September 27, 2008

Sarah Palin, revisited

Donald B. Hawthorne

Some of us had an initial positive impression of Sarah Palin. At the same time, we acknowledged that only time would tell whether she could cut it on the national stage. Her selection also brought out into full public view again the political agenda of the feminists and Left as the attempts to destroy Palin reached new extremes. All of which were discussed in the earlier posts noted below at the bottom.

Palin did not do well in the Couric interview. She seems to have lost her mojo. Is it because she is being overhandled? Is it because she is in over her head? Or both? Does she have the talent but her time on the national stage is premature? Who knows. Only more time and exposure will tell.

Here are several recent commentaries which speculate on these questions:

Free Sarah Palin!
Has the McCain Campaign Broken Sarah Palin?
Should Palin walk the plank?

Unlike those who are afraid of competition and the resulting success or failure, let's see how it plays out. Let her be herself and let the chips fall where they fall. No bailouts.

EARLIER POSTS:

Where is the "REDO" button?
The complete Palin interview with Gibson
The Bush doctrine and the psyching out of Barack Obama
Left-wing feminist masters to Sarah Palin: How dare you try to leave our plantation!
Sarah Palin's speech
The ferociously totalitarian response of the Left to Sarah Palin: Sexism, intolerance, and fear
Sarah Palin's refreshing words

Comments, although monitored, are not necessarily representative of the views Anchor Rising's contributors or approved by them. We reserve the right to delete or modify comments for any reason.

Overhandled. She debated and whipped a sitting governor in the primary and a former governor in the general. She is the most popular governor in America.
She needs to be freed to attack MBNA Joe and his corrupt son and his lying, plagarizing life.

Posted by: Mike at September 27, 2008 8:39 AM

Hey Mike,
A very reasoned and level headed analysis. Way to go - support Palin by calling someone else names. You have given us a lot to chew on and done a fine job explaining her merits.
OldTimeLefty

Posted by: OldTimeLefty at September 27, 2008 9:47 AM

She is indeed the most popular governor in America, and so would be Charlie Manson if the fortuitous financial circumstances of his petro-state allowed him to distribute $3,200. to each state resident.
Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan got it right in their intended off-camera remark that the Palin pick made no sense, it meant the McCain-Palin campaign was over. I like her, and I liked Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, but I wouldn't let Reese represent me if I was on trial for murder. I have a sneaking suspicion that she doesn't do the VP debate this week, some pretense will be found to pull her out. I don't think she leaves the ticket, though. I hope she does do it. She might be well prepped enough to give reasonable canned answers to Gwen Ifill, who is not a real junkyard dog type of questioner. But there's no way she'll be able to think and react on the fly. To the extent that either Biden or Ifill get her off her prepped remarks, she'll crash. I think you just have to hope for a major Biden gaffe, which I doubt is going to happen. He's a pretty good debater as his performance in the primaries shows

Posted by: observer at September 27, 2008 10:03 AM

Its misleading to say she's the most popular governor in America. She's the most popular in her state, compared to other governors in their own states. Being popular in your home state does not necessarily translate to the rest of the country. She is definitely being over-handled, but she's probably also in over her head. She obviously is capable enough to have come as far as she has: mayor, governor. But her interviews have been poor, and she doesn't seem to have a grasp of understanding of the big issues, or an ability to properly articulate. I wouldn't be surprised if she steps down before next week's debate. Citing "too much pressure" and putting "family first". Then McCain can pick Romney and bring him onto the ticket with his economic acumen during this financial crisis the country is facing. Palin looked good on paper. But as the weeks go by, she's looking like a mistake.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 27, 2008 10:06 AM

If Palin gets booted off or leaves the ticket, two words: Tom Eagleton. I just don't think McCain could recover from the embarassment. If Romney is such a great choice (and Karl Rove sure thought so), why didn't McCain pick him in the first place?
And his social conservatism (as evidenced in his Buchanan wanna-be speech at the convention) will turn off any remaining hardcore Hillaryites who were willing to vote for McCain.

Posted by: rhody at September 27, 2008 3:13 PM

Problem:
Walissa is the "Meth Capital" of Alaska

Sarah Palin's solution:
Build a 15 million dollar,hockey rink on
land that,the town of Walissa does NOT have clear title to.
Cost to 7000 people in Walissa 1,300,000
and it is still in the courts could cost
another $1,000,000 or more

Posted by: Erminigile at September 27, 2008 4:22 PM

Palin's best survival tactic in the debate should be to let Biden overreach as usual and make some really outrageous remark(s).
I suspect his comment about FDR being on TV in 1929 when Hoover was in office and TV wasn't invented is a result of his having so little respect for the historical knowledge of the average American that he thought he could get away with it.Well,maybe he watches "Jaywalking" on Leno's show and got encouraged.

