Politics and the Palin Moment

After spending several months off the political radar, former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, has boomed to the forefront of American attention. Predictably, the response from the left and that portion of the media enamored thereof has been brutal. Throughout the ’08 campaign, and in the time afterwards, politicians, pundits, and political gadflies broke new ground in the viciousness of their attacks. However, with the release of Palin’s biographical tome “Going Rogue,” the attacks on her have reached a fever pitch, surpassing even the right’s attempted blowtorching of Hilary Clinton.

One wonders why she is so hated by the left. She is a successful woman, a wife, a mom, a governor who relished a 72% approval rating. She ran a successful administration, defeating the aims of old-line Republicans, and generated a BILLION-dollar surplus. It wasn’t until a mountain of ethics charges, relentlessly spewed by Democrat operatives (all of which were proven false) took up so much time that it made it impossible for her to do her job. Her resignation prompted charges of being a quitter. But it’s interesting to note that as soon as she resigned, the ethics charges ceased. This incident was not so much an indictment of Palin’s commitment as it was an example of the Gestapo-like glee of the Democrat attack machine.

Palin’s book tour, easily inferred to be a PR tactic to position herself as the GOP front-runner, has thus far revealed the fighter within, now freed from the jealous restrictions of the McCain leash-holders. Make no mistake. She has identified her enemies and she is on the attack.

To understand the impact of Sarah Palin on U.S. politics, one needs to review a bit of recent history.

The Democrats, stung by consistent losses, made a crucial strategic decision. For the mid-term campaign of 2006 and the White House run in 2008, the party swung hard left. The party, led by its powerful liberal-socialist cabal, returned to its leftist roots. Although they paid lip-service to the promises of centrism, their actions revealed the truth. In so doing, they opened the gap between them and the Republicans, presenting voters clear and uncompromising differences in the respective policies. Voters hate ambiguity. When the two parties were courting the center, there seemed to be a lot of confusion about who stood for what. The Democrat’s lunge to the left won for them control of the Congress and the White House.

Of course, they were aided by a succession of unconscionably stupid actions by Republicans. Elected to be fiscally responsible, they spent like drunken sailors. Rather than standing their conservative ground, they allowed themselves to be seduced by the siren song of compromise and bi-partisanship, only to later discover they had been lured into an indefensible position and pounced upon with all the pitiless fury of King Leonides and his Spartans.

Since then, the Democrats and their journalistic lapdogs have expended a lot of electrons and ink telling the Republicans that in order to save their party, they need to move to the center (i.e., the left). Some GOP members have complied, and with the ideological differences thus blurred once again, and with the Democrats controlling the discourse, Republicans lost votes because the conservative base of the party refused to go with them.

The Democrats know that if the Republicans move back to their ideological roots, conservatism, it will spell big trouble for them. Recent polls have shown that as much as 60% of Americans identify themselves as conservatives. The planks of low taxation, small government, ethics, strong defense, and fiscal responsibility still resonate with most Americans. And a candidate who can successfully articulate those powerful themes will gather those lost votes like a Dyson pulling dirt out of a carpet. Sarah Palin is that kind of candidate.

Her impact on the 2008 race was immediate and dramatic. So much so, that the McCain people, embarrassed by the response she was getting, compared to the tepid crowds that gathered for the Old Man, tried to jealously minimize her presence and influence, dictating to her constantly. Seemingly embarrassed by her clothes, they even allocated a rather significant sum of money to update her wardrobe, money she never took or spent.

Let’s be fair; the Democrats would like nothing more than the complete collapse of the Republican party (and for Limbaugh to have an aneurism, but that’s another subject). In the left’s relentless assault on this bespectacled moose-hunting soccer mom, there arises in my mind a pertinent question. If Palin is such a loser, as they say, if her candidacy would guarantee a Democrat victory…

Why aren’t they promoting her?

The answer is simple. The Democrats have no interest in promoting the interests of the right. Hence, their constant bleating only proves how dangerous they perceive her to be. Sarah Palin is not a bad candidate. In fact, she terrifies the left and their media, which is a big reason why Republicans should seriously consider the Governor to be the GOP candidate for 2012. A Palin campaign would swing the Republican Party decisively back to the right, to the familiar trappings of conservatism, where historically they’ve enjoyed the most success.

There are other fundamental shifts that need to occur. The Democrats and the press are no friends of conservatism; never have been, never will be. Bi-partisanship is a feckless pipe dream. The Democrat leaders who preached it incessantly during the Bush administration, have demonstrated their true colors by their systematic marginalization of congressional conservatives. Republicans need to shake off that particular fantasy and conduct an aggressive, hard-nosed campaign. The emergence of the Internet and alternative media, such as Fox News, does not now require a party to be slavishly devoted to appeasing the press corps. The major print organs and networks have embarrassed themselves, having been caught skewing the news, even speaking outright lies. They lack the authority they once had; the public no longer trusts them, as reflected by their steadily declining ratings and dwindling subscriber lists.

The Democrats limp into the 2010 mid-terms with a host of saddle sores. Among the most painful...

• Their irresponsible flinging of our national wealth into the wind has crippled the economy and hurt the dollar so badly that even some drug traffickers now prefer to deal in Euros.

• Messrs. Frank and Dodd assured us that there was nothing wrong with the leadership at Fannie and Freddie, only to see the worst housing cataclysm in history.

• Their insistent imposition of a health care bill that few in D.C. have read, and nobody anywhere else wants, threatens to do irreparable damage to our ability to deliver quality health care.

• We have a president that apologizes to the world, who bows to foreign leaders, who is so cluelessly narcissistic that he returned a bust of Churchill to the English and gave to the Queen an iPod of his speeches.

• Unemployment has topped 10% and may eventually creep to Depression-era levels.

A growing number of American voters are becoming disillusioned, reflected by Obama’s dwindling approval numbers, and the party he leads has dug themselves a political hole that gets deeper by the hour.

Clearly, there is an opportunity here for the Republicans. However, it remains to be seen if they will be smart enough or tough enough to seize the moment, find their footing, and anchor themselves to the solid foundation of conservatism.

This moment in time, this “Palin Moment,” forms a crucial fork in the road. For the sake of their own survival, the GOP had better choose wisely.