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The end of Sarah Palin: An Obama-era-novelty. As O's tenure ends, so does career of Sarah Barracuda
The Week ^ | April 29, 2014 | Michael Brendan Dougherty

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.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fail; hesafag; obama; palin; sarahpalin
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To: KC_Lion

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!


81 posted on 04/29/2014 8:16:28 PM PDT by leapfrog0202 ("the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery" Sarah Palin)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Visualize Hitlary in a debate with S.P.
That’s worth the price of admission.


82 posted on 04/29/2014 8:17:09 PM PDT by x_plus_one (Islam Delenda Est)
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To: ConservativeMind

Right on, since his only credential seems to be as a baseball blogger of sorts


83 posted on 04/29/2014 8:19:38 PM PDT by bigbob (The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. Abraham Lincoln)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

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.


84 posted on 04/29/2014 8:23:43 PM PDT by Mark17 (Chicago Blackhawks: Stanley Cup champions 2010, 2013. Vietnam Vet 70-71 Msgt US Air Force, retired)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

And Limbaugh was over when Clinton was elected. and then again when Clinton left office.


85 posted on 04/29/2014 8:29:00 PM PDT by Tanniker Smith (Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
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To: dandiegirl

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


86 posted on 04/29/2014 8:29:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: KC_Lion

Some might NOW realize the extent of the enemy within.


87 posted on 04/29/2014 8:31:11 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists, call 'em what you will. They ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

Didn’t they say the same about Rush after the Clinton presidency?...


88 posted on 04/29/2014 8:33:00 PM PDT by Hatteras
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To: Sarah Barracuda
Interesting is if she's done why is 'HE' writing about her? Contradiction


89 posted on 04/29/2014 8:49:55 PM PDT by caww
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Dream on Michael Brendan Dougherty, Dream on.

HeHe

90 posted on 04/29/2014 8:56:17 PM PDT by Tupelo (I feel more like Philip Nolan every day)
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To: caww

BTTT!


91 posted on 04/29/2014 9:02:24 PM PDT by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs assist!)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

When’s the last time someone sought Dan Quayle’s endorsement? Just wonderin’.


92 posted on 04/29/2014 9:05:22 PM PDT by HMS Surprise (Chris Christie can STILL go straight to hell.)
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To: HMS Surprise

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


93 posted on 04/29/2014 9:06:28 PM PDT by Sarah Barracuda
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; KC_Lion
Some say that Michael Brendan Dougherty wears his underwear backwards, to provide easier access for his liege lord, Barack of the Obama.

Tis a pity he is a whore.

94 posted on 04/29/2014 9:09:03 PM PDT by kiryandil (turning Americans into felons, one obnoxious drunk at a time (Zero Tolerance!!!))
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
bwahahaha ha ha ha
Sarah Palin will continue to resonate for as long as she has a voice because she understands the heart of the Founding that made this nation great and we Patriots appreciate her efforts.
Meanwhile read this pathetic clown's efforts to rise to relevancy as EPIC FAIL.
95 posted on 04/29/2014 9:12:48 PM PDT by Amagi (Lenin: "Socialized Medicine is the Keystone to the Arch of the Socialist State.")
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To: Jane Long
Must be His ratings aren't so hot....

'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.


96 posted on 04/29/2014 9:13:03 PM PDT by caww
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
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.

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?

97 posted on 04/29/2014 9:14:38 PM PDT by kiryandil (turning Americans into felons, one obnoxious drunk at a time (Zero Tolerance!!!))
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To: caww
'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.

Gads. You're right...

98 posted on 04/29/2014 9:17:21 PM PDT by kiryandil (turning Americans into felons, one obnoxious drunk at a time (Zero Tolerance!!!))
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
gaffes about Russia

Yeah, buddy! Remember that knee-slapper about the Ukraine?

99 posted on 04/29/2014 9:20:25 PM PDT by kiryandil (turning Americans into felons, one obnoxious drunk at a time (Zero Tolerance!!!))
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The president is a brainy, cool-tempered, wonkish Hawaiian;...

Obama cannot speak in complete, coherent sentences unless they have been fed to him via teleprompter. He can speak in detail about the most trivial twaddle but knows squat about anything of consequence. The author of this piffle is a git.
100 posted on 04/29/2014 9:22:08 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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