A Map-Based Answer to the Palin Question

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 6 July 2009 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

There are two aspects of Governor Palin's decision to resign now, which have not been competently discussed, or discussed at all, in the main stream media. One is based on the map, the other is based in American political history.

Regarding the map: I have two, immediate sources to know how long it takes, with what sort of wearing down from the journey itself, to travel to and from Alaska. One is my cousin who is a leading labor lawyer, and who went from Atlanta to Alaska frequently when the Aleska Pipeline was under construction.

The other is my son-in-law's brother who was until recently the Agent In Charge for the FBI in Alaska. His trips home were often to North Carolina. The bottom line is this. In going to Alaska, or coming from that state to the "lower 48" for any purpose, two days are lost in travel for each trip, and there is recovery time to be sharp and on your toes in addition.

Throw in the fact that at least two of the phony, and dismissed, ethics charges made against Governor Palin were based on the fact that she was "out of the state" in order to appear or speak at events in the lower 48. It is well known that Governors and Senators who habitually run for President are often absent from their states and their constituents (unless they come from Iowa or New Hampshire to begin with).

The travel restraints are far worse for Alaskans and Hawaiians than residents of any other states. The result is that no one can function in a full time government position in Alaska or Hawaii, while playing a significant, permanent role in politics in the rest of the nation.

The political history aspect refers to Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Both built their national base which gave them their respective party nominations for President by traveling the US for years on the rubber chicken circuit. They supported and raised money for hundreds of state and local candidates. They had good results doing that, much better than similar efforts by Bill Clinton, to choose a name not entirely at random.

Bottom line: I think Sarah Palin is planning a similar, grassroots effort to those of Nixon and Humprey. I think she knows that she needs to show immediate results in the 2010 elections for the House and Senate, with candidates she supports usually winning. She has to start now, rather than just wait to run for President or Vice President in 2012.

I think she recognized that it was impossible for her to be a Governor, a mother and a wife, and an active speaker in the lower 48, all at once. So, she left the least important of those three tasks in the hands of her selected Lt. Governor.

The proof of what I posit will come on 12 September, 2009, if Palin is the most important speaker at the Rally on the Mall in Washington. My analysis is correct, if she begins her speech then and there with words like these: "My fellow Americans, I come before you today not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, but as an American who is deeply, deeply concerned about the wrong directions this nation is taking because of failures by politicians in both of those ancient political parties...."

Congressman Billybob

[HiTech RedNeck]

I don’t know what your personal relationship to the Christian faith is, and I will try not to make assumptions. However it is common in evangelical biblical interpretation (the line that I typically take) to identify illustrations of Christ made by the lives of the flawed, yet still in some ways faithful, people of God. In religious jargon it is sometimes called “types of Christ.”

[MSF BU]

Good rundown. I am sure she could make a good living (and help pay down those legal costs) simply by mixing fundraising for GOP/Conservative groups with personal speaking trips. Reagan did this successfully for six years after he was governor.

[Congressman Billybob]

I don't see her moving to the Lower 48. Keep in mind that two of the frivolous (and dismissed) ethics complaints against her were that she took time from her duties in Alaska to come to the Lower 48 for speeches, even though she turned around and hurried back to Alaska.

I expect her to come south, stay for three weeks, give a dozen speeches (half for "organization building and half for income) and then return to Alaska. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

John / Billybob

[Congressman Billybob]

I attended the dedication of the Reagan Library. Five Presidents were there, three of them tolerable. Lee Greenwood sang his song at the end. A flight of F-15's came over with perfect timing.

But the most impressive thing to me was to go behind the library, and touch both sides of the panel from the Berlin Wall that is set up, there. One side was brightly covered with graffiti, the other was industrial gray. That piece of concrete, all by itself, told the story of Reagan's greatest triumph.

John / Billybob

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you very much.

John / Billybob

[hoosiermama]

One day....If dad were healthier I’d take him tomorrow...He so loves the man, has read every book I could find about him...OTOH am still looking for the Gingrich material

...Now he wants everything I can find on ‘OUR Sarah’.

[yoe]

We lived in Alaska for three years "protecting the Air Force", loved it and we love Sarah Palin, a real woman, wife, mother, patriot and American. Alaska could become the new capitol of the US....if we drain the existing D.C. swamp cum cess-pool that squanders our $$, our freedoms and even our laws and justice with appointees like Sotomayor, an activist hack so like many of the Obama administration's tax cheats, just people way below the salt when it come to integrity, some we can't even know about because they are the Czars.

Sarah is energizing the conservatives, those who respect the Republic for which it stands regardless of party. So speak out loudly and often for Sarah who knows the goodness that was America and wants to restore what she can of it....I am here to help her.

[PA Engineer]

Missed your post previously. You are spot on.

I did some of the original visits to Aleyska and can attest to how fatiguing (before hub airport system) this is. I was young (24) at the time. She cannot be effective in the lower 48 from Alaska as governor.

This was a very pragmatic decision on her part and struck me as downright rational. She cannot call on her base to counter the insidious behavior of both media and the left while governor, yet she cannot function as governor because of the straw man attacks on her. What is a person to do?

Continue to take the abuse, consuming your time and state resources or free yourself of those constraints and fulfill your destiny. Hmmmm. Tough decision.

The media and left overplayed their hands. Had they left her alone she would have become more obscure and less effective as a spokeswomen for the conservative base. Now she is free to address both the political conservative movement and the American (sans the two party system) people.

I do not know what she is going to do beyond her statements, however everyone can agree freedom is a far better choice then the chains of her current position as governor as well as the relentless attacks of the occupation.

If you have a ping list please add me to it. Thanks.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Great thread....

Looking at Drudge this morning and we see:

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PRESS PALIN POUNDING CONTINUES:

LA TIMES: Quitter, joke, train wreck...

NY TIMES: Professional and personal troubles...