Whilst most elected Republicans are still preoccupied in pledging to work with (or for) the Obama administration, Sarah Palin isn’t having any of it.
This is significant criticism, because it is vitally important that a Republican leader emerges who can command a media platform, and will articulate regular opposition to the Obama administration on national policy. Naturally, whoever does emerge to shoulder this burden will be perfectly placed to continue that opposition in the next presidential election.
There’s certainly no point in looking to the decimated and newly submissive ranks of congress for this leadership. As in 1976, political reality mandates that it must come from outside Washington. Interestingly, Palin possesses an advantage over Reagan when he sought to become this kind of external leader of the opposition: she holds political office and can reinforce her criticism with independent action, as the new pipeline with Canada demonstrates.
Four years is such a long time, but I worry that Palin is too damaged by the barrage of lies and exaggerations that greeted her arrival on the national consciousness. I’m not at all writing her off, but I wonder if she’ll be successful in moderating that polarizing first impression, given the fear and hatred that big media stoked up in her name.
I am not at all a social conservative, and I find her one of the LEAST scary politicians whose personal beliefs put them in that category, because she seems to understand the difference between holding personal moral beliefs and government coercion to make others act according to those beliefs. That’s a powerful combination that could excite the social-con base and attract the moderate middle at the same time, if she can correct the public’s initial misapprehension of her.
I worry about that too Robby. A forum I frequent has gone totally anti-palin, buying every smear and made up lie about her. Perhaps 4 years will be enough for the filth to wash off.
Quite a few on AR15.com have bitten the anti-Palin lies.
Her biggest problems is the fact that she’s a chick (therefor we don’t have to take her seriously), and her folksy speech (which causes one to not take her seriously). The lies will fade, but will come back, and the key will be for her to impress with her speech.