Althouse: "The question for many Republicans is whether Ms. Palin is rewriting the rules of what it takes to run for president in an age of Facebook and Twitter..."

February 5, 2011

"The question for many Republicans is whether Ms. Palin is rewriting the rules of what it takes to run for president in an age of Facebook and Twitter..."

"... a world where, perhaps, there are no early visits to Iowa and New Hampshire, no need for policy speeches or press interviews – or whether this is simply part of an effort to keep herself in the public eye and to influence the Republican primary."

79 comments:

virgil xenophon said...: God I hope so! Then perhaps we can quit being held in thrall to Iowa corn farmers and get rid of the ethanol crap that is driving up food prices and ruining engines.; 2/5/11, 9:12 AM
Anonymous said...: Keep guessing until the blade falls liberal fools.; 2/5/11, 9:13 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I think all candidates should wear paper bags on their heads and remain unseen. There is too much emphasis now on how they look.; 2/5/11, 9:15 AM
virgil xenophon said...: Unfortunately, Freeman, as criticism of Christie's weight shows--the days of ever electing another Taft--no matter what the brainpower wattage--have gone by the boards in the TV age. The same for short people. One of the disadvantages (among many) McCain had was his height. NUMEROUS studies have shown that people consider tall people both more "powerful" personalities and more intelligent than their shorter countrymen.......So much for the intellect and depth of thinking of the voting public..

The bag won't be enough--you'll need a Burga..; 2/5/11, 9:28 AM
Fen said...: or whether this is simply part of an effort to keep herself in the public eye and to influence the Republican primary.

Its to bypass the MSM Gatekeepers.; 2/5/11, 9:29 AM
virgil xenophon said...: *Burqa*; 2/5/11, 9:29 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Freeman Hunt: I think all candidates should wear paper bags on their heads and remain unseen.

Make it plastic bags (tied on) and I'm with you.; 2/5/11, 9:31 AM
virgil xenophon said...: LOL! Jason wins the thread so far!; 2/5/11, 9:35 AM
traditionalguy said...: Direct digital media is the only way she can get a message out. Just imagine what we would hear if Katie Couric was re-writing every post out of Sarah's digital media. I am sure that the government "kill Switch" guys have imagined that. The hit pieces on Sarah also come via the internet, but today She can smash them back down with the truth as fast as they can generate lies.; 2/5/11, 9:36 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I thought Palin's speech was pretty good. She seemed aware of the actual problems facing our country. She's still struggling to put those ideas into words, but she's far ahead of most other candidates.

I probably wouldn't have used the pro-life rhetoric at the end, but other than that I thought she was very inclusive, saying things that could unite all Americans.; 2/5/11, 9:38 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Jason, now a deranged person will probably read that and suffocate the entire government. And it will be all your fault!; 2/5/11, 9:43 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Freeman Hunt: Jason, now a deranged person will probably read that and suffocate the entire government. And it will be all your fault!

The entire government? I'll be waiting for my medal.; 2/5/11, 9:51 AM
Ron said...: Freeman Hunt: Jason, now a deranged person will probably read that and suffocate the entire government. And it will be all your fault!

The entire government? I'll be waiting for my medal.

That would be the Cosmic Baggie with Velcro Twist-tie clusters...; 2/5/11, 9:55 AM
traditionalguy said...: FDR re-wrote the rules with fireside radio chats and newsreels. But he was a man, so no problemo.; 2/5/11, 10:00 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Keep guessing until the blade falls liberal fools."

There's no guessing necessary: Sarah Palin will not run for President. She doesn't want the job.

Her strategy in teasing about her intentions is strictly to keep grasp on what she really wants: her celebrity, her fee-paying personal appearances, her remunerative reality-tv hijinks, etc.; 2/5/11, 10:01 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: And the long answer (sorry to bore you) is, that technology will not allow someone to be as unserious a person as they want to and still get away with a successful candidacy.

I'm so glad that Reagan showed you the importance of image and fluff in the era of teevee, a lesson that eluded Nixon twenty years earlier.

But that tack has lost its luster. It's come full circle and crashing down with the Palin candidacy. Like every game, you've played it to its limits and no one is interested in voting for a walking, talking avatar with nothing thoughtful to say, only capable of spouting talking points, platitudes and insults. Palin can be the zombie she-pundit TV star that she confuses for competent and successful statesmanship, and you'll love her nonetheless. So what does it matter?

