Palin Top Choice Of Republicans … Concerned About National Security?
I’m really not sure what to make of this astonishing number from Rasmussen about the 2012 GOP primary:
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the top choice for those Republicans who put national security first and ties Romney for first among voters who list economic issues alone as the priority.
Palin is the top choice among Republicans whose top concern is national security? I can see how folks would find Palin appealing as a folksy and combative hockey mom type, an outsider and reformer who dukes it out with coastal elites on behalf of ordinary Everymoms all over the vast middle of the country. But as a military leader?
If memory serves, Palin got roundly pilloried for botching the Bush doctrine and for citing the proximity of Alaska to Russia as proof of her national security cred, among other gaffes. National security was Palin’s glaring weak point in 2008.
Because they invoke such intense passions, the most polarizing figures tend to have vastly different images in the eyes of their supporters and detractors — images that are so far apart that it’s almost incredible that people on both sides are looking at the same person. More and more, Palin really seems to fit this bill.
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Well they couldn’t rate her highest for economics, Mitt is a natural there. But she is take-no-prisoners type who knows how to shoot wolves and gut fish, so why not national security?
There’s just no way to say it. Palin supporters are complete morons. I’m sorry if it sounds harsh. Even if they aren’t actually *stupid,* they allow their hatred of liberal commie pinko socialist nazi fascists and also the hated “liberal” msm to overtake any reasonable good sense they might muster. Just ugly, hate-filled dumbasses, is what they are. That’s what is left of the Republican Party, racist, hate-filled dumbasses.
James –
“There’s just no way to say it. Palin supporters are complete morons.”
I’m afraid I have to agree – there’s no other explanation. She speaks for the stupid among us and they have responded.
And as I’m wont to say about this: god help us all if they ever managed to amass a majority again.
She’s a member of the NRA. NRA = Strong National Security Defense Cred for many Republicans. I wouldn’t try and make sense of it all. Many Republicans are at the point it seems that they will cling to any little thing at the moment that fits into their perception, no matter how much of a stretch it is. The more you point and laugh, the more defensive they get. DNC and the admin together have a good strategy on her; let her crash and burn on her own doing. It’s not that some don’t see what she’s doing. She’s seen as $$$ to the Republican party. Deep down they probably want her to bring in some serious cash but not run for office. Anyone who gives a damn about this country can not ignore her total disdain for an intellectual debate. She knows how to dish out the red meat to the conservatives hungry to be back in power again. Here’s the one big issue I see that will hold Palin back from a higher office, unless of course some crazy scandal comes out. Palin’s main argument, at least those that were her supporters was, she has more executive experience than Obama or anyone for that matter. Well, that argument went out the window when she quit. She quit under pressure. So what’s she gonna do as President? Quit if Russia makes fun of her? Quit if she doesn’t get her way? She’s a quitter.
“Anyone who gives a damn about this country can not ignore her total disdain for an intellectual debate”
The reason I don’t buy this is simple: George W Bush. They totally ignored his complete lack of depth and knowledge.
Should they choose Palin to run for President, I will be ashamed to call myself conservative. (I am also a woman and believe she is a poor representative of the female gender). Furthermore, I will not vote next election if it is between Palin and Obama. What would be the point? I rallied behind Palin after her acceptance speech, but after that, the more I watched her, the more I realized she just isn’t the brightest bulb in the box. Trust me when I say I am not alone in this sentiment.
“(I am also a woman and believe she is a poor representative of the female gender). ”
She is! She behaves totally inappropriately in every way. A woman trying to get ahead in a profession does not act or dress or carry on like Sarah. No open toed shoes, no winking, no long dangly earrings, no flirting – these things are the very worst things a woman can do if she wants to be taken seriously. She’s just the worst ever. She does everything wrong and she’s a terribly embarrassment.
As for your not voting – be my guest. You might as well join the rest of the deaf, blind and dumb who refuse to get with it and try to fix this broken country. If you can’t see the difference between Sarah Palin and Barrack Obama then by all means don’t vote.
