Posted on 01/19/2016 7:59:42 PM PST by Isara
Back in December, I was at a small event in a Las Vegas bar; CNN's Jake Tapper was interviewing Sarah Palin. He asked which candidate she'd most like to grab a beer with. Her answer? Donald Trump.
Trump, of course, has been sober his whole life. But the moment perfectly encapsulates the Palin-Trump romance. Because in addition to endorsing a beer run with a man who doesn't drink, she also just endorsed for the presidency a man who is neither a committed conservative nor an anti-establishment rogue.
Trump's long history of liberalism is well known. He was once a registered Democrat who supported Democratic candidates, from Bill de Blasio to Hillary Clinton. He has said publicly that the economy usually does better under Democrats. At times he's supported legalizing drugs, raising taxes on the wealthy and embracing isolationist foreign policies.
But what's most jarring is the positions he's held on a number of issues that are particularly important to Palin.
In the past, he called himself "very pro-choice." Yet Palin - who made the very courageous and compassionate decision to have a baby she knew would be disabled - is unbothered.
On guns, he once supported a ban on so-called assault weapons and longer waiting periods to purchase a firearm. That should be deeply disconcerting to Palin, a Second Amendment firebrand who once said, "If you control arms, you control the people."
And Trump has supported universal health care - expressing admiration for Scotland's single-payer system as recently as last year. Palin spent years denouncing Obamacare, which is many steps short of a single-payer plan, as "socialized medicine."
These aren't minor policy differences. The beliefs long embraced by Palin and long eschewed by Trump are fundamental to conservatism. That Trump has suddenly gotten religion - on issue after issue - should be met by Palin with suspicion.
If his world-view weren't enough to make Palin cringe, Trump's inauthenticity as an anti-establishment candidate should be. Palin admirably took on what she called the "good old boy network" to become Alaska's first female governor. Now, she leaps to support a guy who helped create that network and who thrives in it. In what bizarre world is a billionaire real estate mogul who donates money to Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid "anti-establishment"?
Over the past eight years, Palin's influence within the Tea Party has remained strong, but her favorability rating among all Americans has dropped 40 points. Worse, her rating among Republicans has declined more than 55 points.
But despite that waning influence, I've supported and admired Palin for defending life, religious liberty and gun rights, and for being a strong mother to a disabled son and another serving overseas.
The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008 - the one who campaigned tirelessly and many times thanklessly for John McCain, a war veteran Trump has openly mocked - would have seen through Trump's charlatan candidacy. The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008, a devout Christian whose faith was constantly scrutinized by the secular left, would have no affection for a man who is constantly scrutinizing the devout Christian faiths of other conservative candidates.
The Sarah Palin I knew in 2008, who was a passionate and fearless voice for hockey moms, mama grizzlies and women everywhere, all while enduring patently sexist attacks from the left, wouldn't have supported a man who calls other women bimbos and slobs, thinks women who breast-feed and go to the bathroom are "disgusting," and criticizes another candidate for her looks.
That Sarah Palin is gone. Maybe one day, over a beer, she'll tell me why.
I explained why I thought Sarah made her choice, not my choice
She wants a bold decisive candidate whose principles and track record she respects and Trump has never back stabbed her like the GOP establishment did
Since she's spent a lot more time with Trump than we have, we either trust her on this or we don't
Cruz talks a good line but he couldn't get Congress to support him - either party- because he is a smart guy but a brittle intellectual loner
The presidential debates would be entertaining but the blacks unions moderates democrats independents and soccer moms will elect Hillary Clinton rather than Ted Cruz
Bada bing
Funny, that's exactly what all of the Left Wing Media said about the selected freeze frame picture of Trump they kept showing
You must have skipped those stories.
I worked at a law firm for years.
Well, I'm sure you made a darn good cup of coffee, and knew the copier repairman's cell number by heart. :)
Your screen name sure is counter to your posts. You are now just making things up. But I'm sure you think you're clever and fooling us darned Christian freepers because by your 'name' you must be a devout and 'good' person.
Your right. She was a success. She was a successful at being a failure because she resigned. Period. She wasn’t bright enough to handle frivolous lawsuits. Another failure. Thanks for adding it to my list.
I mean, are you guys on normal shift work? You know, 3-11, mids, and 7-3?
Oh, and EST?
Just don't want you guys getting confused. :)
You keep thinking that.
Did the dear leader lie when he denied mocking the handicapped man?
That is yes or no please
Here's a thread where FReepers can actually detect a hitpiece and call it out: Palin legal costs
LOL. It’s like whack a mole around here. The most fervent 24/7 posters have screen names that they assume will appeal to Evangelicals in Iowa. It’s strange that I’ve never seen posts by those names before in my 13 years on FR. Some are old sign up dates too. I guess they all got the signal to crawl out from under their rocks.
Certainly she was. She resigned, pulling their vicious little Lefty teeth, and then the Alaskans castrated the Lefty weasels with a law change.
A brilliant and stunning play, saving the taxpeasants money & time - what's not to like?
I'm guessing they didn't let you in on "legal strategy" at the copy machine? :)
BTW - the "Sarah Palin is stupid" meme is straight from the Progressive playbook. You might want to "cloak" your inner Lefty a little bit better. :)
The handicapped man was a left wing plant. Sound familiar?
Bob J? Who would have thunk it? I'll have to examine the thread in detail.
Maybe 'One Lord' has day shift, 'one faith' has swing, and 'one baptism' has the overnight shift.
S.E. Cupp a severe conservative. LOL!
Yeah, no kidding!
The most fervent 24/7 posters have screen names that they assume will appeal to Evangelicals in Iowa.
I caught that on this one. :)
Gads. You're trying to make blow soda through my nose.
Good thing I wasn't drinking ginger ale...
Sarah Palin knows better than anyone else the power of the Media DeathStar, and that Donald Trump is the only one who has felt its "gentle caress", and stood up to the blast.
Not only stood up to it, but gained strength from it.
Conservatism will NOT advance until the Media is dealt with.
You apparently don't understand that.
Oh, I'm sorry - you were FAIL at coffee?
Dude - it's not that hard. Chemex is awesome, and NOBODY ever goes back.
All you have to do is be careful with it. Focus while you have it around the sink. :)
My point, which you totally missed, is that rogue only means rebelling against the established power structure. It doesn’t mean that what you are fighting for is better or worse than what you are fighting against.
Fidel was a rogue to the Cuban government he rebelled against. His victory was not for the better. So being a rogue was not a good thing in that case.
You said she supported him because they are both “rogues”. My point is that is meaningless since it does not speak to policy stance at all.
I believe Cruz couldn’t get support from either party because they are in fact acting as a Uniparty. He did succeed in exposing that, which I think is a big reason “kick them all out” is so popular today. He is a rogue but he also has expressed his policy. He has been consistent on repealing Obamacare.
Trump was for universal single payer in 1999 and 2000, but now as of the debates is for a private system. I knew single payer was bad idea from the beginning due to it’s impact on personal liberty. Trump apparently did not see that as an issue in 1999. Is his change on stance simply due to Republican polling numbers being negative on Obamacare and he’s running for their nomination?
You like Trump’s stance now on healthcare. I am sure there were liberals who liked his stance in 1999. Will he disappoint you, too?
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