As Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue, comes out this week (and subsequently sells more copies than anyone can imagine) we can expect more of the following chatter regarding her from the media:
She resigned. She’s a quitter. She ain’t bright. She’s white trash.
Yes, those are all of the media talking points on Sarah Palin. Taken together, they alone should serve as impeccable qualifications for the White House. Also “not bright” Ronald Reagan. Quitting? Well, it depends on how you look at it. From the conventional sense, yes Palin quit. From the “maverick” style with which she has blazed her political trail, however, her resignation is just par for the course.
Her book, Going Rogue, hasn’t even come out yet. And still if you are really honest about it, you have to acknowledge that Palin has done more to advance her political agenda (and thus her career) in the months since her July resignation than she ever possibly could have as the sitting governor of Alaska. Taken in full view of her commitment to conservative principles and a revived--and conservative--Republican party, one cannot help but see the merit in her bold political gamble.
Additionally, Palin will be able to stand as a private citizen concerned about the ruling elites. Her populist appeal will be massive. She will stand alone in the pack of folks seeking the office currently stained with the filth of Obama’s socialism, as the only person who left public office intentionally. She doesn’t represent the politics as usual brand, those who seek to preserve their political power at all costs.
To her, political power is merely a means to an end.
And that approach is exactly the approach that the conservatives will be looking for. Sure the media will make a lot of noise about the low polling for the Republican brand in recent polls. They will feign horror at the “imminent” demise of the GOP, while prescribing a steady dose of moderation in order to retain power. Of course, this ignores ongoing polling like the Battleground polling that shows upwards of 60% of folks identifying themselves as either “very conservative” or “somewhat conservative” while self-identifying liberals are in the mere 20s. So the story isn’t so much that the GOP is dying because of too much conservatism, as it is dying because of a leftward drift among the party leadership. Unapologetic conservatism as an election strategy works every time it is tried. Ronald Reagan’s landslides in 1980 and 1984, George H.W. Bush’s in 1988, the GOP takeover of congress in 1994 are proof positive of this. When conservatives try to “moderate” their message, apologize for vast portions of it, or blatantly attempt to become a slightly less socialist Democratic party, the GOP fails miserably. Just ask George W. Bush about his approval ratings post 2004. Just ask Gerald Ford, the George H. W. Bush of 1992, Bob Dole, John McCain and the “drunken sailor” class of the GOP congress in 2004 & 2006.
So, when one looks around at the possible GOP contenders, you have only one candidate that stands consistently and boldly as a passionate conservative advocate. That person is Sarah Palin. Mitt Romney ran for governor and largely governed as a moderate Republican before miraculously changing his tune to a more conservative melody in order to win the nomination in 2008. Conservatives have been down his tired road before. George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, and George W. Bush all gave lip service during election cycles to their alleged conservative beliefs, only to check them at the door once in office. In short, like the reptilian aliens of “V” they hid their moderate scales beneath a nice and shiny outer coating of conservative skin.
Mike Huckabee is a darling of social conservatives, but his fiscal and foreign policy positions during 2008 left a lot of us wondering what the heck he was talking about. Speaking as one who was a big fan of the Huckster, it was disappointing to see him going “off the reservation” of conservatism when he could have stayed on message and claimed the nomination from the moderate duo of McCain and Romney.
Tim Pawlenty seems better than Romney as an establishment conservative, but his actions thus far have shown a lack of principle over party. When push comes to shove, Pawlenty will fall in line with the out-of-touch “big tent” obsessed moderate leadership of the GOP.
To be certain, there are other possible candidates, like Haley Barbour and Bobby Jindal. None, however, generate the amount of attention and excitement that a Palin candidacy would offer. As good a guy as Jindal is, his half-dead zombie response to Obama’s state of the union signaled the type of candidate he would be. Can you really imagine that type of speaker drawing crowds of 60,000?
People will point to recent polling that shows Palin struggling with voters in a 2012 match-up. Any honest assessor of the situation, however, would acknowledge that this far out of an election those numbers mean nothing. Sure, Palin has some work to do. She hasn't declared a candidacy or even campaigned at all for the office. Polling numbers can change dramatically, particularly with an energetic and courageous underdog like Palin. (For more on polling reliability, see President Hillary Clinton.)
Sarah Palin’s career demonstrates a political courage unseen in decades. She took down local officials in Wasilla by pushing an unashamed conservative agenda. She courageously sought to clean up corruption in the state Oil & Gas Commission, and when the powerful elites chose to look the other way to the corruption she had found, she resigned and took them down piece by piece. She took down a corrupt Republican Attorney General. She took down a moderate incumbent governor and a popular former Democratic governor. She took on the oil companies and won. She was the first governor in Alaska’s recent memory to actually pursue private sector solutions to the oil and gas pipeline project that languished in the Alaska hope chest for decades. She was able to put the deal together in just two years.
