Posted on 01/28/2015 2:18:59 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Matt Lewis has a column today over at the Daily Beast headlined, "You Betcha I Was Wrong About Sarah Palin: It’s time to admit that, whatever their motivation was at the time, the Alaska governor’s critics always had a point." I don't really disagree with much of what Matt says when it comes to noting that Palin's speaker-circuit pandering and Hee-Haw witticisms have become cringe-worthy—speaking as a Christian, I was pretty dissappointed last year when Palin referred to waterboarding as baptism for terrorists. As usual, Matt makes some very good points so I encourage you to read his column.
However, I am interested in why Matt felt he needed to offer up a personal mea culpa here. Despite her recent and much criticized speech in Iowa and feint at presidential ambitions, it's not really news the epitaph to her political career has been written. And yet, the gratuitous media persecution of her and her family has, and continues to be, entirely shameful and unjustified. See the CNN anchor mocking her daughter's assault, as recently as this October.
Perhaps Sarah Palin has proven she's not a major intellectual. But let me assure you that there are lots and lots of dumber politicians that were never attacked in such a vicious and unforgivable manner. They are allowed to hide behind handlers, and in many instances, grow into the job. Frankly, I think Palin had raw political talent and intelligence that, had it been properly guided and allowed to develop free from the trauma of having her family being persecuted every five seconds, we'd all be talking about a very different woman. Instead, Andrew Sullivan spun conspiracies that would have made Alex Jones blanche and people such as Bill Maher mocked her developmentally disabled child. Compare how Palin's family has been attacked by the media with the way the media lost all sense of proportion and propriety going after a lone GOP staffer who made some comparatively mild criticisms of Obama's daughters.
Obviously, Lewis isn't wrong to acknowledge she is not the reincarnated Pericles. And he's right that the adulation for her from parts of the conservative base was truly excessive for a time. However, Palin has often been far more wily than her critics and vindicating the media even slightly when there's been no real apology for the inexcusably vicious way they went about making their criticisms seems unneeded. Please do recall that the other option for VP in 2008 was Joe Biden, who after 36 years in the Senate was a well-documented liar of few real accomplishments, not to mention total buffoon. It's kind of amazing we're still debating Palin's merits for public office when Joe Biden's been VP for 6 years and has done things such as completely blow getting a status of forces agreement in Iraq, thus paving the way for ISIS, and the media shrugs and says, "Crazy Unca' Joe's at it again!" And as for all of the attention paid to Palin's supposed white trash brood, remember that Joe Biden's son Hunter was given a special waiver to join the Navy at age 43 only to be kicked out for doing cocaine at age 44. This is the same son who had rather questionable ties to a Ukrainian gas company. Despite being far more consequential problems than whether or not Palin's kids got in a scrape at a snowmobile kegger, these scandals barely registered and media sure as hell hasn't pointed many fingers at the Vice President for the decisions of his kids. With all the tabloid coverage of Palin and her family since 2008 her critics certainly act like they're vindicated, but it's telling they don't even try to make the argument that Joe Biden was a superior man for the job.
Anyway, like Matt, I wish Sarah Palin had been able to show more poise and grow as a politician amidst being hysterically accused of not giving birth to her own child and shooting a congresswoman. I wish she had fulfilled her term as governor instead of cashing checks on the lecture circuit making cornpone jokes and shallow observations.
But I still don't feel I was wrong about Sarah Palin in that I felt comfortable voting for her in 2008. The real problem lies not with Palin so much as our slanderous media pursued someone they found threatening to their myopic liberal consensus so doggedly and cruelly that they undoubtedly had a hand in creating the problematic, tabloid figure she's become all these years later. Maybe Palin isn't entirely a victim, but because she seems to be an unsteady figure in 2015 it is by no means vindication for what her critics said and did to her in 2008.
Interesting post. I don’t necessarily share your defeatism.
“Remember never to get caught up in personality”
I like Palin a lot but am not in the personality camp. I have never watched any of her shows and have no interest, but would vote for her without hesitation of reservation because she has shown her instincts and policies are best for the country.
The only way to know if she is “for elected office” still is to see if she wins.
