From the moment Palin entered the national scene, the praise for her on the right was heavily tied to her image.... And Palin said what the base was thinking. She accused Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” She praised those willing to “screw the political correctness.”...Well, that's not exactly what I was thinking. It's too dismissive of Palin and of Trump, too disrespectful to begin to figure out what happened. There isn't even any discussion of how the elite's disrespect for Palin/Trump fired their popularity with the people who love them.
Trump campaigned on the Palin model. In fact, he improved upon it. His identity was his trademark, rendering the constant shifts in policy goals and promises almost meaningless. His base saw in Trump what they wanted to see. Some saw a fighter who would stand up for them, others saw a vaunted truth-teller, and a few, truth be told, likely saw a potential white-nationalist hero. And he gave it to them: the image, the veneer, the blank slate upon which their deeply held dreams — for themselves as much as their country — could be written...
August 26, 2017
Trump is Sarah Palin.
A phrase I've been thinking lately. I Googled it and got a column by Jane Coaston published 5 days ago in WaPo: "Trump is Sarah Palin but better at it."
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Trump first ran for President well before Sarah Palin entered national politics, so I don't understand how it can be said that Trump is a version of her.
There isn't even any discussion of how the elite's disrespect for Palin/Trump fired their popularity with the people who love them.
That would require a sense of self-awareness and desire to find the truth which has been ritually removed from today's journalists.
Trump is not Palin. He is the Tea Party come back as the left's worst nightmare.
Everyone knows the reason those people are so loved is because they represented the latent racist sentiments which half the country finally felt comfortable enough to express.
The press, if you ask them, will tell you they had nothing to do with it.
The biggest obstacle that Sarah Palin had to overcome, and couldn't, was John McCain.
Trump as Obama?
His identity was his trademark, rendering the constant shifts in policy goals and promises almost meaningless. His base saw in Obama what they wanted to see. Some saw a fighter who would stand up for them, others saw a vaunted truth-teller, and a few, truth be told, likely saw a potential black-internationalist hero. And he gave it to them: the image, the veneer, the blank slate upon which their deeply held dreams — for themselves as much as their country — could be written...
"Trump is not Palin. He is the Tea Party come back as the left's worst nightmare."
Nightmares are like luck, they can always get worse.
If the Washington establishment forces Trump out, they better write their party affiliation on their arms because they'll be in for one hell of a storm.
I find the "people who love them" on either side of the political aisle dismaying. A politician really is not someone you should "love" or even have friendly feelings for, in my estimation. Palin and Trump are both, to an extent, part of white identity politics. I loathe identity politics, but I think it is inevitable in an ethnically/racially/culturally diverse society. Hence why I also think "diversity" tends to be very bad for a nation. The thing people seemed to admire most about Palin was that she did not abort her down syndrome child. And yet Palin was fully on board with McCain's militarism and "comprehensive immigration reform" (i.e. amnesty now, enforcement maybe in the future but probably never).
Yes, Trump is crude and lewd and tacky and pretty much an empty vessel, but I supported him from the beginning of the Republican primaries and ultimately voted for him for President because of three big themes: immigration restriction, trade, and interventionism. He also promised to protect entitlement programs and finally figured that Paul Ryan-esque, Randian "free market" solutions are not wanted by large majorities of the population. I am also all for tax reform and big infrastructure spending. And even then, I have always considered a Trump presidency a hail mary pass, since as I like to say (and still think, largely) that America is doomed.
Well.....I've never seen Trump, and Palin in the same room at the same time. So, there's that!!
"Jane Coaston is a writer and journalist based in Washington."
Obama presented himself as a blank slate for the left. Now Trump is the blank slate for the right. Wanna bet on how the next candidate presents themselves?
"Trump is not Palin. He is the Tea Party come back as the left's worst nightmare."
I'm not in full agreement with this. While the Tea Party was about getting rid of the entrenched government, it, to me at least, had a fiscally conservative component that Trump doesnt.
I'm not quite sure how Trump "is better at it" than Palin. "Better," how?
Palin wasn't going to be on a ticket that would have beaten Barack Obama and the 114% African-American voter turnout. But then again Trump would not have beaten Obama if Obama had been the nominee for the Democrats in 2016.
