Posted on 04/19/2010 5:52:15 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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?
IN HER RECENTLY RELEASED memoir, Going Rogue, Palin tells a story about how she approached the first state budget she handled as governor. It sounds like something right out of the 1993 Kevin Kline movie, Dave, except that Palin's tale is fact instead of fiction.
We worked late into the night with the warm midnight sun still pouring through my office windows....Pens in hand, we combed through the budget, line by line, page by page -- my inner nerd coming out again, just like Wasilla City Council days....I had to know what was in there, or I wasn't doing my job. We spent days trying to decipher who put in what and why. Late one night, I looked up from the table and asked our veteran staffers, "What did past governors do? How did they get through these budgets with so little detail?" "They didn't," was the response.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
I would much prefer Palin in a Cabinet post.
Polling source for this claim please? I cannot find any such polling data
Interested in your thoughts, why is she not?
Odd how every one of these Palin hit pieces involves the author telling us what they personally feel about Palin, not any reasoned argument against her.
The key to a good president is the advisors they select and the administrators they empower.
What makes you think SP will do a poor job in those areas?
Yeah, don’t look at the details, just let it slide......that has been the mantra for decades and it gave us a massive, out-of-control, federal gov’t
Palin is qualified based on current criteria for qualifications. She’s just as capable as any that have been offered to us, excepting Reagan, on either side of the aisle.
The only man I’m curious about, even though I didn’t vote for him, was Perot. I’m curious what a real businessman would have done in the White House.
I think it’s time America puts a leading, non-politician, conservative CEO in the White House and staffs the Congress with non-politician, successful, conservative Americans from various fields and walks of life.
What this nation could really benefit from is our best leadership assigned to the task of fixing what ails us.
And then prayer to the Divine Providence that they receive inspired guidance from on high.
Key word is "Washington" (although it is not the Washington ComPost)
It looks to me that being a ahole is the most important qualification and Sarah is good so she may not be qualified.
I thing it is high time we elect some decent honest folk.
Well written hit piece. Interesting that he should start out with a Jefferson quote to launch his attack on Sarah’s “inexperience.” Now let’s see ... exactly how much experience did Old Tom have in running a government.
Hillyer, like most who consider themselves bastions of the literati just don’t seem to get it: we don’t want anymore “leaders” who are experienced in “making government work.” We want “inexperienced” citizen administrators/legislators who will make government sit down, shut up, stop picking our pockets, and start adhering to a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
My dream is that we will one day return to the day when the answer to the question, “Who’s the President now?” will be, “Hold on a second, let me think.”
juan mccain?
yeah, I’m going to go out on a limb her and say that I don’t think that Sarah’s advisers would be socialists, communists, marxists and union leaders....LOL
In other words, they despise Palin because she’s one of us.
I know there are many on FreeRepublic who don’t think she’s “qualified”, but are there ANY of you who doubt that she would be a better President than obama?
The meme of this diatribe is that even if a person has been Governor of a state that if that state is not one of the big states, that experience does not count.
Bull. Governors exercise the same oversight as Presidents do, regardless of the size of that state. I would further argue that Alaska has unique challenges that most Governors do not have to deal with.
And compared to a political insider that has lost touch with the conservative base that the majority of other candidates seem to mimic, I would much rather have someone WITHOUT Washington “EXPERIENCE”.
The reason folks are quick to defend Palin is because of people like you who have insane bizarre standards for who is and who is not qualified to be President which mostly bend on whether that person is wearing a skirt. Jimmy Carter was a Nuclear Engineer, and a long time good ole boy Governor but it still didn't keep him from attempting to destroy America's economy and its credibility abroad at the same time.
The President is a politician. Ronald Reagan was charged all of the time with the very same slams as they are using against Palin and you are carrying their water. So don't be surprised if you get push back.
Palin seems to be a bad choice because A) She lacks experience and B) She's a control freak who needs to understand exactly what's in a bill before she signs it.
The people who feel this way about Palin are the people who think Obama is the greatest president ever.
Polling source for this claim please? I cannot find any such polling data
You can Google "poll palin qualified president" for polls to this effect. In particular, see a Washington Post poll :
24. Regardless of whether or not you'd vote for her, do you think Palin is or is not qualified to serve as president?
Is qualfied ; Is not qualified ; no opinion
2/8/10 26 71 4
11/15/09 38 60 3
Mostly I like what she says, but I almost can’t listen to her. She schreeches. Somebody should tell her she has a microphone & amplifiers and she should modulate her voice.
I can’t listen to B0 at all. He hissssssssses his ssssssssses. Very serpentine.
I’ll go out on a “limb her” as well, and say that we will soon have a lot of Palin trashers in every political forum.
the Obama cult had people working forums two years ago. I’m sure they will not miss another opportunity during his reelection attempt.
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