Steve Schmidt, former top campaign strategist for John McCain, said today that if Sarah Palin becomes the GOP nominee for President in 2012, it would be “catastrophic” for the party.

“I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012, and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we would have a catastrophic election result.”

“In the year since the election has ended, she has done nothing to expand her appeal beyond the base ... The independent vote is going to be up for grabs in 2012. That middle of the electorate is going to be determinative of the outcome of the elections. I just don’t see that if you look at the things she has done over the year... that she is going to expand that base in the middle.”