Sarah Palin was an everyday person with common sense who saw how messed up the city/state/country was under the leadership/rule of the "experts," elites and "smart people" of the Establishment. And she was and is right. And she, as a simple everyday person, thought she could do better. And she was and is right. Plus, she is, again -- a common sense, plain speaking, calls it as she sees them person.
That's why she got into politics in the first place. That is why she succeeded. That's why she was way more popular than John McCain. And that is why the left and Republican Establishment HATE her with a passion.
It bears mentioning that Sarah Palin was the first big name to come out in support of Trump and thereby legitimize him. And they laughed at her at the time, as they always have.
Palin and Trump are both, to an extent, part of white identity politics."
I kind of agree.
I had breakfast with my Bernie voter daughter this morning. We talk about politics sort of like porcupines mating.
Very carefully. We talked about "White Nationalism" and I told her that all the stuff about "Whiteness" these days is provoking a reaction.
If you tell white people that they are all racist and bad and you want to get rid of them.
What kind of reaction do you expect ?
She agrees.
No no no.
Trump didn't copy or improve on Palin. Palin was just a woman 8 years ahead of her time.
One thing Palin was good at was "primary-ing" Republicans who weren't on the Tea Party message. Trump could use these skills in the 2018 elections.
Of course, trying to explain Sarah Palin to some people is complete folly. They spew so much race-baiting shit and other crap (against anybody and everybody who is conservative) that they actually start believing it. They become the hate and shit that they throw all over everything.
And that's why civil discourse and social interaction have broken down entirely.
Palin wasn't a blank slate.
"More than anything else, the white voters who drifted from President Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump last year — a seemingly incongruent transition — sealed the Republican victory. It turns out that racial resentment was the strongest predictor of whether a voter would flip from supporting a thoughtful, intelligent Democrat to a boorish, mentally unstable Republican." Timothy Egan, "What if Bannon is Right?" NYTimes 8/25/17
"Boorish, mentally unstable Republicans" also supported Palin and that's the connection because that was how she was branded by the media. Somehow Egan fails to see the internal contradiction of his assertion and never explains why people who were not racist enough to reject Obama because he ran as a black man, suddenly became racists when Trump ran against Hillary Clinton.
"There isn't even any discussion of how the elite's disrespect for Palin/Trump fired their popularity with the people who love them."
Because there is nothing to discuss. Liberals believe that anybody who liked Palin and voted for Trump is racist and deplorable. End of story. No need for self-examination.
I agree with J. Farmer that nobody should idolize any politician. I admire Reagan, but recognize that he made mistakes. The worship of the Kennedys, the Clintons, and the Obamas has not served this nation well. I don't think the Bushes were worshiped like the Kennedy family was, but their overall legacy is not great. That's why I cringe when anybody talks about Ivanka eventually running. I don't want these damned political dynasties here.
@Michael K:
If you tell white people that they are all racist and bad and you want to get rid of them.
What kind of reaction do you expect ?
She agrees.
Precisely. While I have long been sympathetic to the whole American Renaissance movement and find Jared Taylor to be an exceptionally affable, well-intentioned, and intelligent man, I never liked the fact that his movement was essentially white identity politics. But honestly, at this point, there isn't much choice left. Unless you want to be the kind of white masochist who pens those articles for The Atlantic or The New Republic gleefully cheering on the demographic demise of whites in America.
When you define racism as "someone who is conservative/Republican or someone who votes for a Republican," of course you will find latent racist sentiments in half the country and white identity politics and growing white nationalism.
"Trump is not Palin. He is the Tea Party come back as the left's worst nightmare."
Hahahaha. Oh lord. Trump might just be America's first President that lost his power seven months in. The Generals have taken over.
When McCain named Palin to the ticket I was excited. I had some, not much, knowledge of her as a governor. The more I saw of Palin, though, the more I disliked her.
Everyone has known Trump, warts and all, for a very long time. His faults don't disqualify him to his supporters. Behind the Circus of Trump, we believe, is a savvy man. Behind the Circus of Palin, we've learned, is more circus.
You want to know the reality of all this "white nationalism" and neo-Nazis and pro-Confederates??
