August 30, 2010 in City

Beck rules out 2012 run for White House

Michael A. Memoli Tribune Washington bureau

WASHINGTON – Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin had a message to deliver – that the nation was at a dire crossroads – and thousands showed up Saturday at the National Mall to receive it. But Sunday, Beck reiterated that the pair would not join forces in 2012 on a national ticket for president and vice president.

“Not a chance,” Beck said in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” on the same network that broadcasts the radio and TV host’s daily show. “I have no desire to be president of the United States. Zero desire. I don’t think that I would be electable.”

He added: “And there are far too many people that are far smarter than me to be president.”

Palin, whose appearance on the National Mall came nearly two years to the day after she was introduced as John McCain’s running mate, told Politico in a brief interview that she and Beck “like what we’re doing now.”

Estimates of the crowd size at Saturday’s “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial vary. A CBS News count based on aerial photography pegged attendance at 87,000. Organizers said it was closer to 500,000.

Beck continued to downplay the notion that Saturday’s demonstration had political intent. Still, he said a mass gathering like that spoke to the fact that Americans were concerned over the direction of the nation.

“You don’t get that many people to come to Washington and stand there and have that kind of a moment without signs, without any political messages, for no reason,” he said in the Fox interview. That’s “the first message” that politicians should get, he said. “People aren’t really happy with things.”

ADVERTISEMENT Advertise Here

Six comments on this story so far. Add yours!

schleufer on August 30 at 10:01 a.m.
yeah i could see glenn in the oval office sitting at his desk with tears streaming down his cheeks and his lower lip quivering while he is pointing at something on his chalk board then there would be palin spending her day avoiding questions of whitch she has no clue to what the answers are.
im sure boehner would be tickled. then they could get back to letting big business run this country.
Shadedmuse on August 30 at 12:26 p.m.
where is soccersusie and daisy saying hear are voice Glen,
spokanada on August 30 at 4:31 p.m.
I too have decided not to run for the oval office. I had a bbq at my house this past weekend. We hosted three other couples but I think the total attendance was around 478.
misjustice on August 30 at 7:13 p.m.
I, too, have decided not to run for the oval office in 2012; however, a run in 2016 or 2020 is not out of the question.
I hosted a get together at my 1/2 acre compound this weekend and won the straw poll against the Palin/Jindal pairing as well as Palin/Barbour, the Palin/Gingrich ticket, and even the Palin/Beck dynamic duo. The Spokane Parks and Recreation department estimated the crowd at 100,000,000; give or take a few hundred million.
I, too, have a message to deliver via the lame stream media. And for only $450,000.00 I will let ya’ll know what it is…
A good time was had by all! ; ) Wink, wink, yeah, you betcha!
Misjustice in 2016/2020!
Diana on August 30 at 7:34 p.m.
Beck won’t run with Palin, he explained on the radio. “She’d be yapping or something, and I’d say, “I’m sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I’m not in the kitchen.”
Spokane_Citizen on August 30 at 9:05 p.m.
You know, I have mixed feelings about Beck not running for president. It would almost worth it (I say almost, because it truly wouldn’t be worth it) to see how badly they would screw things up, and to listen to their apologists.
It’s always easier, sitting on the sidelines, offering no real solutions (like Dick Adams, Daisy, Lewis, or any number of other rightwing cheapskate crackpots in this forum) to criticize the people who actually have to make decisions about how to run the country, states, counties, and cities. It’s much easier for their like to be conspiracy seeking ‘barking seals’ than offer any constructive suggestions.