Posted on 04/19/2010 7:19:39 PM PDT by Steelfish
The Problem With Palin By Quin Hillyer
"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience." - Patrick Henry, 1775
"I told reporters what I still believe today: government experience doesn't necessarily count for much." -Sarah Palin, Going Rogue, p. 84
Sarah Palin, 55 percent unfavorable poll ratings notwithstanding, is a political phenomenon the likes of which American public life rarely has seen. There's something distinctive, something deeply personal, about the way her legions of strong supporters rush not just to defend her but to counter-attack any and all of her critics.
Palin has a way of establishing a sense of connectedness with her backers -- such a strong, attitudinal sense that she is not just like them but one of them -- that she has created what amounts to a one-woman, conservative "identity politics" writ very, very large.
Yet if conservatives are to continue a political love affair with this admirable and galvanizing woman, we need to insist on more than mere identity. And more than mere attitude.
We know that Sarah Palin shares our conservative values. But is she the leader conservatives need?
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
I was attacked in another thread on FR just today when I pointed out the 55% unfavorable ratings for Palin.
Compared to whom?
As a conservative, not a Republican, I'd place my trust in Sarah long before placing trust in a "Republican".
In a word, yes.
What poll that? I haven’t seen any like that in a long time
Don’t you know you’re not allowed to say or write or even think anything that might even begin to perhaps hint of suggesting gently that Sarah, for all her wonderfulness, might not be quite the perfect president?
The article is quite constructive in one of the most conservative websites. I hope FReepers will read through it all before rushing to comment.
I am concerned about her screeching voice. It is like chalk on a blackboard.
Probably because a lot of us have learned that polls can be deceiving, and don’t trust them.
I really don’t understand why people are of a sudden concerned about experience when it comes to Sarah Palin.
No one was concerned in the past about several people who ran for President and Vice President, such as John Edwards or John Kerry.
Read the previous thread and weep.
What this article has wrong is that it says that Sarah is the “Leader of the movement” she has NEVER said she wants to be the leader of the Tea Party Movement/Conservative movement, or any movement. She is just contributing because she believes in it just as much as we do. It’s others who have designated her “Leader of the movement”
I hadn't referenced the 55% in the other thread, just a high negative polling for Palin. But I looked up one site that has a whole bunch of polls on Palin here..
http://www.pollingreport.com/p.htm
Believe me, you're not alone although you may feel like it when some get through with you.
You already talked about her voice once before....Sigh*
BTW Abraham Lincoln had a high-pitch Kentucky drawl
If that’s your hang up then so be it....it trivial to most folks who listen to the words and not concern about superficial things
Well said and very true!
Actually, I didn't address how good a president she'd make. I just stated that liberals have been pretty successful in slamming her such that she has high negative polling and it'd be hard to overcome the damage done by the MSM.
Personally, I like Palin, but I still don't like her chances given the current perception via polling.
She's having fun! (and making a lot of dough)
She is worth her weight in gold for what she does. But I doubt she will ever run unless she runs for Senate in Alaska.
It's my experience with some Palin fans that keeps her at arm's-length. I think they feel intense emotions about her, and so many people trust their emotions that they can't like what someone stands for AND admit to their flaws (or any flaws). I think many Palin fans are so frustrated at the ridiculous attacks from the media that any hint ofthe criticism ALL politicians deserve gives them an excuse to fire away, with the one unbeliever standing in for those remote reporters and talking heads.
It's bizarre to me how someone would feel such personal warmth for someone they only know through the media. These people are all politicians, for pete's sake. But when people hear a woman who talks as they do, they feel she is a stand-in for them, so when she's assaulted, they feel like THEY've been assaulted.
It's actually the same mindset that brought us Barack Obama--make people think you're One of Them, talk like them, and they feel close to you. Once they feel that way, they're in your corner, no matter who or what you really are.
Some have no problem with this. To me, though, it's why we're so screwed up politically, and why we probably always will be. (And I say this as someone who would vote for Palin over anyone else on the scene.) It's especially disturbing since we're supposed to be the party of adults--when people attack you for bringing up facts or even poll numbers, we've got a lot of nerve saying we're nothing like the other side.
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