Did you know that we had a big pro-Nazi rally here in Arlington, Virginia yesterday? They were marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of George Lincoln Rockwell, whose American Nazi Party was headquartered here. Swastika flag, Heil Hitler salutes, a specific kind of dress -- all that.
Here's a picture from Twitter. Here is the face of your white nationalist Nazi menace. This is the truth of what folks are getting all worked up about.
Just like we have the Never Trumpers and the Trump haters, we had (and have) the Palin haters, right Kate? Nice try with the seminar commenting, trying to assert some bona fides before your real sentiment that you never really liked Palin.
@Mark,
Did you know that we had a big pro-Nazi rally here in Arlington, Virginia yesterday?
In the early 80's, the building that used to contain Nazi Party Headquarters in Arlington opened up a dessert/coffee bar called "The Sugar Shack". Sadly, it didn't last too long, but I liked them. They were also not amused when I informed them of the building's infamous former tenants.
The Nazis replaced by the Sugar Shack. Now that right there is cosmic justice.
Racism is treating similar people differently, because of their race. Republicans have, and continue to mostly have, a desire to treat everybody who behaves well in a good way, and all who behave poorly, in a bad way. Without respect to race.
The racist, Jim Crow Democrats have never wanted humans to be treated according to their individual characteristics, but always have wanted in groups & out groups.
Trump is sexist, tho less than Pres. Bill Clinton, and not racist, not homophobic, not anti-Semitic. The Dems want to redefine racism, and are doing so implicitly.
On Palin & Trump, both are comfy with normal, middle class & even working lower class folk. Few Dem or Rep elites are.
The truth, and reality, are not politically correct. US voters have a high appetite for the truth -- which is not always known, but BS as the alternative is more often seen and avoided.
What Trump and Palin have in common is their enemies. Otherwise, not much.
What has Sarah Palin ever accomplished, in the public sector? Is she actually competent, as a governmental leader? Does she even have any demonstrated competence, as a governmental reformer?
I think I might be satisfied with Sarah Palin, if she had shown talent, and had some real accomplishments, with either one. But she doesn't!
What she is, is what Trump is; a remarkably successful reality-tv star and all-around celebrity. If that is what Althouse is talking about, for "success," then I'd have to agree.
It's the Java Shack now. And given its historical association, it needs to be razed to the ground and the earth salted, but is instead a hang-out for what I presume to be hipster liberal types.
If Rockwell were alive today, he would probably be delighted. The liberals/progressives have been able to cause more real damage and harm to minorities than he and his Nazi clowns could ever dream of causing.
Trump is defined more by what he is up against than any ideological core he has.
Trump is up against a uniparty that wants to eliminate the middle class and globalize our country.
Trump is not Hillary.
Not Hillary.
Trump as Obama?
That's exactly how I discussed him during the primaries and the first part of the election. He captured the media's attention and since his government experience was non-existent people could project a variety of things on him which a governing or legislative record would have limited.
Both Trump and Obama had the best and worst-case scenarios presented as most likely. I suspect most people will have received exactly what they expected when it's all over.
What has Sarah Palin ever accomplished, in the public sector? Is she actually competent, as a governmental leader? Does she even have any demonstrated competence, as a governmental reformer?
We have an internet, Chuck. You can look these things up.
Here are just three. I note that is three more than Obama had when he was elected, and there is no mention of her voting "present" at any time.
- In 2008, Palin vetoed $286 million, cutting or reducing funding for 350 projects from the FY09 capital budget.
- Palin followed through on a campaign promise to sell the Westwind II jet, a purchase made by the Murkowski administration for $2.7 million in 2005 against the wishes of the legislature. In August 2007, the jet was listed on eBay, but the sale fell through, and the plane later sold for $2.1 million through a private brokerage firm.
- In December 2008, an Alaska state commission recommended increasing the governor's annual salary from $125,000 to $150,000. Palin stated that she would not accept the pay raise. In response, the commission dropped the recommendation.
During my lifetime, 97% of the causal factors of everything that has gone wrong can be traced back to libruls. I used to be a liberal. I think I still am. But the modern American Left is a cancer.
- Krumhorn
Well, the "Nazis" in Mark's picture at least have got the Hakenkreuz turning in the right direction, but I am not sure about the proportions. Don't the arms of the kreuz look a lttle skinnier than they should be?
