Posted on 12/17/2009 9:30:38 PM PST by GonzoII
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
FP: Victor Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Hanson: Glad to be here again.
FP: Sarah Palin is, clearly, carving out a national presence right now. It’s not just the appeal of her book, but also her outspokenness on the Copenhagen conference and other issues. What do you think she might be up to? And what is she tapping into? What are her possibilities?
Hanson: I think she taps into a current of populist unhappiness in the country with Washington insiders, Big Money, and condescending elites in the media and popular culture. The Wasilla mom of five, married to the snow-mobile champ, is simply the antithesis of all that. She senses the general disgust with an insider class that has nearly bankrupted the country through insane federal spending and equally insane financial speculation. She resonates in this regard mostly through an authentic middle-class upbringing, the real-world living of Alaska, natural intelligence, spunk and drive that sent one from the Wasilla city-council to the governorship of Alaska—and common sense answers like less government, lower taxes, more self-reliance, and national confidence.
Her can-do “let’s develop our own energy and spend no more than we earn” creed has a reassurance in these days. People root for her. The Ivy-Leaguers in government, whether the lawyer Obama or the economist Summers, haven’t exactly wowed the public with their studied brilliance so far.
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
May the trend continue!
Good advice from VDH.
Great comments by Victor Davis Hanson at the link.
Hanson has superior insight with historic perspective and the ability to express himself very clearly so it is a treat to read his take on Sarah. Not surprised he’s a fan.
B4L8r
Understatement of the month. LOL.
Joe Biden did not know that FDR was not President in 1929 or that TV was still experimental—but given his status, the media shucked “Oh, that’s just Joe!” Obama can be clueless about state geography, a 50-state union, or the basics of US history, but that’s because “he’s tired and has so much on his mind.” Wasilla moms has no such margin of error.
VDH is missing the point here. He should have said, "Conservatives have no such margin of error." If Sarah had come from Connecticut exurbia, prep school, and Cornell University, that would buy her nothing on that count. 0bama and Biden get a pass purely because they are down with the struggle to enslave Middle America; Sarah is targeted because she can catalyze the resistance to enslavement.
Bump for later Friday reading!
Being away from Washington/NYC is not a bad thing.
Being based thousand of miles from the lower 49 used to be an issue, until she resigned.
Now that she is free to do what she likes, she can be in the lower 49 and campiagn for Republican congressional candidates for next year's congressional elections, which could send her poll ratings even higher.
” She is the mother of 5 and has little money, or powerful friends.”
Thanks to her book, she is now richer than 0bozo was back oin 2007, before he started his campaign.
As for powerful friends, the last thing she needs is a super evil “powerful friend” like George Soros. She has the masses on her side.
“The East-Coast Right dislikes her as much as the liberal elite.”
That's a plus in my book.
The normal average American man in the street has no time for the East-Coast elites, right or left.
” With young children, the Levi Johnston mess, the resignation from the governorship, the constant traveling to earn an income for her large dependencies, she is burning the candle at both ends.”
She has more energy, and stamina than any national politician I have seen in a long time.
She wrote her book in record time, and still managed to travel across the country for weeks promoting her book and signing hundreds of books per day.
” So I admire her pluck, but again worry that her present frenzied pace is unsustainable.”
She had a “frenzied pace was when she was doing her book tour for 4 weeks, and the 3 months before that when she worked flat out to write her book. After her vacation in Hawaii, she will should have a much less taxing schedule, until he 2010 election campaigns get into full mode.
Lets see, Obama called Sarah and ask her if she wanted a job as “COMMON SENSE” czar!
I’m very glad VDH admires Palin, as I admire him. He always has enormous insight, and I agree with all he said here.
*ping*
Yes, that about says it all.
As thorough an evaluation as I've seen.
I check Palin’s facebook once a day and I swear it’s gets ten thousand new followers each week. (Sure some of those “followers” are haters, who want to leave petty comments, but STILL—Even that’s a good sign of the huge impact she’s having in shaping national discourse. People can’t ignore her even if they wanted to.) So Palin already has a ton of work cut out of her that the other hopefuls could only dream of as they do the typical “visit old donors in New Hampshire and try to get Fox News to pay attention so people will know your name.” (ahem Tim Pawlenty a few days ago.)
The writer gave a good analysis, but Palin will continue to do what she does best: LEAVE PEOPLE GUESSING. Nobody can “predict” what she’ll do, because she isn’t a “follower.” She will follow the beat of her own drum with God’s guidance. Ultimately God’s will is what prevails. So I don’t worry about things like the fact she lacks money. God will provide if He wants her to be the candidate.
AND we need to keep in mind, a lot can happen in 3 years...and one of Palin’s gifts is feeling out the ever-changing sentiments of the public: what their concerns are, what they’re looking for, what she needs to say...Her book is a perfect example of that. She wrote exactly what she needed, clarified exactly what she had to...do interviews with just the right people.
