Posted on 09/06/2011 7:56:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
It’s been three years since former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made her splash onto the national stage as Sen. John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election. And since then she has acquired a very loyal following. But is that helping or hurting her?
On Tuesday’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” conservative columnist and author of “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America,” Ann Coulter expressed her concern over the Palin phenomenon. She was asked by substitute host Laura Ingraham if Palin can maintain her status as a tea party favorite by stringing people along about her potential 2012 candidacy.
“Maybe not,” Coulter said. “Newt Gingrich carried it on for 15 years and I kind of think that might be what we’re getting here, largely because of the polls. I mean, you just showed the Fox News poll, Gallup took a poll, I don’t know – five, six months ago, showing that not quite as high as 74 percent, but 65 percent said they would never definitely, positively, ever vote for Sarah Palin… I might add, that oh, it’s the media’s fault and they attacked her and saw her as a threat, all of which I believe is true.”
Coulter pointed out that conservatives are reluctant to criticize Palin for fear of a backlash and spoke about her own experiences.
“Most Americans don’t want Sarah Palin for president,” Coulter continued. “But she’s become sort of the Obama of the tea party. She’s just the one to a certain segment of right-wingers and the tiniest criticism of her, I think many of your viewers may not know this – no conservative on TV will criticize Palin because they don’t want to deal with the hate mail. You say her voice is a few octaves too high or perhaps Michele Bachman’s speaking voice is more modulated and you will be inundated with enraged emails.”
But Coulter said that the loyal following Palin has could be a liability in the long run.
“No, I agree and I think she’s terrific at what she does, but I tend to agree with you,” Coulter said. “I got sick of it with Newt Gingrich – too, fish or cut bait because you are ginning up this group of Americans who will not even consider anyone else. You know, we used to all love Sarah Palin – conservatives like me for her enemies. I’m starting to dislike her because of her fans… I think she’s bright, but her good points do not seem to be in the direction of running for president. I sort of wish just like Newt Gingrich, just run so we can get this over with.”
So, ending the corporate tax isn't specific enough for you? What do you want? The text of the actual legislation in a Labor Day speech?
Crikey...
I wish she had picked a strategy that was less psychologically demanding of her supporters. If it's not affecting you, it certainly is affecting others. I should have kept a running count of all of the folks who swore that they knew for a fact that September 3rd was the Big Day.
You know Hildy, what's sad to me, is that you truly don't see that we're not under some spell, or in some hypnotically induced state of euphoria about Palin, as you claim.
No, we are honestly enthusiastic, and openly appreciative of her character, her accomplishments, and her strongly conservative American ideals - not to mention her bravery in the face of unbelievable adversity and opposition.
You're witnessing genuine admiration here, Hildy. That's it. We Palin supporters are not the 'cult of personality' you think we are.
I support Sarah Palin because she supports me and my country. Try not to take it the wrong way when I come to her defense when she's being attacked or belittled.
The problem is that it was her supporters that wound themselves up on the S3 date. Sure it was possible, but not likely. Palin never strung anyone along. That’s her supporters getting impatient, unsatisfied to wait for her to finish the stated timeframe and hoping she announces on X date instead.
Believe it or not I understand people thinking she’s not going to run and I understand that they see us as deluding ourselves. But no one stops to think that perhaps we did our homework and we believe what we do based on our evaluation of facts in evidence. Even so, excitement gets the better of us all at times. We are afterall, human.
I maintain that most people just forget what supporting a candidate looks like. If we are wrong, we (at least I) won’t take the chicken route. I’ll publicly admnt it.
Bray, Norm is only having a bit of fun at the PDSer’s expense. It’s not serious.
We got tired of going bare-knuckles with the PDSers, GR. It gets too bloody for everyone after a while. Humor is a higher tone, and can be even more effective, no?
Perhaps things will "chill" somewhat when Palin announces, but I have my doubts. Perhaps you might think of making a similar appeal to the other side, too.
OK, good. At least you understand why there's some who are just incredulous at this whole Palin show.
A Palin supporter argued the other day that Reagan didn't enter the race until November '79. When I reminded him that the New Hampshire primary and a lot of the early primaries were nearly two months later in 1980 than they will be in 2012, he said that it must all be part of Sarah's plan. You can see why some think that you guys are making it up as you go along.
Damn, you've got that exactly backwards. It's the doubters and the Palinoia sufferers whose heads are exploding.
Palin supporters got the word that she wasn't going to announce on the same day it was uttered by Karl Rove. We chilled on that immediately. It's the flamers who got their panties in a bunch over the fact that she didn't.
Hold the fort Windy, the goddesss’ servant Morpheus summons me for matters on a higher plane. Perhaps fellow posters to the thread will soon come to know the wonders of Apliantolo-—er I mean Cult of Palin membership ;)
It’s a mystery to me too.
We are sorry Ann that you turned out to be just another one with worn out kneepads.
I don't think she'll have much of an effect if the polls are any indication.
But polls could be wrong, as we all heard what Palin thinks of "poles" in that serious policy speech you alluded to earlier.
Thank you, jonrick. But nothing has “happened” to Ann. She is the same brilliant writer and witty commentator she has always been, still the same lovely person if not more so.
A few opinions that we don’t agree with do not an enemy make.
I can’t believe the vitriol on this thread. We sure are good at turning like cornered rats on our loyal friends. I can’t even believe I’m on Free Republic right now, but I guess Palin worship trumps all.
And I guess that was what she was talking about. The spiteful comments on this thread have just proved her point.
Speak the Goddess' name with reverence and do not belittle the Cult, heathen!
Heh....I guess you're halfway there. At least you're not ripping Sarah the way Ann Coulter did tonight.
Yes, yes, Ann was a regular little northeastern beltway *Princess* tonight, LOL.
“But nothing has “happened” to Ann.”
Chris Christie lol...yeah, all of the conservatives are jumping on that bandwagon.
“But nothing has “happened” to Ann.”
Chris Christie lol...yeah, all of the conservatives are jumping on that bandwagon.
Really? I don't see that at all. This is entertaining as hell.
Have you contemplated what you'll do if she doesn't run? You have to admit that this all might be more about building the Palin brand than running for President, and I don't begrudge her that at all. The iconography is getting laid on a little thick.
Well, believe the polls if you must, but they're actually all over the map as far as Palin is concerned. You can find poll citations for every viewpoint about Palin under the sun moon and stars if you want.
I shouldn't have to remind anyone here that Freepers have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that modern polls are routinely rigged to produce a given outcome, and that they should only be used to base ones opinion on with great caution.
It's why Sarah made the remark she made at Indianola. The polls simply are not reliable barometers of where the public stands on issues and candidates.
As I've said repeatedly, there are lots of other observable indicators that can give a person a sense of public sentiment, and these should not be discounted in favor of an industry that has been shown to have been compromised nearly as badly as the MSM.
We'll see what happens after her announcement, and how she fares during the real primary. Personally, I believe she's going to dominate the contest, and I don't say that out of simple devotion and belief in my candidate. I've seen enough to cause me to conclude that she can't be beat by anyone currently running.
The conspiracy theories are unconvincing.
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