American tea-party dishes hopey-changey thing

Alex Bensky

It's not that she has no education, Melanie, it's that her university degree is from --shudder--the University of Idaho and not an elite private university.

But I think a lot of Americans who for some reason do not like the Ivy League elites telling them what's good for them resonate with Palin. And, mutatis mutandis, this explains a lot:

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/why-jews-hate-palin-15323

What struck me during the 2008 campaign was not just the intensity of opposition to her but the tenor of it--a viciousness and downright hatred I have rarely seen in my years of political observation. And much of it was class based--I assume your British readers would not be astonished at seeing people who claim to be all for the people actually evidencing disdain for the people who believe they can think for themselves.

Having adopted the idea that Palin is a perky ignoramus, the elites will not accept any evidence to the contrary, now or later. A lot of Americans will see someone who actually represents them and listens to what they want, not what someone higher on the social ladder thinks they should want.

Meanwhile, I invite British readers to follow the elite response to Palin; you will see such responses dripping with contempt and disdain. If there was any doubt that America's elite have no respect for those they claim to be leading, the Palin candidacy should dispell that.

I am a former Democrat, I have no idea for whom I'm going to vote in 2012, but I note that a lot of people have seen Palin as nothing much and she seems to roll right past, or over, them.

I have three university degrees but they're all from, I blush to report, public universities and I live out in Detroit rather than a more sophisticated city. But you know, I'd like to have a president who actually is proud of being an American and thinks, with all our manifold faults and problems, that the United States has over the years accomplished something good other than electing Barack Obama president. A lot of other Americans see it that way, too, and we vote; we even vote contrary to how our betters tell me we should.

dr Michael Salt

Interesting.

I reckon Melanie Phillips should have a go.

-Ed.

The Tea Party movement currently happening in the US is still growing. It's real, it's winning elections, and it's not going away. A political fuse has been lit, and our leading politicians are overcome by its smoke yet ignore the fire.

The Democrats pooh-pooh it, the Republicans don't quite know what to do with it. Both of these reactions underscore the necessity of the American people to once again reassert ourselves as the source of political power in our government.

Ghillie

If Cameron's faux-socialism and blind adherence to the AGW mantra alienates sufficient "core conservatives" and leads to a hung parliament - as seems likely - historians may identify the day the Tory membership eschewed Davis for Cameron as a key moment in our economic downfall.

He's lost my vote and there are thousands who feel the same way.

When will he wake up, listen to public opinion and start behaving like a leader of a Conservative party. But it appears his eyes and ears are closed to all other than his close cabal. What a waste of space.

Rachael

Wasn't she wonderful!

Peter Hitchens is right. Why bother with the Conservative Party any more? Let it die and wait for any sensible bits to reconstitute themselves into a new party.

It's happening in Oz, too. Conservativehome reports:

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/international/2010/02/how-a-successful-grassroots-rebellion-against-the-party-leadership-prompted-the-founding-of-australi.html

"How a successful grassroots rebellion against the party leadership prompted the founding of Australia's equivalent of ConservativeHome":

http://www.menzieshouse.com.au/

Moose Chilli

President Palin?

As Mel says, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

David Galea

"Britain needs its own ‘Tea-Party’ movement to challenge the whole dopey-changey thing here, too."

Yes definitely. Talk radio has played a useful part in the expansion of the Tea Party. It wouldn't be controversial for Cameron and Hunt to free up radio spectrum for populist conservative radio, and they don't need to agree with the content to allow it to happen.

Anne Wotana Kaye 1

I prefer to judge politicians by their ability or potential for good performnce, and not by their looks, dress or other subjective details. Since however the Democrats have launched a campaign of mockery against Palin, then I will descend to their level and fight back with the same weapons. Who do we prefer, a mother and wife who supports her young daughter when she becomes an unmarried mother, or a woman named Hiliary who is a supporter of abortion and who has been cuckolded by a husband who was so terrified of this harridan, that he couldn't even have a complete sexual union with the young law student employed in the White House, and instead had a sordid sex encounter in his very office? Sorry to harp on sex again, but the Democrats seem to be very liberal in matters pertaining to their personal lives. The Clintons are novices when it comes to the Kennedys. All the brothers, and especially the last one who recently died had the morals of the cheapest blue collar hilly billies, who they like to refer as Palin's people. I could go on about the sordid and spiteful manners of the Democrats but it would be demeaning to myself. Sufice to say that the Democrats, like our Nu Labour and Liberal suypporters are at heart petty snobs, who prefer to be at the top of the dung heap looking down.

