Republicans are finding out that “creating your own reality” might be a bit harder to manage when you have the real world throwing it’s two cents in. So is Sarah Palin maneuvering to run for president in 2012? How dare we ask…!
Washington Post:
Sarah Palin's chief of staff blasted the press for distorting her comments during an ABC News interview.
ABC News had posted a partial transcript of Palin's interview with "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas, in which Vargas asked the Alaska governor whether she had political aspirations in 2012 -- a question Palin deflected -- and whether she had been sufficiently demoralized by the attacks she had experienced that she would consider retreating from the national stage once the election was over.
"I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that... that would... bring this whole... I'm not doin' this for naught," Palin said in the interview.
Eskew said "ABC News made a mistake" in characterizing Palin's comments as a hint that she would consider running in 2012 -- an interpretation shared by other news organizations, such as CNN, which reported on her remarks as having stunned the McCain campaign.
Yes, the whole world of media is wrong about her actual words, and as usual, the Republican candidate is a victim. Like all Republicans are victims, of a bad economic policy and failed ideology, as well as being victimized by their own statements of fact. They are so misunderstood, aren’t they?
Republicans don’t even believe their own self criticisms.
Eskew went on to question the press coverage, saying the media is invested in promoting a narrative that brands Palin as running "a rogue campaign." That phrase originated with an anonymous "senior Republican who speaks to Palin," who told the Politico in a Saturday story, "I think she'd like to go more rogue."
Eskew said Palin remained "unbowed" by the media criticism of her personal life. "She has proven she can take some really hard shots."
Proving you can take hard shots does not discount the reality of those shots, or absolve her of her misstatements and ignorance of the issues.
Washington Post:
Sarah Palin's chief of staff blasted the press for distorting her comments during an ABC News interview.
ABC News had posted a partial transcript of Palin's interview with "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas, in which Vargas asked the Alaska governor whether she had political aspirations in 2012 -- a question Palin deflected -- and whether she had been sufficiently demoralized by the attacks she had experienced that she would consider retreating from the national stage once the election was over.
"I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that... that would... bring this whole... I'm not doin' this for naught," Palin said in the interview.
Eskew said "ABC News made a mistake" in characterizing Palin's comments as a hint that she would consider running in 2012 -- an interpretation shared by other news organizations, such as CNN, which reported on her remarks as having stunned the McCain campaign.
Yes, the whole world of media is wrong about her actual words, and as usual, the Republican candidate is a victim. Like all Republicans are victims, of a bad economic policy and failed ideology, as well as being victimized by their own statements of fact. They are so misunderstood, aren’t they?
Republicans don’t even believe their own self criticisms.
Eskew went on to question the press coverage, saying the media is invested in promoting a narrative that brands Palin as running "a rogue campaign." That phrase originated with an anonymous "senior Republican who speaks to Palin," who told the Politico in a Saturday story, "I think she'd like to go more rogue."
Eskew said Palin remained "unbowed" by the media criticism of her personal life. "She has proven she can take some really hard shots."
Proving you can take hard shots does not discount the reality of those shots, or absolve her of her misstatements and ignorance of the issues.
Let's face it: both George Bush and John McSame represent a failed form of "Republicanism." They both actively oppose all the good things real Republicans represent: limited government, avoidance of foreign entanglements, protection of American cultural and territorial integrity against multiculturalism and mass immigration, and so on. Their only (tenuous) connection to true Republican ideals is their love affair with the ultra-ultra-rich, which translates into lower taxes for the richest 1/10% of Americans and fraying social services and infrastructure for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteWhat this means is that if you believe in Democratic ideals of social progress through government activism, and a multicultural America in which traditional American culture becomes merely one more insignificant item on a crowded menu, you have Barack Obama, but if you believe in Republican ideals, you're SOL. Sarah Palin is the closest we've seen to a real Republican on the national stage in a long time (the last one was Pat Buchanan).
McCain did not pick her because she's an ideological soulmate. Instead, he wanted (1) to extend an olive branch to the conservative grassroots of the Republican Party, which otherwise would have stayed home in droves on Election Day, and (2) to create something newsworthy in his lackluster campaign, especially after Obama's inspirational speech at the close of the Democratic convention. He succeeded, at least somewhat, in both of these things.
Palin accepted the nomination. We can't know what was going on in her mind, but I think it's safe to say that she welcomed both the opportunity to move onto the national stage, and a shot at the second highest office in the nation.
By now, she doubtlessly realizes that her chances of victory on Election Day are slim. But perhaps having gotten a taste of playing in the big leagues, she doesn't want to go back to the minors, and is already thinking ahead. Her new role could be as leader of the disheartened and disenfranchised "Republican wing of the Republican party." Whether that leads to a 2012 presidential bid is anybody's guess.
The mainstream media can tolerate rob-from-the-middle-class-give-to-the-rich "conservatism," but their hatred for cultural conservatism knows no bounds. They vilified Buchanan and are doing the same to Palin. That's par for the course and will continue. But maybe she can give new hope and direction to what used to be called "the silent majority."
See Will Sarah Palin Lead Middle America Back to the GOP (or Vice Versa)?.