The myth of Palin's frontrunner status

Washington Post ^ | December 1, 2010 | Jennifer Rubin

[neverdem]

Much of the punditocracy is obsessed with Sarah Palin. It's understandable on several levels. First, she makes for good copy and has a knack for coining catchy phrases ("death panels") and new words ("refudiate" -- it's now in the dictionary). She is controversial and opinionated, so given the choice between, say, a story on John Thune and one on Palin, it's a no-brainer to choose the best-selling author, TV reality show star and Tea Party darling. But conservatives suspect there's also some mischief-making afoot -- the desire by liberal-leaning members of the media and the White House to make Palin the symbol of the Republican Party, which they are convinced will translate into her presidential run, her nomination and a shellacking for the GOP at the polls in 2012.

You don't have to buy into a conspiracy to see that many in the media and on the left are convinced Palin will be the nominee. In fact, they seem to be in a bit of a time warp. Howard Kurtz recently praised her media savvy, an observation widely held by conservatives -- 18 months ago. Unlike conservatives who have had time to process the Palin phenomenon, non-conservatives are just beginning to evaluate her as more than a punchline or an object of ridicule. They suspect conservatives are oblivious to her shortcomings. But that's simply wrong.

For months now the real story on the right has been the search for new presidential contenders. There is far more awareness than many in the media imagine among conservative activists, Tea Partyers included, of Palin's limited appeal to independent voters. Her backing of questionable...

--snip--

And now there's Mike Pence...

[curiosity]

If a Republican man wins how is that going to grow the base, but if Sarah Palin wins what do you think its going to do for voting blocks for the future! Young girls will look up to Sarah and the GOP, those girls turn into voters,

Wow. It's really sickening to see that kind of unconservative and unAmerican indentity politics on a conservative site.

[RichInOC]

Jennifer, let me tell you what I think about this column this way.

If you’ve watched pretty much any TV the last few weeks, you may have seen the BMW commercial where the young guy’s growing up, and his mom and dad are looking at various gifts they’re looking to buy him and saying “This is just as good as the one you’ve always wanted.” And the kid goes...”No, it’s not.”

[factmart]

FU

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2636040/posts?page=123#123

[grey_whiskers]

Wow. It's really sickening to see that kind of unconservative and unAmerican indentity politics on a conservative site.

Nice try, troll-boy.

We are stealing the successful techniques of the Gramscians.

The youth and the institutions.

Take out a low-tranche home-equity loan and buy a clue.

Cheers!

[The Pack Knight]

I certainly won’t argue with that. Unfortunately, it seems to be “elitist” to demand more.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

“I really hope they’re right. If she runs, she’ll be a disaster for the party, even if she doesn’t win the nomination.”

Wow. Interesting concept. In other words, she’s so popular that if she lost, the party would suffer a rift? Almost everyone in talk radio likes her too. But the left hates her. So we need someone who everyone on the right likes less and the left hates less?