Posted on 11/09/2009 7:09:22 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Matthew Continetti has a piece in this weekend’s Weekly Standard hailing Sarah Palin as the ideal leader of a new populist uprising. One obvious objection to his thesis: The populist Sarah is in fact one of the most unpopular figures in American life.
According to Gallup, 63% of Americans say they would never consider voting for her. By a margin of 62%-31% Americans rate Palin “unqualified” to serve as president – by far the worst score for any leading Republican.
In comparison, only 51% of Americans say they would never consider voting for Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee – and a plurality of Americans rate the two as “qualified”: 50-36 say Huckabee is qualified, 49-39 say Romney is qualified.
Palin supporters have constructed an alternative reality in which their heroine is wildly cheered by the American yeomanry, and despised only by a small coterie of sherry-drinking snobs. No contrary evidence, no matter how overwhelming and uncontradicted, can alter this view: not the collapse in Palin’s support in just 5 weeks in 2008, not the statistical studies that show her as the only vice presidential nominee in ticket to have hurt her ticket, not her rampant unpopularity with American women, not her own flinching from a second encounter with the Alaskan electorate.
In this regard, Continentti’s comparison of Palin to William Jennings Bryan begins to look not only apt, but ominous.
Like Palin, Bryan had some good ideas. He was right about free trade, and he was right too about the gold standard. (Even if his alternative would have been unworkable in its own way.) But he made himself so culturally obnoxious to the American majority that he dragged even his good ideas down to defeat with him. Everybody knows Bryan’s famous line about the “cross of gold.” Not so well remembered are the lines that killed his candidacy in 1896:
"Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country."
This was not the way to talk to a rapidly urbanizing nation.
Bryan ran for president three times. He lost every time, and by dwindling margins: 46.7% of the vote in 1896, 45.5% in 1900, and 43% in 1908. Yet not all was lost for him. After four consecutive defeats, the country finally did turn to the Democrats in 1912. Many of the important reforms Bryan had urged over his unsuccessful career were enacted into law. Of course in the interval, Bryan’s party had turned to a new leader: a former president of Princeton University and author of an outstanding work of political science.
The professor won what had eluded the preacher, in part because unlike the preacher, he did not look obviously unequal to the job.
He acted like a big fat fool on the Glenn Beck show today.
“According to Gallup, 63% of Americans say they would never consider voting for her.”
Most of them Democrats, no doubt.
63% of Americans would never consider voting...for anyone.
Rubbish! Mclame would have lost even bigger if not for Sarah.
I’m not deciding about Palin till Meagan McCain weighs in............just kidding.
Frum should quit wasting his time, and concentrate on instructing Republicans on the virtues of compromising with a left that has gone off the deep end. It seems counter productive for an Obamao voter and admirer to encourage Republicans to support the best candidate. His time could be better spent explaining how far left the Republican Party needs to go now, just to keep up with the Democrats.
Sarah drew nearly 5000 at a Wisconsin right to life event last Fri night. No interest, hah.
Rumor has it that David Frum’s website got its first hits from this screed. Frum should take his wife, and go back to Canada where they are frum.
Is Mitt paying you David?
I guess the idiot had a typo. Plus McCain got the votes he got because of Palin.
Palin is a Populist.
David Frum sees himself as the savior of American conservatism. One obvious objection to his thesis: His proposed solutions are in fact practically indistinguishable from moderate-to-liberal Republicanism.
She got my vote last time and if she runs she’ll get it again. And if there’s no chance she could win why don’t they just stop talking about her and she’ll go away.
Saw a bumper sticker today that said: “Don’t blame me. I voted for the gold guy and the cute chick.”
Conservatives have to put forward like-minded candidates regardless what the faux conservatives (Frum, David Brooks, Gergen) think. Once that is done, then faux conservatives will be forced to vote for what they consider the “lesser of two evils”.
LOL
Buyer's remorse that their guy is now proving how woefully inexperienced he is at governing, as was oft-repeated during the campaign.
Populism: A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite.
I contend that Palin is of the old definition of elite, the kind that made this country great. Unlike the socialist indoctrinated, entitlement crowd that's developed over the last two hundred years from the long spent sweat of their ancestors, Palin still understands the genesis of true excellence and wealth.
Oh...so he’s a flippin’ Canadian? That explains EVERYTHING.
Guess who else is Canadian and just LOVES to trash America every chance they get?
Bill Maher and Michael Moore.
I don’t think either Maher or Moore has acquired American Citizenship but if they did then, just the same as with Soros and Cao: Revoke their Citizenship and DEPORT THEM.
WELCOME TO AMERICA...NOW GO HOME!!!
Boy do I love being a natural born citizen of the USA; you can make all the pretenders SQUIRM.
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