As the mother of a Marine, now disabled after two tours in Iraq, I found her Runner’s World photo in short shorts with the draped US flag and the Blue Star emblem on the window revolting. Where is the dignity that military sacrifice deserves? How dare she capitalize on their sacrifice. Let her ‘pose’ curvaceous with dead salmon.
Tena “They totally ignored his complete lack of depth and knowledge.”
Are you saying BO has those things? Or only as compared to GWB? Feel good teleprompted talking points with no details do NOT establish depth and knowledge of anything other than political expertise for influencing the great uneducated masses that populate this nation.
I don’t think it’s disdain, I think it’s sheer inability (the only cover for which is a veneer of disdain).
Are you saying BO has those things? Or only as compared to GWB?
When you can show us your degrees from Columbia, Harvard Law, and your curriculum vitae where you taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School get back to us about how dumb Obama is.
Tena, she may wrong, wrong, wrong with her vamping and ****** flight attendant look, but the more she works it, the more it works.
(That’s not a declaration of his experience with regards to being president, but it is a declaration of his intelligence.)
(And no, GWB’s Ivy League degrees aren’t the same. In the interim between when GWB got in because that’s where his very rich family always went to school and BO got in the Ivy League schools adopted new admission policies based upon meritorious scholarship, especially when it came to admitting candidates with no wealthy family history to call upon.
Furthermore, even if Obama had depended upon that, if that was all he had he wouldn’t have been accepted to teach at the University of Chicago.)
Dahlia Lithwick posted a very interesting take on Palin yesterday, and I highly recommend it to you all.
(Hat tip, Sully.)
Oddjob, don’t forget W got into Yale before they admitted women there, also.
“No open toed shoes, no winking, no long dangly earrings, no flirting – these things are the very worst things a woman can do if she wants to be taken seriously.”
Being a female includes dressing as one…her style is not an issue…it’s her lack of intelligence or her appearance of having a lack of intelligence.
As for Obama…sorry, nothing personal. I just do not agree with his opinions, etc. for the most part.
This poll just shows the extent to which “national security” has become a cultural issue and set of attitudes as much as an actual platform. Unfortunately, as part of that process, the term has also come to stand for aggressive nationalism and things like waterboarding, keeping Guantanamo Bay open, trashing the U.N., etc.
But Palin’s supporters are probably on to something. If that is what “national security” now means to the Republican Party, I agree that that based on her general attitudes and worldview, Palin would aggressively pursue these particular policies if she was elected. Think President Bush … with less restraint, and no moderating influences.
oddjob, why bother to respond to trolls with their dittohead scripted comments about teleprompters?
I have to say I don’t have a problem with her style, or her lipstick, winking, or open toe shoes. She can do all of that—just don’t be a flaming idiot.
Except that she is definitely a flaming idiot.
I can see conservatives liking her as a “national security” candidate for the same reasons they liked GWB. She speaks in simple sentences and never questions America’s role in any kind of foreign policy issue — unless it’s initiated by a Democrat.
It’s the same logic that allows the conservative base to swear on a stack of Bibles that Obama is an evil socialist/fascist because he’s spent a ton of money (which does bother me). All that even after they supported Bush/Cheney’s attempts to turn virtually the entire communications infrastructure of the US into the tool of a police state, and used torture on detainees.
Anyone notice that what turned many Republicans against him was the economy, not his handling of foreign policy issues?
That’s the problem with “the base” of any party. It’s a euphemism for ideological absolutists who will buy anything spun to them by a person with the right party designation.
Guilty of rising to bait, as charged.
And increased the size of the government faster than any president since LBJ, while simultaneously campaigning passionately on the blessings of small government and the evils of big government.
What I don’t understand about the whole “teleprompter” meme is how any thinking (that right there is the issue I’m sure)person can watch a press conference with Obama and then say that with a straight face. He answers questions off the cuff with facts and figures. Did you watch a single debate??? Yes, he uses a teleprompter to made a speech. Who doesn’t? W did and still couldn’t pronounce half the things on it correctly… I know — ya’ll just “baa-baa, ditto, ditto” like good little sheep all the talking points Fox wants you to without using the sense the good Lord gave you. The dumbing down of America is complete.
