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Palin Is No Reagan
American Spectator ^ | 7.6.09 @ 7:45AM | By Philip Klein

Posted on 07/06/2009 7:22:56 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines

[C]omparisons do a disservice to Reagan, who not only served two full terms as governor of California, but also spent decades studying the issues and immersing himself in conservative philosophy. His writings and radio commentaries make this abundantly clear. He proved people wrong because they objectively were wrong. This does not mean that whenever the media writes off or attacks a conservative politician that he or she is the next Reagan

****

to win and govern effectively you have to do more than "galvanize the party base" and "convince conservatives" -- you also have to convince independents and even some Democrats, as Reagan did [but] instead of going back to Alaska to gain more governing experience as many advised, Palin resigned after just two and a half years on the job. And there’s nothing to indicate that she has the slightest interest in boning up on policy. Honestly, what’s her incentive to study policy and do the boring task of governing? No matter what she does, her army of apologists will make excuses for her and lash out at those who dare to criticize her by accusing them of being liberal elitists who are threatened by her sheer awesomeness....

[N]one of this really matters if Palin intends to leave elective politics and become some sort of television or radio personality. My comments are only meant as a response to those who are still seriously suggesting her as a potential presidential candidate. Last October, an ABC/Washington Post poll found that only 35 percent of Americans thought Palin was qualified enough to be president, yet now her boosters expect us to believe that an additional nine months in office is all she needed to assauge Americans' concerns, allowing her to resign and prepare for a presidential run.

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: Alaska
KEYWORDS: antipalin; derangement; palin; pds; reagan; waronsarah
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Sarah Palin ,like Reagan, Loves America and would never try to tear Her down or appologize for this great country!
She under stands everyday hardworking Americans. Sarah is far better than the turncoat dufus who is squatting in the oval office “presently”!


281 posted on 07/06/2009 9:43:50 AM PDT by timetostand
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Sarah Palin ,like Reagan, Loves America and would never try to tear Her down or appologize for this great country!
She under stands everyday hardworking Americans. Sarah is far better than the turncoat dufus who is squatting in the oval office “presently”!


282 posted on 07/06/2009 9:43:52 AM PDT by timetostand
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To: Dan Middleton
Well THAT contributed to the intellectual depth of the discussion.

About as much as your post did, in all fairness.

283 posted on 07/06/2009 9:45:17 AM PDT by itsahoot (Each generation takes to excess, what the previous generation accepted in moderation.)
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To: Dead Corpse

Reagan had his faults.

Two that come to mind was his failure to abolish the Dept.
of Education, and also amnesty for illegal immigrants Of course, no intelligent person would believe that Reagan would have signed off on amnesty if he had any idea the laws would be ignored.


284 posted on 07/06/2009 9:45:20 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (Pray for, and support our troops(heroes) !! And vote out the RINO's!!)
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To: curiosity
I have yet to see a single instance in which she makes a coherent case for conservative economic policy.

OTOH, Palin is in favor of developing America's domestic resources in the Oil & Natural Gas areas. While here overall economic philosophy needs "fleshing-out", she beginning at a strong starting point. The Dems seem to think that you can run an expanding economy on windmills & solar cells.

285 posted on 07/06/2009 9:48:05 AM PDT by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
[C]omparisons do a disservice to Reagan, who not only served two full terms as governor of California...

Reagan started his first term as governor in '67 and then he ran for president in '68.

It was only because Reagan lost in '68 that he served two full terms.

And your above nonsense(LOL)appears in your very first sentence. Why on earth should anybody read passed it?

286 posted on 07/06/2009 9:48:27 AM PDT by FreeReign
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To: perfect_rovian_storm
>>>>>>Why do you have such a bee in your bonnet over her resignation?

Frankly, I don't like people who quit in the middle of a fight.

>>>>>She didn’t have a choice. Either finish out the term and don’t run in 2012, or resign and run in 2012.

That's flat out wrong and you know it. Palin's term ended in December 2010! She had plenty of time to run for POTUS. In resigning, Palin has given her attackers in the liberal establishment even more ammunition to use against her, should she some back one day to run again. Nixon was politically dead in 1962 and President in 1969. Anything is possible, but her resignation doesn't help with Independents and the proverbial fence sitters. Which any presidential candidate needs to win. Sadly, in the short term, Palin has damaged her reputation by resigning.

287 posted on 07/06/2009 9:48:44 AM PDT by Reagan Man ("In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.")
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To: curiosity
A conservative fit for the presidency proposes specific policies that are based on conservative principles and then argues for them in a persuasive manner. I have yet to see Palin do that.

That is probably because she wasn't running for president. The position of VP is never to implement policy.

Curruption(sic) is not a conservative or liberal issue.

