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A Palin skeptic takes a second look
World Magazine ^ | April 1, 2010 | D.C. Innes

Posted on 04/01/2010 6:37:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The Obamacare victory has changed the presidential race for 2012. The question for Republicans in choosing a candidate to go up against the sitting president is: Who has the skill, the vision, the mettle, and the integrity to drive this Behemoth back into the churning sea of political evils from whence it came? Obviously, Mitt Romney, who as governor gave Massachusetts a monster with similar features, is beyond consideration. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may yet rise to the call of his historic duty and serve. Or not.

But some will shout from the back of the room, “Sarah Palin!” And some others of us (who are looking in at the room from the street through the windows) are accustomed to dismissing that notion with a knowing “whatever” of political sagacity. She hasn’t the intellectual preparation even at the most basic level of popular reading and general knowledge, as the Katie Couric interview during the campaign demonstrated. Aside from that, she has clearly abandoned political ambition in favor of the lucrative world of infotainment. Once a political figure signs on as a news analyst (to say nothing of reality shows), he or she has chosen the one-way political off-ramp. Mike Huckabee has made this choice. Talk show hosts do not become presidents.

But anything can happen in politics. No less than the sage of neo-conservatism, Norman Podhoretz (who was interviewed by Marvin Olasky in the current WORLD), has jolted this Palin skeptic into a second look at her potential suitability as a candidate “for such as time as this.” In a Wall Street Journal article, “In Defense of Sarah Palin,” Podhoretz concedes from the start that Sarah Palin is “no Ronald Reagan,” and he is not necessarily suggesting that she would make a great president. Nonetheless, she has qualities that are and have been dangerously missing in Democratic presidents over the last 35 years:

“Take, for example, foreign policy. True, she seems to know very little about international affairs, but expertise in this area is no guarantee of wise leadership. After all, her rival for the vice presidency, who in some sense knows a great deal, was wrong on almost every major issue that arose in the 30 years he spent in the Senate.

“What she does know—and in this respect, she does resemble Reagan—is that the United States has been a force for good in the world, which is more than Barack Obama, whose IQ is no doubt higher than hers, has yet to learn. Jimmy Carter also has a high IQ, which did not prevent him from becoming one of the worst presidents in American history, and so does Bill Clinton, which did not prevent him from befouling the presidential nest.”

While expertise in international affairs doesn’t guarantee wise leadership, I’m far from convinced there can be wise leadership without at least many years of adult attention to the ups and downs of national and international political life, whether directly or by reading great accounts of it.

Podhortez’s point, however, emphasizes the indispensable value of a moral and political orientation that’s consistent with our form of government, supports our political tradition, and recognizes the harsh realities of dealing with nations that reject our politics and basic moral outlook. She has that. And while ill-read, she is not ill-bred. Though her native intelligence may not be Bill Clinton’s, she’s clearly a fast learner and was plenty sharp enough to master Alaska politics and the oil companies up there.

In other words, if what the country needs to pull us out of our free fall into European social democracy is someone with a solid center in classical republican principles as well as the skill, vision, mettle, and integrity to pull it off politically, Sarah Palin may be the one to do it.

I’m not convinced, but I’m listening.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; gop; obama; palin; reagan; romney; romneycare; sarahpalin
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To: AFreeBird

Might check on the FOX site about it being repeated.

Sarah is doing a great job


41 posted on 04/01/2010 7:57:38 PM PDT by SoCalPol (Reagan Republican for Palin 2012)
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To: FrankR

Bookmark your comment. Well said.


42 posted on 04/01/2010 8:00:23 PM PDT by antceecee (Bless us Father.. have mercy on us and protect us from evil.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

She has two things that BO doesn’t and will never have....a moral compass and a genuine love for this country and its people...and I would bet her IQ soars past Ozero’s


43 posted on 04/01/2010 8:01:24 PM PDT by Merlinator (Take them all down...one czar at a time FUBO)
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To: onyx

Me three... the story of the nursing student saving the burning man was amazing. We use to hear stories like this when I was a kid. It would make you want to go out and be a hero. Doesn’t seem we have too many heroic stories highlighted today. I like this program. I hope they will do more.


44 posted on 04/01/2010 8:02:18 PM PDT by antceecee (Bless us Father.. have mercy on us and protect us from evil.)
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To: antceecee

Yes, (((antceecee))) I loved her special program. I think the young people who watched will be inspired like we were. So GOOD to see her appear in front of a live studio audience too.


