With President Obama’s job approval rating falling all the way down to 46%, and his disapproval rating climbing to 49%, according to Real Clear Politics, which averages all major polls, it is impossible to ignore the choice the GOP will have to make by 2012: who will be the standard bearer against Obama?
Barack Obama and the Democrats have been relentless in advancing their statist agenda. They are taking over the economy one piece at a time, from the banks, to the auto companies to healthcare and beyond. Every day they are in power, they find new ways to stifle freedom and kill the American Dream. While this has proven incredibly harmful, it gives the Republican Party an opportunity to contrast itself against the radical left. Where the Democrats offer socialism, the Republicans can advocate a pro-freedom agenda.
Sarah Palin has been the most effective voice of the conservative alternative to the Democrats’ European style socialism. Through her Facebook posts, Twitter messages, television appearances and public speeches, the former Governor of Alaska has been a one woman wrecking crew, taking on Obama and his party at every turn. Sarah Palin is an articulate and fearless voice for modern, common-sense conservatism. The Left has predictably deployed its calumny tactics, trying to slime the Palin family. They have not quieted her.
However, there are still some on the Right that remain unconvinced. Their arguments against Palin are usually along the lines of: She’s unintelligent and she can’t win because she’s ‘too conservative.’ All of which, of course, is wrong.
The media uses the same tactics against every Republican candidate. Every last one. Does the intelligence argument sound familiar? In 1964 Barry Goldwater was dumb. Next, Gerald Ford was falsely portrayed as a bumbling idiot, then Ronald Reagan was an uneducated country bumpkin, Dan Quayle became the next target, followed by George W. Bush, who was the dumbest man in America, according to the left, from 2000-2008. As for the ‘smart’ candidates? The Left loves to extol the brilliance of the man from Plains, Georgia, Jimmy Carter, to this day. They were enamored with the intellect of John ‘D-student’ Kerry. And then there is the ‘genius’ that currently occupies the Oval Office.
On one hand the ‘idiots’ cut taxes, grew the economy, and won the Cold War. On the other hand the “effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals” (as Spiro Agnew once put it) who have ascended to the Presidency have put the country’s very survival on the brink. Their policies have put the economy on life-support, swelled the ranks of the unemployed, and emboldened tyrants the world over.
The Right has to stop looking towards the self-appointed arbiters of intelligence for validation. Instead of repeating what David Brooks wrote in the New York Times, read, listen to and watch Governor Palin. Her positions are well thought-out and genuinely conservative. They are common-sense solutions to today’s problems. A Harvard education does not ensure sound decision making (in fact, a Harvard education may be detrimental to good decision making).
The Left disdains what Angelo Codevilla termed the “Country Class.” This classification contains the vast majority of Americans; people that have never attended an Ivy League institution, haven’t risen through the bureaucracy, and have to work every day to stay afloat. Sarah Palin is the best representative the ‘Country Class’ has on the political front. She has an accent that liberals mock. So do most Americans. She comes from a small town, as do most Americans. And most of all, she believes in God, an indefensible position to the modern Left. However, that is a position Palin shares with 92% of the American people. All these factors are why the Left savages Palin. The intelligence argument is old hat for Leftist smear merchants, and in this case, as with all the others documented above, it is an outright lie.
The ‘too conservative’ and ‘not electable’ arguments come up every election. The media says some radical leftist (Carter, Obama, Kerry…) is a ‘pragmatic centrist.’ Meanwhile, mainstream Republican challengers are made out to be conservative extremists. Sadly, conservatives ceaselessly desire acceptance ‘at the big table.’ They are not going to get it – ever. The GOP nominates duds, like John McCain, because they are ‘electable.’ ‘Electable’ candidates are losers. McCain got thumped. Congressional Republicans were Democrat-lite for nearly a half-century – and they never won (although, Bob Michel did get great tee-times with prominent Democrats). In 1980 the Republicans nominated their ‘conservative zealot.’ His name was Ronald Reagan. Reagan won two of the largest landslides in American history. In 1994, Congressional Republicans finally decided to give conservatism a try, and they won. As Rush Limbaugh likes to say “the blueprint for victory is there.” That is not to say conservatives can’t lose, as Barry Goldwater proved. In order to win, candidates need the total package, not just ideology. Of the rumored 2012 candidates the only conservative that stands out as a relaible, viable option is Sarah Palin. Her approval ratings have steadily climbed, following her low after the 2008 campaign, in which she was handled embarrassing poorly and was later even demonized by McCain apparatchiks. Can she win? No one can answer that now. Ruling her out due to the red herring of ‘electability’ at this point is foolish.
Conservatives have to stop striving for the approval of the elites. Instead of seeking the good graces of the ‘Ruling Class,’ the ‘Country Class’ should focus on advancing an agenda that will be embraced by the majority of Americans. That agenda is built upon the timeless principles that the Founders described as “self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And the best trumpeter of that platform is Sarah Palin.
