Posted on 01/28/2015 2:45:38 PM PST by Bratch
While on Hannity Tuesday night, Governor Palin dismissed most of the noise created over her speech last weekend at the 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit. She stated that "the herd mentality" of those in the media seeks to make hay out of something that isn't. She’s right. It’s fading fast and has finally been downgraded to current-day Daily Beast material.
What’s fascinating though is an article published by Bernie Goldberg, a frequent guest of Bill O’Reilly’s (who Governor Palin gently took to task while speaking with Hannity on Tuesday).
He states:
Sarah Palin was there and she told us she’s seriously considering a run for president.
He condescends:
Take this to the bank: Neither [Palin or Trump] will run.
You can breathe easy.
He quotes Chris Christie who (as the NY Times reports) “cautioned against requiring a candidate to pass conservative litmus tests.”
“If that’s the standard we hold each other to as a party we will never win another national election."
He backs up Christie’s remarks:
That’s just the kind of thing that riles true-blue conservatives. But he’s right.
Then he blames:
[A] big reason John McCain and Mitt Romney lost is because the purists didn’t vote. They sat home on Election Day. That’s why the purist wing of the party is also known as the suicide wing.
He attempts to muse about infighting:
[T]he Republicans are indeed fighting a civil war. The ideologically pure wing of the party behaves like bishops who believe it’s their mission to excommunicate non-believers – in this case, that’s anyone to the left of Ted Cruz. I have received emails through this website from people who tell me there’s no difference between the GOP moderates and Hillary Clinton.
Then he suffers from selective amnesia:
Yes, the Democrats are waging their own internal battles – the Hillary wing vs. the Elizabeth Warren wing. But that fight amounts to nothing. Warren isn’t running and her supporters will (if not enthusiastically) turn out for Hillary – unlike GOP purists who say they won’t turn out for anyone they call a RINO.
Then he concludes:
[I]f the ideologically pure refuse to accept the candidate the voters choose on grounds that he’s not conservative enough, well, I hope they like President Hillary Clinton. It should matter to them that every Republican who runs will be more conservative than Hillary. Every single one.
Sign the pledge.
First, I’d like to know who "you" is that can "breathe easy" at Goldberg’s prediction that Governor Palin won’t run. This statement doesn't discourage infighting, it promotes it. He’s either addressing what he perceives as his readers who already feel that way or he’s trying to tell them what to think.
As we know, Governor Palin pointed out to Hannity that it’ll take "more than a village" to beat Hillary. Nevertheless this hasn't stopped "the herd mentality" in the GOP from trying to appease the left by bashing her as a constitutional conservative.
Goldberg’s fundamentally wrong about the Democrats’ "infighting" in terms of how the party machine responds to its base. His "Clinton/Warren" scenario is not as far-fetched as he is claiming. As a matter of fact, it happened in 2008 when Barack Obama unexpectedly swooped in and stole the nomination that every "expert" on the left and right believed was a shoo-in for Clinton.
Barack Obama was perceived as much farther to the left than Hillary was. He excited the base. When the base decided that it was he who interested them, the party machine threw Hillary aside and embraced who the base wanted. That energy created by the base of the party transcended to the independents and Barack Obama won the general election. As a result, we got two terms of the most radical leftist president in history.
The only time McCain/Palin surpassed Barack Obama in the polls heading up to the general election occurred after Governor Palin was brought on to the ticket. She went on to carry the entirety of the ticket’s momentum on her shoulders despite the blunders of McCain’s advisers (like suspending his campaign after a massive DOW plunge, making the Arizona Senator look incompetent). Being an instant conservative star, this also made her an easy meal ticket for less-than-effective "experts" and "pollsters" who've been understandably jealous of her star power (see here about Nicolle Wallace’s charisma deficit). What they seem to miss though is that in order to get the kind of reception Governor Palin got in 2008 and continues to get today, one has to have a record of reform (walk the walk) and not just talk the talk at election time.
Jeb Bush’s talk tells us he’s not serious about securing our borders. Jeb’s Bush’s walk tells us he increased spending as Governor of Florida.
Governor Palin’s talk tells us she is serious about securing our borders. Governor Palin’s walk tells us she cut spending dramatically and slashed federal earmarks.
