Aaron tackled this to some extent in the comments section of his last post, but I think the Life and Times of Sarah Palin is relevant enough to warrant continued discussion. Aaron wrote:
As for Palin, I think it's a mistake to simply say, "She lost, forget about her." Palin was hugely popular with the conservative rump in this country.Though Aaron didn't indicate otherwise, the issue in question is to what degree Palin remains popular with a significant minority of the GOP.
For those not up to speed, Palin's star in Alaska has fallen quite a bit in the wake of her November electoral defeat. She nominated a hard right candidate for attorney general who was subsequently denied confirmation by the Alaska legislature. She has had a series of avoidable problems filling an open legislative seat, the continued and public beef with Levi Johnson and family is increasingly petty and embarrassing, and she pissed off her legislature yet again after ditching the last day of an important session to headline a pro-life group's dinner in Indiana.
Despite all this, it's unclear what effect this will have on her statewide electoral prospects in Alaska, be they in a gubernatorial reelection bid or running for Murkowski's U.S. Senate seat (which appears unlikely).
I'm interested in how (or if) this will effect her popularity in the lower 48. Larison had a fairly interesting post recently on the schism between what he calls "mainstream conservatives" vs "dissidents" and why there was increasingly little conversation between the two groups. As "David Cameron's Tiny Wanker" alluded to in comments, the degree to which Palin has a legitimate national presence in 2012 is the degree to which the GOP is increasingly far afield from the body politic.
Combine this with the increasingly incendiary and bizarre comments coming from very mainstream Republican sources (John Boehner's truly sad interview with Stephanopolous last weekend, Texas' governor talking of secession, or nearly any Michelle Bachman comment). Throw in the fact that there is an established and powerful media presence actively promoting a lot of this rhetoric, and you have a situation that at the very least merits continued comment and observation.
Who is the leader of the opposition party? Seriously. Michael Steele? Ostensibly. John Boehner? Legislatively. Mitch McConnell? Ha. Rush Limbaugh? Rick Sanford? Bobby Jindal? I honestly don't know the answer, but there was a moment in time when Sarah Palin could have perhaps drawn a plurality of Republicans to her banner. It's unclear whether or not that time has passed. I think I would argue that it hasn't. It doesn't matter that that's a sad state of affairs. Sadly, no one knows who David Frum or David Brooks are. They know Palin, and literally tens of millions of people see her as their political leader.
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No one cares who Frum and Brooks are, nor Noonan or Parker for that matter. Yes, tens of millions of people like Palin, and not just republicans. I'm a long time independent voter, having voted for democrats, republicans, and third party candidates since 1972. I like Palin, and I'll work for her campaign if she runs in 2012 or 2016. I also donate regularly to SarahPAC.
If you want to know how people feel about her, just take a look at the Right to Life event in Evansville IN. That event usually draws 2,000, because Palin was there, over 3,000 came. Outside, a large crowd assembled just to watch her enter the building, trying to take her picture, shake or hand or ask for an autograph. The crowd was so big that the cops had to block off the street to traffic due to safety concerns. ONce inside she was again mobbed, and it took her 20 minutes to get to the front of the room.
Now that she is free to travel the lower 48, taking advantage of some of the hundreds of invitations to events she has received, you will see this played out again and again in the months ahead.
Despite the medias attempt to marginalize her, they haven't gotten much bang for their buck. The Rasmussen poll in late January found that 52 percent nationwide have a favorable opinion or her (not much different than 0bama had in November) that includes 61 percent of independent voters, and even 23 percent of democrats, naturally, 85 percent of republicans have a favorable view of her. So, you can see why no one pays attention to Frum, Brooks, et.al. As she continues to attend events around the country her favorable numbers will continue to grow.
Greg. Thanks for commenting, though it would be nice if you wrote something that at least peripherally related to the original post.
Nevertheless, a question or two: Why, specifically, do you like Sarah Palin? Are any of the reasons policy related?
How do you feel about Frum and Brooks? Are they worthwhile components to the GOP coalition, or would the party be better off without them and why?
Do you think her increasingly large degree of problems in Alaska will 1) effect her popularity in the lower 48 or 2) effect those Ras numbers you mentioned?
Lastly, on how many on-line forums do you post everyday? Are you paid for your work? I don't ask to be coy, I'm legitimately curious.
Thanks for joining my quest, DP. Feels good to take up the banner once again. And it's funny you mentioned Japanese holdouts. I just read this article the other day about one. Weird.
And Greg, I also would be very interested to see what it is about Palin that interests you so much. Most of the comments I've seen boil down to pure identity politics ("She's one of us!") or a kind of Bill Kristol anti-Democratism ("Boy, liberals sure hate her!"). Palin her self certainly hasn't espoused anything like a consistant governing philiosophy. The degree to which conservatives are willing to overlook heresies like the windfall tax because of other factors interests me.
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