It doesn't. You've got your symbolism. This is fine since you hate effective government - which requires successful politics and successful politicians. So enjoy what Mr Kristol's created for you. Her unsubstantive image is entirely the point. Politics from the right has become a forum for psychology and nothing more.; 2/5/11, 10:14 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: I say she's running - and she'll win.; 2/5/11, 10:30 AM
Anonymous said...: I'll be the outlier here, and state the IQ and intelligence aren't really what elections are about, nor should that be what elections are about.

Elections are about different factions advancing their self-interest.

So, no, Palin, shouldn't be wearing a bag over her head, and the issue isn't whether she's godawful smart.

The issue is who she represents. She represents the interests of middle and lower income white voters. This is, in fact, what is so threatening about her.

The interests of those middle and lower income white voters has been a political taboo for 50 years. That's coming undone. It's coming undone in part because a black man has been elected president.

Whatever else you want to say about Obama, he delivers for his constituency, which is government and union workers and blacks, gays and women. The problem now for Democrats is that middle and lower income white voters are looking at this and saying: "Why shouldn't we advance our issues and self-interest just as effectively?"

Thus, Palin. So, it's not at all about IQ. It's about who's self-interest gets served. Those middle and lower income voters look at and listen to Palin, and they know that she's one of them.

Ritmo, what does William Buckley mean to you? Are you a fan, or are you making a satirical statement?; 2/5/11, 10:36 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: Sarah Palin's successful presidential run lives on in my mind along with fantasies of watching "Crack Emcee" win a grammy. Perhaps they will share the same stage on award/election night.

You are refusing to acknowledge reality. I know, you think it annoys liberals (and many more) and you think that's more important. Except for the fact that it's not.; 2/5/11, 10:37 AM
Anonymous said...: And Ritmo, I'm rooting for Crack to win an grammy.

Why not?

America's the land of the overnight reversal. You never know who's going to surprise you and come out of nowhere.; 2/5/11, 10:41 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: She doesn't represent anyone's interests except for her own "starpower". How anyone can not get this is beyond me.; 2/5/11, 10:42 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: Why not?

Sure, it could happen. And as a fellow unknown plebian, I'd sooner root for him than for a former VP-candidate/current tv "star!".

But it's really not very likely.; 2/5/11, 10:44 AM
narciso said...: It has very little to do with that, in fact the reverse is quite nearly
true. Do Blacks really benefit from
consecutive mass unemployment, or soaring food and other commodity prices, you tell me how that is any
body's interest. In the short term,
Wall Street is the big beneficiary, but in the long run, well you remember what Keynes said; 2/5/11, 10:45 AM
Anonymous said...: She doesn't represent anyone's interests except for her own "starpower". How anyone can not get this is beyond me.

But, I see her representing my self-interest directly, Ritmo.

Here's how.

All my life, I've been up against a quota system that puts me second in line for a job or a promotion.

I see Palin as my representative in changing that.

So, I don't know about global issues, but I think for a lot of reasons there are people out there who do see her as their representative for one reason or another.

Starpower is essential in the representation of political interest. The fact that she commands listeners and readers is precisely what makes her an effective political representative.

Would you suggest that those middle and lower class white voters hitch their interest to an unknown that nobody pays attention to?

And, you still haven't to me what Bill Buckley means to you.; 2/5/11, 10:48 AM
Cedarford said...: America is on a "road to ruin" because of misguided policies in Washington and needs to get back in step with the values of Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin said at an event honoring the former president's legacy.

The problem is that some of Reagan's ideas, as well as liberal Democrats, helped put us on that road to ruin.

1. Voodoo supply side Reaganomics, that argued that tax cuts pay for themselves. An idea carried out to exhaustion and trillion dollar deficits under Dubya and Obama.

2. Reagan argued that Free Trade for Freedom Lovers!! was a win-win. It would help America to "even more exciting, high paid jobs" as we would make the computers, the plasma screens, the miracle new pharmaceuticals and satellite phones...while China did the low-tech grunt labor of making paper umbrellas and sneakers and selling them to us cheap. Which would free up even more capital to invest in American factories where Americans who can out think and outproduce anyone "By JIngo!" - would make more jobs and prosperity.

3. Reagan's idea that we would go anywhere and do any war at any price for "Freedom lovers"....reached it's intellectual dead end bankruptcy with the Noble Freedom Lovers of Iraq, Afghanistan..

4. Reagans love of despot "friends" who were with us, obviating the need for troops to free Freedom Lovers in any country in our sphere...led us to be seen as against societal progress in Latin America, the ME, Africa. Reagan bears a lot of responsibility for present anti-Americanism in much of the world.

