A former editor in chief of Ms. Magazine observed in October 2008:
It’s difficult not to froth when one reads, as I did again and again this week, doubts about Sarah Palin’s “intelligence,” coming especially from women such as PBS’s Bonnie Erbe, who, as near as I recall, has not herself heretofore been burdened with the Susan Sontag of Journalism moniker…. Those who know her, love her or hate her, offer no such criticism. They know what I know, and I learned it from spending just a little time traveling on the cramped campaign plane this week: Sarah Palin is very smart….
For the sin of being a Christian personally opposed to abortion, Palin is being pilloried by the inside-the-Beltway Democrat feminist establishment….
Many of those—not all—who decried the sexist media treatment of Hillary Clinton have been silent as Palin has been skewered in the old ways that female public figures are skewered, as well as a host of sexualized new ways as well….
Bottom line: you are not a feminist until we say you are.
Joel Pollak recalls today:
But here’s the truth about the McCain-Palin campaign, which HBO’s upcoming “Game Change” film attempts to shroud in fanciful anti-Palin fiction: Palin carried the campaign. She would have led the Republicans to victory had it not been for the September financial collapse and McCain’s disastrous decision to suspend his campaign so that he could vote for the TARP bailout in Washington.
The Democrats knew it, too. That fall, I was back in the classroom at Harvard Law School, surrounded by students and faculty who not only supported Sen. Barack Obama but were, in some cases, involved in his campaign at senior levels. They feared Palin and, after her arrival, could barely talk about the election without a sense of dread. They had no answer for her optimism, her authenticity, her femininity and her courage.
On the ground in New Hampshire, where I volunteered after classes and on weekends, Palin’s nomination had led to a sudden groundswell of support. Where McCain had struggled to fill an arena, lines outside events featuring Palin seemed miles long. She had awakened and rallied the conservative base.
And then, just as quickly, after the bailout vote, support for the Republican ticket collapsed. People who had greeted canvassers warmly just a few weeks before refused to talk to us…..
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Comments
There was one…
and I mean ONLY one…
reason I voted for president in 2008 (though I would have voted down-ticket).
Sarah. Palin.
The Collective STILL fears her, which is why they produced their latest hit-piece.
Rags, in the past few years, I have yet to meet anyone who says they voted for McCain. They all say they voted for Palin. In all my years in politics, that’s the only time I’ve ever seen so many people support the main man only because of his choice for veep.
I can’t recall ever talking to an enthused McAnus support.
But I AM pretty picky about the company I keep…
Run Sarah, run!
I have said this before, and I will say it again. What these people have done to Sarah Palin and her family is disgraceful. Evil. And a nice little threat-sword to hang over any conservative Christian woman who dares to challenge the P.C./Marist/Democrat machine for a generation or two:
“Nice little family you have there, Right-wing woman. It’d be a pity if something bad ever happened to them…”
Just watch what they do to Mia Love. Just watch and be prepared.
McCain’s biggest torpedo for conservatives was choosing her and then letting his staff imbeciles destroy her credibility.
I dunno if it was organic to McAnus, but Palin’s selection was a flash of pure political genius.
If only they had let Sarah be Sarah, it would have been even more potent. One of the most dangerous things in politics are your “helpers”.
I campaigned for Sarah/McCain. Notice the order I put those two in.
I’m still shocked that she didn’t go for the Presidency. She’s already been through the ringer. What the hell else could they have done to her?
SHE was our new Reagan.
It isn’t just pro-Palin folks who are honest when they say that she had nothing to do with the outcome that election. Here’s what one informed political observer said of the 2008 election:
Well, the Democratic nominee was going to be elected president in 2008. Because the economy was already in bad shape. The recession had begun in 2007, and even before that we were generating no new jobs, pay was stagnant, poverty was increasing, health-care costs had doubled, and college costs had gone up 75 percent after inflation. Before the financial collapse. But on September 15, when Lehman Brothers failed, the race was over. The only presidential election in my lifetime I think that ended before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. It was done.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/bill-clinton-interview-2012-0212-2#ixzz1nL6LYQeW
That observer? One William Jefferson Clinton.
Keep in mind despite all the economic data Clinton talked about that on Sep 14 McCain had a 47-45 avg lead. Then Lehman collapsed on the 15th. By the 16th McCain’s lead was down to 1. On the 17th it was tied. On the 18th Obama went up by 2.