Posted by: joe bernstein at September 27, 2008 5:09 PM

With only 5 weeks until the election, I am sure that Sarah Palin will be on ALL of the Sunday Talk shows every Sunday
from now to November 4.

Or I could be wrong..again

Posted by: Glenn at September 27, 2008 5:58 PM

Lets get back to basics. Katie Couric: “I’m just going to ask you one more time – not to belabor the point.” A.) Belabor: argue or elaborate (a subject) in excessive detail: belabor the obvious. B.) Point: an argument or idea put forward by a person in discussion: he made the point that economic regulation involves controls on pricing. Was Katie Couric arguing a point, or was she asking a question? Beyond the two most recent examples of John McCain’s record, was Katie eliciting information in excessive detail, or just butchering syntax? Ms. Couric did ask for a laundry list, and Ms. Palin offered to oblige. What’s the proper response? You’re right Katie, John is an obvious fake and I’m totally clueless. D’oh! Sorry for wasting your time, but I figured you’d ask me to recite the Bush Doctrine while standing on my head. It’s moose hunting season. Come-on up to the cabin; you can see the Kremlin from the rooftop. I’ve got two wonderful new moose hats, one for both you and Charlie Gibson: http://theseedsof9-11.com

Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians? –Katie Couric

Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison? –Captain Oveur

Posted by: Peggy McGilligan at September 27, 2008 6:10 PM

"She is indeed the most popular governor "if the fortuitous financial circumstances of his petro-state allowed him to distribute $3,200. to each state resident."

Oh, if this state ever got its hands on that kind of money I think the "progressives" and the cronies would do something "a little differently" than "distribute $3,200. to each state resident."

Posted by: Mike at September 27, 2008 6:22 PM

Palin acted like she was being interviewed by someone who was hostile to her and looking to catch her in a "mistake".

And frankly, she was.

Very few members of the press will treat Palin even-handedly. They are all looking for that "mistake" that will show she "isn't up to being VP". Meanwhile, Joe Biden goes on making gaffe after gaffe and nobody raises the same issue.

Perhaps Palin should take the same approach that Obama's handlers imposed on him. Obama refused any interview with FOX News until the Republican convention, when he thought he might be able to interject himself into the convention coverage.

Posted by: Anthony at September 27, 2008 8:22 PM

I only agree that the McCain campaign may currently be "handling" her too much. However, I believe that is part of a deliberate pre-debate strategy, so no worries there.

Otherwise, I'm with Anthony on this one. The McCain campaign knows that the Obamedia are looking to trip her up, so certain members of the press can be the one to claim credit for doing so. Last time I checked, there was no Constitutional requirement regarding a candidate being repeatedly interrogated on the evening news.

Anyway, keep chattering away about "poor Sarah." Please, I'm encouraging it. The more she's beat up upon, the stronger the comeback -- and the more that people will flock to her side. People don't usually side with bullies. We're not trying to attract the intelligentsia and elitists to her campaign. We want the support of normal people. Normal people don't like the MSM.

The lower you keep setting expectations for her going forward, the more likely she will be seen as meeting and exceeding them. At this rate, you're almost setting up a scenario where if she just shows up to the debate next Thursday, she can declare victory and go home! It's almost like it's intentional (perhaps it is). However, I think she's going to do very well next Thursday (look at some video of her debating the former Alaska governor).

It's unfortunate that NRO's Kathleen Parker is getting so much press on this, because she is currently considered useful to the MSM. If she were chattering about any other person or subject, she'd get no attention at all. She's enjoying her 15 minutes, because the liberals in the media agree with her temporarily. Hope she enjoys it.

PS Before anyone starts going into the totally inappropriate, but almost certain to follow Dan Quayle analogies, can I remind you all for the moment that he actually won the race quite handily?

Posted by: Will at September 27, 2008 10:36 PM

>>Oh, if this state ever got its hands on that kind of money I think the "progressives" and the cronies would do something "a little differently" than "distribute $3,200. to each state resident."

Remember the "tobacco money?"

Rather than "waste it" by distributing it back to the taxpaying "working families" of Rhode Island, the Democrat General Assembly took the millions upon millions (hundreds of millions?) and spent, uh, I mean "invested" it for a higher good: the general welfare - and today our mirror-smooth roads, sound bridges and world-class public education system stand as monuments to the foresight and competence of our Democrat General Assembly.

Posted by: Tom W at September 28, 2008 1:02 AM
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