I find her brand of ignorance of the willful variety. There seems to be a growing population of people who are willfully ignorant and inherently anti-elitist; yet they cannot even define “elite” in any coherent sense.
I still harken back on her contradictory statement of being pro-life and (bragging) that her daughter *chose* to have her child.
Re: Runner’s World photo op — It’s the way the flag was placed not respectful of the US flag?
Isn’t it time to move on from bashing Sarah Palin now?
Not everyone who’s smart goes to an Ivy League school – in fact there are plenty of incredibly gifted people who don’t. To say that someone is not qualified to do something because they didn’t go to an Ivy League school is very elitist.
“The reason I don’t buy this is simple: George W Bush. They totally ignored his complete lack of depth and knowledge.”
I wouldn’t say they ignored it; rather, they appreciated it. Remember, much of Bush’s appeal was being that guy with whom they could have a beer. Same thing with Palin. Like it or not, many Americans look at Palin and see themselves, and they don’t think that’s a bad thing. I particularly recall the alarming number of women who backed Palin, simply thinking that because she was raising 5 kids, she’d do a better job of running the country. Reminds me of Sullivan’s piece today: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/07/everyone-isnt-a-winner.html#more
Carros, you’d be right, except for the straw man at work here. No one is bashing her for not going to an Ivy League school. It’s just that people want evidence of Obama’s intellectual chops and his academic record is part of that.
You don’t need a degree for Harvard to be smart. I’m a college teacher, and I would argue you don’t even need a degree from Po-dunk U to be proven intelligent.
But, you do need to evidence some kind of intellectual curiosity. The two most public figures from the Republican Party are staunchly anti-intellectual. Bush did famously declare that he “didn’t have to think too hard” and that he “didn’t do nuance” — as if considerable, detailed thought were somehow horrendous things to have in the leader of the freeworld.
Another conservative blogger may have touted her as the “democratic ideal.” But it’s only true if you buy Plato’s definition of democracy as a mob run without reason.
I teach some of the most apathetic 18 and 19 year old freshmen anyone could ever imagine. And I would gladly bet a large portion of my meager salary that most of them could run circles around Sarah Palin in a debate.
To say that someone is not qualified to do something because they didn’t go to an Ivy League school is very elitist.
This statement by carros @ 4:52 is a perfect illustration of my post at 11:33 am. No one made that statement, or anything LIKE that statement. Only willfull, dumbass complete morons make an argument on a statement that nobody made and nobody thinks.
Try again.
Sarge,
Calm down. It’s Rasmussen. Rasmussen thinks Ike, Patton, Dougie Mac, Omar Bradley, Bedell Smith, and Curtis LeMay were left-wing wimps and traitors who were too weak to nuke all of Russia and China in 1945.
Rasmussen’s THE worthless poll in a world of worthless polls.
Palin is the perfect replacement for ObamACORN. She is for national security, strong defense, the individual (not government), small government, reduced deficits. Obama is for apologies, hangs with thugs, reduced defense, big government, higher taxes, wack eco science, etc.
“Not everyone who’s smart goes to an Ivy League school – in fact there are plenty of incredibly gifted people who don’t. To say that someone is not qualified to do something because they didn’t go to an Ivy League school is very elitist.”
You know what? This is so not true that it’s not even funny. It’s an anti-intellectual argument. What, pray tell, is wrong with being elist when it comes to our leaders? And degrees actually matter – sorry. They do – they are the only indication we have besides how someone behaves and speaks – and Sarah behaves inappropriately and speaks some garbled language that is not English as we English majors know it – of what kind of leader someone will be and whether they have the INTELLECTUAL CHOPS to be president.
Damn you simple-minded fools – I don’t want any more idiots in the White House. George W was quite enough and more than enough. I wish you people would find something else to do besides muck around in things you aren’t really all that well educated in yourselves.
I am an elitist when it comes to some things. I don’t go to a doctor who dropped out of 5 colleges and got his damn medical degree in the mail. I don’t want a president with that CV, either. And no one with the sense god gave a goose should want that either. I mean really.