============
Palin has some good points, but as everyone knows, she is a sloganeer and not a deeply reflective thinker. You can take a good and well-liked President and use them for inspiration...but Dems for example nearly killed themselves by thinking 40-year old ideas of FDR still worked, or 30-40 years after the fact - that Clinton, Gore and Kerry could run the country as a faithful recreation of JFK and the ideas of Camelot.

Reagans ideas were formed a half century ago. He is the past. Something Mondale should have learned when he talked in 1984 about recreating the "good old days of the New Deal" a half century earlier to his own time.; 2/5/11, 10:50 AM
Shanna said...: There's no guessing necessary: Sarah Palin will not run for President. She doesn't want the job.

Wow, I agree with Robert here, although I don't agree on the reasons. I think she has a great deal of influence as it is, and she probably would never get the top job so why bother. It's much more fun, and effective, to keep everybody guessing so she does. Good for her.

I suspect she cares more about the right policies being enacted than she does about actually being the President.; 2/5/11, 10:50 AM
Anonymous said...: And to address the issue of this post, Palin is without a doubt using Facebook and Twitter extremely effectively.

I don't know if she is running and I don't know whether I would vote for her.

I'll wait and see how she performs in the primaries, if she decides to run.

She may not decide to run. She may decide she's happy writing books, appearing on TV and making personal appearances.

She might be smart to do so, because it looks to me like that's a better life.; 2/5/11, 10:51 AM
PaulV said...: Palin draws inane attacks from NYTimes and lefties because she is effective in relating to the people. They have damaged their credibility with cheap, unreasoned attacks. Thet attack because they would rather not talk about Obama's epic fail.; 2/5/11, 10:51 AM
Unknown said...: She's the successor to Karl Rove and his direct mail ideas. She's reaching people one-to-one. And, yes, that's another reason for the Lefties to hate her. Nobody on either side can even come close.

virgil xenophon said...

God I hope so! Then perhaps we can quit being held in thrall to Iowa corn farmers and get rid of the ethanol crap that is driving up food prices and ruining engines.

I saw a piece somewhere that said the current mess in Egypt has its roots in higher food prices which flows from the ethanol scam - grain that would go to food exports is being pumped into fuel, thus reducing the available supply.

All to keep Tom Harkin in office.

Unfortunately, Freeman, as criticism of Christie's weight shows--the days of ever electing another Taft--no matter what the brainpower wattage--have gone by the boards in the TV age. The same for short people. One of the disadvantages (among many) McCain had was his height. NUMEROUS studies have shown that people consider tall people both more "powerful" personalities and more intelligent than their shorter countrymen.......So much for the intellect and depth of thinking of the voting public..

The tall thing goes back to before TV. As for weight, I think people may identify with Christie's waistline, so we'll have to see.

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

- HL Mencken; 2/5/11, 10:52 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/5/11, 10:56 AM
paul a'barge said...: Either way, we (Palin lovers) win.; 2/5/11, 10:57 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: I'm sure there are good reasons for doing away with affirmative action at this point, although I don't consider the supposed oppression of white males foremost among them; it could be a minor reason. Palin won't be any more interested in or successful at doing away with it than any of the people before her when they controlled more branches of government than just 2 & 1/2.

Buckley means more than just one thing to me.; 2/5/11, 10:57 AM
narciso said...: Ethanol and the QE 2 monstrosity, that she tipped us off to in November. Also the Russians cut their wheat supplies to Egypt recently, which exacerbated the problem. It's not a coincidence that most uprisings are characterized by
'Bread and Liberty' with the end product that they get neither.

To be opposed to the Sandinistas, the FMLN is to be against social
progress, that is trite beyond
measure, maybe Friedman can write
about it, in his next column; 2/5/11, 10:59 AM
virgil xenophon said...: "Nobody ever went broke..."

LOL edutcher. One of my all-time fave lines..; 2/5/11, 11:10 AM
narciso said...: Something Bill Buckley knew, that his feckless son, Coddington, doesn't
is that he was a generation away from
the roughnecks of 'There will be Blood' hence he insisted on the Boston phonebook over the Harvard faculty.; 2/5/11, 11:10 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: The entire government?

Yes. There are, I've heard lately, masses of deranged persons who are monitoring all media and who may be triggered into violent episode at the slightest provocation.; 2/5/11, 11:14 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Ritmo,

You are refusing to acknowledge reality. I know, you think it annoys liberals (and many more) and you think that's more important. Except for the fact that it's not.