One can see her resignation as governor as quitting. However, Palin has proven throughout her career that she is a tenacious proponent of her principles who will stop at nothing (even to the detriment of her own career) to advance her agenda. She didn’t quit the governorship and go away. She quit to write a book, tour the country, raise money for and promote conservative candidates nationwide and become a thorn in the side of the Obama administration. A thorn, it should be noted, that the GOP establishment just couldn’t produce.
Her career and education are also not unheard of in presidential history. She has more political experience than Abraham Lincoln prior to his election, and even her two year tenure as Alaska’s governor matched Teddy Roosevelt’s mere two year stint as governor of New York prior to his elevation to the national stage. She has more years of executive experience (12+) than Obama and Joe Biden will even by election day 2012. She has more education than Andrew Jackson and Harry Truman. One of her political heroes, Ronald Reagan also earned a degree at a sneer-worthy non-Ivy League school named Eureka College. Sure, Palin’s degree from the University of Idaho doesn’t carry the same weight as the completely sealed records of Obama’s Ivy League education, where not a single paper can be found and there is no record of him actually doing anything as the “President” of the Harvard Law Review, other than being president. Folks who sneer at Palin, however, sneer at the bulk of Americans who didn’t go to Ivy League schools, and yet can somehow still figure out how to tie our shoes.
Sarah Palin is a genuine public servant in an era of antipathy and outright hostility toward the governing ruling class. She represents accomplishment over career preservation. She represents a love of America and devotion to personal liberty lost on the governmental leviathan care-takers so prominent in both parties.
The election of 2009 showed that independents are turning in large numbers against the Obama agenda. It is not enough, however, to just have these folks against Obama, they need to be given an agenda to vote for. Sarah Palin is the only candidate on the GOP side with the courage and vision to promote and active and unabashedly conservative agenda to bring Republicans, independents, and even the long-missing Reagan Democrats together in a mandate to take back this country.
Sarah Palin’s public rehabilitation will begin on Monday with Oprah. America will finally get to meet the Arctic fox on her terms and with her fully in command of the message. She will not longer be peddling McCain’s moderate GOP worldview, but the passionate and courageous conservative worldview of a hockey mom from Alaska.
Ever fond of the underdog, America will find someone to root for. Someone who will in turn root for her and bring her out of the socialist malaise that Obama and the completely out-of-control congress have gotten us into.
Indeed, Obama and his merry band of socialists may find that 2012 is the year of the “rogue.”
Comments
Boring. Yet another vacuous defense of Sarah Palin. As a Republican, I cannot support her. I'm a foreign policy and economic conservative, and I wouldn't put her in the White HOuse because I don't think she can effectively manage the economy or our relationships in the world. I'm leaning to Mitt Romney as the person who can get our economy moving again and restore our leadership status in the world.
Great article. Palin has shown more courage, guts, and has, yes, balls, than the rest of the gop combined. She definately is a person who puts principle before party.
Regarding Mitt, when he campaigned for Christie in NJ he drew a "crowd" of 50, yes, FIFTY. When he campaigned for McDonnell in VA, he drew a "crowd" of DOZENS. Can you imagine 2012, 0bama drawing huge crowds, and Mitt drawing McCain or smaller crowds, it would be like the campaign that never was. Only Palin has the ability to draw crowds, and at the same time, inspire people to get out and vote.
Bravo!
This is the biggest spin of an article I've read in a long time. What Sarah Palin and her supporters seem not to get is that unlike them the rest of America doesn't vote based on "principles" and "values". They vote based on that candidate's knowledge and credibility when it comes to the economy, national security, etc. Sure she's the darling of conservatives, but she'll never be the darling of America. For all the criticisms of John Mccain he was a good candidate..and surely has WAYYY more credibility, independent appeal, and stature than Sarah Palin ever could. If John McCain couldn't win..what makes anyone think a woman who couldn't even name a newspaper she read, the Bush doctrine or a Supreme court case can win? Like I said..this article is nothing but ridiculous spin
How anybody could want Sarah Palin as president of any country is beyond me. You people need a reality check.
No, the biggest spin articles have been on Mitt. People will leave the GOP and vote for Independents or Obama, if Mitt keeps buying the GOP
PHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTT
www.pistoneforcongress.org Pistone for congress 2010
Great post! Screw the Palin haters. She has my vote.