The Lehman failure and the resulting crash and economic collapse decided the election. Even Clinton says it. And this is one instance where he’s actually telling the truth.
I’ll always wonder what would have happened if Lehman(and then AIG and a few others) had never collapsed and the economy had stayed pretty much the same from Labor Day through the election. I think McCain would have won a very close election.
And I’ll also always have a strong suspicion that the Lehman collapse and other economic catastrophes were in part fomented by certain elements that wanted to make sure Obama won and were dedicated to his ascendancy(if not also Republican elements that didn’t want McCain to win for reasons of their own). I don’t know if we’ll ever get proof, but I think it definitely happened.
This article also has it correct in that Palin’s main “sin” is being against abortion. No pro-life woman will ever be accepted by the dem/liberal/ny/dc/la feminists. The same way no black conservative will ever be accepted by the same group.
And when faced with the prospect that the highest ranking woman in US politics and very possibly even the President would be a staunchly pro-life woman? Well, that just wouldn’t do. She had to be destroyed by any means necessary.
The time line is interesting, and played an important part in the election of Obama.
You mention September 17th when McCain’s numbers were tied with Obama. That is the day that the money market collapsed, with the withdrawal of $144 billion. It was such a hard withdrawal that the money market was closed down, in an attempt to end (or at least slow down) the bleeding. It was odd that I remembered how George Soros has played a large part in almost breaking the Bank of England and wondered if he had played a part in the run on the money market with his group of million/billionairs who had agreed to try to defeat the Republicans and put Obama into office.
McCain erred when he returned to D.C. to work on TARP. Basically, he crawled under his desk while Obama continued to work the crowds. It was a stupid move on McCain’s part.
The mistake that Sarah Palin made was agreeing to be McCain’s running mate in the first place. Now, I know that this will bring the hate from the Palinistas, but she should have passed, and here is why:
I had watched Palin’s rise in name recognition after she was elected to the Governor’s office in Alaska. There was no doubt she was a rising star in the GOP, and being relatively young (in political terms) had a promising future in front of her. She was dynamic, could rally a crowd and was in a prime spot (governor’s seat) to be a contender in 2012. All the stars were aligned in her favor. Young, dynamic, the governor of a major state, and a Republican.
But she accepted the position as McCain’s running mate. At the time I wondered why because they seemed poles apart on many issues. McCain was known to be a RINO who couldn’t be trusted by conservatives and Palin was a hard-core conservative on all the issues. The fit just wasn’t there.
I don’t think anyone ever imagined the ruthlessness that the media was going to use on the Republican candidates, but it was obvious. If you remember, the day after McCain has pretty much taken the nomination, a story was published about McCain having an affair, cheating on his wife, Cindy, with a staff member. THE VERY NEXT DAY. From then on, it was game on for the leftwing media. No attack was going to be too severe or out of line. McCain was viewed as a war hero, and there was just so far the media could go with attacking him, so the next in line was Sarah Palin.
But after that, Palin made her own mistakes. She went back to Alaska, being forced to face one silly law suit after another, but instead of telling the left to stuff it and she would fight them to the bitter end, she quit in mid-2009. Instead of securing her position on the GOP ticket in 2012, she ended her political career. The left had won.
Now I know I will be attacked for telling the truth, and the Palinistas will be shouting to the roof tops how she quit because she could not afford to continue to fight the smears and law suits, but that is far from the truth. No one can point to any clamoring by her consituents for her to resign or any article that claimed her lawyers were demanding payment at that point. She could have paid her lawyers exactly how she did, with the advance on her book, and still remain governor.
Now, she, due to her association with Bapoal Coale, has reduced herself to just another talking head, contracted to Fox just as [slimmy] Karl Rove is.
In January, 2009, Palin had more power than any politico in the nation. She could have been a force to oppose Obama and his disasterous policies. I have no doubt that had Palin showed up on the steps of the Capital, demanding that the Congress pay attention to the citizens, that she would not have been accompanied by tens of thousands of American citizens. She had the ability to rally the troops to every Congressional office at the Rayburn Building. Even after she resigned her office, she could have taken the debate to D.C., followed by tens of thousands of conservative Americans. She did not do that.
