Howard Dean: Sarah Palin Could Beat Obama

Interesting:

Howard Dean, the former Democratic National Committee chairman who helped Democrats capture the White House in 2008, warns that Sarah Palin could defeat President Obama in 2012.

Dean says his fellow Democrats should beware of inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom that Obama would crush Palin in a general-election contest next year.

“I think she could win,” Dean told The Hill in an interview Friday. “She wouldn’t be my first choice if I were a Republican but I think she could win.”

Dean warns the sluggish economy could have more of a political impact than many Washington strategists and pundits assume.

“Any time you have a contest — particularly when unemployment is as high as it is — nobody gets a walkover,” Dean said. “Whoever the Republicans nominate, including people like Sarah Palin, whom the inside-the-Beltway crowd dismisses — my view is if you get the nomination of a major party, you can win the presidency, I don’t care what people write about you inside the Beltway,” Dean said.

I think Dean's right that the inside-the-Beltway thinking is not truly representative of the country and large and while the Beltway folks may quickly dismiss her, her appeal in the real world will be much higher. Can she win? Hard to say. I still think she's damaged goods thanks to the misinformation the media propagated against her, and leaving her job in Alaska early didn't help.