And neither was Reagan, that B-film actor. Until we let him try, that is.
You've been making a bunch of high-sounding arguments here, like 'the long tradition of American statesmen'. I'd like to know if you consider Woodrow Wilson or Teddy Roosevelt in that history. I think we should avoid any long tradition that includes such big-government types.
What other long tradition of small-government American statesmen are you thinking of? How about one that includes that B-actor Ronald Reagan? Or the one that includes the backwoods hick Andrew Jackson? Or how about the do-nothing Calvin Coolidge? I think Governor Palin would be ok in that company, rather than anybody labeled a 'statesman' by the historians.
Calvin Coolidge was no ‘do-nothing.’
He was merely a man of little words.
In fact, I am reminded of a quote from him when thinking of the rhetorical failures of both Barack 0bama and Sarah Palin:
“The words of a President have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately.”