Both Ronald Reagan and Mike Huckabee share many similiar attributes. Here is a list of just ten:
1. Both are TV celebrities.
2. Both are Funny and Witty.
3. Both are Radio celebrities.
4. Both are Great Communicators.
5. Both stand for Limited government.
6. Both are strong Pro-Life Americans.
7. Both are popular Governor's in their home state.
8. Both are Quick on their feet with comeback zingers.
9. Both have strong Foreign Policy knowledge & Pro-Israel.
10.Both are Economic conservatives (Fair Tax & Supply Side).
Check it out for yourself and google: Huckabee Fan Club
USA Today Poll (11/05/09)
> Huckabee 71%, Romney 65%, Palin 65%
CNN Poll (10/28/09)
> Huckabee 32%, Palin 25%, Romney 21%
Rasmussen Poll (10/15/09)
> Huckabee 29%, Romney 24%, Palin 18%
PPP Poll (09/24/09)
> Huckabee 41%, Romeny 39%, Palin 38%
AOL Poll (10/01/09) ~ 200,000 votes
> Huckabee 25%, Romney 22%, Other (14%)
Value Voter Poll (09/19/09)
> Huckabee 28%, Romney 12%,
I like Palin. She is a strong woman and quite interesting. However, does she have the deapth and breadth of knowledge and ability needed to lead the free world out of this abyss Obama has helped to create and exacerbated? No. She's a great spokesman, but not presidential material. Her negatives are just too high and she could never win the general election.
As for Huck, Fred Thompson was right when he said that Huckabee is a "pro-life liberal." That's not what we need at all. We need a fiscal conservative like never before to clean up this Obama mess.
While Gov. of Arkansas, Huckabee was AGAINST proving citizenship in order to register to vote. He called those who were in favor of this “racists”...
He also increased government spending and taxes went UP under his watch.
I am surprised that Huckabee is on top of so many polls. It goes to show that conservatives still don't know about his very sketchy record as governor.
According to the Tax Foundation, the state and local tax burden on the average Arkansan increased from 10.1 per cent to 11.3 per cent under Huckabee. When Huckabee came into office in 1996, Arkansas ranked 30th in the nation as the state with the highest taxes. When he left at the beginning of this year, it had risen to 13th.
The evidence of Huckabee's record as governor... is that he helped create Arkansas as a sanctuary state, serving the interest of the Arkansas corporations that wanted to exploit the cheap labor readily available from an open flow of illegal immigrants.
While governor, Huckabee issued more commutations and pardons to criminals than all of the six neighboring states combined.
Rush said: Huck Not a Conservative
I am surprised that Huckabee is on top of so many polls. It goes to show that conservatives still don't know about his very sketchy record as governor.
According to the Tax Foundation, the state and local tax burden on the average Arkansan increased from 10.1 per cent to 11.3 per cent under Huckabee. When Huckabee came into office in 1996, Arkansas ranked 30th in the nation as the state with the highest taxes. When he left at the beginning of this year, it had risen to 13th.
The evidence of Huckabee's record as governor... is that he helped create Arkansas as a sanctuary state, serving the interest of the Arkansas corporations that wanted to exploit the cheap labor readily available from an open flow of illegal immigrants.
While governor, Huckabee issued more commutations and pardons to criminals than all of the six neighboring states combined.
Rush said: Huck Not a Conservative
LOVE this! GO Sarah!
Bill, I was just reading that the way the left press dismisses anything they don't like is to declare it boring. Hmmm.
Chris, "They vote based on that candidate's knowledge and credibility when it comes to the economy, national security, etc. "
How can you possibly explain Obama?
“How can someone so feminine, be taken seriously as a leader?”
Sarah’s got guts. She has a warrior attitude. She’s on our side. (The individual.)
To me, those three things alone puts her on the “Good guy” list.
She also appears to be very smart and a natural leader, but how can someone so feminine, be taken seriously as a leader? Maybe if she was more monotone, kind of neutral like Hillary. What will the Mideast Moslems think?
it never ceases to amaze me that the people who voted for B.O. say that Sarah Palin does'nt have what it takes to run this country.What has this moron done to run this country?
TOO LONG! Honestly, you need to edit before you publish. Seriously, no writer worth his salt would present a rant like this. Make your points concisely and move on. This is absurd.
You are correct that Sarah Palin took on the establishment in Alaska by espousing conservative values. The keys, however, were that she focused her profession of conservative values on the issues of the day in her constituency, and that she did so in a unifying and non-divisive way. She won over people of all political persuasions, much like Reagan did with his conservative values in 1980 and 1984.
By contrast, look at what happened on the campaign trail last year. Whether it was her intent or not, she was divisive. As many conservatives and right-leaning independents as she won over, she antagonized, and motivated, her opponents even more. That will win you news cycles and get you a very lucrative book deal. But it isn't going to win you elections.
If Sarah Palin wants to win in 2012, she needs to be like Reagan in 1980 - conservative, but in a unifying, likeable way.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!