Posted on 01/26/2011 9:43:02 AM PST by 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.
Shocked in a positive or negative way?
The first time I saw it I couldn’t believe it either. But I think it shows that the country at large is fed up and we aim to change things - and soon. Madison Avenue picked up on it (maybe because it’s such a powerful force it cannot be ignored!).
That is the bottom line.
They are worried to death she gets elected and changes politics and the old boys network forever IMO.
I'm sure there are also lots of lobbyist that would not like her there either.
Can’t have him. We need him here in NJ. And anyway, he ain’t running. I’m just hoping he has the good sense to turn down any VP offer or other cabinet offer. I am confident he’ll FINISH HIS TERM and hopefully run for re-election here in NJ. And anyway, the socons won’t have him. They’ll compromise on fiscal issues til the day they die, but not the other way around.
Positive, especially as Mr. Obama’s czars control Chrysler. I’m guessing they were at Starbucks when that commercial was approved.
Debates are subjective. You can’t objectively show who won. I thought her strategy was Prevent defense all the way. Dodge questions, repeat talking points.
Excuse me, West Point isn't an elite school? Has this ass hat not noticed that in most recent years, the Service Academies are the most selective major schools in the nation?
Back to the main point: I still am amazed at PDS. It truly is remarkable. And most GOP women who don't appreciate Palin don't appreciate her accomplishments.
Never mind that silly “no religious test” stuff, right?
I agree with you.
Sarah is my ideological match, but she can’t win in America. Today’s American voters are not sophisticated enough to navigate thru the MSM noise and vote for someone like her (otherwise Obama would never have won).
She’d make a fine POTUS, but not a great candidate.
I'll even give you Pelosi and Finklestien
I agree. He has shown he can do it; but why do all that good work; when you are going to hand all the money you saved over to a group that will most likely cost you a heck of a lot more and not just in terms of money. That’s negating everything good you have done and leaves the taxpayer once again without their money and holding the bag.
“Her ideology is perfect imo. But her debate skills are not up to ronald reagan standards.”
Completely agree. She needs more seasoning.
Only in the sense that he puts his pants on one leg at a time. (I'd guess).
Would that be the same McCain that Sarah recently endorsed?
For her opponents among the moderate-to-liberal Republicans: They’re deathly afraid she’ll take over.
For her opponents on the right: They're not really as set against candidate-worshipping Precious and pretending Precious can do no wrong as they would like you to think. They simply have another Precious to worship and make excuses for. Which is a fancy way of saying...they’re deathly afraid she’ll take over.
I just don’t think she’s going to run. Why should she? She is making all the money she wants. She gets to go on FNC anytime she wants and weigh in on any issue as an FNC contributor and have a big megaphone. Her books are bestellers. she draws huge crowds where ever she goes.
Life is good.
The minute she becomes a presidential candidate, she will be put by her handlers into a straightjacket. She will lose all of her freedom. Every single member of her family no matter how close or how far will be brought into the limelight. Who wants to hear from Levi Johnston again? They will be after her relentlessly. Who needs this BS? If you have a good gig already, why give it up?
Her debate kills may not measure up to Reagan, but she sure beat the pants off Biden.
I stopped right there...Congresswoman GIBBS????
So if I pick you to be a major party nominee for vice president of the United States, arguably the second most important position in the whole wide world, you’d backstab me two years later by not endorsing me because some of your followers won’t like it? Remind me to never pick you for any team I’m on....
Governor Palin certainly elicits a strong emotional response from both her supporters and detractors. I think the comparisons to President Reagan are often overdone as his path was vastly different and his approach to governing was much more accommodating. A comparison to President Andrew Jackson would probably be more historically accurate, but really, she doesn’t seem interested in being a model of anyone else. For a political figure, she is unique in that she seems to follow her own path regardless of whether others like it or not. I don’t know how far her approach will take her, but, for one, I find it refreshing.
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