alan stoddart

The Left and intellectuals hate her because they are scared of her. If she were to come to power it would mean that the world can turn without the self proclaimed elite being in control...it means the ordinary working people can remain as they are, they do not have to be 'freed' from their 'underdog status' by the social progressives...they are not willing to surrender themselves to be 'improved' in the approved manner but are happy as they are and don't need the revolutionaries help...the same situation is playing out here in the UK where the working classes decided they didn't want revolution, they wanted cars and houses and plasma tv's...the liberals and intellectuals have had to strap themselves to assorted races and religions to make themselves feel wanted and have caused endless division and strife just because of their need to be 'loved'....Im white, educated and caring...I can help you get over your blackness, your Islamic religion, your sexuality....you'll never do it without us!

SimonP

If this happened in the UK, how long would it be before the the MSM would be calling it "right-wing" and "extremist"?

The lefties / liberals brought shame upon themselves with their hatred of Sarah Palin. I expect the same hatred would be unleashed against anyone of similar political beliefs if they appeared ran for office or headed a movement in the UK.

That shameful treatment of Palin will be contribute to the American left's downfall, if the Tea Party doesn't let America forget it.

Badstephen

And just $549 a ticket. Is the right's new Big Idea - the commercialisation of political protest?

An American

Badstephen,

Have you ever attended a conference? All conferences have expenses; renting the hall, buying the signs, renting and paying for tables, chairs and microphones to be set up, paying for food and beverages.

This is a group of unattached, concerned American citizens who paid for their own transportation to get to Nashville..they're not organized, nor do they pay dues to the Tea Party organizers...I thought the fee for the conference was right in line with other conferences which apparently someone like you has never had the opportunity or need to attend.

Pot Head

Badstephen - Well they had to find the money to pay Lady Gaga from somewhere. Her PAC just spent $60K buying her own book & demands $100K to speak at this T Party event. She is only about making money now.

Moose Chilli

Palin's fee for her 45 minute speech in Nashville was $100,000 (or $3703 per minute, if you prefer).

Nice work, if you can get it.

Andre

Alex Bensky - thanks for a good and thoughtful post. In Britain we struggle generally with US politics. I like Palin - she's:
Pro hunting we banned it
Pro-military: - we seem to be ashamed of our soldiers
Pro-business here capitalism is viewed with suspicion
Anti-Islamic terror - we don't see a problem
Energy self sufficiant - drill oil, get out of Arab-Russia dependency.
She is a practicing Christian - one who means it
She sticks by her husband and children and goes out running. I like her - she's got spirit and guts. Didn't she put herself through university?
Maybe her freshness and naive enthusiasm embarrass Melanie P but I am intrigued. I too would like to see a US president who is proud to lead the free world and believes in it. Sail on Sarah P.
God bless America

Sam ARMSTRONG

Destroy the Tory Party, and our own Tea Party movement is born. Don't vote Tory this year. Why should you? All you want is for crime to go down, for the rate of immigration to slow up, for our own culture to be celebrated and for a roll back of intervention (including EU law). That's what the majority want. Screw the Tories. Don't vote this year. Mass protest.

We have never been in such a lucky position than this. Labour is practically dead. The LibDems are not even worth talking about and are known as a bunch of loonies. And the 'Tories', who according to some historians ceased actually to be a Tory party circa 1945, exists only to ensure that the coke snorting smug liberal London sphere that has produced such horrors as Cameron stays intact for another decade.

This is a unique opportunity to get rid of them all. The Tories will die if they lose the next election. GOOD. They have let us all down.

Labour will limp on in parliament like a cat that just had a hysterectomy until it finally stops dragging its carcass along the floor and dies too.

With the two parties dead, we could actually do what we always wanted to do and take this country back for the hard-working, the families, the BRITISH (and I don't mean white only). We could get some politicians who actually care what this country LOOKS like (it currently looks like a dump) and who would tart it up a bit. Wow! We could become a real country again, just like that other country, about 3,000 miles away, that we constantly ridicule because it is better than us.

God Bless America.

mark

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/16/10-most-offensive-tea-par_n_187554.html

Yes I know that this link is from an anti tea party source. However some of the signs speak for themselves. Do we really want this here?

Hmm....

