Posted on 10/18/2008 8:30:55 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
"Sometimes the leak is so bad that even a plumber can't fix it." This was the concise summation of a cable political strategist the other day, after the third and final presidential debate. That sounds about right, and yet the race in its final days retains a feeling of dynamism. I think it is going to burst open or tighten, not just mosey along.
(snip)
But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. She is a person of great ambition, but the question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to rise, but what for? For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganitea spender, to speak briefly, whose political decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose foreign policy leans more toward what might be called romantic realism, and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically, respect public opinion, and move within an awareness and appreciation of reality.
But it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think aloud. She just . . . says things.
(snip)
In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...





noonan’s wrong.
getting senile.
Noonan accusing another woman of "emotionalism" is pretty darn funny.
She’s a beltway insider elitist. Broken glass indeed.
wtf is noonan’s problem??
Sort of like how Peggy Noonan just....writes things?
I wonder what Peggy REALLY doesn’t like about Sarah Palin? Peggy is wrong this time.
And Obama’s credentials to be Commander in Chief are:
waiting, Peggy.
Peggy?
Oh yeah, he’s the first black editor of Harvard LR.
Sorry, slipped my mind.
Peggy doesn’t seem to THINK...she JUST writes....garbage, these days.
Going all wobbly on us..! No fool like an OLD FOOL, I say.
To think THIS WOMAN wrote speeches for Ronaldus Maximus...?! She’s now like another woman completely.
I’m SOOOO DISAPPOINTED! Shame on you, Peg.
It’s called cattiness.
Jealous.
What’s with some conseratives and Republicans expressing doubts about Sarah Palin? While the left hates her, she has excited the Republican base in a way that nobody since Ronald Reagan has. Win or lose in this election, Palin has a bright political future in the Republican party. If she and McCain go down to defeat this time, I think she will be a presidential candidate herself in 2012.
Peggy Noonan may be disappointed in Sarah, but she has clearly touched a chord among the Republican base and conservatives in general in this election.
I’m glad that we voters make the decisions, not elitist columnists/former speechwriters/talking heads.
What’s up with this lady? Does she think Obama bin Lyin’ is the better candidate?
I dunno. Something snapped in this broad about the time of Bush’s 2nd inauguration.
Eastern Elites have been put on notice and don’t like it.
Her disingenuous “hot mike” moment was how she truly felt, and any naysaying on her part after the fact is an insult to our collective intelligence.
I’m betting she is “retired” in January. She no longer has a product in demand (if she did).
I wonder who is paying this woman?
Maybe she is Sarah Palin.
The irony is breathtaking. Other than her oft-stated and creditable opposition to abortion, what precisely does Peggy Noonan believe? I couldn’t tell you what Peggy Noonan’s ideology is, other than a vague agreement with conservatism.
Off-topic: Josh Brolin’s monologue ranting about Bush is just pathetic. I mean, you can be political and be funny too, but it’s moronic.
“For seven weeks I’ve listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite
Maybe she is Sarah Palin.”
We have a winner!
Bye Bye Peggy. It was nice knowing you.
I’ve been waiting for Noonan to behave in such a way that confirms my belief that she is some sort of fraud.
This is it.
Noonan’s got the typical feminist problem with Sarah Palin. Governor Palin could be the first woman VP, but she doesn’t wear pantsuits, collect money from Emily’s list, seek support and sympathy from feminazis by complaining about having to make it in a man’s world. She doesn’t use any of those corny (and grossly sexist) slogans that put down men. Of course, it also matters to the feminists that Governor Palin is 20-30 years younger than they are, considerably more attractive, looks healthy and fit, has a robust sense of humor, and connects with the people she is talking to.
Sometimes those old feminists get kind of cranky— mainly when they slip their thong undies on backwards.
Peggy doesn’t get much face time with the talking heads these days. Maybe she’ll get on MSNBC now.
ENVY
do we really have proof she wrote anything for Reagan?