45 posted on 04/01/2010 8:04:14 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’d say that unlike Palin, 0bama has skated through his entire career, except that even skating takes some talent.


46 posted on 04/01/2010 8:05:33 PM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (STOP the Tyrananny State.)
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To: Cicero
That was the result of McCain’s handlers’ malevolence and determination to lose the election.

Yep. The Couric interview was nothing but an ambush, with the perky one, aided and abetted by Nichole Wallace, doing her prep with Sam Nunn and Richard Haas in order to trip Palin up.

47 posted on 04/01/2010 8:09:37 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

You can’t accuse him of not being a genius! That’s racist!

/s


48 posted on 04/01/2010 8:28:33 PM PDT by Aria ( "The US republic will endure until Congress discovers it can bribe the public with the people's $.")
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To: onyx; alicewonders
I concur.

Indeed.



49 posted on 04/01/2010 8:28:56 PM PDT by rdb3 (The mouth is the exhaust pipe of the heart.)
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To: ZirconEncrustedTweezers

Heck, he even failed recess!


50 posted on 04/01/2010 8:31:05 PM PDT by betsy1949
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I am a Mensan, and also a member of Intertel (99th percentile). One of my fellow Mensans, who was an Obama classmate at Occidental, described him as an indifferent student who was far more engaged in campus identity politics than his courses.


51 posted on 04/01/2010 8:31:38 PM PDT by MainFrame65 (The US Senate: World's greatest PREVARICATIVE body!.)
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To: rdb3

Hiya, my dear friend!
Please know you and your Mrs. are still in my prayers.


52 posted on 04/01/2010 8:33:26 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: onyx
Sarah Palin did so good in her debut of Real American Stories. This type of look into the unique character of Americans is just what is needed to bust through the cynicism and victim-hood that the media has fostered in the American consciousness. This optimism is just what Ronald Reagan did to bring the nation together. Ronald Reagan would have been proud of Sarah Palin tonight.
53 posted on 04/01/2010 8:34:03 PM PDT by jonrick46 (We're being water boarded with the sewage of Fabian Socialism.)
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To: jonrick46

Your comments made me smile. I’m sure you’re right. President Reagan would have been very proud of Sarah Palin tonight.


54 posted on 04/01/2010 8:35:49 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Her Fox Special tonight showed again she has geat instincts. She sees that many have negative attitudes regarding her and hits that reality head-on with a “re-introduction” of her as someone highly positive in outlook.


55 posted on 04/01/2010 8:40:35 PM PDT by cookcounty ("When they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," ---Barack Obama)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

She scored a hell of a lot higher than Obama on her birth certificate


56 posted on 04/01/2010 8:41:44 PM PDT by genetic homophobe
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To: jonrick46

Uplifting stories that celebrate the great good in this most unique country. This is a shining light that stabs through the dreary darkness that the Obama administration has fostered. Definitely like the light that Reagan brought to us. I loved the way that Reagan was able to laugh off his detractors... not in a mean way... in a very human, generous way. I see Sarah has this ability as well.


57 posted on 04/01/2010 8:42:07 PM PDT by antceecee (Bless us Father.. have mercy on us and protect us from evil.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"which is more than Barack Obama, whose IQ is no doubt higher than hers, has yet to learn.

His Verbal SAT scores may have been good, but to look at his economics, the guy must have cratered the Math.

58 posted on 04/01/2010 8:43:45 PM PDT by cookcounty ("When they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," ---Barack Obama)
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To: jessduntno
"Why do we have a POtuS about whom we do not know:

1. Grade School records
2. High School records
3. Occidental College records
4. Columbia University records......etc. ?

Because if we saw his "F" in Math and Economics and his "A" in Marxism, we wouldn't have elected him.

59 posted on 04/01/2010 8:49:34 PM PDT by cookcounty ("When they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," ---Barack Obama)
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To: DB

“””I’ve said that from day one. I’ve seen nothing to suggest Obama is brilliant at anything other than perhaps community organizing.”””

Come on now -—

Even you must admit that Obama is a brilliant LIAR!!!


60 posted on 04/01/2010 8:51:42 PM PDT by LTC.Ret (I know I am a racist, but . . . . I didn't spend 31 years in the Army to see my USA turn socialist!)
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