[Bill,
July 27, 2009]
'Own goal' for GOP
So Sarah Palin's stepped down as governor, for reasons that are not entirely clear. Something about deciding not to run for a second term, which in turn, means she'd be a lame duck and she didn't want to do that. Now she has some sort of plan. What worries me are two things:
1. She seems to lack the awareness that her political career is over.
2. Her political career may not be over.
If she merely quit and said she'd have enough, that she was going back to Wasilla to raise her children, write a couple of books, and maybe teach or otherwise contribute as a private citizen somewhere, that would be one thing. That's understandable. But she's not. She actually thinks she's up to something. Borderline delusional.
When Sarah Palin was first chosen, my first reaction was WTF? Then I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and listened to her. Perhaps McCain had seen something in her that I hadn't. Her introductory speech was excellent. Her speech at the convention was excellent.
About that time, I saw the "narrative" shaping up — she was clearly unqualified, but nonetheless more qualified than Obama. It highlighted The One's lack of qualifications. It was working brilliantly for about two weeks until the market crashed and brought the whole campaign down.
The problem was this (and now, in retrospect, obvious): She was a lightweight. She never could have handled Washington. She never could have handled the press. I kept hoping against hope — McCain's decision couldn't have been this stupid. I figured maybe behind the scenes, Palin had the intellectual heft and that would come out. It never came out. It's not enough to be a good person, like Sarah seemed to be. You have to be ready. She wasn't ready, and never will be. Because the intellectual heft wasn't there. She burned through her entire intellectual capital in a weekend. After that, she was just repeating herself. It was worrisome.
That doesn't mean she won't be back. She will be. Perhaps she'll find a place she's comfortable with in the public square. What that is, I don't know. I do know that she doesn't belong anywhere near the White House except as a guest.
Overall, this situation is an "own goal" for the GOP. One thing I'd like to see is for my fellow partisans to stop retrieving the ball and kicking it back into our own goal.
Time to admit that nominating Sarah Palin was an awful decision, and had the GOP won in 2008, would have been disastrous for the country. Give it up, already. It's a mistake — a harmless one because the GOP lost, but a mistake. Many on the right see that. 'Cuz it's obvious.
The key is to understand why it happened, and what we can do to prevent it from happening again. It happened because the GOP, as it sometimes does, got "too cute." It was more concerned about the perception of reality, rather than reality itself. That's the problem. Once you start "managing perception," you put the battle on the Democrats' ground. The Democrats, for the most part (except for the Blue Dogs), are almost entirely a party of perception. They are masters of illusion and self-delusion. The GOP wins when the masks slips off.
But when the GOP plays "perception" and "illusion," you create a hall of mirrors in our political debate. Nothing is as it appears. It makes it a game, and not a productive one. Because as the masks slips off Obama (and it already is — he's consuming his personal intellectual capital at a rapid rate), the answer needs to be reality, not another perception.
You see, because of our two-party system, we have a tendency to think, "If not the GOP, then the Democrats." Or "If not the Democrats, then the GOP." It's a logical fallacy. Both could be wrong.
The facts of life are conservative. Some of those facts are unpleasant. We all wish these facts were otherwise. The Democrats' problem has never been its aspirations. The problem is that government, particularly federal government, is a poor tool to achieve many of its aspirations. Not only that, what the Democrats accomplish is often the exact opposite of what they intend. The road to hell and all that ...
But the Democrats' faults don't mean we in the GOP are somehow pristine, or free from error, or admitting error. With Palin, we fucked up. Let's admit it and move on.
If 2012 is actually Obama v. Palin, we're screwed. I won't vote for either of them.
Finally, let's remember the whole "facts of life" thing. Conservatism doesn't have to be in the GOP. The Blue Dog Democrats, who are suspicious of abortion, want responsible spending, and believe in gun rights, are an excellent start.
And don't forget Obama himself. I still say there's something conservative about the guy.
The GOP will have an opportunity for a big comeback. But we need to be ready. Backing Palin will compound the error.
1. She seems to lack the awareness that her political career is over.
2. Her political career may not be over.
If she merely quit and said she'd have enough, that she was going back to Wasilla to raise her children, write a couple of books, and maybe teach or otherwise contribute as a private citizen somewhere, that would be one thing. That's understandable. But she's not. She actually thinks she's up to something. Borderline delusional.
When Sarah Palin was first chosen, my first reaction was WTF? Then I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and listened to her. Perhaps McCain had seen something in her that I hadn't. Her introductory speech was excellent. Her speech at the convention was excellent.
About that time, I saw the "narrative" shaping up — she was clearly unqualified, but nonetheless more qualified than Obama. It highlighted The One's lack of qualifications. It was working brilliantly for about two weeks until the market crashed and brought the whole campaign down.
The problem was this (and now, in retrospect, obvious): She was a lightweight. She never could have handled Washington. She never could have handled the press. I kept hoping against hope — McCain's decision couldn't have been this stupid. I figured maybe behind the scenes, Palin had the intellectual heft and that would come out. It never came out. It's not enough to be a good person, like Sarah seemed to be. You have to be ready. She wasn't ready, and never will be. Because the intellectual heft wasn't there. She burned through her entire intellectual capital in a weekend. After that, she was just repeating herself. It was worrisome.
That doesn't mean she won't be back. She will be. Perhaps she'll find a place she's comfortable with in the public square. What that is, I don't know. I do know that she doesn't belong anywhere near the White House except as a guest.
Overall, this situation is an "own goal" for the GOP. One thing I'd like to see is for my fellow partisans to stop retrieving the ball and kicking it back into our own goal.
Time to admit that nominating Sarah Palin was an awful decision, and had the GOP won in 2008, would have been disastrous for the country. Give it up, already. It's a mistake — a harmless one because the GOP lost, but a mistake. Many on the right see that. 'Cuz it's obvious.
The key is to understand why it happened, and what we can do to prevent it from happening again. It happened because the GOP, as it sometimes does, got "too cute." It was more concerned about the perception of reality, rather than reality itself. That's the problem. Once you start "managing perception," you put the battle on the Democrats' ground. The Democrats, for the most part (except for the Blue Dogs), are almost entirely a party of perception. They are masters of illusion and self-delusion. The GOP wins when the masks slips off.
But when the GOP plays "perception" and "illusion," you create a hall of mirrors in our political debate. Nothing is as it appears. It makes it a game, and not a productive one. Because as the masks slips off Obama (and it already is — he's consuming his personal intellectual capital at a rapid rate), the answer needs to be reality, not another perception.
You see, because of our two-party system, we have a tendency to think, "If not the GOP, then the Democrats." Or "If not the Democrats, then the GOP." It's a logical fallacy. Both could be wrong.
The facts of life are conservative. Some of those facts are unpleasant. We all wish these facts were otherwise. The Democrats' problem has never been its aspirations. The problem is that government, particularly federal government, is a poor tool to achieve many of its aspirations. Not only that, what the Democrats accomplish is often the exact opposite of what they intend. The road to hell and all that ...
But the Democrats' faults don't mean we in the GOP are somehow pristine, or free from error, or admitting error. With Palin, we fucked up. Let's admit it and move on.
If 2012 is actually Obama v. Palin, we're screwed. I won't vote for either of them.
Finally, let's remember the whole "facts of life" thing. Conservatism doesn't have to be in the GOP. The Blue Dog Democrats, who are suspicious of abortion, want responsible spending, and believe in gun rights, are an excellent start.
And don't forget Obama himself. I still say there's something conservative about the guy.
The GOP will have an opportunity for a big comeback. But we need to be ready. Backing Palin will compound the error.