Have I ever said that, straw man? And you do know libs are known for projection, right?

I think she'll win because she's consistent. Unlike a lot of people, I know polls can change over time - just as people's perceptions can with events - what looks awful today can end up being exactly what we need later. Reagan, anyone?

The simpletons can harp on whatever is immediately before them (look at her negatives!) but anyone experienced in politics knows that's not how it works. The Tea Party doesn't care what the RINOs (who jumped ship for Obama) say - all Palin has to do is stay the course. She's "the total package" - the only person who even comes close is Christie, and he's already disappointed us, here and there - and, as long as she doesn't waver, the needs and desires of the "real Americans" won't either:

It's hers to lose.; 2/5/11, 11:57 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Yeah, because losing in Iowa has worked so well lately.

Every cycle someone claims to have rewritten the rules of the primary season. Invariably they have not. Obama won Iowa. George W. Bush won Iowa. Howard Dean did not, Clinton did not, and internet darling Ron Paul did not. See a trend?

Palin will not win anything unless she creates an organization that can win the early primaries on the ground in Iowa and New Hampshire. That will not happen if she simply sits on the internet collecting money. Ask Joe Trippi.; 2/5/11, 12:04 PM
narciso said...: Uh, Clinton didn't win New Hampshire
either, as I recall, but his 2nd place to Tsongas, made him the 'comeback king' As of now, the presumption is Huckabee and Romney
winning each, but conventional wisdom is true, until it's not; 2/5/11, 12:12 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: Ok. So all other evidence must bow down to what Crack thinks and what Reagan did.

Crack is a nation of one and his Brylcreem-doused leader/idol is the model for all politics in America to come for all time.

And how simple-minded it is to point out anything negative!

Thanks for the analysis, Crack.; 2/5/11, 12:29 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: It's all about the consistency!

Crack looked at a high-fiber containing cereal box and mistook its selling points for the sole criterion worth noting in a presidential candidate.; 2/5/11, 12:33 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: Reagan. Palin. They keep you regular!

Free prune juice with every vote.

They make the world all leveled out.; 2/5/11, 12:34 PM
Ralph L said...: Reagan's idea that we would go anywhere and do any war at any price for "Freedom lovers"....
That was JFK who wrote that check and gave us the Vietnam War. What war did Reagan start?; 2/5/11, 12:55 PM
Life in the Fifties said...: All I know is that Ms. Palin's energy and consistent character, based on the same moral principles with which I agree, has this highly educated, middle-aged white woman ready to support her, whatever her choice.

All the rest is details.; 2/5/11, 1:00 PM
PaulV said...: Sarah was right about food inflation. Moonbats were wrong.
Iowa did not do much for Huckabee in 2008.; 2/5/11, 1:41 PM
Robert Cook said...: "She may decide she's happy writing books...."

Uh...how will she know until she writes one?; 2/5/11, 2:06 PM
PaulV said...: Robert Cook said...
"She may decide she's happy writing books...."

Uh...how will she know until she writes one?

LOL! Do you mean JFK?; 2/5/11, 2:13 PM
write_effort said...: The first thing my Iowa relatives say is she quit her job in Alaska. Until she explains that effectively, she's a dilettante. (I know, I know, politicos quit jobs all the time to go to the next one, but not quite like SP.); 2/5/11, 3:17 PM
roesch-voltaire said...: Palin has already shown she has no love of civil service by her early departure from an elected office and as a "brand" she can continue to make far more money than as a president so I think this is a head fake. Hey but people who believe that ethanol caused food shortages in Egypt and thus the revolt will vote for her. So Crack I will be glad to wager than if she runs, she will not win.; 2/5/11, 3:24 PM
Fen said...: Libtard: Palin has already shown she has no love of civil service by her early departure from an elected office

Bullshit. As we've already explained to you libtards several times over: Palin resigned from office because your people were hounding her with frivolous lawsuits allowed by a loophole in Alaskan law.

Don't think we'll forget that either. Payback will be a bitch.; 2/5/11, 3:31 PM
write_effort said...: It's not liberals who have to be convinced it's Americans who don't have the option or luxury of quitting their jobs.; 2/5/11, 3:34 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: Don't think we'll forget that..

You guys hold grudges with as much fervor and as self-defeatingly as the Palestinians.

Don Quixote was written for the hard-core Palinites.

