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 ...
YOU SAID: I agree with Hillyer and the majority of the American people that Palin is not qualified to be president. (And Obama being unqualified does NOT make her qualified.)
Well then better start putting Mitts wheels back on, banish Romneycare to the memory hole and invent some invisible flip-flops for him to wear because the Palin supporters will be all over the primaries and once debates start and positions are fleshed out, it doesnt seem she can be stopped, at least not by anybody out there now. All this angst about Palin, you mean to tell me if she beats all the Rs in the primaries, she still isnt good enough for you and you will vote Zero? The 2012 election will be a referendum on Zero. Any plausible candidate will beat him. DeMint maybe could best Palin, but will he run?
What is the American Spectator doing publishing such a piece? And did they get that 55% unfavorable rating from a democrat poll?
By far the most successful "self-made" businessman to be elected president was Herbert Hoover and Hoover's handling of the economy only looks good when compared to the FDR's total failure.
This is a much more carefully planned and polished spin on Palin bashing than usual, but I don’t find it convincing. Palin is not the perfect candidate and would not be a perfect president, but when you look at what she would do well that’s almost everything in the job for which we will be electing her.
You may disagree on whether conservatism, freedom, and respect for the Constitution are good things, and most Obama supporters disagree with me on those issues, but the fact is that if you approve of those ideas, then Palin is the president we need. Demand perfect, and we’ll settle for another four years with Obama, among the least qualified people alive and certainly the worst to set foot in our White House in our country’s history. I’m happy to “settle” for someone who has proven that she governs honestly and well, respects the Constitution, shares the values that made America great, and is qualified to serve as Commander-in-Chief.
People cry that they're tired of the same ol' establishment candidates, yet, when one comes along who has executive experience, tried and true conservative values, and an actual backbone and kahunas to challenge the President enough that she's under his skin... and they say no?
Conservatives are their own worst enemy.
” “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.”
- Patrick Henry, 1775
“I told reporters what I still believe today: government experience doesn’t necessarily count for much.”
-Sarah Palin, Going Rogue, p. 84 “
Poor Quin Hillyer. I remember when he used to write for the Mobile Register. His vast experience is as a “little wannabe” from New Orleans, growing up a rich kid and thinking he hit a triple. However, he starts his little hit piece with two quotes from Patrick Henry and Sarah Palin. Both of them use the word “experience”, and that is as far as little Quin gets. (He must have done poorly with reading comprehension at Newcomb Nursery school in fashionable uptown New Orleans).
Let’s try again, Quin. Patrick Henry praises “experience”. Sarah Palin, in her quote, does not seek to diminish “experience”, but “government experience.” Hard as this may be for you to understand, since you are living in Washington now (You have finally hit the big time, but the price required is that you serve your masters there), “experience” is not the same as “government experience”.
I won’t bother to deconstruct the rest of his article, which is “cut and paste” job of Palin hit pieces of the last 18 months. If Quin doesn’t start producing a better product than this, he may find himself back in Mobile (or maybe Greenbow).
Republican bluebloods, not conservatives.
Quite a dream: The end of Presidential personality cults and overweening executive power.
LOL!
Thank you. Absolutely correct.
Absolutely
Hillary had much higher negatives and would of won if Obama had not been in the race.
And Palin has 10 times the experience of Hillary, who’s only qualification for office was that she was married to a former president who cheated on her.
Yes, he does hisssss his sssss’s. He actually whistles, like somebody that has ill-fitting dentures.
I wonder why? does he have false teeth? Normally people don’t whistle like that unless they have false teeth. Peculiar.
Hillyer is the ultimate Mitten:
And an insider one at that: he’s the one who had Romney’s own description of his plane kerfuffle a couple of months ago.
So of course he doesn’t want to focus on issues, and he has to choose some sort of character reading that has to do with Palin having transferred schools—as a teenager.
We know that Sarah Palin shares our conservative values. But is she the leader conservatives need?
We will find out in the primaries.
Re: “qualifications”.
* 35 years old or older
* Must be a natural-born U.S. citizen
* Must have lived in the United States for fourteen years
Palin meets all three requirements, unlike a certain Indonesian/Kenyan who seems to be hiring trolls to roam the Internet and trash any real challengers.
There is no way in the world Romney gets the nod after taking credit for Obamacare. No way in hell.
Sarah Palin
Barry Obama
Personally I'd rather have Sarah than the current resident.
I share Hillyer's concern about Palin's lack of experience, but I also feel with just a little more experience on the national level (senator for instance) Palin would make a great candidate. Among all the likely candidates now in Pubbie mix, she's the one I see as having the most positives that reflect true conservative values. I'm looking for a conservative with a spine of steel, and she appears to have it more than any other candidate. The lack of experience issue is probably the issue that causes the most concern for Palin doubters. Six years in the senate and the national spotlight would make Palin very appealing in 2016.
Probabbly because like Hillyer you don't check or report important facts. The spending increases during Palin's tenure can in large part be attributed to increases in the Permanent fund divident check sent to each Alaskan citizen.
In 2007 the payout increased from $1100 to $1600. In 2008 it was $2069 plus an aditional $1200 rebate. This level payout was possible partly because Palin spearheaded an increase in the amount Oil companies paid for extracting oil from Alaskan state lands. Palin bashers also like to point to that as tax increase. Technically it is listed as a tax, but financially it is payment for a commodity base on volume, not what most people would consider tax. So, Palin increased the amount of money charged to oil companies for "buying" oil from Alaskans and increased the amount of money paid to the Alaskans citizens. For this she is labeled tax and spend by her oponents.
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