. Obama and the DNC focused their attentions on her. Most polls at the time indicated Pres. Obama held a huge lead over Palin in most states, as well as nationally.
Obama: 54%
Palin: 36%
However the one trump card Palin saw in her future was the still dismal economy. Unemployment stood at 7.9%, with gas prices still relatively high. Instead of focusing on all her energies attacking Obama ideologically she chose to focus the election on pocketbook issues.
Projected Electoral College:
Obama: 230
Palin: 180
Tossup: 128
To be continued...
