the entire "OMG she's, like SO STUPID and RIGHT NUT WINGER and stuff, like, Man!" crowd.
look, i agree she doesn't sound intelligent on television. but neither would I - that's why I come here and type so i can look at my words before i "say" them. sounding intelligent is different from actually
being intelligent - anyone who has worked with former President Bush W, for example, will tell you that the man is a voracious reader and a great student of history. but to hear the man speak? Oye Vei, no wonder comedians accused him of sticking coloring books.
Sarah Palin, whatever else she has or has not done, successfully ran an insurgent campaign against one of the more "entrenched interest" parties (and a sitting Republican Governor) in the country (Alaskan Republican party was bad - I was quite relieved when Ted Stevens lost. Even though it helped Democrats achieve a fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate, it was worth it to cleanse the party name of that man) to become the youngest person and the first woman to be governor of her state. then she did it
again once she got into office (she wasn't very popular with significant sections of her states' party over this), negotiated (and beat) several multinational oil companies into increasing their payments to her state, was listed as one of America's most successful reformer governors (and hilariously, as a moderate, by Time Magazine), and since then, has built a national movement and a multimillion dollar industry around herself. You don't do that if you are an incompetent idiot.
Far right wing hard core Republican? The woman lodged charges against her own party chairman for corruption, joined with a Democrat Senator in forcing out a Republican Attorney General over ethics issues, unseated a sitting Republican Governor by running on a clean government platform, and then upon getting into office, swiftly expanded the rights of homosexual partners and
raised taxes.
can anyone name for me a
single Republican Presidential candidate today willing to run for office on a platform of getting rid of anyone in the Republican Party with questionable ethics, expanding the rights of homosexual partners of federal employees, and
raising taxes?
was Palin the victim of the media? no, she put herself out there and has since refused to shut up. You can't be the "victim" of someone you're in a shooting war with. I would say that her family has been, and that makes me worry for Cheri Daniels. But Sarah absolutely
was the subject of an organized media hit job that successfully "defined" her public image. I fault her and the McCain campaign for not being able to predict and overcome such a move - when you are the Republican running for President, obviously MSNBC, CNN, and WaPo aren't in your corner. To not have a media strategy designed to beat this kind of a thing is inexcusable, and deepens my loathing for much of McCain's campaign staff.
She wasn't
exposed by some honest-and-above-the-fray-we're-just-asking-questions-media, she was
beaten by an organized campaign that successfully negated the public image that would have come from her tenure in Alaska and replaced it with their own. :shrug: that's what happens to you in politics - and don't get in the kitchen if you can't take the heat. Ever since then she's been trying to some how come back and re-win a battle that is already lost, apparently unwilling to admit that when you wrestle with pigs, you both get dirty, but the pig enjoys it.
or maybe she does too, now, who knows. :shrug: She's supposed to be a fairly combative, competitive person. But that (and a few other things including yes, her lack of experience) is why I don't want her as President and don't want her running. Because she lacks the personal gravitas and ability to hold back and remain above the fray that we need from a chief executive / commander in chief. The President can't be getting in catfights with reporters they don't like - they should ignore the fact that they don't like the reporters, and let people two or more tiers down go on television to defend the administration. Palin instead is hyperactive and hyperresponsive - she
can't (for some reason) delegate it to others and she
can't (for some reason) remain above the fray.
but the "they"? the "they" is the people who try to look down their noses on her as some stupid far-right-wing ignorant evangelical rube - because they have bought the media image and don't even realize that
they are the ones getting played. there are plenty of good reasons not to want Sara Palin in the Republican Primary or in the White House. but a Caricature isn't one of them.