Is Sarah Palin a serious threat anymore? Has she ever been one?

[BurtWorm]

I think she was done the week after the GOP convention. Now a lot more Republicans (except the constipated far, far right) seem to agree with me, according to Steve Benen of Political Animal:


http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017867.php



'A CLOWNISH, VINDICTIVE AMATEUR'.... Reihan Salam, a prominent conservative blogger and Republican strategist, has defended Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) quite a bit over the last several months. He's promoted her, made excuses for her shortcomings, and tried to convince any who'd listen that she's really not as awful as she might seem. Up until recently, Salam has argued valiantly that Palin is a credible national figure and a plausible presidential aspirant.

Now, however, Salam has reluctantly given up.

Palin's campaign antics can be forgiven. What can't be forgiven is the ham-handed way she's tried to build her national profile since she returned to Alaska. She's abandoned the bold right-left populism that won over Alaska voters -- and me -- in the first place in favor of an increasingly defensive and harsh partisanship. After making her name as a determined enemy of Alaska's corrupt Republican establishment, she recently called for Democratic Sen. Mark Begich to step down so the hilariously crooked Ted Stevens could get another crack at the seat. She loudly promised to leave federal stimulus money on the table before clawing that promise back with a whimper. One can't help but get the impression that Palin is a clownish, vindictive amateur.

Now, for example, Palin is raising hackles for naming colorful crackpot Wayne Anthony Ross to be Alaska's attorney general. It turns out that Palin may have consulted with Ross over a state senate appointment, a move that would have been against state law. As a general matter, state law is something you might want your AG to be on top of.

What I'm wondering is: Has Sarah Palin undergone some kind of secret lobotomy?

Notwithstanding the possibility of secret brain surgery on the governor, Salam is arguably understating the case. As we talked about last week, Palin's on-the-job performance since last year's presidential election has been a train-wreck. (It's apparently getting worse, too, with a new ethics complaint having been filed against her this week.)

What's curious about all of this is that Palin had a more obvious and productive route, which she's inexplicably chosen to ignore. As Chris Orr noted the other day, "Perhaps the most mystifying element of Palin's recent forays into nuttery is that, politically speaking, it would be difficult to come up with stupider way to position herself in the wake of her v.p. run. The base already loves her -- the diehard pro-lifers, the hands-off-mine individualists, the anti-elitist brigades, you name 'em. Where she has (deepening) trouble is with everyone else: moderates, socially liberal libertarians, DC-establishment types, and anyone who places a premium on basic competence."

And yet, Palin has chosen to become an even more rigid ideologue, annoying lawmakers (in both parties) and locking up the support of the GOP's far-right base that already supported her. Reform-minded Republicans like Salam, meanwhile, are left with the impression that the governor is "a clownish, vindictive amateur," after hoping against hope that she'd step up as a genuine Republican leader.

There's simply no logic to this strategy.

[TheMightyFavog]

1. I don't think we should count her out yet...

Remember, a lot of people thought Reagan a bumbling fool who had no chance of winning the White House back in '77.

[WI_DEM]

9. She is far worse than Reagan presented himself, but I see your point.

[PassingFair]

2. I'd sue the party if I were her.

They RUINED her political career by
bringing her out at the wrong time.

I think she COULD have been a BIG threat,
but now....

not so much.

[BurtWorm]

5. Yeah, but she was dumb, narcissistic and ambitious enough to fall for it.

Those three attributes seem to be a deadly combination for her.

[PassingFair]

8. Stupidity and ambition are always a dangerous combination...

but it's SO HARD to say NO
to Bill Kristol!

[burning rain]

21. I agree.

Reagan had the ability to present himself well in media and appear soothing to various constituencies; Palin is a redneck fundamentalist who's bought into the much-overrated "authenticity" thing lock, stock, and barrel -- and that severely limits her appeal. She hasn't even seen the sense in using good speech writers since they were last provided for her as a matter of course, during the presidential campaign. And unlike Reagan, she's lacked the sense to create a highpowered "Kitchen Cabinet" to keep all the different kinds of Republicans happy and delegate formulation of policy.

[barbtries]

3. i think she's still a threat

to the citizens of alaska. not sure about the rest of the world yet. time will tell on that. i'm convinced that her greed and ambition know no bounds.

[underpants]

4. I dunno Bachman is bringing the crazy pretty good recently

not only that but she is from a battleground state

their free-range Cougars are pretty much interchangeable :shrug:

[BurtWorm]

6. Now there is a book title for you.

Crazy Cougars of the Christian Right.

:patriot:

[WI_DEM]

10. 2012 the year of the woman (GOP side) Palin/Bachman ticket.

[ColbertWatcher]

12. So, now Bachmann and Palin are competing for Official Loon? n/t

[gratuitous]

14. Since they're both from states that get rather cold . . .

Maybe we should call them the Blue-Footed Boobies?

[underpants]

16. The political lifespan of the Blue-Footed Boobies (or free range Cougars) can be short

[gratuitous]

17. Oh golly, Moxie and Spunk!

VH1 should do a "Where Are They Now?" special on the lovely couple.

[LeftHander]

7. Only when she rears her head and swoops into our airspace....nt

[ColbertWatcher]

11. Anyone whose allegience is not to the American system of government, laws, etc ...

... but to some outside group of unelected persons is, for me, the definition of dangerous.

People who hold public office take an oath for a reason. Palin's incompetence as governor make me wonder if she's even upholding the oath for that office, I seriously doubt she could handle a higher or national office.

[livetohike]

13. She was only a threat because she was a bright new shiny

candidate. Once she started speaking without a speech, her incredible lack of knowledge and inability to speak in front of the cameras was apparent. It's unbelievable still, that a major political party actually thought she was V.P. material.