Sam ARMSTRONG

mark
February 8th, 2010 7:24pm

My heart would swell with pride if I saw my fellow Brits take to the street and openly denounce the current administration in such a way.

mark

"My heart would swell with pride if I saw my fellow Brits take to the street and openly denounce the current administration in such a way."
Like Walking around with placards saying things like of" "The American tax payers are the jews for Obamas ovens"? Or "Barrack Hussein Obama the New Hitler" Or "Impeach Obama aka Hussein (I just love the way those plain talking Tea Party folks emphasise his middle name) Or "Obamas plan white slavery".

You'd be proud of that level of debate?

Foster

Andre writes "Pro-business here capitalism is viewed with suspicion"

Can you think of a good reason why capitalism might be viewed with suspicion?

Here's a few clues: bankers, bail-out, recession, unemployment, national debt, city bonuses.

Of course, this won't apply to you if you're lucky enough to earn $100k for reading an autocue for 45 minutes. Trebles all round!

Sam ARMSTRONG

mark
February 8th, 2010 8:19pm

Yes.

Whilst the slogans on the placards may seem a little crude, it is the sheer gutsy determination to make their voices heard and the belief in their democracy that I admire.

I am also jealous of the fact that despite, as in Britain, the right wing in the USA has been demonised and caricatured as weird and hunchbacked, they are not cowed by this media illusion. They are more interested in the real debate, right versus left.

And let's not forget that liberals on TV in America constantly refer to Republicans and conservatives as 'Nazis'. Do not people know that Nazi means 'National Socialism'?

Americans are very forthright and plain-speaking. They do not dance around the houses like us silly little England people. So the tone of the placards is more to do with their plain-speaking. I have no doubt that if such a protest took place in Britain, our placard slogans would be less 'in yer face'. Perhaps more cutting, I don't know.

But to reiterate: it is the chutzpah of the Americans that I admire. This will be what saves them (one hopes) from galloping socialism and the lack of this nerve in Britain is what will deliver us all to fascism. One day.

An American

I attended two Tea Partys in my city last year and it was a wonderful experience to see thousands of my fellow citizens there because they were concerned, like myself, about the far-left socialist disease that is infecting our country.

The left media and politicans have called Tea Partyers ignorant, uneducated, fat, rednecks, fanatics, dangerous, etc, etc. What I saw were lots of committed, prosperous looking Americans proclaiming their love for their country and concern for their children's future.

The main reason for the Tea Partys was mainly about economics and federal illogical overspending. Spending that, today, is twice what taxes are bringing in...a dire situation that will destroy our country, if it continues unabated. Of course, Obama and his cronies have planned from the begining, to raise taxes on everything in sight to pay for their irresponsible, self-serving actions.

Even the conservative mouthpieces have no idea how really angry 'WE' are out here. But, believe me when I tell you that this movement is forcing the Republican party to rethink where they have been in the Wash. DC wasteful-land the past decade or so. We aren't joining Republican politicians, they are being forced to join us, either that, or go home, because we won't be voting for any politician who doesn't state he/she will follow the conservative path. Many Moderates and Democrats who voted for Obama and have come to regret it will be joining us too.

I would encourage all you Brits to form your own Tea Partys...the time seems right for you too...Go For It!

Augustus

As one observer said, 'would you rather have a candidate who relies on a crib sheet of four key points written in the palm of her hand, or one who can't say a word without the entire speech being displayed on his teleprompter?

If Sarah Palin can bring Republicans back to core conservative values and what's really important in the realm of governing, rather than this modern obsession of telling everyone how to live their lives, then hooray for her. At least she's a 'real' person who gets her priorities straight.

badstephen

An American.

Yes, I've attended several party political conferences. I was under the impression that Tea Party was meant to be different. A grass roots movement summoning up the spirit of your Revolution. I don't recall the Sons of Liberty charging membership fees. As Tea Parties go, this seems to be more Darjeeling than PG Tips.

Terry

Melanie, I'd come to your tea party!

Gary

America is still the land of opportunity where the least meritorious or talented people can rise to the top.

Raymond in DC

Moose Chili writes, "Palin's fee for her 45 minute speech in Nashville was $100,000 (or $3703 per minute, if you prefer)." Nothing unusual about that figure for someone of her standing. Bill Clinton commands similar fees; Colin Powell made millions on the lecture circuit. She at least promises to put that fee back into the "movement". Still waiting for Obama to donate his Nobel windfall to charity, as he promised to do.