I think she could, but also see the things you see. But media generated perception is not always real.
I think you let the media totalitarianism affect your opinion too much.
The Leftists are back to writing “Sarah’s a dumbshit” again, because they can’t take her out. She leaves them in a pile on the floor shovel ready. So they call her names.
“Their report was that she was surprised by the teleprompter not working and her unrehearsed speech was a little unfocused and less serious than the tone set by other speakers. They laugh off the idea that she was terrible. She just wasn’t as sparkling as usual.”
A rational objective observation.
It is the irrationality and extremism of her critics that is troubling.
With no name recognition. Most people do not pay attention to what is going on in Alaska.
Or Al Gore at the Monticello tour the day of the first inauguration of Clinton. I watched this live and it was much clearer who the busts were of and how stupid Al Gore really is. This video from Rush is the best I could find after liberal scrubbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3YrrhfRmKc
Yes we need real classy folks, like the administration we have now.
Reagan was treated pretty shabby by the media and the GOP for that matter until they realized he had the support of the people. The media harped on his age, mental state, divorce, patriotic conservatism, his “folksiness”, his lack of foreign policy experience, being a D.C. outsider, his wife...the message was he was nothing more than an old washed up actor.
The thing with Reagan was no matter what they threw at him, he spoke directly to we the people and when he needed to deflect something they said he did it with humor- and was so good at it he made his detractors look like the idiots they were.
LS,
Palin WAS the only Governor in history to have frivolous lawsuits filed against her AND prohibited from setting up a defense fund. Notice that no lawsuits were filed against her immediate successor, Parnell. Why?
Discipline? Doesn’t have to take the form of elective or running for high office. Look what Palin has accomplished after she resigned. She could have easily returned to private life outside of politics but chose to get involved and elect scores of Republican conservatives nationwide, some from the brink of death like Ernst and Cruz.
You are simply being disingenuous.
Perhaps. That doesn’t change the simple fact that this was her second “coming out” party, and she blew it. She needed a home run and didn’t even touch the ball. As I said, it Cruz, Paul Rubio, or almost anyone could have flopped in this way-—Perry is the other one who at this point can’t afford a misstep-—but it’s the political equivalent of Lance Armstrong racing again, not that Palin was tainted with scandal but that she needed a major positive “premiere” and did not get it.
Rush often says you can't be hurt by things you don't say. Palin has not learned this. What you can say on Facebook is a lot different that what you say as a presidential candidate. Reagan figured that early when he used those 3 x 5 cards to hone his messages. That's discipline.
However much SOME victories can be attributed to her help, many other candidates she endorsed or supported did not win. But it's not about whether she can get a few votes for Cruz---but whether she can convince large numbers of voters, including far more conservatives than you want to think, that she is a trustworthy candidate. By trustworthy, I mean if they invest time, emotion, and money in her, will she show the political discipline to be a "serious" candidate? Will she develop solid policy answers when someone says, "What would you do about. . ." And get a reasoned response instead of a "riding" joke or a (well-deserved) media bash.
Palin had a chance in her hiatus to make herself into a genuine candidate, just as Reagan took the time after his governorship to deliver radio addresses on a variety of issues.
When W ran for president he developed a series of developed answers to all the policy questions he would be asked. Palin has not, and it is my opinion that she could, but stubbornly won't because it would take. . . Discipline.
This was an assembly line operation with an almost uninterrupted string of over twenty 20-minute speeches, each of which also had an introduction. There was nothing to highlight Palin’s except her name. It was hardly a coming out party for anyone. Seems more like just raw footage for sound bytes.
I think Rick Perry, to a lesser extent, is in the same boat. He badly damaged himself last time around with his "I have three points to make," then forgets one, and other screwups. If you're bringing out "Classic Coke" again, you need to be absolutely sure that you market it right . . . because you're only going to get one chance, and I think Palin blew it already.
Perhaps, but nonetheless true.
Thanks for stating the obvious. Believe me, it's offered as a constructive criticism and pretending there isn't a problem doesn't make it less true. All I'm saying is she needs help with her tone and delivery.
Fair enough...
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