Not Sarah

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Jason Rees
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Not Sarah

Post by Jason Rees »

Why Sarah shouldn't be nominated for POTUS by the Republican Party:
I don't know how long I have until Sarah Palin announces her intention to run for President. Until she does, it's fair game for me to write an article about her, so here goes.

We need a hero, and Sarah isn't it.


Back before McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate for 2008, I had heard of her, and actually favored her above several of the candidates. When it was announced that she would be the VP on the ticket, I was happy, almost ecstatic in fact. Here was a 'true conservative.' Here was someone with more executive experience than Obama. Here was someone America could identify with and support. Here was a pro-gun, pro-life, corruption-busting, self-supporting mama grizzly of a liberal nightmare.

Sarah Palin infuriates the Left. I don't necessarily view that as a bad thing. Lots of things infuriate the Left these days. Last I checked, Olbermann still spends five minutes of each show delivering a rant over what infuriates him on any particular day. I listen to liberal talk radio use the term tea-bagger at least once an hour. They used to be about peace, love, and acceptance. Now it seems to mean peace at the cost of liberty, love without sense, and acceptance of only one point of view.

The problem isn't who she ticks off. The problem is that she scares moderate Republicans and Reagan Democrats. She scares me. Sarah Palin is a demagogue. We've seen what a demagogue looks like in office for at least two years. Despite certain campaign promises to bring America's political acrimony down a notch, it actually seems to have been dialed up by five. I do not see Sarah Palin improving the situation: I only see it getting worse. Why? Because she's good at dialing it up. We need someone who will dial it down. You can't accomplish anything if everyone in the room is screaming. It just makes sane people look for the exit.

Sarah Palin was a calculated risk to appease the religious base of the Republican party, which was threatening to abandon McCain to the four winds. McCain gained the religious right at the expense of his greatest argument against Obama: that Obama was not nearly as qualified for the Oval Office as McCain was. It wasn't Palin's right-leaning politics that frightened people into voting for Obama, it was Palin's continuous gaffes and the constant hammering and fear-mongering in the press. It was her lack of polish, her lack of experience, and her lack of depth in talking about policy issues. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket as VP lost the election for the Republican party.

I have a great deal of respect for Sarah Palin. There's no one out there who can turn lemons into lemonade like that woman. The press bashes her, and she gives as good as she gets. She survives politically after quitting the Governor's office. She 'refudiates' liberals with glee, and fires up the religious right like no other. She is a force to be reckoned with.

But we don't need a force to be reckoned with in the Oval Office. We need someone who can communicate with everyone, not just the religious right. We need someone who can work with liberals and conservatives, and even the press. Someone who by their words and deeds reveals the whackjobs on the Left and Right for who and what they are. Because the Wingnuts have too much control of both parties, and Sarah Palin is part of the problem. She cannot win the general election, and yet a huge number of conservatives will gladly give us another four years of Obama just to make a point.

The Left is attacking Obama for being too centrist. He is vulnerable. Now is not the time to be taking down the Tent That Reagan Built. Republicans need to make it bigger. If the far left is determined to chop at Obama's base, Republicans would be foolish not to jump in and pick up the chips. They can't do that with Sarah Palin at the helm. You cannot run a government with the support of 20% or less of the population. You won't even get a shot. It's time to build a new coalition, and it's time to look past the usual suspects. Especially Sarah Palin.
Life begins & ends cold, naked & covered in crap.
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