Nov 02 2009
Palin Is Not Far Right – More Likely A Centrist Surprise
The liberal media is pretty savvy, and knows that to derail Sarah Palin in 2012 they need to brand her a far right zealot. As I noted before, everyone is blowing the NY-23 debacle out of all proportions. The Scozzafava selection was a dumb back room decision by GOP party elites to try and catch the Obama wave. In this all conservatives can agree. She fails two key tenets of conservatism and the most basic level: pro abortion and pro failed stimulus packaged.
However, I tend to believe it is better to help people understand why these are mistaken positions and bring them into the fold than pillory them and create enemies. That’s centrist thinking, Â versus far right rage against reality. But Hoffman is not indicative of anything than what can come from political mistakes. He is not the harbinger of the far right rising to power, and he is not Sarah Palin.
Palin is right to define what is too far left and what is not. She is also right (and has a history of this) of opposing political machinery making decisions for We The People. This is common ground we can all agree on. It should not be a shock that conservatives agree on more than they disagree (Duh, that’s why we claim to be conservatives). But Palin has been a voice of moderate and respectful opposition. I don’t think (and I hope) she does not become a ‘true’ conservative, because that will cost her the legions of centrists who support her for being an average American taking on the corruption and decay of DC.
The far right would love to ‘own’ her, so they could make sure she doesn’t poison the GOP with any filthy centrists – like her 2008 running mate who made brought her onto the national stage. So the far right agrees when the far left media tries to tag her as a darling of the far right.
Soon Sarah will have to decide who she is and who she wants to fight for. Will it be for the far right, or will it be for the center-right to far right (where there is common ground). It can be nice to be wanted, but it can also be a royal pain.
Neither. Gov. Palin is going to run as a small-L libertarian, with a side helping of populism. Get the government’s nose out of our business, and its hand our of our pockets. And toss the Ivy League Snobs out of power.
It will sell like gangbusters.
Most independents don’t like Palin. Yet. I think she can win them over; however, when is in charge of her own campaign…can be herself…and is no longer constrained by the McCain campaign managers. I’m not sure she wants to run for higher office. But, AJ, Palin is not the political creature you may think she will be become. It isn’t a decision about choosing to appeal to the far right or the moderates. She is what she is….and is she runs for higher office, she will run on what she stands for. Isn’t that what most Americans are hungry for?
So, I disagree. The only thing Palin needs to decide upon is if she wants to represent her vaules as a candidate for higher office, or in other venues (like she does today).
Palin is not my first pick for higher office. But, I do like her (for reasons stated above).
Cursed. Where is that edit option? I hit “post comment” option so quick I forgot to fix the early babble where I left a few words out.
i feel a breath of fresh air like on the morning McCain announced her. i am relieved to let go of the untruth conveyed by the media and by Gingrich last week that Palin was motivated by some (constructed) fervor of her (constructed) anti-pro-choice-ness in her withdrawal of support for New York’s “DeDe”.
Palin is Palin – and I look forward to when she herself rather than the media gets to convey her indomitable spirit. When anti-Palin people start watching her rather than watching people talk about her they will see strength and intelligence. Very much like Hillary Clinton haters, Palin haters did not watch her speeches. They just heard the condemnations.
No one ever mentions that when Palin did her first interview with what’s his name – Charles Somebody who looked down though his glasses at her – she had, earlier that same afternoon, seen her son off at the airport for operations in Iraq. And where’s that letter from the Alaskan fisherman who details the monumental things she did for her state – let’s circulate that fisheman’s letter instead of the distortions of the FEAR the left wing has about this strong, bright American woman.
Go, Sarah. Go, truth.
Go, simplicity and common sense. F— politics. = )
Sara was the only life in the Centrist, McCain campaign.
Personally, I would not vote for her. If she had competed a Term as Governor, I might have. I know others who think that way as well. Not enough experience. Run for Congress/Senate…
If it’s her, Mit, or Newt, count me out in 2012. The GOP needs new people. Stop the Recycling.
Constitutionalist, Devvy Kidd has written a lot about Palin. Don’t know if it’s all true, but it’s certainly not very flatering.
I love her speeking skills though, much like Glenn Beck.