Governor Palin’s charismatic gift gives us what Barack Obama gave the left. But unlike Obama, Governor Palin has a record that keeps informed conservatives interested in what she offers the country which can be recognized with or without a title. Further the Governor has been remarkably prescient on the Obama administration that much of "the herd" criticized her for originally.
With a title, she put government on the side of the people. Without a title, she galvanized the base and gave them a boost of energy in 2008 that no current day Republican can take credit for. As such, she’s lined governor’s mansions across the nation and the halls of Congress with conservatives. She’s done more for the party than the entire "herd" combined by galvanizing the base that the GOP establishment is supposed to be listening to. She unlocked Pandora’s Box. And "the herd" can’t close it.
That’s why Bernie Goldberg’s response is to blame supporters of this kind of commonsense, constitutional, conservative effectiveness for why people like John McCain and Mitt Romney lost. Did he sign his own "pledge" before or after making this statement?
And if we sign his pledge, what do we get in return? What’s to negotiate when we’re winning?
That’s why we know his "pledge" is crap. He’s trying to bring energy to the RINOs instead of finally admitting that there is none to generate.
If the GOP wants to win elections, it has to respond to its base in the same way Democrats are smart enough to do with theirs.
So far they haven’t. And the herd isn't showing any signs of holding them to that standard any time soon.
The only thing Goldberg’s bizarre word salad accomplishes is getting to the heart of the herd and how their allegiance to the good old boys creates the true divide.
Bernard Goldberg = Juan Williams, now in white.
Goldberg believe Sodom marriage is a constitutional right. He’s a leftist MORON! Go to hell Bernie!
Goldberg apparently thinks that there is some obligation on my part to support whichever squish the moderate wing of the party decides should be the Republican nominee. But there is no such obligation.
If the Republican Party doesn’t appeal to my interests, then I get to vote for whomever best appeals to my interests or I don’t have to vote at all. In either case, the fault lies at least as much with the Republican Party as it does with me. A savvy politician who is in the business of winning elections would understand how this all works.
Dogs and Ponies.
Oh, and it’s not the suicide wing of the party, it’s the mutually assured destruction wing of the party. We keep staying home cause you keep ignoring us.
In all of it’s irony, the Democrats have moved so far left, that the remaining vacuum in the left of center spectrum is pulling in GOP Rinos (what does GOPe stand for?)
Wasn’t Bernie one of the “conventional wisdom” idiots that told us, AS FACT, that 2008 was Hillary’s turn???
What say you Bernie?
[A] big reason John McCain and Mitt Romney lost is because the purists didn’t vote. They sat home on Election Day. That’s why the purist wing of the party is also known as the suicide wing.
Ok then let’s turn this around. Nominate a real conservative so these people will show up to vote and see if the non purists will show up to vote.
I love how the every thing in their world is about the all important Party boys who always call the conservatives who refuse to vote for the liberals they trot out as the suicide wing of the party. Really? Who keeps trotting out one liberal after another declaring they are the only electable candidate, getting their asses kicked and then scream it’s your fault!
Really the conservative are purist and the suicide wing of their beloved Party?
“...despite the blunders of McCain’s advisers (like suspending his campaign after a massive DOW plunge, making the Arizona Senator look incompetent).”
Any chance we had to win ended there. He not only suspended the campaign, he cancelled his radio and TV ads in Florida during the suspension period. Obama’s campaign promptly bought the ads.
The only thing the term conservative means to these insiders is, will cut taxes on businesses.
That’s not fair to Bernie. He’s an honest liberal. Juan is a Black Alan Colmes.
I was impressed with Sarah`s response to all the latest criticism, I thought she hit it out of the park.
I am praying for her, my sister in Christ.
Juan Williams is a lot smarter and perceptive than Alan Colmes ever will be. Every once in a while Williams shows that he understands the truth, though he will soon backslide into liberal delusionalism.
Colmes, a genuinely nice guy, hasn’t a clue about reality. I think we saw his archetype in Germany in the 1930’s. Didn’t work out to well for us, did it?
Bernie your envy is showing. Goldberg wishes he had the clout and influence of Sarah.
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