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.
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
Palin was the victim of a horrid gotcha journalism interview conducted by that deeply probing, cerebral and heralded journalist, Katie Couric. What was the gotcha moment that forever changed journalism? “What magazines do you read?”
Oh, the humanity! It was a trap! There was no way to withstand such an onslaught of hostile questioning!
Palin is a moron.
LOL again! I can’t wait until Iowa is over, but for now I’m going to bed. I’m sure it will get more interesting as time goes on. Enjoy the night shift with ‘one baptism’ if your are so inclined. :)
I’m happy about today’s events and will sleep well.
Grandpa kiryandil don't put up with anyone messing with the children...
So, you can’t demonstrate that failure is not an option for Palin so you move on to childish gibberish. Good night.
Bob J hasn't posted since the middle of 2010, that I can find.
There are, of course, some decent non-alcoholic beers.
I don’t know if you are a Cruzbot or not, but, if he gets elected, he will NOT have finished his term as Senator either. Failed1!!
You like Glenn Beck?
Dan RaTHer, is that you?
What nonsense. You know nothing about yoga.
There's a reason they pay Perky Katie Couric $7500 an hour.
Skilled assassins don't get paid that well.
You've just outed yourself, Progressive boy. You miss the DUmp yet?
He does sound like Dan RaTHer, doesn't he?
Though not quite as manly...
Maybe Mapes has got the Rabbit's "rabbit parts" on her keyring...
Well this USA needs a LEADER, A GOOD CONSERVATIVE LEADER. A LEADER FOR THE COMMON AMERICAN.
Not someone who wants to give jobs to H1b visas holders, not one who will allow illegals to remain here. Not one who allows unfair trade and China to steal our everything.
We gave the politicans of the GOP the House and the Senate. They did nothing. So I am not voting for Cruz. I’ll go with Trump.......for now
Sarah is a moron? What is your DUmp screen name?
GOOD POINTS!
You need to listen to Sarah’s endorsement speech in Aves, Iowa. I think your thinking about Sarah will have a higher opinion of her. Trump looked very proud of her speech. You will too.
The problem with you Cruzies is that you are depressed that your candidate is tanking. He had the worst week due to self inflicted wounds. So instead of trying to figure out the mess of a candidate, you’d rather bash our best nominee in 40 years. Jealousy does ugly things.
Go to You Tube and check out Sarah’s speech. It will be at the end of his Ames, Iowa speech.
Think about that scenario a LOT, do you? /sarc>
She's still more successful than you.
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