Posted on 04/29/2014 7:20:30 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
After this weekend, it's probably safe to say that Sarah Palin is done. Like Jesse Ventura or Ross Perot, she may show up every once in a while to hurl red meat or use stunt cameos to remind us a little of her awkward charms. But recent events seem to confirm that she is an Obama-era novelty politician — and not much else.
First she gave a speech to the NRA in which she joked that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists, offending people who otherwise make up her base. Next, Robert Costa reported on the ever-smaller crowds that have been greeting Palin in Iowa.
When Palin took the stage at the Hy-Vee Conference Center under a banner that read "Heels On, Gloves Off" on Sunday at an event for Senate candidate Joni Ernst, the ballroom was half-full, with a couple hundred attendees scattered in clumps. [Washington Post]
If the politically engaged seem bored with Obama, they have all but forgotten Sarah Barracuda, the manqué of anti-Obama populism. After years of halting appearances on Fox News, gaffes about Russia, and a parody by Tina Fey that nearly eclipsed the original, it may be hard to remember the whirlwind national introduction to Sarah Palin, which culminated in her galvanic speech to the Republican National Convention in 2008. Sarah Palin wasn't a joke back then — she was a live threat. In a few days, with the help of an ace stylist, an ace speechwriter, and sheer novelty, Sarah Palin almost transformed that election.
It later became a reason to knock Palin's vanity and ambition, but Lisa Kline's work as a stylist gave Palin a frontier glamor — that red leather jacket, the military-cut coats — that put starbursts in commentator's eyes. She was an idealized image of a hockey-mom governor from the endless Alaskan wild. Obama was new, but cool and aloof. Sarah seemed relatable and engaging.
Until the introduction of Sarah Palin, the 2008 election had been almost entirely framed as one of "change" vs. "experience." But speechwriter Matthew Scully must have discerned a kind of frontier populism in her accent, history, and politics, and wrote a convention speech that gave the election a completely different cast.
Here's how CNN summed up the speech:
She slammed Obama for "saying one thing in Scranton and another in San Francisco," argued that he had written two memoirs but never authored a major piece of legislation, and asked what he would do "when those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot," a reference to the stage where Obama gave his acceptance speech last week. [CNN]
My personal favorite line was this: "The American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of 'personal discovery.'" You could almost hear that punch landing.
Palin gave what many in the Republican base had been craving all along. It was no longer McCain's long résumé against Obama's promise of change — it was a more primal election of "us" versus "them." She humblebragged, "I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.... I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion."
And there on that convention stage we saw a preview of the "summer of rage" over Obama's health-care reform and the Tea Party rebellion of 2010.
For Republicans in 2008, alas, it became apparent that the McGovern presidential coalition had waxed in the past 40 years, while the Nixon coalition had waned. And for Palin, it's basically been all downhill since the convention: Saturday Night Live, a disaster interview with Katie Couric, an election loss, a boring reality television show, a number of her endorsed candidates flaming out, a clash with Roger Ailes, and one too many appearances on Fox News in which she seemed on populist autopilot or totally anodyne.
My theory is that Palin will have trouble finding a niche in the post-Obama world. She was the right minoritarian foil for the White House. The president is a brainy, cool-tempered, wonkish Hawaiian; he is a bit like the man from nowhere. Palin was slashing, heated, and defiantly Alaskan.
As his administration comes up more and more lame, what role will Palin play? Maybe none at all. The Obama-Palin dynamic may go down as a Pacific Ocean holiday from the Clinton-Bush rivalry that is the natural embodiment of our two-party, two-family American political system.
Glad you did ping to this, thanks much!
Funny how so many people say Sarah’s 15 minutes are up....she sure has a lot written about her for someone that is done!
Visualize Hitlary in a debate with S.P.
That’s worth the price of admission.
Right on, since his only credential seems to be as a baseball blogger of sorts
I have always wondered what Todd says in private? I’ll bet he has wanted to bust a few heads, after listening to the commie rats continuously talk sh!t about his wife. I have been waiting for him to tell some rat POS to say those things in front of him.
And Limbaugh was over when Clinton was elected. and then again when Clinton left office.
Yeah, it’s a ridiculous idea, although I have seen exactly one FReeper express disgust about it. IMHO, here’s why Jodi Ernst’s rally may have been under-attended:
Senate Candidate:
I’ll Use My Hog Castrating Experience To Help End Pork Barrel Spending
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3137255/posts
Some might NOW realize the extent of the enemy within.
Didn’t they say the same about Rush after the Clinton presidency?...
HeHe
BTTT!
When’s the last time someone sought Dan Quayle’s endorsement? Just wonderin’.
Never..and when is the last time someone who is “Irrelevant” gets such media attention when she posts something on facebook or on twitter..or gets followed around with microphones in her face every time she gets invited to give a speech
Tis a pity he is a whore.
'EVERYONE' does a Palin Hit when they need attention. Say something negative about Sarah Palin and the news can't wait to run with it! What determines if or not it will gain traction is if she responds or lets it slide....she controls it all.
An idle thought: I wonder what young Michael Brendan does when Lord Barack blasts one in his face as Dougherty is fellating his nether regions.
Does he turn his head politely, or does he eagerly "gorp" the Essence of The King?
Gads. You're right...
Yeah, buddy! Remember that knee-slapper about the Ukraine?
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