And FWIW, Palin made as many enemies among the Republicans in Alaska as among the minority Democrats. Or libtards. Or punching bags. Or ghosts. Or aliens.

Get a grip on that thing of yours.; 2/5/11, 3:49 PM
Fen said...: Go fuck yourself, Ritmo Troll.; 2/5/11, 4:08 PM
Fen said...: And try not to whine like a little bitch when we get even.; 2/5/11, 4:09 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: You go, girl.; 2/5/11, 4:13 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: C4BDH: Don Quixote was written for the hard-core Palinites.

Perhaps we are a country of Don Quixotes, and Palin is our Dulcinea!; 2/5/11, 4:20 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: I like that one, Jason!

Roesch: Please be kind. Remember, criticism hurts. ;-(; 2/5/11, 4:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Rather read her than listen to her. Her voice and delivery are nearly as annoying as Obama's. DOD should breed the two and broadcast the sound of the offspring at the enemy. Surefire way to send them running away screaming.; 2/5/11, 4:28 PM
PaulV said...: Palin made political enemies by exposing corruption, no matter the party. Obama made political friends the Chicago Way by facilatating corruption. Ritmo loves the stench of corruption; 2/5/11, 5:23 PM
PaulV said...: roesch-voltaire said...and shows his ignorance of basic demand supply economic by asserting
"but people who believe that ethanol caused food shortages in Egypt and thus the revolt will vote for her". Historically food shortages are causes of revolutions. Someone totally ignorant of Marie Antoinette saying "Let them eat cake" because there was no bread and say something stupid like that. Strange that you try to make fun of your betters and show yourself a fool.; 2/5/11, 5:38 PM
PaulV said...: Don, only a bigot would mock a Minnesota accent. People for MN settled Wassila. Why so petty, is your IQ that low.; 2/5/11, 5:41 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Two things:

1) Ritmo, I'm saving this thread to rub it in your face two years from now. I don't know what my track record is around here but, crudely expressed or whatever, I'm sure, I'm correct waaay more often than not.

2) roesch-voltaire,

Crack I will be glad to wager than if she runs, she will not win.

Name your price:

It'll be a pleasure to take your avatar's fruity haircut money.; 2/5/11, 5:57 PM
Anonymous said...: "There's no guessing necessary: Sarah Palin will not run for President. She doesn't want the job."

You're sure about that, eh?
Why won't the left move on then?
No, they're scared to death of Governor Palin, so the drumbeat continues.

Daily.; 2/5/11, 6:27 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Since I don't think Palin can win, she probably can and will.

I thought Thompson was going to win last time.; 2/5/11, 6:44 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: If Huckabee is the GOP nominee, I'll have a lot more free time during the Presidential election season than I usually would. That is the one plus I can think of.; 2/5/11, 6:45 PM
roesch-voltaire said...: Paul, according to the reports and tweets from Egypt that I have read the complaints were about democracy and freedom. It is not just economics according to Abdelrahman Amr Zaki, 15, whose father drives a BMW. Now it is true there were bread riots in 2008, but since then the government has kept the prices relatively stable and subsidized.Thus at this point I think to claim a bread shortage caused the revolt is an over-simplification. While history should not be ignored, each era, state is situated in its unique time. And really if it were as simple as some claim, then the entire CIA should be fired for not reporting yeasty effects of bread shortages in the Middle East.; 2/5/11, 7:27 PM
PaulV said...: roesch-voltaire
Are you unaware that Egypt imports half its wheat and that the Russians have place an embargo on wheat exports due to poor crops(large share of Egyptian imports)? Most Egytpians get by on $2/day. Rapid population growth means they can no longer feed themselves. Most of those tweeters have more money than that. I expect they do not fairly represents the poor and starving. Much US farmland has been diverted to ethanol, making farmers rich and politicians cater to their vote. The US is no longer feeding the world plus are inefficiently producing subsidized energy. People are hungry because of bad decisions made by vote seeking politicos. Sucks for the poor and hungry. That is why they are angry at increased food prices and you do not care.
WV: forsed.; 2/5/11, 8:00 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Freeman Hunt,

Since I don't think Palin can win, she probably can and will.

Come on, Freeman:

This go 'round, all us "real Americans" are pushing conservatism's Red, White and Blue chips to the center of the table, blowing hard on the dice, and screaming, "Momma needs a new pair of shoes!"

Now - seriously - could you resist being a part of that?; 2/5/11, 8:21 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Palin resigned from office because your people were hounding her with frivolous lawsuits allowed by a loophole in Alaskan law."

