No one in America, not even President Barack Obama, is as compelling a figure in our nation’s political life as Sarah Palin. She twitters, and they are talking about it on the news that night. She shows up and the adoring crowds throng to see her. The publishing industry is in free fall, with writers taking the greatest hit and working for smaller and smaller advances and salaries, but Palin’s advance was huge and her book tour is the most talked about book tour in history.
What is it about Palin that so mesmerizes the media and the public? Many commentators are talking about how her sexuality straddles the post-modern demands of female empowerment with more conservative, traditional views of motherhood. Yes, she was a governor and you almost never see her without one of her children in tow. Others note that her Alaskan roots allow her to straddle the divide between conservatives and libertarians that runs through the heart of the GOP. In her book, she writes, "I always remind people from outside our state that there's plenty of room for all Alaska's animals -- right next to the mashed potatoes." It takes a special talent to write that, and get away with it.
The core of her support, however, is in the evangelical base of the Republican Party. It is often forgotten that the "Religious Right" is, like most religious groups, largely populated by women. Nuns built the Catholic Church and women built the religious right. Women staff the church programs and the Sunday schools. Women undertake home schooling of children.
Indeed, the roots of the religious right were planted by women. Before Jerry Falwell launched the Moral Majority, Phyllis Schlafly led the opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. Before Michael Farris organized home schoolers into a movement, "Sweet Alice" Moore was fighting the school curriculum in Charleston, West Virginia. Falwell became the indispenable player in the formation and politicization of the religious right and Michael Farris remains a key player in the home schooling movement, a movement that was at the core of Mike Huckabee’s campaign in 2008. But, the path had been cleared by women. Those same women and their children look at Falwell and Ferris as heroes. They look at Palin as one of their own.
There is one other aspect of Palin that makes her so compelling, especially to those on the left. It is the sense of an impending train wreck. The left watches because they are waiting for the next Katie Couric interview, the next highly public faux pas that will reveal Palin’s beliefs to be mere window dressing for political ambition. But, her followers do not watch for that reason. They share her sense of grievance against the media and other elites. Palin combines the anger of the Perotistas with the fervor of the religious right. One thing about Palin’s future is clear: We will all get to watch it because, for our different reasons, we can’t take our eyes off her.
I am not a betting man but I would not bet against Sarah Palin’s ability to dominate the Republican nominating process in 2012.
As for my comment about Palin to Mrs. X, trust me, I had no delusions that anything I said would actually register with Mrs. X or even make a small dent in her uncritical assessment about the consummate manipulator's self-involved agenda. Mrs. X. said things about Palin's perceived enemies that were so harsh that I'm sure I looked like a startled deer in Mrs. X.'s steamroller headlights. Beth's husband is right. I would add the Palin is "street" smart, which is not a compliment. As soon as her bank account is full, she'll drop her RWA followers like hot potatoes. Governing is work. She's already demonstrated that she isn't up to the task by quitting a couple of jobs in Alaska.
Here's another provocative quote from a different commentator: "Palin - and there's no way to deny this - is a supremely gifted politician. She has staked out, as her own personal turf, the entire landscape of incoherent white American resentment. In this area she leaves Rush Limbaugh in the dust."
The less grasp of reality, the more love for Sarah Palin.
http://www.flacathconf.org/Publications/Positionpapers/AdoptionSameSex06.htm
Yesterday afternoon, I was at a Sears Auto Center in Texas waiting for one and a half hours while a new car battery was installed. I brought along a book to read, but never had a chance to open it. A fellow customer, an elderly woman, immediately started talking to me, and kept talking, never seeming to need to take a breath, until I was mercifully informed that my car was ready. Out of respect for her age, I listened dutifully to all of the personal information the lady shared with me, and answered all of the personal questions she asked me. (I'm 60 years old myself, so I know I'll be where she is in the blink of an eye.) Mrs. X., a Republican Catholic, spent our last 30 minutes together praising Sarah Palin and FOX News non-stop while castigating feminists, CNN, President Obama, the separation of church and state, pro-choicers and, of course, anyone else who didn't agree with her love of Sarah Palin. When I casually (and "you betcha" quickly) inserted, "But, Sarah Palin is so stupid," Mrs. W. sputtered ever so momentarily, advised me that I was entitled to my opinion, and then launched into a comparison between Sarah Palin and Joan of Arc. Watching her reaction, I knew that she'd heard that criticism of Palin before, and had gotten herself ready for the next time.
Steel trap. Classic RWA follower. It's a psychological condition. I don't engage with strangers here because of the high probability of encounters like yesetrday's. Blessing that I won't need a replacement car battery again for a few years.
I am not sure about the old lady but this little statement is an ad hominem attack. This is a tactic usually used by people when they are unable to address the issues directly either due to ignorance or just plain mean-spiritedness.
stu·pid
-adjective
1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull
2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question
3. tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless
You say, "The less grasp of reality, the more love for Sarah Palin."
I don't believe that your post gives evidence to support this assertion.
She might demonize the media and this might mobilize her growing fanbase but you don't give evidence why the mainstream media does not deserve to be demonized. If it does deserve demonization then why shouldn't good people who object to this "laimstreet" media be mobilized?
You also don't give evidence concerning this "incoherent white American resentment". Do we get this label if we don't like the increasing size of the federal government? Do we get this label if we don't like the federal take-over of moral decision-making in our laws?
I am not sure if I have a "grasp of reality" but whatever is going on with government and the media, real or unreal, it is disturbing. I am the last to put any stock in degrees but I am a college educated professional who thinks very hightly of Sarah Palin.
<a href="http://www.juicycouture4u.com/">juicy couture </a>
http://www.juicycouture4u.com/