Sarah Palin, the GOP's blessing and curse

[depakid]

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot moderator Democratic Underground)


The self-described 'rogue' is anathema to the party establishment but manna from heaven to the grass roots.

In a Republican Party hoping to rebound in 2010 on the strength of a newly energized and ideologically aroused conservative grass roots, Sarah Palin's influence is now unparalleled. She was the one who popularized the notion that Democrats advocated "death panels" as part of their healthcare plan, a charge that helped ignite conservative opposition to reform. More recently, in a special congressional election in upstate New York, Palin's endorsement of Doug Hoffman, an unknown, far-right third-party candidate, helped force a popular moderate Republican politician, Dede Scozzafava, from the race. And now, although her ghostwritten memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," won't be officially released until Tuesday, advance sales have kept it in the No. 1 position at Amazon.com for weeks.

But there is another side to Palin's power. During the 2008 presidential race, some Republican elders warned of her destructive influence. They insisted she was a polarizing figure whose extremism would accelerate the party's slide. New York Times columnist David Brooks, who had written glowingly of Sen. John McCain, said Palin represented "a fatal cancer to the Republican Party." Peggy Noonan, a former speechwriter for President Reagan and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, blasted Palin as "a dope and unqualified." Last June, Steve Schmidt, the former McCain campaign strategist, warned that Palin's nomination as the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee would be "catastrophic."

New polling data appear to support such doomsday prophecies. According to an Oct. 19 Gallup Poll, the former governor of Alaska has become one of the most polarizing and unpopular politicians in the country. Since she quit the governorship to work on her book, her unfavorability rating has spiked to 50% while her favorability has sunk to 40%, according to Gallup's figures. (The only national politician who is less popular right now, according to the poll, is John Edwards, the former two-term senator who fathered a child out of wedlock while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.)

If Palin is indeed a cancer on the GOP, why can't the Republican establishment retire her to a life of moose hunting in the political wilderness? Why has her appeal increased in the wake of her catastrophic political expeditions?

(snip)
More: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-blumenthal15-2009nov15,0,2142138.story

[bugfragged]

1. Like Katherine Harris, Palin is just a short term solution for the Republicans...

...eventually, the party will need to let her fade into obscurity in order to save their skins in the long run.

[mwb970]

4. Was Katherine Harris the original Crazy Republican Woman?

Harris's turn on the stage of insanity peaked and fizzled long before I ever even heard of Palin, Bachmann, Foxx, Schmidt, or Blackburn. At the time, I thought it was ususual for a republican woman to sound idiotic in the way that republican men had for years. Now it's commonplace.

We used to have one Krazy Kat and now we have a whole haremful of right-wing batshit ladies of the lie. Were they inspired by Wacko Woman #1? Or were there other crazy republican ladies before Kat?

[Demeter]

8. I Think Phyllis Schlafly Was the First

She made herself into a Brand Name--and was and still is a total lunatic and flaming idiot. But she had a gravitas that Sarah Palin never will have...her idiocy wasn't that blatant, and she was bought up by the "intellectuals" in the GOP. But Phyllis is directly responsible for Sarah, just as Reagan led to W.

[pokercat999]

2. If corporations can control Palin, look out, she may become

President of the United States of America. She has charisma that makes her attractive to a large portion of Americans (stupid as we are) and is "plain spoken" which the people love. She could be America's and the world's worse nightmare.

[opihimoimoi]

3. I don think so...she too dumb and most corps too smart

[pokercat999]

5. All I can say is,

We're gonna find out!

The fact that she is dumb makes her perfect for the job. Corporations smart? Ruthless, amoral, corrupt, dishonest, shortsighted, unjust, uncaring, completely self absorbed, yes, smart.....not so much.

[Demeter]

9. Even Worse, She Cannot Be Controlled

Corporations aren't going to buy a Rogue Candidate. That's why she has no traction--she pulled this **** during the election and ticked off all the serious buyers already.

[snagglepuss]

7. +1

[snagglepuss]

6. Very interestinging article. Palin seen by her devotess as a "kind of magical helper"

is spot on. K&R

[CrownPrinceBandar]

10. depakid.........

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