Hahahahahaha!

You bet. It's always the amorphous "evil liberals" pushing their ruinous investigations to bring down the righteous.

On the other hand, either she knew the investigation would be embarrassing or damaging to her and she quit to forestall any negative revelations, or she simply didn't have the fortitude to endure the pressure of the investigations, even if she was or believed herself to be innocent of improprieties.

This would be another likely reason she does not want to be President: any responsibilities and pressure she faced as Governor of Alaska was trifling compared to what she or any person must face as President.; 2/5/11, 8:54 PM
former law student said...: Wow, only 70 comments. What has happened to Sarah Palin™ ?

Regarding her quitting under pressure: "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen." -- Said by an artillery battery captain, part of a division which took 7300 casualties in four days of intense fighting.; 2/5/11, 9:12 PM
PaulV said...: Robert Cook,
it seems that you are unaware that she had to pay for the attorneys out of own pockets. No reimbursement from the state and no contibutions from supporters as WJC was allowed to take. She could resigned or go bankrupt. This scheme blew up in the democrats face when she resigned and became more powerful. I bet you wish she had stayed governor and had not been able to attack corrupt democrat politicos. Sucks for you that it backfired, no?; 2/5/11, 9:14 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: It's a high crime and a sin against nature to investigate conservative heroes. One requiring payback of the most excruciating kind.

Related to this thinking: Asking her to give press conferences is just an intolerable offense. Even a communist dictator like Hu Jintao has answered questions of the American media. But a true freedom-loving American is above having to, you know, answer questions directed to her from a free press. She is better than this whole question/answer/criticism nonsense. Give her love, adoration, praise, publicity no questions and then you will come to understand the incredible power of her greatness.; 2/5/11, 9:51 PM
PaulV said...: RITMO, tell how much it sucks for you that Sarah has become more powerful in exposing Obama's epic fail.; 2/5/11, 10:46 PM
Kirk Parker said...: "And FWIW, Palin made as many enemies among the Republicans in Alaska"

You mean with the Don Youngs and the Murkowsky's? Wow, I was on the fence about Palin before, but if she made these kind of people uncomfortable, then heck yeah, she's my gal!u; 2/5/11, 11:55 PM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: Wow Paul the Fourth. Any more trendy internet jargon and you might have to send that way cool comment by text message. You are like the coolest (kewlest) kid on all the internets. The Kardashian sisters and Paris Hilton bow down to you in awe of your coolness.; 2/6/11, 12:11 AM
Clyde said...: I'm late to the party on this one, but I say "Screw Iowa! Screw New Hampshire! Screw South Carolina, and any of the other small, unrepresentative states whose unearned status of always having the first primaries has given us such shitty presidential candidates in recent elections!"

And the horse they rode in on!; 2/6/11, 9:12 AM
PaulV said...: Ritmo, thanks for the answer, Palin Derangemant Syndrome has driven you inane.; 2/6/11, 9:26 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I bet you wish she had stayed governor and had not been able to attack corrupt democrat politicos. Sucks for you that it backfired, no?"

Um...no. Why do you suppose that? It strikes me that her attacks on "corrupt democrat (sic) politicos" is no different, or any more incisive, than what we hear from the rest of the braying Republican herd. Why couldn't she have waged such attacks while in office? What backfired?

This is not to suggest that there are no corrupt Democratic politicos, and certainly we cannot pretend there are no corrupt Republican politicos. Heck, with few exceptions--if any--all three branches of government, and most of the high-profile beltway press that purports to cover them--are hopelessly corrupt, or incompetent, or impotent. Our system is FUBAR. We are so tied up in delusions and lies about our intrinsic God-given "greatness" that we can't even see ourselves and our terminal state clearly.; 2/6/11, 12:33 PM
David said...: Palin is still fighting, so it should be obvious that she didn’t ‘quit’. General Lee didn’t quit after Gettysburg. He disengaged, and continued fighting. ‘Quitting’ is what General Lee did at Appomattox. Has Palin thrown in the towel? No! Palin disengaged from a losing battle, shifted her position, found the enemy flank, and renewed her attack. Her resignation of the governor’s office was brilliant strategy, very much like Admiral Spruance’s turn east the night after Midway.

And I do NOT apologize for my military metaphors.

What so many do not understand is that to her, the success of the mission is paramount. She isn’t in it for self-glorification, and the left just can’t understand that.; 2/6/11, 10:22 PM