Palin continues to do what she does best: LEAVE PEOPLE GUESSING. Nobody can “predict” what she’ll do, because she isn’t a “follower.” And there’s no need to give her “advice” as she follows the beat of her own drum with GOD’s guidance. :)
It appears that GWB and the head honchos of the GOP asked him to not run for the senate seat from Minnesota, but instead let Norm Coleman - who wanted to run for Governor, run for the senate seat, instead.
So they changed places, and Pawlenty became governor; Norm Coleman became senator - but now his senate seat is held by Senator Al Franken.
Long before anybody anywhere other than Minnesota had ever heard of Governor Tim Pawlenty, he was travelling all over the USA - campaigning for his BFF, John McCain.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS: Sarah was NOT supposed to be the VP pick, Tim Pawlenty was SUPPOSED to be, they selected him before he even ran for governor.
Now I read about this on some chatboard or some conspiratorial forum of some type MANY years ago, so I can't remember all the details -- but I do know that they thought that John McCain would win 2 terms and that "presidential appearing" VP Tim Pawlenty would win the following two terms -- thus the GOP would have the presidency locked up for FOUR presidential terms.
Now, don't get mad at me!
I know it sounds nuts, but evidentally those were the actual plans of the GOP, and McCain/Pawlenty campaigned all over the country for YEARS.
What worries me about this enough to mention it, is that obviously both the GOP and Tim Pawlenty must have some VERY strange ideas about his "appeal" to the voters.
I'm unsure where Romney/Whitman fits into this, but I have the impression that neither of them ever got the message that John McCain was CROWNED years ago.... so I hope that Sarah Palin realizes very seriously that Tim Pawlenty MAY have some very high level very rich very strong support -- supporters who may happen to owe him alot of favors, ya know?
Pawlenty was interested in the US Senate, but he was deemed to be VP material long ago, so had to run for governor.
And IMNSHO, Mitt and Meg are so convinced of the syncophants that surround them for their monetary fortunes that they don't seem to understand that such decisions were made many many years ago, and that the GOP insiders only admire them for their contibutions. LOL
I hope that Governor Palin goes ROGUE, and I sure hoope she doesn't team up with either Pawlenty or Whitman. ROFL!!
That SAME prep school was attended by Pierre Omidyar who founded ebay and who brought Meg Whitman to be the CEO and Goldman Sachs to do the massive IPO which made them Billionaires.
I haven't researched this, just read a posting somewhere about it, during the campaign, but I'm sure there's "paw-lenty" about that famous elite expensive prep school alumni online at google.
The best decision McCain ever made was choosing Palin as VP candidate :)! I mean, even the negative events that ensued are starting to look like mere blessings in disguise. I do’nt know how Palin would have liked being “#2 in command” in anyway!
I remember the day after Obama’s eerily messianic DNC acceptance speech, my friend and I were talking about how McCain needs to be bold and pick Palin. (It was weird, I didn’t know that much about Palin other than a segment she did on Glenn Beck about energy and a news article from a few months back that came up about her giving birth to a Down’s Syndrome child. but that alone made me really like her) but for some reason, she just seemed “right” and I prayed the whole night she’d be the pick...and I stayed by the TV watching recaps of the DNC and replays of all the pundits speculating on who McCain would choose the next day. (Everyone thought Pawlenty or Romney and every once in awhile someone mentioned Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska at the end of a long line list of all the other not-so-likely-but-possible potentials.)
The excitement got greater when I would click on Drudge Report every couple of minutes and they put out a story about two mysterious private plane flying out of an Alaskan airport in the middle of the night—very unusual. My heart sank when I heard Palin respond to the speculation by saying that she was at home and not scheduled to leave for any reason. (Finding out later of course, that the Palin staff had no clue about what was happening!)
...
Needless to say, Palin’s debut onto the scene was amazing and I loved the reaction on all the liberal anchors’ faces who were still hungover from the Obama DNC hoopla as they tried desperately to get a grip on what was before them. IT was as if they were splashed with a bucket of freezing cold water.
Then Bristol Palin’s pregnancy was reported. and then...well, it began.
oops typo correcitons, I meant:
“the day OF Obama’s eerily messianic speech” I was on pins and needles about who McCain would pick that whole night and couldn’t sleep.
“Palin STAFFERS* responded to speculation about the mysterious planes leaving Alaska by saying Palin was at home and not scheduled to leave at all.” (because they didn’t know)
Palin should try to be a Fox News Contributor. This way, Palin could talk about the issues on all the Fox News shows like Greta, Hannity, O’Reilly, and Fox & Friends in the same manner as Newt, Huckabee, and John Bolton.
The Huckabee Report, radio commentary, done by the Huckster is heard on many radio stations across America. In my area, the Huckabee report is run right after Rush Limbaugh.
Palin needs to do something similiar. She needs face time in the media, not hide out in Facebook.
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