Of course Palin’s supporters are morons. They’re the clearest sign yet that we may be heading for a real-world version of “Idiocracy.”
Remember the nonsensical un-names characters in “Idiocracy” had? Don’t Track and Trip and Trig fit right in? Sarah Palin will (I hope) never be president, but in some idiot future America Slughead Dogwhip Palin Jr. may inhabit the Oval Office. He or she won’t know what an oval is, though.
Graduating from Columbia and Harvard is not proof of intellectual superiority but Palin’s academic record is singularly undistinguished. How many schools did she attend in the six years that it took her to get her BA? My kids’ babysitter was raised by her grandmother in relative poverty on the island of Jamaica and came, graduated as valedictorian in her high school class and has maintained a 4.0 at Brooklyn College while holding down two jobs. She is smart, hard working, diligent, creative and I would choose her over Sarah Palin any day.
Palin is the perfect replacement for ObamACORN. She is for national security, strong defense, the individual (not government), small government, reduced deficits. Obama is for apologies, hangs with thugs, reduced defense, big government, higher taxes, wack eco science, etc.
Space Agent Zulo, this is why I, a registered independent who has always had misgivings about both parties, cannot see the GOP base as intellectually honest. That you could argue this with respect to someone who believes she has the right to a government office that will summarily protect her from her constituents’ complaints smacks of logical absurdity.
Sorry, didn’t mean to bold the whole thing. Forgot the closing html tag…
Isn’t it obvious? You guys just don’t get it. You keep droning on about why we should hate Palin. Read Coulter’s column (just this one time) on getting over a girlfriend and maybe you will start realizing how ridiculous you look with all your putdowns and trash talk about Palin.
Here’s a tiny clue. With Sarah Palin as President this national security conservative will never ever have to go to bed wondering if I will wake up to a President apologizing to the world about America, cutting our defenses left and right, and diving into the sack with Castro and Chavez over some Central American country. It just flat out won’t happen.
She’s aggressive. To the GOP that’s the same as being strong.
It’s a nightmare thinking we could end up with a non-elite non-intellectual President who thinks the USA is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world, believes there are 57 states, is certain that algebra came from the Muslims, just absolutely knew the surge would fail to bring some stability to Iraq, and thinks the Second Amendment is about hunting! We must demand the kind of elite leadership that thinks they can control world temperature.
Tena, “I am an elitist when it comes to some things. I don’t go to a doctor who dropped out of 5 colleges and got his damn medical degree in the mail. I don’t want a president with that CV, either. And no one with the sense god gave a goose should want that either. I mean really.”
Really? Wait ’til we’re under Obamacare. Then see if you have the choice. Of course you could try to find your medical care in another country.
You mean all of those other industrialized countries with medical care virtually completely run by the government (unlike “Obamacare” where only the poorest use the government health insurance system)? This is why you guys lose; even when you’re trying to make a point, you make ours for us.
Chris, where do you get the idea that only the poorest are using government controlled healthcare? “…medical care virtually completely run by the government…” means limiting all medical care according to what the government decides it can afford, not what the individual seeking care wants or needs. Canadians who can afford immediate treatment and don’t like their choices cross into the U. S. for treatment. Otherwise they wait in the queue. Are you living in a fantasy world? Nobody made a point for you unless you fall into one or more of three categories: Stupid (you can’t fix stupid), ignorant (pay attention), or uneducated (study pertinent, accurate material).
@James.
Do you really think personal attacks are necessary? Apparently, because there are much more things that you could be concentrating on other than a soon to be former governor who’s chances of becoming POTUS are very slim.
@Tena
So you’re saying where you received your degree is more important that what you learned, how you’ve applied it, and your character? Well, the GW certainly was qualified, wasn’t he – after all – it’s all about the degree.
@Dave
That is why I too am an independent. After doing research, I do not fit in with either party – especially when the left wing & right wing nuts start speaking. This country can not continue to prosper if we continue as we have. Anyone that even knows the basics of history knows that every great nation has risen and fallen. Although it kills me to say it, I believe that we are about to witness the fall of Rome.
She does not have both oars in the water.
I love that Michael Goldfarb gave you a h/t with his commentary.