Personally, I find her an interesting character, but one lacking the gravitas expected of a senior political figure. Truman also didn't get a degree from an "elite" university, but he was extraordinarily well read. Palin, not so much. She needs to articulate a vision beyond simple maxims (e.g. govt. living within its means) and do her homework. That goes for those she endorses as well (note the displeasure over her endorsement of Rand Paul).

Archie

Well indeed so, Miss Phillips, and amusing it is to watch the panic in the Democratic party, especially since the Massachusetts senatorial vote. The East Coast commentariat are similarly nonplussed that their poster boy is being so summarily dissed and I wonder when the European Barack cheerleaders will catch up?

Derek

dr Michael Salt

Seconded!

Joe Strummer

The simple fact is that despite the utter contempt and disdain the three main British political parties hold for the British public, especially when they refuse to discuss issues like immigration, the Lisbon Treaty, the ludicrous A -Global Warming scam,etc, the endlessly whining British electorate will STILL vote for them. Yet we in the UK will also have the brass neck to sniffily look down on those " dumb Americans". We couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, never mind host a tea-party.

An American

badstephen,

You are truly unclear on the concept.

The Tea Partiers don't pay membership dues. The citizens that attended this conference paid for their own expense that the conference would cost...who else would pay for it? The organizers of this conference did the work free but they didn't have the money to put on a conference for hundreds of people...get real. The attendees paid their own way and being independent, were happy to do so. These will be the people that go back to their hometowns to continue the fight.

An American

Augustus,

I'm not sure if Palin will run for President or even if she should. But, she is turning into a wonderful spokeswoman for Conservatism and is helping this movement go forward. I admire her spunk and fortitude.

Palin continues to be demonized along with the Tea Partiers by the far-left liberal media and politicians. One reporter called Palin a 'harbinger of hate' today...Let's hope they keep up this ugly harassment...it is showing them for what they are and is a losing proposition for them.

Michael B

Sarah Palin has passion and verve, wit and intelligence, likewise possessed of a genuine and deeply understood humanity; she's also as lovely as can be, and in ways that matter.

In both 1980 and beyond, the cognoscenti and other poseurs were dishing out similar quantities of venom to Reagan. The vipers and venomists are in our midst. Homo lupus homini.

JohnW

Well said "An American" and Sam Armstrong. Where America leads we in the UK must surely follow.

We urgently need four things to happen:

1. A charismatic right of centre leader to be the focal point of a grass roots movement that reflects what ordinary taxpayers want.

2. An organisation around which that grass roots movement can take form, and for it to be spread throughout the country.

3. A centre-right radio and TV media network to counterbalance all the decades of arrogant, sneering leftwing bias we are subjected to by the BBC.

4. An end to the political indoctrination and social engineering in our schools.

In the meantime, all power to Sarah Palin. She certainly has the Democrats worried - proof enough that she's doing all the right things.

Pot Head

Please let Palin run, she even manages to put Alaska "in play" for Obama in 2012

badstephen

The overall sense I get from these posts is despair and frustration at being on the margins. Elections in the UK and the US are won in the centre. The 'silent majority' is liberal not conservative, and this infuriates you.
David Cameron is smart enough to understand this, which is why he has lurched back to the centre ground in recent weeks, ignoring right-wing commentators such as Melanie.
McCain and Palin lost in the US because they kept expressing contempt for the "urban liberal elite" - even though this is now a substantial part of the electorate. The next Republican president will have to re-engage with this constituency. Palin - no fool, as Melanie says - recognises this and has instead settled for a career in the media and charging £100,000 to anyone prepared to listen to her spout homely soundbites.

digbydolben

The American people are sensible, and, on the whole, better-read than Palin (who is less well-read than Reagan). They never decide how they will vote until they've heard and read as much as they can--and that's only about four weeks before the election. Obama won as handily against McCain as he did BECAUSE McCain chose this ignoramous to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Obama's people are probably hoping that the Republicans are stupid enough to nominate this ignorant woman.

Ian C

Palin's $100,000 fee makes Tony Blair look rather expensive!

I can just imagine her 'How’s that hopey-changey thing workin’ out for you?’ getting very stuck as it inserted itself up Obama's nostrils when he watched the evening news!

Soemone needs to do these things. We all know how detached politics in the Liberal Democracies has become from reality, that it takes some "hick" "upstart" like Palin to point it out to the world.

digbydolben

Let Karen Kwiatkowski (and C.S. Lewis) explain to you why Sarah Palin is actually a totalitarian, and, therefore, no "conservative" at all:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski243.html

Neil Craig

In America the media hate her but the people love her. Here the people know nothing directly about her & have to rely on a media that hates her even more than the American since "right wingers" are simply kept off the air. As such we are immensely ignorant about someone who is the most person most likely to be next President.

