Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin can get her political career back on track with a victory in the Alaska Senate race next year, says The Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol.
Palin quit as governor in July 2009, nearly 18 months before the end of her term.
"The way Palin would possibly resurrect herself, if that’s the right word, or rehabilitate herself I guess a better way of putting it, [is to] run for Senate in Alaska in 2014,"
Kristol told ABC's "This Week" program.
Palin has said she is considering running.
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If she won the Republican primary, she likely would face incumbent Democrat Mark Begich in the general election.
"I’m not urging" Palin to run, Kristol cautioned. "I’m just saying if I were her adviser I would say, 'Take on the incumbent. You have to win a primary, then you have to beat an incumbent Democrat. It’s not easy.'"
But there would be a payoff if she's successful, Kristol said.
"Suddenly, if she can imagine that, 'Sarah Palin, freshman senator, Jan. 15, in Washington having beaten an incumbent,' that would be pretty interesting."
Palin has to overcome her mid-term departure as governor, Kristol said. She had become embroiled in ethical issues and said her entire day was spent fighting the claims. She said she did not intend to fight for a second term, which meant that if she stayed in office she would be a lame-duck governor.
"Stepping down as governor of Alaska was a big problem," said Kristol. "People don’t like to see a governor, . . . absent some medical reason or whatever, just leave office early. And she’d been a good governor . . . until then.
"That, I think, is something she has to recover from in terms of being a serious leader in the party. She still has a lot of loyalty. She can still shape the debate. She has a great political touch."
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