I don't think any amount of prep work will have her ready for the big leagues in 2012. She still has to think on her feet.

[Caliman73]

15. Two ways she may be a threat. Neither are up to her

Palin can only become a threat for two reasons, neither are dependent on her talent (which I opine is only that of a hustler and shuckster) I have an uncle like that. He is a nice guy (unlike Palin) but he doesn't really bring anything of substance to the game. So, the two scenarios:

1. Continued Breakdown of the financial and then some breakdown of the social system. Palin as a demagogue could come in with the revived attitude of anti-intellectualism. If things don't turn around or especially if they get worse, then there is a chance that she can capitalize on her "folksy" message against the eggheads that did not fix everything. If things improve even moderately, she has no chance in hell.

2. Complacency by the Democratic Party and supporters. We've heard the phrase "Democrats have the uncanny ability of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Even if things improve and we regain our footing, it is important to keep the grass roots mobilized and make sure that the message is that the stability has been achieved by our hard work together with the policies of Obama's administration that have guided us to a renewal of American values, and that we need to protect that in order to continue the improvements and make sure we do not return to a time where the majority of Americans are dictated to by a small group of unregulated power brokers. If we rest on our laurels, we give Palin and her ilk the ability to usurp the message or to gain a groundswell based on ignorance, xenophobia, and racism.

Her message is bankrupt, she is a symbol of everything that we can find fault with in America (the arrogance, intellectual laziness, homophobia, sexism, and blind ambition), and her popularity rests only as a reaction to positive but painful change. She is not and never will be capable of leading, but she is unfortunately, not gone from the political scene.

[Blue_In_AK]

18. Sarah could have been fairly successful

had she continued the bipartisanship that she displayed during her first two years as governor. Alaska is a fairly libertarian (small "l") state -- we pretty much believe in "live and let live" -- and the hard right tack she has taken since her return from the campaign has turned off many former allies on both sides of the political spectrum. While most people think of Alaska as being a Republican state, in truth is the vast majority of voters are Independent or Undeclared, and not wingnuts. Sarah has made so many missteps since November, it's hard to count them all, and her failure to accept responsibility for any of them is making her look ridiculous. She blames the bloggers and the media for everything. When the Wayne Ross AG nomination was rejected by the legislature, she went so far as to whine that constituents were actually sending dissenting e-mails to their representatives -- how dare they! -- and labeled people's anecdotes about how awful a choice Ross would be as "lies," even when they were easy to prove. She just refuses to accept any blame for anything.

It's hard to fathom what her die-hard supporters still see in her. The reason she was popular before, and no doubt why McCain picked her, was because she worked well with people and she had a pleasing populist streak that people could support. We noticed the change in her attitude from the night of the Republican convention. She sounded NOTHING AT ALL like the old Sarah. Now we wonder if she was just playing us all along and that this was her goal, to be Ms. Ultra Rightwing, or if she somehow got corrupted by the RNC machine, or, frankly, whether she's had a mental breakdown. The change is that drastic.

It's upsetting to a lot of us because since her 80% popularity was so touted during the campaign, "Outsiders"* think we must all be a bunch of crazy people. We're not. Had she shown this side of herself during the 2006 governor's race, she would never have been elected. I know of so many people who voted for her, or at least thought she was doing okay as governor, who are now just appalled at the spectacle she has become. There's just no good explanation for it.


* Please don't take offense at the term "Outsiders." We refer to the rest of the US as "Outside" or the "Lower 48." It's just tradition, not meant to imply that we reject you in any way.

[wiggs]

19. She's one part of a multi-pronged, deliberate, serious attempt to ruin and dumb down

public discourse, a successful effort spanning the last couple of decades. This stuff has worked and continues to work. So, yes if she's part of that then she should be taken seriously.

[Orsino]

20. A threat to Alaska's ever being taken seriously? Yes.

"Clownish, vindictive amateur" is correct. Her stint in TV journalism originated in her having been a beauty queen. Every job since has hung from the gossamer thread of status as an ex-beauty queen, supported by whomever her vindictive ways could bully. She's surrounded herself with weak sycophants, and that is the reason for her spectacular faceplants as running-mate. She's never had to learn anything, and so she is unprepared for government in a way not even George W. Bush could rival.

She's a pretty zero, and a mean one.

[Blue_In_AK]

25. This is the sad thing

as I pointed out above. Everybody looks at Sarah and thinks we're all like that. that we all think she's great. She's the one that's getting the national publicity, but no publicity is being given to the considerable "push-back" against her that's going on here from our legislature and many, many private citizens. You don't see the "Impeach Palin" signs that are popping up around town. I hate her for what she's done to the reputation of the state that I love so much. I can't wait until she's just a vague unpleasant memory.

[saltpoint]

22. At a time when the GOP has to retool entirely they cannot turn to

a woman with the brains of bean mesh.

I considered her a joke to begin with and even more of one now.

[TahitiNut]

23. When people vote for a party's candidate, it makes little difference to many whether the candidate .

... is a total imbecile and a complete failure. Witness Reagan. Witness Dubya. After all, nobody could have predicted that a national party would nominate an incompetent nincompoop, right? There's a fundamental assumption that the individual has to possess some qualifications ... and it's only (really) a matter of which party gets the chance next. The "Arkansas Project" (full court press to smear and demean Clinton for 8 years) was, imho, the primary reason Dubya got elected. The GOP could have run a ham sandwich and gotten it elected through stagecraft, propaganda, and cheating.

Palin COULD be their nominee. Palin COULD get elected. We're that fucking stupid in this country. We've PROVEN it!

[ColbertWatcher]

24. I'd like to add that EVERY GOP governor is a threat to this country. n/t