Posted on 09/18/2010 8:12:59 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic thinks it’s time for the Obama Administration to play the “Palin Card,” setting the former governor of Alaska up as the target for some Alinsky-style frozen personal polarizing. He dismisses fears that such Presidential attention will elevate Palin to greater national prominence: Elevate Sarah Palin? How much higher can she go? Everyone knows her. Some of Obama’s advisers have argued in the past that the attention paid to Palin by Americans in the last stages of the 2008 campaign is one reason why Obama was able to win so cleanly. Palin and the Tea Party movement are not the same thing. The movement, evolving out of movement conservatism, is principally about government and the economy. Palin revels in the culture wars. But when that part of the Tea Party that does care about social issues becomes the story, linking the two in the public’s mind is easier. Yes, the election is about control of Congress. But at a larger level, it’s about competing visions of the world. John Boehner v. the Democratic agenda is a boring contrast. Many Democrats couldn’t tell a Boehner from a Cantor. But everyone knows who Sarah Palin is.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Alas, slinging tar is their only trick. It’s all they know. Even when they can see 70% of the country disagrees with them (re: the 9/11 Mosque issue) they can’t help themselves.
Though it’s starting to seem they may concentrate on Christine O’Donnell for the time being. That is if the GOP establishment lets them get a boot in.
((((((((Ping)))))))))
Great read. It describes what is going on. Few people get it.
-" Palin and the Tea Party movement are not the same thing."
Yep! You're right! Keep thinking that. Keep thinking that. I love it when you actually start to believe your own BS.
Keep thinking that that 'light' you see getting brighter is the opening at the end of the tunnel for you.
most excellent read....
They need to consult with Pissant and BobJ. They can give Obama’s people a few pointers./s
“Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic thinks its time for the Obama Administration to play the Palin Card, setting the former governor of Alaska up as the target for some Alinsky-style frozen personal polarizing.”
Yeah, cause they haven’t tried that! /snort
When the media drags out the Palin card there is danger of mistakenly playing the Jessee Jackson Race card. Both are nearly worn out and unless the player pays attention. the excessive wear makes it hard at just a glance to tell the difference.
The Jackson Race Card stinks but in a hurry, it might get played by mistake.
Alinsky tactics work better for the party out of power. Attacks on Palin will have about as much credibility as Zimbabwean currency, and for the same reason.
This theory reminds me of the “we lost in ‘94 cause we didn’t pass universal health care” theory. They lost simply because they tried. They don’t understand Palin & the Tea Partiers either........ that’s good!
Excellent article!
“Let me put this bluntly: virtually no one in America gives a damn what Barack Obama says about anything at this point. What could be more predictable, and less interesting, than Obama’s opinion on any given subject? Who wants to contemplate the economic wisdom of a guy who looted the Treasury for a trillion dollars, with less benefit than we could have achieved by stuffing hundred dollar bills into random cereal boxes? Who’s excited to hear about the next plan to convert taxpayer dollars into Democrat campaign funds? Who’s hungry for another hour of tedious excuses about permanently broken markets and the titanic dead hand of George W. Bush? Who wants a lecture on ethical business practices from the titular head of the party that gave us Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters? What use is another hollow foreign-policy speech from a man who sees no global adversary to rival the menace of Arizona? Even Obama’s supporters don’t hear anything he says any more. There’s nothing left to hear.”
NAIL ON HEAD!!
“There are lots of colorful personalities making news during this election season, but these elections are not about personality. Describing them as expressions of unreasoning anger against the Democrats underestimates the thoughtfulness and determination of the Tea Party movement. Voters are not just looking for scapegoats to punish for a lousy economy. They are preparing to act against the system itself, in a manner without precedent in modern history. Palin understands this better than any other frontrunner for the 2012 Presidential nomination. Her presumptive rivals have ties to various aspects of that system, as with Mitt Romney’s precursor to ObamaCare in Massachusetts. Too many of them treat the repeal of ObamaCare as a sensitive topic, while Palin uses it as a battle cry.”
Please, please, please, attack her. You will make her into the USS New Jersey of politics. I have popcorn. I have a mouse. And, in the end, I will open my checkbook to her.
“The strategy behind playing the Palin Card is to capitalize on her approval ratings, which liberals incessantly remind us are lower than Obama’s. They misunderstand the reason why. Most Americans aren’t political junkies....
This is Palin’s situation at the moment. Average people don’t read her Facebook page, and they won’t hear speeches like the one she gave in Iowa on Friday. They know who she is, but mostly they hear about her, rather than listening to her. All that will change if the White House points at her and commands the media to attack.”
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Palin’s situation is so reminiscent of Reagan’s. Reagan had extremely devoted fans, a lot of them (although fewer than Palin has now). Most people knew who he was but their knowledge was limited to what they heard ABOUT him rather than FROM him. His approval ratings in the leadup to the 1980 election were upside down, and he was losing to Carter by 20+ points as late as December 1978. Of course that changed when the won the nomination in 1980 and people got to hear him directly and compare him, one on one, with Jimmy Carter.
It is going to change with Palin as well. Sooner or later. If Obama tries to demonize her, as Ambinder recommends, it will be sooner since she will get even more exposure and a higher platform to confront his agenda and to explain hers. Even if he doesn’t try to demonize her, she will still get the same exposure and the same platform as Reagan after she wins the GOP nomination. And the end result? Well, that will be the same too.
You can't control both houses of Congress and the Executive branch and try to "alinsky" someone because that someone has to wield at least a little power in order to ridicule and marginalize them.
No one is thinking about Palin, Beck, Limbuagh or Boehner. They're just think about their wife, or husband or neighbor who's out of a job, and the only person they could possibly blame - at this point - is Obama. There is nothing he can do to change that.
Alinsky tactics only work on those that don’t know how to handle them (unfortunately, that’s about 95% of Republican leaders - who still think that this is a just a game of football and when it’s over we all shake hands). But for the other 5%, no dice. They threw EVERYTHING at Rush - but Rush understands them and they never had a chance. I think that Sarah understands them, and if not, she better spend a few minutes with Rush to get her head straight.
These Idiots get paid for this. Alinsky's business was to organize the Back of the Yards area in Chicago, and show the people there that even they could get consideration from 'The Man', if they did the necessary work.
When leftists whip out Alinsky's book, and threaten us with it, all I see is idiocy. Today, just like then, the democrats are 'The Man'. The 'left' is the establishment, but they expect us to believe that they are based in the righteousness of the poor and oppressed. If Alinsky were alive today he would spit on them.
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