Palin and Trump both speak for us against the "Uni-party."
I want to pay taxes at a lower rate, that's why I vote Republican. Voting Republican supposedly makes me a racist, homophobic and misogynist. And I'm a white male so I'm privileged as well. Since wanting to pay less taxes makes me evil, I say so be it. I'm evil and screw you. If you have a problem with that, that's your problem, not mine.
More or less, substitute taxes for smaller government or other similar inclinations but keep the rest and this is why Trump is president and the Republicans now control the majority of the State legislatures and governorship's as well as Congress. And the grip will further tighten. What the Left hasn't understood and perhaps can't understood is that they have pushed identity politics so far that the majority of the country is starting to view itself as another identity group and is starting to vote it's interests instead of other groups interests.
"What has Sarah Palin ever accomplished, in the public sector? Is she actually competent, as a governmental leader? Does she even have any demonstrated competence, as a governmental reformer?"
Having lived in AK during her tenure I ca say emphatically she did accomplish a lot. The biggest to my mind was her separation of the state government from big oil, who basically had the majority of the state senators and and representatives bought and paid for.
Chuck said...
What has Sarah Palin ever accomplished, in the public sector? Is she actually competent, as a governmental leader? Does she even have any demonstrated competence, as a governmental reformer?
I think I might be satisfied with Sarah Palin, if she had shown talent, and had some real accomplishments, with either one. But she doesn't!"
Caribou Barbie drunk would still be infinitely better than Crooked Stupid Hillary and AA Obama. She was right when she drill baby, drill. Which is more than can be said of every Democrat combined at all levels of government.
Hagar,
As with their whole movement, the neo nazis are a poor imitation of the real thing.
IIRC, wasn't Rockwell killed by fellow party members? Don't feel like googling it.
Duh.
Pretty much everything Mark wrote.
The GOP is so (rightly) concerned about cults of personality (JFK, Clinton, Obama) that they don't know what to do with charismatic politicians. Such that emerge succeed in spite of the party's best efforts. Reagan, Palin and Trump (like Reagan, a renegade Dem) come to mind. The party prefers charisma-free apparatchiks like the Bushes.
And does this make Palin Hitler, too?
Or only Mussolini?
I agree. And that's the problem. Where are the mini-Trumps that will carry on his work? There aren't any. Just like there weren't any mini- Reagan's.
How many people Know that every Republican POTUS nominee from 1988-2012 OPPOSED Reagan in 1976 and 1980? Romney said he wasn't even a Republican during his Presidency? Or that Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott were Gerald Ford Republicans.
No one carried on Reagan's legacy at the hightest levels. I see the same thing with Trump. Once he goes, its back to McCain/Romney and loserville.
Not sure why Palin is in the conversation, only that the democrat stenographers have successfully smeared her without the necessity of facts. Tying President Trump to Palin, is just SOP.
Seems strange to bring her up, being her resume is far superior to Obamas.
Blogger Chuck said...
"What has Sarah Palin ever accomplished, in the public sector? Is she actually competent, as a governmental leader? Does she even have any demonstrated competence, as a governmental reformer?"
Sarah Palin worked with mostly democrats and a few republicans to negotiate an Alaskan friendly deal with the oil companies. She did an end around the corrupt republicans in Alaska. After they drove her out of office the uniparty promptly renegotiated a deal more favorable to the oil companies.
Someone who depends on the NYTs and NRO would be ignorant as usual.
Trump as Obama?
Trump is the White Obama; Obama is the Black Trump: Empty vessels into which we pour all our hopes and fears.
I'm going to post again on Palin because it bothers me that she is judged by so many based on the smear tactics used against her and by what the vested interests of her tried to paint her as. Just like Trump you can judge her in part by the enemies she made.
She started her political career in the PTA fighting for her kid's education. The Wasilla school board fought her tooth and nail, but locals were happy enough she was elected mayor. One of the issues she faced as Mayor was a boondoggle of a sports center already being built. Over budget, and way past completion by the time she took office, she managed to cut costs and finish it in a timely manner. The deep pockets involved weren't happy. As mayor she managed to keep a rapidly (very rapidly) growing city on budget. From mayor to Governor. Bullshit on anyone who says she had no experience. Each phase of her political rise was made by taking on vested interests. The school board ravaged her. The Wasilla paper wouldn't endorse her. The amount of negative press she received as governor was immense. In every phase she was fighting against status quo interests. You have to understand what was going on AK at the time. Alaska was awash in oil money. Members of the state congress we being elected and four years later were leaving the state as multi-millionaires. A few moved up, got elected, and left set for life. She took on big oil, the state legislature, and public unions. When she was tapped as McCain's running mate she had an 80% approval rate. As with any pol there were things to dislike about her. She was a self promoter. A lot of times it was her way or the highway. But anyone who formed their opinion of her by the national campaign is simply misinformed. Personally I didn't vote for her ticket because of McCain, and I didn't believe she was ready for the big time (evidenced by her interviews), but Caribou Barbie she ain't. The state's business was being ground to a halt by all of the frivolous lawsuits against her, and I believe her when she said that was the reason she left. I also believe a large part of the reason was the 'screw this' factor.
So, not trying to say she was the second coming, but she was competent and accomplished for the time she was in government, and I hate seeing the false impression the media was able to stick on her being perpetuated to this day.
"Just like we have the Never Trumpers and the Trump haters, we had (and have) the Palin haters, right Kate? Nice try with the seminar commenting, trying to assert some bona fides before your real sentiment that you never really liked Palin."
A woman governor, Christian, devoted wife and mother, pro-lifer. Chosen for the GOP ticket. Thanks for splainin' to me that I wasn't actually excited about that. I wouldn't have realized that I harbored a secret hatred for her all along unless you had told me.
Remember that Katie Couric interview with Palin where Palin was asked what newspapers and magazines she regularly read? People mocked Sarah because she couldn't name any. Now all of those newspapers and magazines are being mocked as "fake news".
In 2008, I was already getting almost all of my news and information from the internet. I too wouldn't have been able to easily name specific sources that I preferred.
The NYT thinks the 2016 election was a choice between "a thoughtful, intelligent Democrat" and "a boorish, mentally unstable Republican"? (Timothy Egan, "What if Bannon is Right?" NYTimes 8/25/17) I thought the Democrats nominated Hillary. Does Egan think they cloned Adlai Stevenson?
So Kate did you think a serial plaguarizer, tool of the subprime bankers creater of the vawa which struck down by the supreme court, who was wrong on every major policy issue from the Alaska pipeline to the partition of Iraq was better.
"Remember that Katie Couric interview with Palin where Palin was asked what newspapers and magazines she regularly read? People mocked Sarah because she couldn't name any."
If I remember she said Alaska Oil and Gas. Which was probably the most read magazine in the state at the time. Probably still is. Lots of facts and figures pertaining to the economy of the state she was leading.
Of course courics researcher missed that Palin had penned an oped in the times, challenging the EPA designation
One could presume the proggie goal, for the moment and no Goddamned longer mind you, is to get people saying "but Obama" and then use that phrase to declaim complete and utter Pelosi victory over foes real or perceived.
Racist Hitler blank slate states are in style this year after all, minus the racist Hitler parts but those info bits are so very very true we must always include them when referring to the racist Hitler blank state slate Trump.
Sarah suffered the disdain and snobbery of the eastern media and the LATimes, and we saw it because it was SO obvious and SO overstated. And clearly, they all thought the same of us. They'd clearly never heard of Dale Carnegie and his teachings, and if they had, well, he was a midwesterner, so, NOT THEIR KIND.
Interesting to see the seminar posters trying to sound honest.
I was very enthusiastic about Palin for the reason pacwest posted.
I had not lived in Alaska but I have an Alaska medical license and almost bought a house just up the Kenai penisula from Homer.
I was very enthusiastic about her but not so much about McCain who was too old by then.
pacwest
8/26/17, 4:49 PM
Thank you for this. Mea culpa. I didn’t care to stereotype Palin too much one way or the other, not worth the bother, but I tended toward the negative, ignorant of these facts. I chiefly discounted McCain for his pick, but still voted for him despite Palin, the primary discount being for McCain not being his former bad-boy self against the emergent power-evangelicals who McCain formerly detested, McCain cooing to women and wooing evangelicals, pathetic, I thought. Nothing against evangelicals: just that McCain caved, imo. So I may think better now of Palin. Still thinking no more highly of McCain for choosing her. A good post all around.
I did not vote for John McCain in 2008.
I did vote for Sarah Palin though. And a lot of people were with me on that.
You go look at some of McCain's "rallies" before Palin was on the ticket. A funeral home parlor is more exciting.
I would also like to add, politic unearthed a Jones memo, which was the blueprintvto the slander campaign carried out by Schmidt and Wallace, with Mccain full complicity.
"lifelong republican" Chuck. The "Anna Navarro" of Althouseblog.
AllenS: "The biggest obstacle that Sarah Palin had to overcome, and couldn't, was John McCain"
John McCain, Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace.
The MSNBC trio.
Naturally, "lifelong republicans" love these MSNBC-ers.
As soon as I see "white nationalist" or "alt-anything" I immediately tune out. The author has lost all credibility with me. I never heard of such a thing as the alt-right until about October 2016. I've never met one. I'm not even sure what it's supposed to be. Same with white nationalism. What exactly is it? A nation of only whites? Nobody I know is for that. Who is going to clean our hotel rooms? Joking ... plenty of Russian immigrants to do that. Even worse joke.
To be fair, if you're gonna accuse trump of appealing to racists ,anti semites etc you should prob point out that Obama did start his career palling around with terrorists, and ended it by commuting a terrorists sentence
"Yes, Trump is crude and lewd and tacky and pretty much an empty vessel, but I supported him from the beginning of the Republican primaries and ultimately voted for him for President because of three big themes."
New requirements are all empty vessels, or references to, shall be composed of no less than FOUR big themes.
Remember now: FOUR big themes is the low end of the scale for empty vessels in this day and age.
The idea an empty vesssal could have one or two big themes, and now indeed even three, is stupefying, and racist.
But get to FOUR and you're gold, empty vessel-wise.
After 8 years of Obama's little-America identity politics, anyone white, remotely patriotic, and not chanting "diversity" will look like a white nationalist.
"What she is, is what Trump is; a remarkably successful reality-tv star and all-around celebrity. If that is what Althouse is talking about, for "success," then I'd have to agree."
Chuck you and I can agree Trump winning the presidency isn't a factor toward his merits as a person who has any achievements worthy of the grand label success.
He just got lucky and junk, what success is there in that (besides the lamentations of enemies' feminine voices)?
"In 2008, I was already getting almost all of my news and information from the internet. I too wouldn't have been able to easily name specific sources that I preferred."
To have this power to shape reality to the extent CBS and peers are the always-right adults in the room is why they are going nuts now that more folks know it is all pretentious bullshit.
Palin was insulted by the question and answered that she reads what everybody else not in Alaska reads, which was Couric's greatest success in her private and professional career and life.
I hope Couric cried when Hillary got her ass beaten, which papa Rodham should have done.
"Nothing against evangelicals: just that McCain caved, imo. "
Of all people, lived or just conceived of, you were the last soul I thought would assume evangelicals would be okay with you having nothing against them.
To claim any self-identified evangelical is worthy of sainthood, indeed has never sinned in the eye of Feste, such as Feste's eye is, to the pointed extent you absolutely refuse to have anything to do with them here being defined as against, is merely subsumed bigotry of the most vile sort.
Say your prayers brother, and don't fuck 'em up.
J. Farmer said... I loathe identity politics, but I think it is inevitable in an ethnically/racially/culturally diverse society.
--
Well..especially so when said society pulls from "melting pot" to "salad".
Trump had wealth before his political gambit.
Palin made a sizeable amount capitalizing on hers..
The biggest difference is consistency.
Sarah Palin IS Conservative. It's part of her DNA. She would never have the White House staff that Trump has. Maybe the Cabinet, but not the advisors.
Palin and Bannon are a much better comparison. In a Palin administration, Bannon and Gorka would still be there. She also would never make the egotistical mistakes that Trump makes.
Obama actually bragged about being a blank canvas on which others - especially white people - projected what they wished. Oh, right. That was a good thing.
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