This is total BS.
click on image.....
Posted on 07/03/2009 9:10:15 AM PDT by yongin
Dear Governor Palin,
You’re blowing it.
We haven’t met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCain’s running mate. I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him. I’m also assuming you want to run for president some day.
There’s a reason why the Left and much of the media establishment hated you from day one. Some hated you out of the fear that you might stop Barack Obama’s unfolding coronation. Others because you seemed to expose the snobbery, arrogance, and ideological pieties of elite feminism. Your beauty, your status as a working mom, your blue-collar husband, your bravery in taking on the political establishment in Alaska, your proud status as a pro-lifer and mother of a special-needs child: All of these things were — and are — deeply threatening to a secular left-wing cultural elite.
All of this was an incredible compliment. Powerful people don’t fear the powerless. Remember how Mike Huckabee borrowed that Air Force maxim when he got grief during the primaries? “If you’re not taking flak, you’re not over the target.” Well, you were over the target.
But not anymore. Oh, you’re still taking flak, but not because you strike fear in the hearts of Democrats. You’re taking flak because you’re striking fear in the hearts of Republicans. For Democrats, fairly or not, you’ve become a laughingstock. And for some of McCain’s campaign managers, you’ve become a convenient excuse for their failures.
But while McCain’s strategists do not cover themselves in glory for scapegoating you, you are not without blame either. You do seem to think the best advice is for you to stay just the way you are. Leaders listen to the advice they don’t necessarily want to hear.
For starters, every time I see you on TV, you’re whining about unfair press coverage. Don’t get me wrong: Much of it is unfair, and some of it deserves a response. But it’s not presidential. It’s not even gubernatorial. You are constantly taking the bait, taking up the fights your biggest fans want you to take up.
But here’s the thing: Don’t listen to your biggest fans. Don’t alienate them either, but don’t think that because the Palin4Pres crowd cheers, you’re making progress. Politics is ultimately about persuasion, and you seem entirely uninterested in that, preferring instead to play the victim. Well, victims don’t get elected president. Ronald Reagan was a laughingstock for liberals and despised by the press. But he didn’t whine or take the bait.
Second, peddling a few platitudes and truisms about free markets and limited government is no substitute for really knowing what you’re talking about. Yes, you can talk well about the stuff you know — oil drilling, energy, etc. — but beyond your comfort zone, you fall back on bumper-sticker language that sounds fine to the people who already agree with you but is useless in winning over skeptics.
President Bush had the same problem you do, which is why there’s a hunger for Republicans who can effectively articulate and sell our policies and philosophy. That’s why the wonks have the upper hand. Mitt Romney, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and other hands-on types are what the party wants and, frankly, needs.
Here’s the good news: You have time. Here’s the better news: You have something no one else in the party has — charisma. And I don’t mean you have the most charisma like it’s a consolation prize for not being elected prom queen. If money could buy what you have, Romney would have bought it all by now. Good politicians can learn how to win over audiences, but the great ones are born with the ability. Reagan had it. Clinton had it. Obama has it. You have it. You are the “It Girl” of the GOP.
What you lack, you can learn. If knowing how to describe the situation in Pakistan or explain the “doughnut hole” in health-care coverage was all you needed to get elected, an intern with a subscription to The Economist could be president.
So here’s my advice. Stay home and do your job and your homework. You’ll still be a national figure come the primaries. But if you can’t surprise your detractors with your grasp of policy when you re-emerge on the national stage, you won’t win the nomination. More important, you won’t deserve to.
In before the trashing begins. Jonah makes his points well.
Palin would do well to heed his advice.
dead on...I have argued in the past that Palin can show she is presidential material by articulating conservative ideas and showing that they work by her implementation of them in Arkansas. She needs to preach that. Her accomplishments will pave the way for her. She needs to stick to that.
Appears Jonah is another RINO for Romney.
And Jonah is not the only person saying this.
More advice for the doctors of smarts.
Even though he's entitled to his opinion, HE'S OUT of TOUCH with the reality of the situation.
Sarah is actually gaining momentum and stature thanks to efforts such as Goldberg's.
RE: Jonah
What a load of condescending bullcr@p!
