Palin could not be elected to anything in the Democratic party. Beauty, of which she has plenty, wouldn't be enough. Folksy way of talking (which wasn't there a few years back) wouldn't cut it either. Last year, when Hillary tried to modulate her voice to get votes, she was ridiculed by right and left. Obama's tried it a time or two also and it never paid off for him with the left wing.
Palin could not be elected by Democrats on policies, of course but also because of her limited experience. She has not run a national campaign, which despite the talk about Obama's lack of experience was part of what convinced lefties that he could lead.
Palin's record consisted in 2008 of being mayor of a small town (I think population 6000) where she ran it into debt of around $20 million which they are still trying to pay off; then a year and a half of governor of a state where she criticizes taxes but raised them on oil companies to get windfall tax breaks for her constituents. Taxes are bad for her people but good the rest of us? Think she can pull that off on a national level? She can't in Alaska anymore either since temporarily at least the windfall profits are history.
Palin barely understood foreign affairs but the right bought into the idea that her living close to Russia was enough. Her belief in the rest of diplomacy seemed to be a continuation of the big stick and big talk. Actually Roosevelt's phrase went-- speak softly and carry a big stick. Whatever the case, the money to fund that big stick is running low. It wasn't facts about her record that drew the righties to her in droves.
And don't kid yourself that a lot of those Republicans didn't want her more than McCain. They loved what she said to them. She said what they wanted to hear. She milked their emotions. They relished the way she smacked the other side.
The Republican base ignored any fact that contradicted their desire which was of the heart-- and they still are. If she had been homely, her nastiness might not have gotten her far, but Sarah is a beautiful, obviously complex woman. Even Democrats like looking at her although kind of like with Ann Coulter-- volume off. We don't vote for beauty queens though; and if you don't believe me, just look at our past nominees.
The story of who Palin was inside, of what she has actually done has been written about again and again, but it didn't matter to the right wing. The exposé coming out in August's Vanity Fair won't either. Most righties won't bother to read it. They don't care. How many will even read this article: [Did a scandal sink the USS Palin?] or this one: [The Real Story behind Palin's Bombshell]
Emotion doesn't care about facts. Emotion rules with an iron fist and it won't look at anything that threatens it.
Why did Palin resign? Some on the right think it's because the media wasn't nice to her. Well if that's the case, did they actually think she had the moxie to stand up to what a president must face daily?
Even Helen Thomas is jumping on Obama right now. Being president is not a job for the weak or those who want to have everyone like them. There have been as many personal accusations thrown against the Obamas as Palins. You shouldn't go into the kitchen if you can't take the heat. She didn't strike me as unable to handle that heat earlier. Heck, she stoked the fire in 2008 by her rhetoric which essentially accused Obama of consorting with terrorists out to destroy the country.
Some have asked if the investigations in Alaska were about to lead to criminal charges? So far there hasn't been anything like that and possibly her resignation will be the end of any investigations. If she did political favors in return for personal gain, she could have a problem, but there would have to be proof. The issue of what some call Housegate has been out there since she ran for Vice-President. (If you don't know what that is, Google it).
Some of what I have read the state was investigating did seem silly and could have qualified as the harassment she claimed. So unless something new pops up, her quitting doesn't seem to be tied to corruption.
It's possible she is just sick of being in politics, but if so her speech saying she was quitting but not quitting didn't indicate that. People could read just about anything they wanted into that speech.
Maybe she can now afford to stay home and be a mom-- although her statement seemed to indicate she had traveling on her mind as she goes around the country trying to get right wingers elected. What she sees the Republican party needing is more extremists, not less. She ran for Vice President when she was governor; so it doesn't seem she'd have had to quit to do campaigning.
Where it came to resigning for the good of Alaska, she had a point. If she was going to spend the next year and a half fighting corruption charges, she wouldn't be getting a lot else done. Certainly with Alaska facing economic problems due to oil's problems, the job probably isn't as much fun as it once was. From what I have read, she was facing a lot of unpopularity in Alaska and that wasn't coming from Democrats.
For the middle (she'd never get the vote of the left) her resigning won't help her in a bid for the presidency. She quit a job before finishing it. She hasn't yet really proven her leadership abilities beyond being a mayor who sunk her town in debt. She doesn't have to prove any of that to the far right, where they care about what she says, not what she does, but you don't win presidential elections with either extreme.
Hopefully there isn't a physical illness problem in the family; but if so, she hasn't mentioned it and you'd think she would. Although this is the woman who hid her last pregnancy as long as she could; so who knows.
Certainly her reason for resigning could be financial. Next spring she has a book coming out which is rumored to be paying her several million dollars. Right wing books sell very well and hers will be at the top of that list. With her popularity in the Republican base, she can go around the country giving speeches at so much a pop thereby funding her family's economic security for a very long time to come.
Whatever else someone thinks about her, it seemed to me pretty obvious Palin wanted to be a star. She clearly enjoyed that part of running with McCain. She liked the applause. You don't enter beauty pageants if you don't like the spotlight. She is a star to a certain segment of the right, and if she so chooses, she can now bask in their acclaim. I find it very unlikely that we have seen the last of her in public life. Fox commentator? Not unlikely given they have Karl Rove there already.
I have one piece of advice for her though-- not that she'd listen. If she runs for president in 2012, she should get herself a Dick Cheney to run with her and do the work just in case she wins. Doing the work is clearly not of interest to her.