There is no doubt that the treatment Sarah Palin received from the media will go down as a great shame on what was once a respected press. But it doesn’t eliminate the mistakes she made.
You know, reading your assessment of why Sarah Palin stepped down from the Governorship is like reading the Daily Kos.
You really are quite the vile man.
Why don’t you read her first book, “Going Rogue”?
She explains-in detail-why she stepped down.
And everything YOU just laid out is hogwash.
Get the truth from HER.
I’m so tired of the mindless(that would be you,retire05)speculation from idiots who don’t know what they’re talking about.
You want to know what happened?
Read her damn words.
It’s all there, you moron.
I am fully aware of every excuse that Palin, and her supporters, offered for her resignation. But the bottom line? SHE QUIT. SHE FOLDED HER TENT AND REFUSED TO CARRY ON. Palin lost, the left won.
And to prove that rational disagreement eludes you, you resort to name calling. You are so damn typical of Palinistas that have caused me to never want to ever hear her name again. I have nothing, NOTHING, against Sarah Palin. I just wish both you and her would go away. You are as radical as Paulbots. You are no better than the left who demand that everyone agree with you and if they don’t, you try to destroy them with your unintellectual name calling.
You read her book, and she will laugh all the way to the bank because of people like you. Bet you supported Herman Cain at one point. Now you’re probably a New Newtie. Well, Newt should be right up your alley. He’s also a quitter.
And golly gee, you managed to get 8 “likes” for your lack of a rational brain. Tells you what kind of people hang out here.
Here’s what retire05 would be saying if Sarah had stayed in office:
January 2010: Sarah Palin leaves office in a cloud of controversy with numerous ethics complaints, over 1,000,000 in legal bills, potential bankruptcy, damaged reputation and a deadlock legislature who shut her out due to the stagnation of the complaints.
She quit the Tea Party who needed her for the upcoming elections. She quit the conservative cause by staying in the governor’s office. She is damaged goods after an onslaught of cheap shots and being unable to respond.
She’s yesterday’s news, out of the spotlight. Her stock has dwindled….nothing more than a Trivial Pursuit question.
——————–
You see, folks like retire will never give the Governor any kind of “intellectual honesty”. Now free of the quagmire induced by the DNC she is free to rally the base 24/7, stump for candidates and fund raise.
She didn’t run in 2012 because (1) the GOP elites picked their candidate (Romney) and will block-n-tackle for him (2) the GOP leadership seems only to care about the House and Senate (chairmanships and the purse strings) (3) she wants to giver her family and herself time (4) she realizes, just like Reagan, that if she ever wants to run for POTUS she needs to build up an infrastructure outside the GOP elites. Two years after her resignation just wasn’t enough time to prepare.
Circa 2012. After her CPAC speech, the crowds now think “dang, she should be our candidate”, she will endorse and stump with more gravitas while she has made inroads & building blocks. She can now enhance Team Sarah, C4P and O4P into new areas.
Let the elites crash and burn.
huckster, so nice to know that you know what I would say.
Palin, as governor, was on the fast track. She is the one that got off that track after the 2008 elections. The truth of the matter is that Palin could have not only rallied the Tea Party by speaking at the Tea Party events, she could have done that as governor.
I am also sick of the mind numbing stupidity of people saying the “elite” picked the GOP candidate. Tell me, what is the name of the “elite” who is going to hold a gun to your head when you enter that voting booth?
And just exactly who is Palin fund raising for? C4P? Perhaps it is time for SarahPAC to give an accounting of where its money is spent, just like candidates have to do.
And don’t even begin to equate Palin with Reagan. Reagan was no quitter.
You still haven’t recovered from the lies you spread supporting your candidate Perry that Palin would endorse him. Lick your wounds and live to fight another day but quit spreading lies. It’s ugly!
JRD, you are a blatant LIAR. I NEVER said that Palin would support Perry. I NEVER mentioned that at all because, for one thing, I felt like Palin would wind up supporting Bachmann.
If you have to lie about what I have, or have not said, you are a shallow, week minded person and do not deserve to keep company with adults.
Retire05, you’re the part of the rear that folks wipe. Read the Palin emails and see that the woman was telling the truth. $500,000 in legal fees out of her pocket to defend herself against nonsense. Working at a job that costs more than it pays is an idiot’s game. Palin is no idiot.