She is clearly a capable executive as shown by her getting Alaska back into solvency.

She is simply a great speechmaker able to come up with the right phrase to resonate with the crowd as nobody else has.

She actually understands the problems & knows what to do. Read her speech on foreign policy read out in Hong Kong - it is a masterly analysis - also the choice of venue, officially part of communist China shows both her understanding & her willingness to think out of the box. Her statement that if elected a McCain-Palin administration would "start pumping oil & building nuclear power stations in January" again shows her willingness to take on the idiots & not go for an easy path. There is no question that had that, alone, been done America would be back in healthy growth by now. Compare what she says in almost any speech, ignoring the folksy manner aimed at her core audience & you will find it full of real ideas, principles & policies, unlike our own leaders who do only cliches & would rather run a mile than risk mentioning an idea, principle or firm policy.

She is probably the only politician who can save western civilisation.

Pete

Sorry, but there's a reason not even the Republican's take Sarah Palin seriously any more.

Palin's putting together a political empire in pretty much the same sense that Jordan put together a media empire. In both cases, there's a shrewd facility for playing to the lowest common denominator, and putting your personal life on show in lieu of saying anything meaningful.

Aberdeen Angus

Tea party? Whatever happened to The Cheese and Wine Party?

I can think of two good reasons to vote for Sarah Palin, which then begs what has become known as 'The Paul Merton question.'

anonymous

In Britain, that core conservative agenda of defending life, liberty and social order (which in turn offers the best chance of success in the pursuit of happiness) is scorned not just by Labour but by the ‘Red Tory’/’Blue Labour ‘hopey-changey ‘Cameroons. ‘Core conservative’ voters, currently scorned and abandoned by the Conservative party, are in despair over the non-choice on offer to them at the forthcoming election.

Britain needs its own ‘Tea-Party’ movement to challenge the whole dopey-changey thing here, too.

The Cameroons lost my vote at Lisbon. A polite email to my MP telling her of my anger did not even elicit a reply. No doubt she is too busy in her role as "super social worker" I intend to write again soon and place my letter in the Ballot Box, she is likely to like my latest missive even less than my last.

Campbell

"How is it then...?" Easy. It is simply like calling to like across, to paraphrase Berie Wooster, the primeval swamp.

john east

It's reassuring to come across so many Palin fans. I took the trouble to watch her Tea Party speech, and rather than swallowing the propaganda of our biased left wing media, I took the trouble to form my own opinion. I was more than impressed.

Has anyone noticed the similarity of her treatment from the left to that meted out still to this day by the left against Thatcher. I’ve witnessed little vilification of Macmillan or Alex Douglas Home. In fact they are forgotten by most lefties today. Even Heath is only remembered as a buffoon.

I wonder if this might be a sexist thing?

John Birch

Well put, Pete. The comparison between Jordan and Palin is apt. She's enjoying her 15 minutes of fame and if the Republicans want to drink koolaid they will nominate her in 2012. If they want a serious shot at winning they will pick a candidate like Mitt Romney who actually has a track record and can emphasize his business and low tax credentials.

Pete

Ooops.

"a reason not even the Republican's take her seriously any more..." possibly associated with her inability to use apostrophes properly.

I apologise.

An American

badstephen,

Maybe in the UK, polls show more liberals than conservatives, but not in the US.

A recent Gallup poll of some 160,000 Americans polled in all 50 states found that only 21% said they were liberal while 31% said they were conservative with another 9% saying they were very conservative...the rest said they were moderate. I would venture to say that this number is even higher on the conservative count because Gallup always comes down on the liberal side. Rasmussen has even higher poll numbers for people who say they are conservative.

And an administration like Obama's is enough to convince most moderates that they are conservative, after all, too.

In the Wilderness in America

Let me dispel some myths about American politics.

The majority of Americans are center right not center left. Polls have shown this for decades.

There are vast numbers of independents throughout America who vote practically and usually based on core principles. These are many of the people showing up for the Tea Party events.

Both the Democrats and the Republicans are running scared because of the upcoming 2010 election. Democrats because they may lose the Senate, and Republicnas because even if they win, they won't be able to spend like they used to.

