Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Problem With Palin
American Spectator ^ | April 19, 2010 | Quin Hillyer

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 ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: Alaska
KEYWORDS: acornpaidforthis; clownpost; derangedpalinistas; dncpost; envy; gopestablisment; jealousy; justmakeitup; knownothings; leftistclownposse; liars; mittboughtjournalism; moron; obama; obamabotsinaction; obotpost; palin; palin2012; palinbots; palinbotsassemble; palinbotsattack; palinbotshere; palinenvy; palinhaters; palinhatersposse; palinistasattack; paulbots; paulistamoronpost; posseofclownposters; rinoinaction; romneybots; sarahpalin; sorostoodge; whyromneywilllose
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 521-531 next last
To: reaganaut1
For proper reference, name three people who ARE qualified to be president.
21 posted on 04/19/2010 6:09:33 AM PDT by Niteranger68 (Barack Obama is Osama bin Laden's relief pitcher.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
I agree with Hillyer and the majority of the American people that Palin is not qualified to be president.

Reagan was a governor of a large state. Palin was a governor of a large state. Reagan was telegenic. Palin is telegenic. Reagan drew the ire of the Presstitutes. Palin draws the ire of the Presstitutes. Reagan stayed on a conservative message. Palin stays on a conservative message.

Yeah, I can see your point.

22 posted on 04/19/2010 6:09:37 AM PDT by Lazamataz ("We beat the Soviet Union. Then we became them." -- Lazamataz, 2005)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Puppage
I have given this some thought, have watched her on the stump and in interviews, and I am evolving to this position as well.

I have a good list of Conservatives I would want to see as President, but the problem is, they cannot all be president and at some time based on a grid of multiple factors, one has to choose the very best one of them for THAT incredibly immense job.

Governor Palin is a wonderful person and top notch in my book; she would however be better suited for the time being as a US Senator for about six years, or perhaps a high level post in a Conservative Republican administration. (with minor agencies given to RINOs who will be in charge of phasing them out and then they themselves resigning).

I would put Palin in charge of Defense or National Security Council or maybe Secretary of State to give her much more foreign policy direct experience. This is to say nothing of her as a person (great!) or as a conservative (fairly clean with few doctrinal defects).

23 posted on 04/19/2010 6:10:05 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (Call your County/State GOP & ask if they'll make 2010 solely a NATIONAL NO CONFIDENCE VOTE on Obama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
She's definitely qualified
24 posted on 04/19/2010 6:10:25 AM PDT by reefdiver ("Let His day's be few And another takes His office")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
At this point, if Palin shared the FL primary ballot with a couple of pubbie senators, she would get my vote.
25 posted on 04/19/2010 6:10:54 AM PDT by Jacquerie (It is happening here)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Puppage

I’m not worried about her qualifications in the technical sense (her CV is a bit light for POTUS, but it’s good enough for me). I’m worried about her enthusiastic backing of turds like McCain and Steele. I was already wary from her support of McCain, but there is at least an argument that could be made for it (one that I don’t agree with, but it’s at least somewhat valid). Supporting Steele, on the other hand, has me really backing off of my support for her. It looks like she’s getting way too cozy with the power elites who are wrecking the country. That’s OK, I’m not looking for a new messiah like some folks. There will be others (Rep. Paul Ryan is looking pretty decent right now). OK haters, flame away.


26 posted on 04/19/2010 6:10:57 AM PDT by thecabal (Destroy Progressivism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
And it was no doubt admirable for Palin to take her own responsibility so seriously. But at some point a chief executive can't personally handle such details herself. A governorship or, especially, the presidency, is not the Wasilla City Council. Presidents who are too detail-oriented wind up like Jimmy Carter, literally solving disputes about schedules on the White House tennis courts.

YEah, right. /sarc That's really worked out well so far hasn't it? "Let's pass the bill so we can find out what's in it." Bush ready to sign off on Paulson's 700 Billion dollar 3 page school note. Obama doesn't know what's in the bill, doesn't care, just "give me a political victory by any means neccessary."

In an Ideal World, Palin is not ready yet. But here in the real world, over half of the voting public elected a man with no experience and a congress that wants to enslave them. All because it was "cool". It will take two or three generation to get the public to a level where they think about the people the are electing rather than their skin color or "coolness" factor. We haven't even started.

27 posted on 04/19/2010 6:11:44 AM PDT by Clock King (There's no way to fix D.C.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

They dismiss Palin’s 80% approval rating as governor because it was from the remote state of Alaska. Yet Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, the state that was virtually last in everything, yet he was deemed “qualified” simply because his party said he was.

Palin was the only one of the four people on either ticket last time that had actually run anything, yet she’s the one who’s credentials people question.


28 posted on 04/19/2010 6:13:22 AM PDT by MNnice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

She’s more qualified than Barry Soetro was.


29 posted on 04/19/2010 6:14:06 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (FYBO: Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hampdenkid

You nailed it.