Where’s Rick Perry now?
BTW, the “moron” is the person that cannot present their side of the debate without name calling.
That would be YOU!
retire05 | February 24, 2012 at 10:25 pm
huckster, so nice to know that you know what I would say.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yes, because Palin PDSer’s are so predictable.
You’re an idiot. Palin resigned because it was not only bankrupting her family, it was costing the state of Alaska millions of dollars and wasting her and her staff’s time fighting the frivolous charges. She couldn’t get anything done!
wodiej, YOU are the idiot. Palin had enough money from her book advances to pay her lawyers and oh, wait!!!! That’s exactly what she did.
And just how much did Palin get done once her lobbyist running mate filled the chair in the Governor’s office?
God, you people are pathetic.
And they would of filed ethics complaints on her book deal as well. No matter how much money she made, they would of been sending more and more bogus ethics complaints. Meanwhile, the charges make page one while the dismissals made page 37, section 2, ninth paragraph. Even with a book deal, the lawyer costs add up.
You have achieved scroll through status.
The ‘economic collapse’ that Clinton speaks of was nothing more than media generated hype of a reaction to the impression that Barack Obama would win the election. This was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The only economic calamity was Obama. It was McCain falling in line with the TARP panic and his vote that sealed our doom.
If you doubt me, go back and track unemployment month-by-month. It really began to climb once Obama had wrapped up the nomination in the spring. Nothing else at that time could explain such a rise, besides 2 years of a democrat-controlled congress.
Sarah Palin … what an incredible woman.
I’m so sick of this “drill baby drill” moron who thinks oil is the answer to our energy problems when all the hipsters know algae is what will bring peace on earth.
It’s “skim baby skim,” not “drill baby drill” ya moron.
O.K. now that was funny:)
Slime, baby. Slime?
No, that would be more apropos for Clinton…
How do you catch algae anyway? They’re slimy little suckers.
And how would you pump algae into your car?
Or would you have to ask the algae politely to get into your tank.
You grow it in place as fuel:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2012/02/algae-neutral/comment-page-1/#comment-316053
I know, Luke.
I’m just being a smartass.
You obviously didn’t follow the link … cuz I’m being a smartass, too 🙂
I can’t read everything that the astounding Professor writes.
But I’m glad to had you here to keep me up to speed.
Wink.
That convention was putting me to sleep until Sarah walked into the room. I hadn’t been that excited about a politician since Reagan. She not only lit up the room, she lit up the country. Her speech was fantastic and I’ve never seen a better campaigner than Palin.
Thanks for reminding me of that happy day.
Maybe I should put up a billboard (like the Bush: Miss Me Yet?)with her photo on it that says “Ready For A Do Over?”
Must view…
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/02/apology-to-hamid-karzai-over-torched-korans-take-2/
Gots to LOVE that…
Yep, you gotta see that one!
There *MUST* be a way to somehow hold HBO accountable for creating fiction and purporting it as fact. Character assassination by film with NO substantiating data to support these invisible “sources” – and naming the POS after a book where she was NOT the focus — not even a whole chapter on her! Outrageous!!
I wish there was some way to put HBO, and anyone related to this film, into bankruptcy. These tools once again prove that the LSM is in the tank for Obama, and will do anything to smear an honest, upstanding American citizen.
Instead of withering under blasts that continue to get more patently false and more slimy, she just gets better. Her phrases on issues from important to trivial resonate, e.g., death panels, crony capitalism, and panties in a wad. Even more astonishing she uses other people’s phrases more effectively than they: “wee-weed up”, “hope and change”.
Today’s AP goof (picked up by other “serious” political reporters) of not recognizing clear hints in her e-mail on divorce that she was poking fun shows how weak her opponents become because they refuse to see who she really is.
Either she or her advisers are very smart. The only reason to reject her is out of envy or fear. The guys because they can’t have her, the girls because they aren’t her, and others because she is their competition. Otherwise, as I recall, she has been right in principle and practice on all of the issues she has remarked on.
Damn it, n.n., you NAILED it.
I’d say it was her. I don’t even think she has any ‘advisors’. Credit where credit is due, please.