I sure as hell hope so. I voted early, and cast my vote for Palin for vice president, not McCain for president. Palin has blown that old line that "people don't vote for Vice President" out of the water. I know a lot of people who were going to write in, vote 3rd party, or stay home on the 4th. As it is now, they're voing for Palin.
As for Peggy Noonan...what's a Peggy Noonan? Is she related to that Noonan kid in "Caddyshack"?
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Oh Peggy Noonan just go away!
Noonan, Brooks, and Christopher Buckley are the worst sort of elitist snobs. They are truly country-club Republicans, and they would rather turn the nation over to a Marxist cabal than see the peons (their opinion, not mine) in the party have success. They may be even worse than the business leaders in the Republican Party who seem to always sacrifice conservative principles when there is an opportunity to feed at the government trough. I’ll take a woman of the people who has good instincts over the Noonan snobs and the corporate welfare kings any day.
“Cat Fight” Envy!!!
Well, it would be if Noonan had her way!
Noonan: “She is not as thoughtful or persuasive as Joe the Plumber”
This line proves Noonan has an agenda completely different from the one she pretends. To assert Palin is “not thoughtful” is to demonstrate anything but an honest evaluation of Palin’s thinking.
Peggy no matter how much you whine Augusta National ain’t letting you in.
In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics.
In other words, she's become an elitist herself who resents Governor Palin for being a "vulgar" (i.e. average) American who has risen to become governor of the largest state in the Union and may very well become the next Vice President of this country.
In short, Peggy has subscribed to the view that only a permanent political class (educated in the Ivy League and well connected in Manhatten and Washington, DC) can lead this country, and not average citizens from small-town America, as the Founding Fathers intended.
Peggy who?
Peggy Noonan...she doesn't think aloud. She just...writes things.
More gasps of embarrassment from the GOP dinner party set and soi disant arbiters of party rectitude.
I’m looking forward to seeing Peggy’s head explode when Palin is sworn in as president in 2012 or 2016.
“In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn’t, really, understand”
Noonan, you retard. If you want to make a claim about Palin’s supposed lack of understanding, you are required to provide evidence that you have observed facts pertaining to this claim. Otherwise, you are simply flapping your jaw.
Peggy isn’t senile but she is, I’m afraid, watching the same newscasts most American voters are. Despite what we all hope Sarah is and can be, she isn’t portrayed well. All that is ever shown are near identical snips of her vapid stump speeches (or speech)...over and over again... which has the effect of making her seem scripted beyond belief! If she weren’t so worried about going off message and would express thoughts that sound more Reaganesque I would feel alot better about her too. Sadly, her usefullness to this campaign circus has boiled down to her being a mere warm-up juggling act for a very courageous but dottering lion tamer. McCain doesn’t seem rooted in anything approaching conservative principles either, my friends!
Peggy is Judge Smails to Palin’s Al Czervik.
If you think she has to learn to be able to do the job as vice president, what do you think Obama has to learn to be president...
My answer is Obama will have to learn it all from scratch. Palin has a lot going for her in the right areas and will be a quick understudy in her job as VP. Should she have to step up (which I doubt) she will be miles ahead of Obama.
Prissiness gone wild. Imagine what these prissy East Coast ladies with their “manners,” and well-modulated voices spoken through pursed lips think of moose-huntin’ Sarah!
Peggy is starting to remind me of Rose’s mother in Titanic.
What was it she wrote at after Reagan’s funeral?
I began to doubt her then but, now I have NO doubts.
She is a fraud.
Peggy must be hanging out on the Daily Kos.
Before we get to that question, do we have proof she passed freshman English?
Peggy Noonan has deteriorated in her writing this last year. Any journalism or literature professor would tear this article apart! It is god awful writing...not even getting to the content of what she is saying.
the writing is just dreadful!In the line that says, “for seven weeks I’ve listened to her...” My high school english teacher, Miss Miner, would have torn that sentence apart..it is unreadable!
Peggy is the Maureen Dowd of the WSJ
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