You mean, the Mittbots are the ones saying it. Oh, and all the other RINO elites. When Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin echo the same sentiments, then, perhaps, I might listen. Until then, these swipes are nothing more than elitist bravado based on liberal perceptions of the cult of personality.
I made this point about the Letterman controversy but got lambasted by many here on FR.. She was playing the victim and falling into the trap. Victims don’t get elected president, leaders do.
That would be great for Arkansas, and also Alaska. : )
don-o,
I agree with you, and will gladly share some of the heat. A defining characteristic of conservatism is that we don’t march in lock step. That’s for the Liberal Fascists.
Before the flames begin, please note that I (like Jonah) have a great deal of admiration for Sarah and hope that she succeeds.
I would rather hear from someone who actually has done something, not just written about what others have done. Does that make sense?
Dear Jonah,
Go pound sand.
She carried on the tit-for-tat with Letterman for too long.
I posted that as a poltiical observer — nothing else.
Anybody on the inside of the GOP or who has been writing for them is IMO part of the establishment - I will not vote for Romney because he is the establishment and as Krauthammer (sp?) just said he is next in line - how well has that worked for us in the past.
I will not deal with another “progressive” republican and will vote third party if that’s the case. The last thing this country needs is another elitist politician coming in and trampling on the constitution.
McCain, Bush, Dole, Obama, Clinton etc. they have all been the same and Romney would be no better.
Does Palin need to brush up? Yes, but as far as I’m concerned Goldberg doesn’t understand why those on both sides of the aisle don’t like her - she is a threat to the political machine plain and simple. She is not beholden to anyone except average citizens.
Let’s see how much her PAC has raised this month when they report that will be quite an indidication I think.
I have been hearing more and more support for her and people who are willing to give her a chance - and this is in Maryland of all places. Last weekend I was in Baltimore watching the US play Brazil with under 30’s and early 30 yr. olds. They asked who I liked and when I said her name I was afraid of the flak I would get - I got none - they agreed that both parties sucked and they wanted someone who was on the outside.
Stopped reading right there. Anyone that thinks Mutt Romney has any chance of winning a Republican nomination, much less the election, is a flaming idiot!
I agree. Now we better find a foxhole.
I agree 100% with Goldberg’s assessment.
Sarah has what it takes to be a great leader; now she must do her homework.
Ronald Reagan was 57 when he first ran for President, and that was after a decade of writing and delivering speeches, and his first year as governor of California. He didn’t win the nomination until eight years later (and another term as governor).
So for us Palin fans, it is expecting too much of her to be ready for the top of the ticket at this point. It takes time and experience, and she needs to shore up her weaknesses.
This is total BS.
click on image.....
I think you meant Alaska not AR although AR could use a dose of Sarah as well. :)
“dead on...I have argued in the past that Palin can show she is presidential material by articulating conservative ideas and showing that they work by her implementation of them in Arkansas. She needs to preach that. Her accomplishments will pave the way for her. She needs to stick to that.”
To an extent. She should look at Reagan’s path to the presidency. After his term as CA gov ended, he spent years giving speeches to small and large groups, giving radio talks, and staking out his ground.
The Old Media tried to do the same thing to him as they have done, with more success, with Palin (dangerous, stupid, evil, “bedtime for bonzo” etc). But he would not go away.
The big difference is, he was older and had a much more thoroughly thought thru philosophy of government and more hands-on experience that Palin. So she has to develop that depth in the shining eye of the camera.
On the other hand, she has guts—taking on her own party’s establishment in Alaska was no mean feat (I think that’s why the Dems and moderate R’s hate her so. She will actually do rather than say). She also has charisma out the wazoo.
She just has to refuse to go away. And talk about how mean the media has been less.
Your 'political' observation is a bit tainted, I'd say. The only folks who think she 'went too long' on it are those who don't like her in the first place.
Jonah might have some valid points, but why do it in public? He could have sent her his advice in an email or letter.
I like Jonah and have just finished his book, ‘Liberal Fascism’, however, he has a real problem, it would seem calling a spade a spade when it comes to the democrats. All through his book, he dances around calling them out on their marxist idealogy now......preferring instead to paint the ‘similarities’ between the democrats and the fascists/ marxists of old,yet he fails to sign the portrait. It is a bit strange.
I am sick of giving the democrats ‘the benefit of doubt’....they are destroying this country! They ARE marxists and fascists and it’s time to call them what they are for all of the world to hear!