You are in good company, Professor. More panning of this “docu-drama” (aka FICTION): HBO’s Palin Pollution by Brent Bozell.
I will always remember how proud I was of Sarah Palin when she gave her speech at the RNC–even though someone had sabotoged the teleprompter and she gave it the speech mostly from memory. She was breathtaking. Sometimes it is hard to keep from getting discouraged when so much evil and corruption is taking place.
Sarah Palin is a young woman. There is time.
You sayin’ “it’s about time” again?
So very true.
Yet, the flip side is that our country is getting older and the longer it has to wait for reason, honesty, and fidelity to our Constitution to be restored, the worse we’ll be. So, if Newt’s not going to be the GOP nominee, then I hope for a crash and pile up in the nominating process and for Sarah to come to our aid.
She had me at hello. When McCain announced her I thought “who is Sarah Palin?” Had never heard of her but after this speech,she had my attention. I started doing research on her. When she made her VP acceptance speech, I was hooked. She made a stop in my city and I was extremely fortunate to get in. Our 10,000 seat stadium was packed to the rafters with many more left standing outside. We said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the Star Spangled Banner. She BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN!
I have never been so excited about a candidate in my life. I was so disappointed when she decided not to run but I trust she can make sound decisions and did so w the help of God. I moved on to Gingrich as an alternate and am pleased that she has been showing him some support. I would love to see her in a role for energy or even VP. She’s simply the best.
Newt is the one I trust to give Palin a major role in both the general election campaign and in his administration … that’s part of the reason I support him, he is smart enough to realize her significance and to make best use of her talents.
After I finished Sarah’s book I walked over to the bus stop a couple blocks away one night and left it on the bench, intentionally. This is Santa Monica, so the finder probably burned it, but I can hope curiosity got the better of ’em.
LukeHandCool (who has printed out copies of some of the Professor’s posts and left them on that same bus bench and a few other public places when nobody was looking. Anything for the cause, cause I’m a rebel).
I cannot stand the GOP governors association. They have never pushed back on Palin’s behalf through a media and political enemies ( you fill in the blank). Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Jan Brewer, Susan Martinez stood with Palin. Perhaps Jindal. Manchin was more support than the rest of them. John McCain apparently lost his honor. My bumper sticker is “if they didn’t care about Palin why on God’s green earth would they care about any American citizen”
the joke is on The “Game Change ” makers.
They are preaching she is stupid because she allegedly thought Queen Elizabeth was boss of The British Armed Services.
She IS The Commander In Chief . Post Cromwell it is a political agreement but the title is still hers. No British force would go against the Queens’ declared wishes on behalf of Cameron for example.
Besides the fact that Sarah is a fan of NMargaret Thatcher & would obviously know the PM & basic Westminster system.
Plus both Track Palin & Prince Harry are being deployed . So ends the sad tale of Hollywood morons.
AND julieann Moore has the absolute saddest nipples in cinematic history . Yikes.
WHAT A SPEECH!
Just as fresh and pertinent today as it was then.
Too bad McCain was/is, like Romney, a son of privilege and a man of politics who was not a hero or a holder of strong convictions and ideals, but a go-along-with-the-flow, coward, philanderer and loser.
These points in her speech make a perfect campaign platform for 2012 for whomever is the GOP nominee:
“Challenge the Status Quo
Serve the Common Good”
“Integrity, Good Will, Clear Convictions and a Servant’s Heart”
Interesting that she ran as a woman…even praising Ferraro and Hillary for being women in politics. Sorry she did not mention Thatcher… who was a female success in being elected, in conservative ideology and especially in substantive achievement.
Sarah is a natural. She is genuine and balanced – in her priorities, policies and presence.
Her conservative convictions and motives are based on her beliefs and relationship with GOD and His righteous law, on serving the common good of ordinary people and on challenging the status-quo among the political establishment which has gotten mired and defiled in corruption and power-mongering and cowardice in dealing with America’s enemies foreign and domestic.
Long live Sarah Palin. Thank you, dear Holy GOD, for giving her this amazing grace and courage and for the encouragement she gives us.
Clarification – Romney is not a sexual philanderer, but an ideological one…
Of all we read about gas/energy yesterday…who made sense?
http://www.therightscoop.com/palin-obamas-anti-american-energy-policies-invite-the-next-crisis/