Posted on 11/10/2008 10:34:00 PM PST by mathwhizz
The reason elite opinion makers are set on destroying her is fear. They sense that like Ronald Reagan, and unlike, say, Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty, she really, genuinely doesn't care what they think, and for that reason is willing and able to go over their heads and make a strong, direct appeal to voters. Some of them may even remember that Ronald Reagan's negatives were as high as his positives in the polls as late as 10 days before he carried 44 states in 1980.
This is a time when elite opinion, including its conservative wing, is unanimous in wanting American politics to become a value-free zone in the image of Western Europe. A refusal to defer to elite opinion, the confidence that it can be overcome, may be the single most important quality in conservative politics.
Apart from this willingness to go against elite opinion, conservatives should stop asking themselves who, if anyone, is the new Reagan. That way lies madness. So far there isn't another Ronald Reagan. There may never be. Besides, most people (including his advisers) didn't know Ronald Reagan was Ronald Reagan until he was out of office.
What they should ask themselves instead is, can there be a conservative Barack Obama? That is, can a conservative presidential candidate be a dynamic speaker, draw huge crowds, go viral on the Internet, and launch a populist money machine capable of playing in the same league with Obama himself? (If not, if this proves to be something unique to the left, American conservatism may have a rather limited future.)
One of the key characteristics of elite opinion, particularly at times like the present when it has become so unanimous that it has forgotten what it is to have a real debate, is repetition of the claim that some issues are settled, or no longer subject to serious debate. The end of the debate on global warming. The end of the Reagan era. The end of neoconservatism. The end of social conservatism.
The end of Sarah Palin.
The one thing to be sure of is that as long as elite opinion keeps declaring that something has ended, it hasn't ended yet.
Sarah’s Convention speech: “I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion.”
Knocked my socks off.
If the elites, or Democrats, or MSM, or GOP leadership hate her, I like her. (Sorry for the redundancy there)
I couldn't agree more! I have heard "the end of everthing conservative" predicted since last Wednesday. There is no end for us just like there was no end to liberalism in 2000 and 2004. They underestimate us conservatives and our passion!
Double ping.
We need to start protesting with our wallets. They want socialism over the free market? They can have it! We can make them suffer economically if every McCain/Palin voter protested the media enmasse and bid cable adieu. The media, more than anything else, fears losing their audience. They fear us making them irrelevant...and we can. They gave us the big Screw U in this election...we can return the favor.
I am not selling Sky Angel, just spreading the word that there is an alternative to the MSM. Please spread the word among your conservative friends.
bookmark
I could not agree more. The MSM wanted Zero, so let them suffer the consequences. They have lost all credibility. I have not turned on the television since the election and will get my news from conservative radio and internet sites. In one fell swoop I will preserve my mental health and help make the MSM irrelevant. We all have the power to make that simple choice.
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