AJ, when I first read this, I was thinking how you were re-writing Palin to fit your hopes and stated centrists positions.
but as I got further along, I basically agree. I never thought she was ‘far’ right, just near right(conservative). (and nearly always actually right)
She certainly was in NY-23.
I’ve been a strong supporter of her from day one (as you have) and don’t care if she runs for higher office, but hope she does.
She clearly seems to be an honest and sincere person. very rare in pols. I’m sure she will remain a conservative, whether ‘true’ or not. (I’ve never run across a ‘true’ conservative so I don’t know what that means)
She clearly has more executive experience than Obama and was raised with the values of America as her guideposts.
stevevvs
Personally, I would not vote for her. If she had competed a Term as Governor, I might have. I know others who think that way as well. Not enough experience. Run for Congress/Senate…
just curious, how do you compare her experience with Obama.
She had several elected jobs, he only had one, part time senator. He lived off government handout jobs (Acorn organizer). She had a ‘real’ life.
just curious, how do you compare her experience with Obama.
She has more experience, but hardly a big enough record to make a judgment on.
A Question:
What did Reagan do to court the AJ types?
I can’t think of anything. But that’s why I ask. It’s a question for the Centrist.Moderate/Bush/Conservatives.
Let me know what you come up with.
What do Centrist/Moderate/Bush/Conservatives Think of these quotes. Do they scare you away?
Man is not free unless government is limited.
Ronald Reagan
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
Ronald Reagan
Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.
Ronald Reagan
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
Ronald Reagan
Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
Ronald Reagan
Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Ronald Reagan
Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.
Ronald Reagan
History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
Ronald Reagan
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
Ronald Reagan
It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.
Ronald Reagan
It’s difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn’t available.
Ronald Reagan
No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!
Ronald Reagan
One way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it.
Ronald Reagan
Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.
Ronald Reagan
The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.
Ronald Reagan
The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.
Ronald Reagan
The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.
Ronald Reagan
The taxpayer – that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.
Ronald Reagan
Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.
Ronald Reagan
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy.
Ronald Reagan
Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.
Ronald Reagan
Trust, but verify.
Ronald Reagan
Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders.
Ronald Reagan
We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.
Ronald Reagan
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.
Ronald Reagan
We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule.
Ronald Reagan
We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
Ronald Reagan
We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.
Ronald Reagan
Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.
Ronald Reagan
When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
Ronald Reagan
While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.
Ronald Reagan
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
Ronald Reagan
Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.
Ronald Reagan
So, did any of you who are not conservative, vote for Reagan? If so, why? What attracted you to him?
I’d love to know.
Why would you care Stevevvs? All I know is Hannity and Ingraham are the antithesis of Reagan as they attempt to claim they are his only true followers.
LOL! ‘Conservative” is not far right. Neither is GOP. ‘Far right’ is far right.
AJ, the more you try to insult others, the more it make YOU look bad.
Why would you care Stevevvs?
Because I don’t see how You or other Centrists, would like Reagan.
I don’t see how he “Reached Out” to Moderates.
So, if you can stop insulting people, pehaps you could enlighten me on what You and other Centrists liked about Reagan?
What Centrist Positions did he have that you liked in 1980, or 1984, that would have caused you to support him.
After all, he won the Center, did he not? He won everyone except the far left.
So, please, all the centrist out there: If you voted for Reagan, just say why?
AJ: For Centrist Credibility, it helps to give examples of the Far Right Policies that caused the GOP to loose votes.
Just stating it, but providing no evidence, causes others with the capacity for thought, to ask what legislation pushed by the Far Right in the Bush years, caused them to loose congress?
If Far Right Policies lost the GOP Votes, why did the Dem’s run Blue Dogs?
I’d say, the Blue Dogs are now Obama’s problems. So they expanded their “Tent” and now they can’t pass anything with ease.
Well, that’s it for me today. I hope the other folks out there have a good day ahead!! Take Care, be of good cheer!
I don’t have enough information to know where Palin stands on many issues, however because she goes to church she will be portrayed as a far right loon, in the mold of George Bush.
LOL! Far right policies? Half the problem with the far right is their arrogance and insults. The other is the fact that compromise is considered treason.
They are clueless, reckless and useless to governing. When they respect centrists and act of governing and the diversity of this great nation then they may become something other than impotent.
