It's all true what Noonan says today about Palin, and how she represents a vulgarization of conservative politics. Excerpt:
But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. She is a person of great ambition, but the question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to rise, but what for? For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite--a spender, to speak briefly, whose political decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose foreign policy leans more toward what might be called romantic realism, and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically, respect public opinion, and move within an awareness and appreciation of reality.But it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think aloud. She just . . . says things.
Her supporters accuse her critics of snobbery: Maybe she's not a big "egghead" but she has brilliant instincts and inner toughness. But what instincts? "I'm Joe Six-Pack"? She does not speak seriously but attempts to excite sensation--"palling around with terrorists." If the Ayers case is a serious issue, treat it seriously. She is not as thoughtful or persuasive as Joe the Plumber, who in an extended cable interview Thursday made a better case for the Republican ticket than the Republican ticket has made. In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.
No news conferences? Interviews now only with friendly journalists? You can't be president or vice president and govern in that style, as a sequestered figure. This has been Mr. Bush's style the past few years, and see where it got us. You must address America in its entirety, not as a sliver or a series of slivers but as a full and whole entity, a great nation trying to hold together. When you don't, when you play only to your little piece, you contribute to its fracturing.In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.
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Noonan is spot on and she's not alone. Matthew Dowd, Bush's cheif strategist in 2004, said that McCain knows he put the country at risk with Palin. Palin has turned off the educated conservatives and as David Brooks pointed out, educated professionals are leaving the republican party. It's becoming the party of the uneducated.
It can be reversed but Palin isnt the way to do it.
Palin is certainly not an intellectual, but "not being an intellectual" has somehow been conflated by many into "being anti-intellectual".
I haven't read all of Sarah's speeches, etc., but I've yet to see anything that would actually be *anti*-intellectual.
Incidentally, my answer to the problem of edited interviews would be to do *live* interviews; I still have confidence that she can actually give a decent interview, and this would be the way to avoid the editing problems.
fbc: The fact that you consider "Brooks, Buckley, Parker, Will, Noonan, Dreher" to be conservative die-hards, says it all.
Conservatism is not a dogmatic religion. You can't look up the Catechism of Conservatives and find out what you're supposed to believe to call yourself a conservative. The two broad camps in US conservatism are libertarians, who care more about economics and the role of the state in daily life, and traditionalists, who are more focused on questions of morality, virtue and social order. Sometimes their concerns overlap. In my book, I talk about how conservatives who idolize the free market undermine the goals of conservatives who place utmost value on the traditional family and social stability. I don't see that you get anywhere trying to read people out of the conservative movement. I do see libertarians as a variation of liberalism, but the fact is they are more likely to identify with the movement called conservative in the US today, and I, frankly, see no point in trying to anathematize them.
There are various kinds of conservatism, is what I'm trying to say. Read Nash's indispensable history, and you'll see rather quickly that there is no such thing as orthodox conservatism, and never has been.
Conservatism cannot abide another sequestered leader. And that's what Sarah Palin is, whether by the McCain camp's design, or by the campaign's reaction to what seems necessary.
I fail to see anything substantive in her. She won't answer a question. Not one. Unless it's about energy policy, where she ends up saying "tapped into" and "hungry markets" 3 times because she's taking up time to ride her respective interview out.
I had such high hopes for Palin. I wanted her to be the type of candidate that would show that Conservatism could be open, intelligent, and articulate again, representing those who lead (or strive to lead) simpler lives as such, as well. But all she has shown to be is parochial, provincial, thoroughly partisan, and devoid of much substance. Her candidacy hardly makes her seem like an adult. Just like Bush tends to take the posture of a testy teenager whenever he's given hard questions.
While she may be right about many of the Culture of Life issues, there were many, many others in the Republican fold who were, too. As time passes and as Palin fails to redeem herself as a mature candidate with her own unique political perspective and philosophy (and I'm sorry, but drilling in ANWR as the only major policy point she'll admit to differing from McCain does not a unique perspective make) that is truly confident enough to not be afraid of the hard questions, I get a greater feeling every day that her being chosen for this office was an act of spotlight-stealing and campaign strategy, not an act of substance and purpose to the calling of the office.
I am thoroughly disappointed in the Republican ticket this year. And since I find the Democratic ticket morally objectionable as well, I won't be endorsing either.
"The 'Press' is an emanation of the Democratic Party. There is no reason why Palin should talk to it." ap
There's plenty of moderate to conservative newspapers. There are some moderates to conservatives on the major networks. Besides which if she's VP she's going to have to deal with a Democratic Senate. If she's not able to come out-well talking to a Democrat this is a disadvantage.
"In my opinion, Rod is over-correcting in light of the fact that he supported W against similar attacks by the same disgusting leftists." fbc
Perhaps, but I think he's more overcorrecting for being so googly-eyed over her at first. His first posts on her she was superwoman who could bring home the moose, fry-it-up-in-a-pan, govern Alaska, punish evil-doers, homeschool her children, and never let Todd forget he's a man or something like that. He didn't take into account that even if this were so balancing governing Alaska, child-rearing, pro-Life activism, etc might not leave much time to study foreign or just lower-48 policy. He was wanting Crunchy frontierswoman, instead he got a somewhat populist politician of apparently narrow interests who likes Ivana. So after that it was full-out disillusionment mode.
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