Free Republic

A journalist yesterday asked me a thought-provoking question: Why does Sarah Palin command so much media attention? By most measures, she currently stands about equal in the Republican field alongside Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and only a little ahead of Newt Gingrich. Yet the cable shows do not erupt when Mitt Romney makes a speech. Newt Gingrich is on Twitter almost every day, but his messages don’t make news. So why Palin? Five guesses. 1) She polarizes. Modern media culture favors contrast and conflict. Sarah Palin serves both up by the bucketful. Most presidential candidates present themselves as gracious and...

David Frum responds to Jennifer Rubin's article in Commentary titled "Why Jews Hate Palin." First off, Frum is right that the poll that Rubin cites doesn't really prove her case because 37% approval from Jews is actually very good . . . Frum then goes on to assert: Palin excites intense support among a core group of conservative Republicans....She polls poorly...among independents. I'll give Frum credit for changing what he considers Palin's core group of support from "social conservatives" to the broader group of "conservative Republicans." After all, with some recent polling showing Palin to hold a robust 79% favorable...

Politico conducted an interview recently with David Frum, former speechwriter for George W. Bush and a vigorous critic of Governor Palin, about the progress of his new project, the New Majority, a website that is allegedly "dedicated to the modernization and renewal of the Republican party and the conservative movement." In the interview, Frum effectively concedes that his New Majority project thus far has had little success in accomplishing its stated goals. "[T]he Internet is proving to be a little more complicated than Frum first thought it would be, he says. He admits to shortcomings in his Web acumen, and...

Even if the former governor of Alaska fades away before the 2012 presidential election, David Frum thinks “the Palin problem is still with us.” And as long as that’s the case, Frum — the conservative pundit and former George W. Bush speechwriter — will be here, too. “Why were conservatives vulnerable to somebody like this?” Frum mused about Palin recently in an interview with POLITICO. “The things that prevented them from seeing her are all still there. And we see them during this health care debate.” It’s been seven months since Frum parted ways with National Review to launch his...

As speculation over Sarah Palin's presidential aspirations heat up now that she has stepped down as Alaska's governor, a former member of George W. Bush's staff said Palin had no chance of winning the White House. "Impossible," is how Bush's former speechwriter David Frum described the likelihood Palin would become president. Frum based his opinion on Palin's decline in approval ratings from when she was announced as John McCain's Republican presidential running mate in August termed her "divisive" within the party. Asked what she represents for the future of the GOP: "political defeat."

Here is video of Ann Coulter, Bay Buchanan, and David Frum on CBS today where they commented on the impact of Gov. Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska, which will take effect tomorrow, July 26, 2009. Bay Buchanan, a Republican strategist, believes it will hurt Palin's chances if she decides to run for President, and believes she was unprepared to deal with the media last year, giving too many "trite" answers to questions in interviews. David Frum criticized Palin's decision, saying Palin was a "calamitous candidate in October 2008," citing declining poll numbers from the time she was nominated....