Certainly he’s dead on about the whining part. Complaining about the nastiness of the media only plays into their hand. Reagan demonstrated once and for all the correct way to deal with a leftist media establishment, she needs to take a lesson on that one.
You do know Sarah aced the national security exam given by Mcpain’s head of the VP selection committee?
Sarah does not need anybody’s advice who has to post it on the internet.
She is America’s Maggie Thatcher. She has great instincts, intellect, and will learn what she needs to learn.
Jonah has just passed over into the ELITES as far as I am concerned. Jonah can try to help tear her down but I don’t think they will succeed.
BTW, if Sarah never runs for president she will still have a better life than all those trying to destroy her will.
All I can say is she needs to stop whining immediately. No one likes a whiner and excuse maker except Democrats and Democrat pols they slobber over like a cult like figure.
That’s true. I said it, too.
What I think he put well was:
Second, peddling a few platitudes and truisms about free markets and limited government is no substitute for really knowing what you’re talking about. Yes, you can talk well about the stuff you know — oil drilling, energy, etc. — but beyond your comfort zone, you fall back on bumper-sticker language that sounds fine to the people who already agree with you but is useless in winning over skeptics.
Here’s the good news: You have time. Here’s the better news: You have something no one else in the party has — charisma. You are the “It Girl” of the GOP.
What you lack, you can learn. So here’s my advice. Stay home and do your job and your homework.
parsy, who wishes her well even though he is a Democrat, now.
“President Bush had the same problem you do, which is why there’s a hunger for Republicans who can effectively articulate and sell our policies and philosophy. That’s why the wonks have the upper hand. Mitt Romney, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and other hands-on types are what the party wants and, frankly, needs.”
Oh, brotha please. That just about says it all about where he’s coming from. ‘Hey Sarah! Be more like Mitt!’ As someone already said, ‘bull*#@*!
What we forget is that the “mushy middle” decides elections. And that bunch (a.k.a. as the sheeple) get vague impressions about politics largely from CNN, CBS, etc and Leno and Letterman. They do not think about things very much or very deeply. They take cues and adopt whatever the current buzz may be.
That’s just the way it is.
My advice to Governor Palin: ignore Jonah Goldberg and keep doing what you’re doing. I’ve seen Palin on TV frequently recently, and the only “whining” I heard was her absolutely necessary smack-down of Letterman’s mysogynist comments, which likely won her the admiration of many women, including a grudgingly supportive statement by NOW.
We’re hearing a lot of conservative pundits recently piling on Palin. Dear girl, she didn’t go to the right schools, you know, and her interests in hunting and knowledge oif small business and energy iussues puts her on a different planet than beltway pundits like Krauthammer, Golberg, and Frum. She’ll do fine in 2012 even if she doesn’t know the name of the deputy prime minister of Schmuckdanistan.
Rintense, you are right! She is so smart and appealing. She is out Maggie Thatcher. Hah! All these whining wannabes can just keep whining about her.
Sarah can take care of Sarah.
The leftist media relentlessly works to destroy her. She MUST be able to present a coherent and forceful platform and stay on message despite their efforts. Goldberg is right. No Republican will receive fair treatment in the so-called MSM. So she must be able to go over their heads and talk directly to the people and she must be able to say something substantive when she does so. And she has to do it in such a way that it communicates with those other than her committed partisans. If she is unable to do this she will not win.
A sign of a good leader is to be able to listen to a good advice. Jonah gives a good advice.
Unfortunately, the politics now are like sports. You choose your team and then support it no matter what. You know guys like that: they are happy when their guys get away with dirty tricks and cry foul when the opponents do exactly the same. Mindless cheerleading without a critical thought.
The interesting part is that if Palin would use Jonah’s advise, she’d be more formidable candidate, and we all be better because of it.
If that makes you feel better, then by all means, do it. But, it does not work on the national stage with the mushy middle sheeple.
Dear Jonah,
Please take a flying leap off a very high mountain top.
Thanks!
My advice to Palin is:
Study and emulate the political career of Margaret Thatcher in her heyday. Mrs. Thatcher was a woman of substance who knew her stuff and could take on all comers in the House of Commons.
Interesting to do a search on Goldberg bio. Helps to understand just who this arbiter of political strategery is.
