A Time for Change

Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. – JFK

Why does the GOP love Sarah Palin? The answer is…

 

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Ok, I admit it. I just can’t get over those Gallup and Rasmussen poll numbers that I wrote about on Sunday. Sarah Palin is by far the most popular Republican in the country and even Republican-leaning independents would like to see her run in 2012.  Wow! According to the Draft Sarah Palin for President 2012 website, of the 800 speaking engagements worldwide that she has to choose from, she has accepted one at the Conservative Political Action Committee 2009 Conference in February. They have high hopes for her:

“It’s obvious that she is the Reagan heir apparent, and so it is fitting that she follow in his footsteps,” Republican activist and “Team Sarah” member LaDonna Hale Curzon said Wednesday. “At CPAC 1975, one speech initiated the conservative comeback. That speech was by Ronald Reagan. I would like to see Governor Palin do the same at CPAC 2009.”

(Sound of head scratching here). I don’t get it. Are the Republicans going for anti-intellectual, inarticulate candidates intentionally?  First there was George W. Bush and now Sarah Palin.  Both want to stay as far away from issues as possible because they want to appeal to the emotional, social issues of their deeply conservative base.  Bush was also a governor of a large state with little experience who had rarely been outside the country prior to running for the presidency.  It is no different with her.  Do they want more of the same type of thing that they got from George W. Bush? Yikes! I don’t understand why they look to her as a hero?  What is her great accomplishment in life?  What does she have to say?  What can she contribute? Well, Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Constitution was also baffled about Palin’s popularity so at least I know that am not alone!  I was curious to get his perspective since the greater Atlanta area is part of her base. (I will never forget going into a Blockbuster in Lake Lanier Georgia and seeing two men in overalls with beards down to their belt line, looking like they stepped out of a civil war photo – I thought I saw them in one of her crowds this past October!). Bookman finally explained it as follows:

… I have to confess: I am absolutely baffled by the continued GOP support for Palin. I do not get it. My best guess is that those who support her have a very different concept of the presidency than I do. I see the president as someone who actually has to run the country, so I value traits such as competence and knowledge. They see the presidency in more symbolic terms, which means they value those candidates who epitomize America as they wish to see it.

I acknowledge that those are not mutually exclusive categories, that every candidate represents a mixture of pragmatism and symbolism. It’s just a question of which is more important to you as a voter, and to my mind Palin backers have by definition stated that competence and knowledge are less important to them.

So I agree with Bookman.  The answer is that  competence and knowledge are less important to Sarah Palin’s base than what they think she represents. The only real explanantion for Ruthie Kelly’s reference to Sarah Palin as “a beacon of greatness flickering” and that “in time Gov. Palin’s greatness will be USA’s finest light…It’s Christmas present to the world” is a disconnect with reality that I am having an exceedingly hard time wrapping my mind around. I suppose I favor competence and knowledge over symbolism and fantasy.

The party of Lincoln looks to this lady as their great hope for 2012. If that were ever to occur, perish the thought, I think that a Palin administration would end up just like the current outgoing administration or worse, if that is even possible. She would be a politician in a position well over her level of competency and one where she would also completely delegate the important functions of her job to others.  

That brings me to my next question.  Don’t we want a President who is more than a symbol?  

Written by Catherine

November 25, 2008 at 3:47 am

Posted in Humor, Politics, Sarah Palin

Tagged with , , , ,

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2 Responses

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  1. I hope she continues her presence on the national scene, right up through the 2012 race where she’ll make an easy target for the Democrats to overtake.

    Davis

    November 25, 2008 at 4:00 am

  2. That would be too close to call for me! And I am not so sure it would be easy. She will have tons of “handlers” by then who won’t let her take prank calls from radio stations.

    Catherine

    November 25, 2008 at 4:06 am


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