The cultural divide within the Democratic party brought about by Sarah Palin

November 16, 6:29 PMHartford Conservative ExaminerJohn Talleos

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   I like to think that there are good people and bad and that political affiliation is not a determining factor in character. I like to believe, for instance, that if I were a liberal it would not change my opinion of the unfortunate figure in Levi Johnston . If you're not familiar Mr Johnston he is the 19 year old ex boyfriend of Sarah Palins' daughter Bristol, to whom he had a child. Political affiliation in the media has given him instant fame because, as Mr Johnston has deftly realize, there is a fertile market for anything malicious concerning Sarah Palin and even if it's just made up Mr Johnston knows he can get away with it and he has.

  Now we have to wonder if there is something more to the movement of liberalism other than a mere difference of opinion on policy matters. Certainly there are many liberals out there that see the Levi Johnstons of the world for what they are and wish he would go away. But what is it about the market of liberal thought that accepts him with open arms providing him with a forum in the first place?

  Market is the key word here and it could spell a disaster for those on the left who are in the legitimate game of policy formation and debate. You can garner an audience of liberal viewers and readers that take tremendous satisfaction in anything tabloid concerning Sarah Palin but in the meantime expose an element that shows the worse side of the movement. In the meantime independent minded people won't get the humor and will be put off. Exhibit A is this exchange on MSNBC's “Morning Meeting” where the host Dylan Ratigan reads off a top ten list:

  Ratigan: I'm going to burn through a couple more of these. Hang on, for a second. "Drill, baby, drill." I don't know what you have to say about that. "Ultimate capitalist. She’ll sell anything for anybody for any reason." She does looks like Tina Fey which makes her more attractive." This one, I like, though, Jay. "No one else can wink and smile and rip an opponent all in one breath." Pretty good skill.

Jay Newton-Small (Time Magazine): Absolutely. She can- she has what they call the velvet stiletto. She can rip your heart out with a big smile and looking great about it.

Ratigan: She also, of course, sticks to her guns.

Contessa Brewer (NBC): She tends to be pretty dynamic when she is on a particular topic.

Ratigan: Number two, she is not Bush.

Brewer: Well, there is that. That helps anybody at this point!

Ratigan: Number one, Jay, she has family drama that makes you feel better about your own.

  This may play well for the choir but it doesn't help anyone when it comes to finding a job or putting food on the table. Worse than this is the overt sexism if not outright misogyny with the “sell anything for anybody for any reason”. Her gender is the main target of ridicule. More thoughtful liberals have to be cringing at the site of such a spectacle and are as perplexed as anyone that such a (to borrow a phrase) politically correct tone deaf “report” could get aired without any backlash.

  A larger question may be that there is something to Sarah Palin and her liberal detractors are not lost to whatever it is. By honing in on the personal (ie: the politics of personal destruction as they used to remind us) they are attempting to distract and marginalize her presence on the political scene. It doesn't occur to them that their attacks are giving people a second look to see what all the fuss is about.

  Writing in the Huffington Post, Mike Elk a former organizer for president Obama's campaign recalls the importance of Sarah Palin and makes a distinction between those on the left who had their work cut out for them and others who smugly considered themselves above everyone else including Sarah Palin:

  As an organizer for the Obama campaign on the ground in Western Pennsylvania during the election, I remember how white, working-class, swing voters couldn't stop talking about Sarah Palin for weeks on end. For the three weeks between Palin's selection as VP candidate and the financial crash, we were scared shitless the Republicans were going to win as Palin led to McCain surging in the polls.

  Many white, working-class people loved her because here was a politician who finally was working class and ready for a fight. They loved her even more as Ivy League liberals denounced her as basically "white trash." It felt to white, working-class people like liberal elites were calling them "white trash" too.

  Liberals still treat Palin and the right-wing populist Tea Party Movement that she leads as "white trash." They spend more time attacking them as "stupid racists" than actually trying to win them over and address their concerns. Its as if liberals are saying we know better than you stupid working-class people.

  Fortunately for Obama there were cooler heads prevailing behind the scenes that made an important and cogent distinction between a working class Democratic party and an elitist brand of liberals that can only serve to repel the latter to the other side. As the economy becomes rougher and the mainstream press continues its negative full court press on Palin the smart move would be to somehow tone down the rhetoric. That Hillary Clinton would make a gesture for a sit-down over a cup of coffee with Palin shows that the administration wisely doesn't believe its own press.