Politico: “Matt Labash, a longtime writer for the Weekly Standard, said that because of Palin’s frequent appeals to victimhood and group grievance, “She’s becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition.” [...]
The appeal of conservatism is supposed to be people taking responsibility for their own actions,” said Labash. “But if you close your eyes and listen to Palin and her most irate supporters constantly squawk or bellyache or tweet about how unfair a ride she gets from evil mustache-twirling elites and RINO saboteurs, she sounds like a professional victimologist, the flip side of any lefty grievance group leader. She’s becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition. The only difference being, she wears naughty-librarian glasses instead of a James Brown ‘do.”Along with Politico, The Hill runs a lament from Republican senator and Judd Gregg who sees Palin winning the nomination but losing the general election.
Because the nominating process has become so dominated by primary elections, with the vast majority of the delegates chosen by direct vote, it is entirely possible that with no presumptive winner or even favorites, a candidate who runs second or third in a great many primaries could go into the convention with a sizable block of delegates.Gregg's stated scenario is the supposed cover story as to why the establishment is now in Palin Panic mode. They fear she will be defeated by Obama. Sorry, but I am not buying this reasoning.
Who would this favor? Does Sarah Palin come to mind? Although she is not viewed by most as strong enough to win, she is viewed by many as a person worth voting for to make a statement. And primaries tend to be populated by people who go to the polls with the purpose of making a statement.
Finishing second and third isn’t really a big deal — until you get enough delegates to be the nominee. And picking a nominee who it seems would be easily defeated by President Obama might not be the best statement.
If the establishment were truly worried about Palin losing the general election to Obama, they would be equally worried about Romney and Gingrich. Romney's State's Rights excuse for RomneyCare is completely inadequate to argue against the repeal of ObamaCare. What is to stop Obama from saying, OK, lets have 50 state versions of ObamaCare and Romney approves? Gingrich is morally weak against Obama. Say whatever you like about Obama's policies, but on the husband and father front, Obama is impeccable.
No, the establishment's Palin Panic is truly about self serving interests. First and foremost, they fear that Palin as an outsider could win and then would owe the establishment nothing. She would be totally free to bring in new names to the halls of power. Such people would only owe Palin and not the establishment. Thus the establishment would be out in the cold with the possibility of never being connected to power again.
To a lesser but still significant degree the establishment fears Palin's past history of throwing wayward Republicans under the bus. Palin is one of those "true believers" who actually believe that government exists to serve the people. In Alaska she devastated the Republican Party and their cozy relationship with the oil companies. How many cozy little relationships would Palin break up in Washington if she were president? The establishment clearly doesn't want to risk finding out.
Finally, the establishment is annoyed that with Palin in the race so many of their second choice favorites will immediately be lost in the shuffle (paging Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty and Haley Barbour). If the nomination quickly becomes a slug fest between Palin and Romney who will bother to notice Pawlenty, Daniels or Barbour?
Whatever the reason, the establishment needs to knock off the Palin Panic because it is futile.
No one can deny that Palin has more than earned her right to run for the nomination. When conservatives took to the streets to fight the fundamental transformation of America, Palin rolled up her sleeves and joined the battle. Where exactly was Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty and the rest of the gang? Now that the hard work is done, these guys want to walk in and be crowned top dog. Well too bad for them, they still have to compete against the girl who did her homework.
Whatever the reason, the establishment needs to knock off the Palin Panic because it is futile.
No one can deny that Palin has more than earned her right to run for the nomination. When conservatives took to the streets to fight the fundamental transformation of America, Palin rolled up her sleeves and joined the battle. Where exactly was Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty and the rest of the gang? Now that the hard work is done, these guys want to walk in and be crowned top dog. Well too bad for them, they still have to compete against the girl who did her homework.
Even if Palin chooses not to run, she will still be able to influence the outcome of the nomination. One Facebook post or tweet on Twitter in support of or in opposition to a candidate and the landscape will change.
If the establishment wants one of their candidates to prevail in 2012, they are just going to have to do it the old fashion way, and that is to put their best foot forward and hope for the best.
Via: Memeoranudm
Via: Politico
Via: The Hill
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