But they have so far to go it is frightening. Only an idiot would insult the blue dogs into supporting the destruction of our premier health care system. Ravings of lunatics.
We Alaskans have always known what our Sarah is… a responsible Conservative… Get off your high horse, Aj…
LOL! I praise Palin and you tell me to get lost???
Foolishness abounds on the right
I think the recent release of information about the last lawsuit that was filed fully explains her reason for resignation. It would have frozen ALL of her and her husband’s personal financial accounts and her legal defense fund and the government of Alaska had no legal means to shield her from that.
It was purely financial. You can’t ask someone to stay in the office of governor and face financial ruin and not be able to defend themselves. She is now free to sue those who have been malicious and I believe she very well may.
AJ,
You are wrong on that score.
The one truly independent study of bias in the media — that I’ve found through a writer friend of mine — had something very interesting to say about American politics, besides the foregone conclusion that the media was left biased compared to the bulk of the American people. (see http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/groseclose/Media.Bias.pdf)
The study was set up by a Republican and a Democrat. The study was based on references to third party groups such as People for the American way and the American Enterprise Institute.
The study’s researchers took one accepted group’s reading of members of Congress for their “left/right” position, and then compared their favorable/unfavorable references to the groups to get a fixed position for the groups.
Then they wrote that back to news media references.
The “comparers” were broken down into balanced teams of liberals and conservatives and fairly widely spread to prevent small sample skewing and they reviewed several _thousand_ references in each step.
The Expected Overall Study Conclusion: Everything in the MSM was to the left of center for the American public.
Yet other study conclusions _were surprising_.
1) The Washington Times wasn’t found to be very “right” at all,
2) WSJ regular reporting wasn’t found to be very “right” either.
3) One of the big dailies that were generally considered “left” wasn’t _really_ left. (It might not have been NYT.)
The really interesting thing, which was really ignored by this UCLA study, was that Fox was just about political dead center.
Think about it.
The channel that most people would say was “right wing” was just about central in the American viewpoint.
This meant there was a huge group to the “right†of Fox who considered even _them_ to be sensationalist, namby-pamby, liberal media weenies.
What this poll has revealed is that significant proportion of the electorate is _there_ on the far right wing.
Some of them don’t vote simply because _nobody_ _is_ _far_ _enough_ _right_.
Previously, running well to the right of George W. Bush, given the liberal head-lock on most major methods of communication, would be hard — Very, Very, Very, Hard.
The media including Fox would actively ridicule any such candidate to the point he became, for many people, a laughing-stock. (See Sarah Palin)
But there is viable political room for such a candidate out there. A man who is so far right that he makes Sen. Ted Kennedy seem centrist.
And he’s _now electable_ because of the credibility collapse of the main stream media.
The Political Party’s ceded that candidate vetting function to political primaries and the big media at the turn of the 20th century thanks to the progressive movement.
Now in the 21st century, the MSM ceded its candidate vetting function — without replacement — through cheer leading for Obama’s 2008 election campaign and his Administration’s policies.
This means there is now no one that last minute deciding voters can trust to get information on candidates. These voters will simply go with their gut if they cannot trust their media sources, which make far left and far right emotional energy far more important to winning elections than “Centrist common sense.”
Any Republican candidate is going to “Get Palinized” when he runs for President. It is only a matter of degree.
This means that a really far right wing candidate who has a good grass roots/internet primary information campaign can win the Republican nomination for President and then talk past the MSM’s pro-Obama, Pro-Democratic Party noise to reach that huge American right wing.
When I mentioned this to a polling/marketing guy I know, he said:
“Oh, that’s been clear as hell in the poll data for ages.
Since at least the late Reagan administration there’s been a substantial “underserved right” (underserved in the sense that no one serves them up the candidate they want to vote for). There’s also an underserved left but it’s maybe 1/3 to 1/5 the size of the underserved right.”
The Tea Party movement is now a grass roots expression of this reality.
A grass roots reality that is looking for a far right wing candidate a’la Reagan in 1979-80.
Trent,
Nothing you wrote changes a thing I said. Yes, there is a grass roots wave out there, no it is not looking to Hannity and others to be the next Reagan. And it will not tolerate anymore of the fringe wars.