What exactly is wrong with Sarah Palin as a candidate?

The Gainesville Sun ^ | January 26, 2011 | LTC William Dixon, M.D.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Rush Limbaugh is fond of saying the left will always tell you whom they fear by making that person the focus of their most virulent attacks. The left despises Sarah Palin. They say she is stupid and incapable of ever assuming the role of president. They mock her education, (B.S. University of Idaho), her small town background and her political accomplishments ( 2006 - 2009 Governor of Alaska ). When she resigned the governorship, they said she was a quitter. Just recently, the left indicted her as being responsible for the shooting of Congresswoman Gibbs in Arizona.

But what of pundits on the right, the Peggy Noonan-Karl Rove types? They hold Palin in equally low esteem. And what of conservative women? Many just viscerally dislike her. Ask them about Palin. You’ll get a response which begins with a shaking of the head and some comment about being inexperienced. Press them for facts. You will find most of these women ignorant of Palin’s background and remarkable accomplishments. Why is that?

Is it because Sarah Palin does not look at all like the admired but camera-challenged women in government, such as Hillary Clinton and Justice Sotomeyer? She has not the stern, formal look of a Maggie Thatcher, the British Prime Minister who turned around England’s economy nor of Golda Meir, the tough former leader of Israel. Palin is softer, attractive, plain spoken albeit with a sometimes irritating voice. Does her appearance put people, especially women, off?

All but three of our presidents in the last hundred years graduated from elite universities, often with law degrees. Truman did not attend college. Ike graduated from West Point, and Reagan graduated from Eureka College in Illinois. Those three are considered among the best of presidents by most. Reagan and Truman were thought stupid by some. Is it that Palin did not graduate from an elite university that causes some conservative pundits to reject her as unintelligent?

George W. Bush was considered stupid and incompetent by the governing elite because he actually believed in God and prayed daily. This despite two Ivy League degrees.

Sarah Palin is openly Christian and prays regularly. She was president of a Christian group in high school. She is “pro life” and rejected terminating her last pregnancy when she found she was carrying a baby with Down’s Syndrome. Perhaps that is the problem for some of her critics.

It seems unlikely that her performance as mayor of Wasilla, cutting taxes while expanding the town’s facilities so that it could grow, would be anything but a plus. Just so her role as a member of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She outed two corrupt officials, one of whom was chairman of the state Republican Party.

Was she wrong in running for governor to oust a corrupt and wasteful officer of her own political party? Was it lack of wisdom which led her to sell the state plane, cut expenses of her office by 75 percent and pass a bipartisan ethics bill? Was she impolite in chasing away the oil company lobbyists so that she could start work on a stalled pipeline for natural gas? Not likely.

President Obama was elected because he appeared to be extraordinary. His academic pedigree and soaring rhetoric shielded from voters his appalling lack of real-world experience and complete lack of substantial accomplishments. His presidency is struggling.

By contrast, Sarah Palin, despite her talents and obvious achievements, seems very ordinary. Americans, believing the smears and punditry, will likely reject Palin without really getting to know her. Once again the nod will go to a member of the cultural elite, a group which has routinely failed to govern well.

*****

William Dixon is a graduate of Columbia University, New York Medical College and the USF College of Business Administration. He was an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Georgia before entering private practice. He served in the Army as a surgeon and as a Special Forces Officer, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Dr. Dixon can be reached at Wdixon16@yahoo.com.

[algernonpj]

Once again facts are facts. Whether you want to admit it or not Palin is for a pathway to citizenship aka amnesty for illegal aliens.

Good try to get me to justify something i did not say about Governors Romney, Huckabee, Pawlenty or ‘any other candidate now being seriously mentioned’ (who ever that may be)!

If you are going to support Palin, do so being fully aware of her stance on illegals.

I got on this post indirectly regarding a post about Chris Christie and his stance on illegals.

Now I’m off to round 3 in clearing the never ending snow.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Where are your detractors? Perhaps their script isn’t ready?

This place has been full of mobies from time to time. I think the 40 hours per week useful idiots now work for a dime a dozen cuz Obama still hasn’t put a dent in his slush fund AKA “stimulus.” They may be whores, but at least they’re cheap whores.

C_O: Do you have a list of those who fall away when you challenge them and they fail to answer your thoughtful responses? Without counting the few times you’ve veered off into returning insult for insult, I bet your list is large.

[Carry_Okie]

C_O: Do you have a list of those who fall away when you challenge them and they fail to answer your thoughtful responses?

Would that be base data, or a data base. The mind reels.

Without counting the few times you’ve veered off into returning insult for insult, I bet your list is large.

Actually, there are a good many with which I don't bother these days, simply because I don't have the time. There are a couple in the last week that come to mind. The answers sit on my tab list staring at me, facing the inevitable, "Do I really want to deal with this??? Naaah." Then some auto-boot whacks the whole thing and the post disappears.

I should know better. Habits you know.