Puts things in perspective.
Still, this “letter” is cr@p.
I agree and what’s funny is a friend recently told me he loved that she completely put Letterman in his place and actually got him to apologize!
He was incredibly impressed and is a fan of Letterman.
As far as the recent crap with the McCain staffers how is that her fault? The GOP looks like idiots on that one and annoying whiners for continuing an onslaught for no reason. Why not LET IT GO - the staffers lost because they were incompetent boobs - they are the ones acting like victims.
The problem I have with this is that whereas it may be good advice, if Jonah truly had higher interests other than edifying himself, he would offer said advice privately to the one for whom it is meant. This is just self-serving blather. Giving “advice” in this manner only emboldens the Left.
A.B. Culvahouse, a powerful Washington lawyer and former counsel to President Reagan, told an audience of Republican lawyers that for McCain, selecting a vice president came down to three questions: Why do you want to be vice president? Are you prepared to use nuclear weapons? And the CIA has identified Osama bin Laden, but if you take the shot there will be multiple civilian casualties. Do you take the shot?
“She knocked those questions out of the park,” he said at an event held at the National Press Club by the Republican National Lawyers Association. “We came away impressed.”
I shudder to think what answers Palin gave to those three questions.
Okay, it’s actually just the second question I’m having trouble with. The first one is fluff, the third one is superficially tough (as in, “Do you have the stones to make the hard call?”). But the second one? “Are you prepared to use nuclear weapons?” What’s the correct answer to that question?
Barr’s piece never gives a hint as to Palin’s answers. But I’m left feeling so much more relieved that, at least for the time being, we don’t have to consider a scenario that leaves either John McCain or Sarah Palin with the launch codes.
I will come back with the link.
No. I don’t dislike her. I think she has some ditzy moments, but all in all she has the ability to be a good leader. Getting in snit fights with Letterman, and coming across like a b**** in the process is not very presidential.
The GOP best hope some smarty-pants over in the lib camp don’t make a commercial in 2012 of some fur-trapper in the great north woods, wearing a plaid shirt and floppy eared cap saying he wants to be secretary of state because he lives next to Russia.
parsy, who thinks constructive criticism might have saved Michael Jackson from his descent into weirdness
http://plavwriter.blogspot.com/2009/04/culvahouse-on-palin-she-knocked-those.html
link to Culvahouse comments on Sarah.
I think she got a lot of good press out of that and DID not cross the line..... would NOW, the View etc have come out in support of her had she not responded?
besides she is a mom too.
Everyone knew Letter was WAY out of line.
All Sarah had to do was issue one comment and end it.
It’s as simple as that.
If I was gonna write a letter to Governor Palin, this is what I would write.
Dear Governor Palin,
Please do yourself and the country a big favor by boning up on the Constitution, its amendments and politics, both foreign and domestic in general. Read the newspaper every day. Keep up on current events. You already have the conservative values that conservatives everywhere appreciate but that is not enough when the liberal dominated media will try to destroy you at every turn or failing that, to make you look like a complete and utter clueless fool. So please do your homework. You can run the state and bone up on these issues. Be a multitasker. You can do it. You have shown that you have the courage and the guts not to take crap from people. You have the courage of your convictions. Keep up the good job you are doing for Alaska and its citizens. Be the best person you can be.
That is what I would write.
As you can tell, I really admire and respect the governor and think she is aces!
Since she is the Governor of Alaska, how can she implement her conservative ideas in Arkansas?
Goldberg is the third recent NeoCon to criticize Palin.
Keep in mind, it was NeoCon Kristol who first got the ball rolling on Palin as VP.
If someone like James Robertson, or Anthony Perkins, or Brent Bozell also comes out against her, she'll be toast.
What I see going on in this forum reminds me of the Phoenix Suns fans when they got Steve Nash and were a force to be reckoned with in 2004-2005.
All around me everyone was declaring that they would go all the way that year, based upon their unbelievable point scoring ability. They were amazing, to be sure. But I pointed out that they lacked the skills necessary to win an NBA championship: defense, rebounding, a credible half court game, and above all, toughness.
My criticisms were dismissed. But constructive criticisms of Governor Palin aren’t just dismissed, they are signs of treachery, according to some of her most rabid fans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.