Are you high? We are surrounded by corruption at every level of government, and the tyranny and contempt it breeds for those outside the political classes is slowly, bloodily killing America. To suggest that an anti-corruption platform (let alone a personal abhorrence of corruption itself) lies outside the realm of conservative philosophy shows a complete lack of understanding of that philosophy itself.

You should learn more about the foundation of conservative principles, my friend.
288 posted on 07/06/2009 9:49:19 AM PDT by snowrip (Liberal? YOU ARE A SOCIALIST WITH NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT.)
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To: FreeReign
Reagan started his first term as governor in '67 and then he ran for president in '68.

...and went on to lose the nomination in 68 and 76.

If Reagan had quit the CA governorship after the 68 election you might have a point. But he didn't. He served two full terms before finally getting nominated.

289 posted on 07/06/2009 9:50:29 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
her decision is a baffling one.

Apparently it is to you, why all the demands on her? Why must she tell you what she is going to do? What do you care anyway, she can't win?

Good grief people get over yourselves, she is not Michael Jackson, she is a clever politician. We are not entitled to know what she plans, we may have a genuine interest, but we have no standing in her plans, until we are invited in.

290 posted on 07/06/2009 9:51:33 AM PDT by itsahoot (Each generation takes to excess, what the previous generation accepted in moderation.)
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To: Theophilus

While I would like those attributes in any candidate that I support, none of those traits tell me that she knows how to lead a country. However she would make a good minister of wife to a minister, if I could stand to listen to her rambling speech pattern.


291 posted on 07/06/2009 9:52:07 AM PDT by Texas_shutterbug (e)
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To: ExTexasRedhead

Winner, winner.

I have been saying the same thing. Good post.


292 posted on 07/06/2009 9:53:40 AM PDT by alarm rider (My tagline is on vacation.)
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To: stephenjohnbanker
The Republican establishment is what got us Obama ;-)

*********************

McCain was a terrible choice, no doubt about it. He did everything possible, other than his smart move in choosing Palin, to lose the election.

Still, the GOP establishment and McCain aren't solely responsible. Our nutty primary system, the MSM and a bunch of moronic voters all did their share.

293 posted on 07/06/2009 9:54:28 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: itsahoot
she is not Michael Jackson, she is a clever politician.

Clever politican does not equal infallible. And Palin has made some blunders over the years, most notably agreeing to the Couric and Gibson interviews without setting reasonable ground rules such as requiring the interview be aired unedited.

294 posted on 07/06/2009 9:54:50 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: perfect_rovian_storm
Her political enemies, both Dem and RINO in AK have been making her life miserable about leaving the state for political functions.

Yes, she was damned if she stayed on and damned if she quit. So she made the morally correct choice.

295 posted on 07/06/2009 9:57:12 AM PDT by FreeReign
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To: johncocktoasten

“THERE WILL NEVER BE A CONSERVATIVE LOVED BY STATE RUN MEDIA.”

Not usually a fan of CAPS LOCK, but I agree...


296 posted on 07/06/2009 9:58:04 AM PDT by villagerjoel (1. Implement socialist policies 2. ??? 3. Heaven on earth)
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To: SoFloFreeper
really needs to spend more time immersed in the issues...speaking on them....thinking about them....writing about them....

These comments are posted all over the Palin threads, what they really mean is, Sarah is as dumb as a Rock, so why not just say it. </ Sarcasm>

297 posted on 07/06/2009 9:58:16 AM PDT by itsahoot (Each generation takes to excess, what the previous generation accepted in moderation.)
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To: Theophilus
Your post confirms my hypothesis: Palin's support is nothing more than a personality cult.

Of all the facts you listed, only one, her being pro-life, had anything to do with policy.

Everything else was a personal characteritic of her's that you and others happen to like.

It's sad that the right is following the left and degenerating into a culture of personality cults.

298 posted on 07/06/2009 9:58:39 AM PDT by curiosity
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To: itsahoot

My guess:

She will...
—Hit the stumps in 2010 campaigning for others
—Hit the speaking circuit
—Fine tune her policy message(s) during that time
—Build a large war chest during that time
—Run in 2012


299 posted on 07/06/2009 10:00:47 AM PDT by couch1971 (Stupid People shouldn't breed.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
Last October, an ABC/Washington Post poll found that only 35 percent of Americans thought Palin was qualified enough to be president, yet now her boosters expect us to believe that an additional nine months in office is all she needed to assauge Americans' concerns, allowing her to resign and prepare for a presidential run.

We just elected a former community organizer to become president. How is she not qualified to move up to this office? I like Sarah Palin well enough, and would definitely vote for her if she were the GOP candidate. I'm not a smart enough guy to know if this latest move by her is a smart one, but we'll know in the next couple of years.

300 posted on 07/06/2009 10:00:57 AM PDT by Major Matt Mason (Imagining a world without DemocRats.)
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