Joe Scarborough: ‘This Probably Ended Sarah Palin’s Political Career’

He might be considered an iconoclast within his own party, but Joe Scarborough is a lifelong Republican and former member of Congress. As such, its not unreasonable to think that his words carry a little more weight than the average TV pundit, which makes his analysis of Sarah Palin‘s political future all the more interesting. On Wednesday, Palin released a video statement on the events of Arizona shooting tragedy and the finger-pointing that followed. Scarborough believes that her solipsistic take on a day of grieving effectively ended her political future.

Its worth noting that there are many in the Republican party that criticize the moderate Scarborough as a RINO (Republican in name only), and part of Scarborough’s appeal to many is that he is unafraid to go against party lines (his criticisms of House Speaker John Boehner is a good example of why Morning Joe is must-see morning television for the political class.

But it is certainly premature to say that Sarah Palin’s political future has been completely undone by her video statement. First of all, there is a long, long time, before serious campaigning begins. Secondly, while her video statement has been largely derided by the political class, Palin’s appeal is with those outside the GOP establishment. Is it reasonable to expect a theoretical Palin 2012 campaign to be as strong today as last week? No. But its also just as reasonable to think that Palin can learn, adjust and bounce back from recent events.