Posted on 09/14/2010 8:31:13 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Kingmaker, powerbroker, digital celebrity – by whatever name, and there have been many – Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin herald the dawn of a rising phenomenon. Their ability to use virtually every form of new and old media, from television to Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, to reach large audiences in the service of personal yet political messages is something new on the political landscape, say many political strategists and historians.
This power to persuade by personal conviction without apparent elective ambition was on display yet again Saturday night. In a joint rally in Anchorage, Alaska, the two flirted with one another. Ms. Palin coyly asked, “You gonna run?” and Mr. Beck later said, “We would like to announce that in 2012 we will both be … voting.” While they breezed through a menu of top "tea party" issues, from God to the lack of moral leadership from the Obama administration, neither would lay claim to real political aspirations.
Such powerful “candidates without portfolio” are truly a creation of today’s hyper-media-saturated communication landscape, says branding expert Mark Stevens. “We’ve never had people as powerful as Beck and Palin who aren’t politicians with complete access to the entire country every day,” he says. “Who can we equate them to? Nobody,” he says. “It’s a unique phenomenon.”
While Palin ranked first in a July Gallup poll of top Republican presidential candidates, at 76 percent, her – and Beck’s – real motivations are less clear, says political scientist Stephen Medvic, author of the 2009 book “Campaigns/Elections: Players and Processes.” Running for president is much dirtier and less financially rewarding than what either of them is doing now, he notes.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
And it burns us up like you wouldn't believe!!
Oh, wouldn’t the media so like to lump Palin in with media star and barely-hinged Beck. Sure, that’s all she is, not like she hasn’t had an impressive career—and isn’t facing a likely impressive future—in politics or anything.
This guy is full of it, and doesn't know his history. Setting aside electronic media (which didn't exist0, we have had plenty of people in our history that had wide following. At one time, over 80% of Americans had heard George Whitfield preach--personally. And what about Martin Luther King--was he a politician?
Billy Graham, Father Coughlin, the Temperance Movement, the Abolitionists, Billy Sunday, Timothy Leary, Saul Alinsky, Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, the Moral Majority, PETA, Organizing for America, The KKK, etc, etc...
(Also Charles Finney can be added to your list.)
The country would never elect Glenn Beck. I appreciate his efforts for conservative causes, but it is not realistic.
Sarah has so much national influence just as a citizen. She doesn’t need to run for Pres.
If I knew beyond any doubt she would win, I’d love to see her run. Otherwise, I don’t think the grief and suffering she and her family would be put through by the MSM, Democrats, etc., would be worth it.
They have a wonderful life in her beloved Alaska, and she is too good a person to be put through hell by the media and political lowlifes of the USA. What we see now is nothing compared to what an election run would be like for her.
Just to clarify...
Glenn’s efforts are right on! It is the thought of him winning high office that is not realistic.
(grammar error)
should be “his winning”
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