I am a big fan of Sarah Palin. I was a fan before she was even known by most people and well before she was picked by John McCain to be his running mate. I had heard about her a year or so before that event in regards to her stand against the alarmist view of global warming. That and the few things that I read about her made me a fan, my admiration has only grown and last year my wife and I went and saw her at a campaign ralley and I knew that she was and is something special.
I don't say this because I have any particular interest in her running for President, though I suspect had things worked out different she one day would have made an excellent candidate, perhaps someday she still will I do not know. I have no doubt that she was far more qualified to be President less alone Vice President than Barack Obama was or is.
I like her because she is what this country needs in their leaders, she is real. She has real values, real principles and a real life, all rare in an American politician on the national scene these days. She may never be President and if she runs depending on when and who she is up against I might not even support her for the office but I'll always support her as a person and a true American patriot.
The reason I write this is because whether you realize it or not, since she resigned as Governor of Alaska she has become one of the most influential people in American politics. I'll explain in a bit, but first let me point out how ironic that is.
When she resigned as Governor she was assailed from all sides. Nothing new there she has been savagely demeaned and attacked since she came on the scene. But pundits left and right thought that at the least by resigning she was diminishing her influence. How, after all, could someone resign giving up that status of a high elected office and still speak with authority? Many thought and opined it was political suicide. This it was pointed out over and over was in addition to the fact that people would see her as a quitter. The best that she could do was make some money on the speaking circuit, write a book, really learn about issues (like Obama?) and prepare for some kind of comeback in the future. But many figured her political career was over a sad footnote in American political history,
Well she has done some of that but she has done much more. Sarah Palin has with an absolute impeccable sense of political timing had a major impact on all the political events since she left office.
Sarah Palin is the spiritual leader of the Tea Party movement. There is not a rally, a march , a demonstration where her presence is not palpable. Of the Tea Party participants I would bet that she is probably the most popular and trusted of all political figures. This does not mean that a majority of these people, like me, necessarily would vote for her, but they trust her. And trust amongst a movement that was and is built around the idea that we no longer can trust our leaders is remarkable and powerful.
This past summer as Obama and the Democrats were starting to get untracked to pass health care legislation, Sarah Palin's "Death Panel" face book entry and subsequent Wall Street Journal editorial, galvanized the opposition. As has been rightly noted when the President began defending the idea that he was not going to pull the plug on grandma rather than marshaling his troops for passage, the battle was lost. Oh they keep trying and they may actually pass something but Sarah Palin put the brakes on the monstrosity so that everyone could have a good look. That good look is killing the Democrats and the President's popularity and with any luck it will kill the bill. In a large part we owe that to Sarah Palin.
She was one of the first major political figure to publicly endorse Doug Hoffman for congress in the New York 23 race and she is the one whose endorsement got the grass roots moving to support him. Of course she was criticized even more so by those in her own party. Guess what? The Republican candidate has suspended her campaign and Hoffman will likely win the election. In large part we owe that to Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin has been a leader in calling out Obama on a number of issues such as his dithering on Afghanistan, energy policies, the stimulus package.
Sarah Palin's Face Book page is as influential as any newspaper in America, when she writes, people read and they respond. More often than not it becomes a national discussion for a time. They still pound her in the media to their shame and so great is their influence that her book was and is a best seller and it still has not yet been released.
Michelle Obama may be the most popular woman in the media, but Sarah Palin is the most powerful woman in the country-bar none-not bad for an ex governor from Alaska.
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