These Palin bashers who scream that Palin isn’t experienced enough show their utter lack of understanding of the Founder’s intent: They didn’t want a professional (”experienced”) political class. They wanted citizen-leaders.

But hey, let’s ditch the “inexperienced” /barf Palin for another life-long DC or Party insider. After all, that’s worked so well!


30 posted on 04/19/2010 6:14:21 AM PDT by piytar (Ammo is hard to find! Bought some lately? Please share where at www.ammo-finder.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Talk of Palin or anyone else as a candidate in 2012 is WAY premature. In April 2006 who was predicting Obama would be the Dem nominee? Who was touting Bill Clinton in April 90? A nominee will rise to the top, and it might well be Palin, but the process doesn’t begin in earnest until after the midterm elections. Keep your powder dry.


31 posted on 04/19/2010 6:14:36 AM PDT by csmusaret (If it sounds like Marx and acts like Stalin, it must be Obama!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

She has’nt learned to lie easily...and hence is a real danger to the DC crowd...because without being adept at lying...there is NOTHING she can do for them and the parasitic/chattering class that line I-95 form Boston to Richmond.

She is way too open, honest...”what you see is what you get”


32 posted on 04/19/2010 6:15:58 AM PDT by mo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thecabal

You make some good points, esp in light of McCainiacs’ Obama gulag enabling act.


33 posted on 04/19/2010 6:18:41 AM PDT by piytar (Ammo is hard to find! Bought some lately? Please share where at www.ammo-finder.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Loud Mime

the next best thing to correcting your own typos is a typos sympathizer...thanks! I don’t post here frequently, but I agree with your comments. I’m shocked at the number of Palin trashers I encounter on FR and other conservative forums of late. (not an overwhelming number, I just think there should be ZERO!)


34 posted on 04/19/2010 6:18:48 AM PDT by TiredofItalltoo (tiredofitalltoo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Qualified?

She’s an American.
She loves her country.

If you can find a job description for POTUS, please post it.

There is going to be a great furnace that will smelt all the GOP candidates, so we’ll see how she and the rest survive.

G


35 posted on 04/19/2010 6:18:50 AM PDT by GRRRRR (He'll NEVER be my President, FUBO!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1; xzins
I agree with Hillyer and the majority of the American people that Palin is not qualified to be president.

I don't think you are qualified to make that statement.

36 posted on 04/19/2010 6:20:11 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lazamataz
“Reagan was a governor of a large state. Palin was a governor of a large state. Reagan was telegenic. Palin is telegenic. Reagan drew the ire of the Presstitutes. Palin draws the ire of the Presstitutes. Reagan stayed on a conservative message. Palin stays on a conservative message”

I read the whole article. This was a typical hit piece from an establishment Republican point of view.

The Republican establishment is DEAD, they just don't know it yet.

While Palin isn't Reagan, the similarities are STRIKING. CHARACHTER MATTERS. The right PERSON is paramount, you can HIRE experience.

37 posted on 04/19/2010 6:20:26 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts ma'am, just the facts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
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.

It's distinctive but not personal. It is the distinctive trait almost all Americans once had of admiring those who are attacked by the evil and the powerful and who are able to beat them back. Until leftists corrupted it, Hollywood used the theme in almost every movie.

38 posted on 04/19/2010 6:21:46 AM PDT by Brugmansian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1; Avoiding_Sulla
The first two general-fund budgets for which she was responsible showed spending hikes of 16.4 percent (from fiscal year 2007 to '08) and a mind-boggling 21.8 percent the next year. Total government expenditures (a slightly different measure) grew 38.6 percent in those two years combined.

[snip]

And while supply-side conservatives are rightly thrilled at Palin's mayoral record as a tax-cutter, fiscal conservatives again have reason for concern: the town's long-term debt reportedly jumped from $1 million to $25 million.

These numbers are too big not to be indicative. This is all conservatives ever really needed to know about Sarah Palin AND why she gets so much air time. She apparently believes "good government" should solve all the people's problems. To her credit, she wants it honest. To our dismay, she's too ambitious for our own good.

With regard to the harassment that chased her out of office, here again we see an appalling lack of judgment:

Again, Going Rogue is instructive. In it, she makes much of what she called the "rawhide-tough" ethics package that she shepherded through the state legislature. It clearly remains a point of deep pride for her. [snip] Good intentions lead to hellish consequences, the public's interest is sacrificed instead of served, and Palin herself felt moved to resign to escape the hellish process that her own handiwork created.

Besides the obvious indication of mercurial intemperance, the most serious aspect of this charge is that she has never admitted her mistake.

39 posted on 04/19/2010 6:21:58 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (The RINOcrat Party is still in charge. There has never been a conservative American government.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Palin was a governor Obama was a part time senator I will go for Palin.


40 posted on 04/19/2010 6:22:00 AM PDT by Vaduz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 521-531 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson