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Title: Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw ... op13-2009jul13,0,2642211.story
Published: Jul 13, 2009
Author: LA Times
Post Date: 2009-07-13 10:01:35 by christine
Keywords: None
Views: 1700
Comments: 57

Since announcing her resignation, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been pummeled by critics who have called her incoherent, a quitter, a joke and a "political train wreck."

And those were fellow Republicans talking.

Palin has been a polarizing figure from the moment she stepped off the tundra into the bright lights last summer as John McCain's surprise vice presidential running mate. Some of that hostility could be expected, given the hyper-partisanship of today's politics.

What is remarkable is the contempt Palin has engendered within her own party and the fact that so many of her GOP detractors are willing, even eager, to express it publicly -- even with Palin an early front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Some admit their preference that she stay in Alaska and forget about any national ambitions.

"I am of the strong opinion that, at present day, she is not ready to be the leading voice of the GOP," said Todd Harris, a party strategist who likened Palin to the hopelessly dated "Miami Vice" -- something once cool that people regard years later with puzzlement and laughter. "It's not even that she hasn't paid her dues. I personally don't think she's ready to be commander in chief."

Others suggest a delayed response to last year's shaky campaign performance, now that the race is over and Republicans feel free to speak their minds.

"I can't tell you one thing she brought to the ticket," said Stuart K. Spencer, who has been advising GOP candidates for more than 40 years. "McCain wanted to shock and surprise people, and he did -- in a bad way."

It is more than cruel sport, this picking apart of Alaska's departing chief executive. The sniping reflects a serious split within the Republican Party between its professional ranks and some of its most ardent followers, which threatens not only to undermine Palin's White House ambitions -- if, indeed, she harbors them -- but to complicate the party's search for a way back to power in Washington.

Consider a USA Today/Gallup poll released last week. About 7 in 10 Republicans said they would be likely to vote for Palin if she ran for president. Other surveys place Palin in a statistical dead heat with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, the former governors of Massachusetts and Arkansas, respectively, who sought the White House in 2008 and give every indication that they will try again in 2012.

Although any presidential poll taken this far out has to be taken with a sea's worth of salt, that is not the reason so many Republican strategists and party insiders dismiss Palin.

"People at the grass roots see a charismatic personality who is popular with other people at the grass roots. But their horizon only goes so far as people who think like them," said Mike Murphy. The veteran GOP ad man eviscerated Palin -- a "political train wreck," "an awful choice" for vice president, her resignation an "astonishing self-immolation" -- in a column published Thursday in the New York Daily News.

"Professional operatives keep their eye on a broader horizon and understand, without independents and swing voters, she can't win," Murphy said. "She's a stone-cold loser in a general election."

That, of course, is debatable and subject to any number of developments over the next few years. A Palin spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

In an interview Sunday in the Washington Times, Palin said she planned to write a book and campaign for candidates nationwide, regardless of party affiliation, who shared her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence.

But the reaction to her resignation from Republican candidates around the country has been telling. Asked if they planned to invite Palin to visit and campaign on their behalf, several of those facing tough races -- the ones who need to do more than turn out the party faithful or collect their contributions -- were not rushing out the welcome mat.

"I don't generally need people from outside my district to do a fundraiser," Rep. Frank R. Wolf, a Republican from the Democratic-leaning suburbs of northern Virginia, told the Hill newspaper.

"There's others that I would have come in and campaign, and most of them would be my colleagues in the House," Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said in the same piece.

Whatever one thinks of Palin, there is no question she has been subjected to a level of internal sniping -- friendly fire seems like a misnomer -- that is extraordinary.

The Republican criticism of Palin, 45, began during McCain's presidential run, privately at first, then breaking into the open during the last troubled days of the Arizona senator's campaign. Finger-pointing and back-stabbing are hardly unusual in politics, especially on the losing side. But like so many things Palin-related -- the crowds, the adoration, the antipathy -- the verbal strafing seems of a whole other magnitude. (How many other losing vice presidential candidates would merit a 10,000-word exegesis in Vanity Fair, which depicted Alaska's governor as a narcissistic, one-woman demolition derby?)

Some blame sexism, though again there is sharp disagreement between Palin's supporters and detractors. Some think the former beauty queen has always been hurt by her looks, whereas others think her appearance has helped her considerably. "If Sarah Palin looked like Golda Meir, would we even be talking about her today?" Murphy asked.

Others see a knee-jerk reaction from the political establishment, which will always frown on any populist outsider (think Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, Howard Dean), much less a governor who quits midterm and shows up on TV in hip waders.

"The fact that she is a woman who's extremely attractive and dynamic and charismatic throws them for a loop," said Bay Buchanan, who strategized for her brother's two insurgent presidential campaigns. "Once they sense the first little sign of weakness, that's when they go in for the kill."

No one knows where the future will take Palin, not even the governor herself. Her reemergence on the national scene and the scathing response from so many of her party peers underscore one thing, however: Republicans may hold dear their memories of the late Ronald Reagan. But his famous 11th commandment -- "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican" -- was laid to rest a long time ago.

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 44.

#1. To: christine (#0)

Sarah has values some of the others don't. I don't know if she would be my first choice in the primaries as the field isn't clear as yet. But if she got the nomination I would vote for her. If she ran third party I would also strongly consider voting for her. If little twit songbird Robin hates and is jealous of her. That is a sign that she must be good. Since the little twit songbird favors totalitarianism and murder of babies.

Old Friend  posted on  2009-07-13   10:05:51 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#23. To: Old Friend (#1)

I don't know if she would be my first choice in the primaries as the field isn't clear as yet. But if she got the nomination I would vote for her. If she ran third party I would also strongly consider voting for her.

Hey stooge! You'd vote for her if she is the pubbie nominee but you would "maybe" vote for her if she ran third party. Why, you're an ass licking neo-con fool just like all the other zionists running the show and your buddy obanger.

What an incredible embicillic statement you've made. I really have never run across anyone close to your ignorance but jim robbersom, the furher of freak republic.

LACUMO  posted on  2009-07-13   16:55:56 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: LACUMO (#23)

Hey stooge! You'd vote for her if she is the pubbie nominee but you would "maybe" vote for her if she ran third party. Why, you're an ass licking neo-con fool just like all the other zionists running the show and your buddy obanger.

There is a possibility of a better third party candidate. Do you discount that?

Here is a surprise for you. I would even consider voting for Jesse Ventura.

Old Friend  posted on  2009-07-13   20:30:21 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#27. To: Old Friend (#24)

There is a possibility of a better third party candidate. Do you discount that?

No I don't. Any candidate would be better as long as they don't fly the israhelli flag and put israhell ahead of the USA they would be a better candidate. Drop the zionist bulls**t and you would be an alright guy!

LACUMO  posted on  2009-07-14   0:36:13 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#30. To: LACUMO (#27)

Drop the zionist bulls**t and you would be an alright guy!

That is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.

I am an American. We could cut and should cut off aid to all countries including Israel. I don't think it is right for everyone to blame Israel for everything. It sounds like Nazi Germany. I don't like Nazi Germany. I think if you give up your nazi philisophy you would have to change a few other things to be an alright guy.

Old Friend  posted on  2009-07-14   8:54:41 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#36. To: Old Friend (#30)

I think if you give up your nazi philisophy you would have to change a few other things to be an alright guy.

I don't have a nazi philisophy and I don't have hatred for the jews. I disagree with the way they look at the rest of us and the way they go about killing innocent women, children, and babies. I also do not like how they control just about everything in the U.S. and are destroying it with their control.

They ruined the economy by controlling the banks. They own the illegal federal reserve and have taken over our media, entertainment industries. What's to like about them having seen what they have done in every country they have taken over around the globe. The dislike I and others have for them has been rightly earned.

Our country is fast becomming very socialistic, just a notch below outright communism, and we can thank our jewish brothers who are in control. Do you like what is happening in this country? What they are doing around the globe?

LACUMO  posted on  2009-07-14   10:58:35 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#37. To: LACUMO (#36)

Our country is fast becomming very socialistic, just a notch below outright communism, and we can thank our jewish brothers who are in control. Do you like what is happening in this country? What they are doing around the globe?

I agree with your sentiments. Except to blame it all on Jews is a bit ridiculous. There are plenty of Lindsay Grahams, Barack Obamas, Nancy Pelosis, Dick Cheneys, and other caucasions that are screwing us over. In fact if you got rid of every jew in congress and the senate and every governor and city councilman we would still be in the same mess.

Old Friend  posted on  2009-07-14   11:03:44 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#44. To: Old Friend, Jethro Tull (#37)

I agree with your sentiments. Except to blame it all on Jews is a bit ridiculous. There are plenty of Lindsay Grahams, Barack Obamas, Nancy Pelosis, Dick Cheneys, and other caucasions that are screwing us over.

No matter how we slice the cake, the Lindsay Grahams, Barack Obamas, Nancy Pelosis, Dick Cheneys have surrounded themselves or allowed themselves to be run roughshod over by neo-con jews, jews that are controlling and ruining our country.

Listen, when only 3% of our population controlls the govt, the banks, the media, and god only knows what else, that control cannot be good. They have a track record of what they did to Poland, Russia, and Germany and now they have just about done the same here in the U.S. Are you happy with what they are doing here in th U.S.?

LACUMO  posted on  2009-07-14   12:03:49 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


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