(The title for 'Where's the Beef?' came from an old Wendy's ad and has been used since to indicate where is the substance, the value, the meat of the subject. The photos of the cattle are from our place. They aren't all future beef. You have to look carefully and be able to recognize a steer when you see it to know which will someday provide hamburger, steaks and roasts for families.
The foxglove, which is toxic to all animals, this year were the most spectacular that I have seen since living here. Whatever the weather did, they loved it.)
10 comments:
I've been reading that she may suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Here are the symptoms:
A grandiose sense of self-importance (exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love.
Requires excessive admiration.
Has a sense of entitlement, i.e. unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations.
Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e. takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.
Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
This came from an article about Palin in 2008. I think she fits the description. I am amazed, though, by how the right can elevate a quitter to a winner. It seriously boggles the mind.
Hi Rain . . . After all the fun and fury about Camelot, Farm Boss assured your tendency to be stubborn but honest. Palin is a lightweight. To enter the national stage she must develop gravitas. Hitching her to John McCain made no sense whatever. She obviously was not ready fo the job. And McCain (smart, patriot, war hero, and unpredictable politician) without firm basic principals or grounding, should never have been selected to represent Republicans. The ONLY reason so many people voted for the pair was because Mr. Obama was leaning so far to the left. Joe Biden, despite the Quayle foot-in-the-mouth, probably was an asset to the Obama ticket.
Republicans reached the bottom of the barrel with their selection. An elderly, tongue tied McCain and a cheerleader beauty queen just didn't cut the mustard. I don't know who to blame other than the RNC. I hope they do better next time.
Ron Paul ran a solid third ticket campain with more reasonable common sense ideas and solutions than either the Republicans or Democrats. But he is another older guy trying to get votes in a young persons world. He never had a chance, and he knew it.
Back to Palin. There is promise in her somplace. With a few more years of concentrated political education, a few wrinkles and the hint of bags under her eyes, a well received book outlining her thoughts more completely, she may be back someday - big-time. I hope so.
Dixon
Almost your entire argument against Palin was true about Bill Clinton when he first ran for president.
But like Clinton she at least held an executive position. Obama was in the state legislature and the Senate where he was one of many. He never held an executive position until now.
I am not sure what to think about her. I like how she energizes people and that she is not a Washington insider. I do not like all the small town politics that she brings with her. Just like I did not like all the small town junk Bill Clinton brought with him.
As for her quitting the governors job, I actually respect that decision since she is not collecting a check from the taxpayers to continue her campaign like McCain and Biden and Hillary and Obama and many other people have done.
Just keep in mind that she energizes their emotions and at least you then recognize what she is doing and why it works, ingineer. Also which emotions might be useful to consider.
I had read what you did about her, Robin, and am glad you added that as it seems to me it pretty well does explain her.
Ron Paul seemed to me to be a good man. Still does. I disagree with his policy positions though; so he's not my choice for president.
As for Clinton, he could explain policy positions and so can Obama. They both ran national campaigns. However, Clinton was not remotely who I wanted to run for president his first campaign for president. He was still, to me, the major drawback when considering Hillary; so that is not any recommendation for Palin in my book, ingineer.
We'll see what Palin can do-- besides energize those emotions I wrote about last time. Whatever else she is, she's an interesting woman. Some say that Alaskans got tired of a drama queen as governor. Those kind of people can feed emotions in some people and drain them from others *s*
Looking ahead we will see Sarah Palin's true colors. She doesn't have much logic to my way of thinking. I would rather make some observations about Obama's critics who say he is trying to please everyone. I think he is trying to bring people together by finding a common ground. And when people say he is taking on too much too fast, I would say he would much rather have fewer issues but the times dictate the need to address many problems at once. With technology and communications as they are today, there is hope for a fast airing of all sides of issues and a quicker government response in our democracy.
Even the right wing pundits who are defending Palin are admitting that her rambling resignation speech was a disaster. The Republicans have had one candidate who couldn't put a coherent sentence together without a tele-prompter. I should think that might have taught them something.
One thing that should bother everyone is Palin's vindictive nature and her penchant for blaming everyone else for her troubles. It is a serious character flaw that fits in with the narcissistic personality that Robin identified. (Anyone remember Dick Nixon?)
What you mentioned was a concern of mine too, Darlene-- her vindictive nature which if you read what she did as mayor and governor did show up time after time. A president has awesome power and whether someone thinks Bush misused it, he had a better heart than some and showed it by not issuing blanket pardons at the end of his term. I felt it was a basically good person way over his head and with a personality that wasn't well served in the presidency. Someone like Palin (there are a lot more out there on both sides of the tickets) could be very frightening in that position. Impeachment can stop the but it takes time to do that. There are those on the right who would relish that idea but they might end up surprised at who all ended up in her gun sights.
Not that I'm advocating it, but witha dictatorship, what you see is more or less what you get.
With a democracy there is always danger. Some single thing happens and suddenly you can find yourself in a swing to extremism scenario - be it to the left or to the right. If that occurs at something like election time, watch out!
Palin is all you say and, as many have commented here and elsewhere, she's great media fodder and poking funa t her is almost a national sport at times. But she could be dangerous! The wrong event at the wrong moment and she and all her ilk would be swept to power. What would that mean for the world?
Great post!
This is something that anyone favoring Sarah Palin (which sounds like 70% of Republicans no surprise there) should read. The Odd Lies of Sarah Palin compiled by Andrew Sullivan... not that the Republican who would be favoring her would care...
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