Sarah Palin has struck a chord with the American people like Obama did. Does she have the gravitas to be president? Did Obama? As Harry Truman once wryly noted about America after Lincoln and I'm paraphrasing here: There are times in America when the country is leaderless.

d1carter

The elite media has ignored mainstream Americans for years now. The liberal media has promoted it's Progressive policies and candidates while deriding the real America. The Tea Party Movement has become the countering force in American politics. It is the next American Revolution.

badstephen

If America is naturally centre-right, how come the Republicans lost the popular vote in four of the last five general elections?
You guys are like the hard left in 1980s Britain. Labour apparently kept on losing elections because it was not left-wing enough. The nasty old media was biased against the public's natural desire for revolutionary socialism. For Tony Benn, read Sarah Palin. You're both equally irrelevant.

Ozneocon

What struck me as odd about the Palin haters back in 2008 was how they completely ignored the quite remarkable path their "ignorant hillbilly" had taken to become Governor of Alaska. She bravely embarked on a strategic challenge of the dominant faction of the Alaskan Repeblican Party, which was at the time completely and corruptly beholden to the Oil Lobby, and ultimately prevailed. That achievement was part of the reason a maverick Replublican like McCain chose her as his running mate. The other aspect that struck me was the suspect obsession with her physical appearance: attractive therefore she must be dumb. The parallels with how the MSM traduced Ronald Reagan before and during his presidency: a mere "photogenic B-grade actor" were obvious. Perhaps an even greater president than Reagan, Harry Truman, was in his time also the object of the MSM's derision and contempt: "Kansas City haberdasher".

An American

In the Wilderness in America,

You're not in the 'Wilderness', you're in the 'Know'.

In the Wilderness in America

badstephen

Take away Ross Perot and Republicans would have won the popular vote twice, in 1992 and 2004. The vote in 1996 and 2000 were virtual ties. And the Democrats won it in 2008. Besides, telling a pollster that you are center right doesn't mean you will vote that way or vote at all. Maybe you voted for good 'ol Ross.

An American

badstephen,

Since you are happy being a liberal in a socialist nation...can we send Obama to you, I'm sure he believes he can solve all of your 'little' problems too by pushing the UK even further left to create a heaven on earth or if not, a hell that everyone has a share in.

I've always believed that people make mistakes and what follows is failure...but wise people learn from those mistakes and resulting failures.

Socialists never seem to...

An American

d1carter,

I believe that even conservative politicians and mouthpieces have no idea of the anger that is smoldering in the real America. And if we can't turn this debacle that is destroying our country around soon, there will be a revolution. Remember, Americans still have their guns and know how to use them...that's why Obama yearns to create his large internal army of thugs...He knows it can happen too.

An American

John Birch,

I agree with you on Romney...he has the economic experience to hopefully get us out of this mess. While I believe Palin is more intelligent than anyone gives her credit...We badly need someone who really understands how the economy works and how to reduce our debt.

I wanted Romney last time and believe that had the Republican party leaders not derailed him...he might have won. Now that Obama has lost his 'luster', Romney would beat him for sure.

How about Romney and Congressman Ryan?

An American

John Birch,

One thing that does worry me about Romney is his support while the Mass. Gov., for a state-run healthcare, very similar to Obamacare...it has proven to bee too expensive and is raping the Mass. treasury...How will Romney explain his support for this disaster...which I believe helped elect Brown to E. Kennedy's Senate seat.

It may end up being Romney's achilles heel.

James

Personally, as a Sarah Palin supporter, I hope she never runs for President... I think that would be a dead-end job for her. Once in, she would get bogged down by the system... the President has to depend on both the Congress and the Senate to fully support them in order to get anything done. And those two institutions are fkd.. that is why there is a Tea Party movement. I hope she continues to affect change in the political system and help correct some of the corruption and stupidity in Washington and in addition, change the way the elite political and media class look at the "masses"... actually, strike that... I hope she is able to fully expose what a bunch of dolts the elites are and drive them into hiding (at the very least, have them look in a mirror and realize what asses they are) I think you had a little of that in Britain when you recently exposed all your politicians living off the taxpayer tit with their personal expenses and embarrassed some of them to get the hell out.

Michael

Finally, someone gets it. Thank you. And on November 2, 2010, we're going to take our country back. Plan on it.

Grizzled

"Britain needs its own ‘Tea-Party’ movement to challenge the whole dopey-changey thing here, too."-

Do It.
Take your country back and make it strong again.
Heaven knows we need as much help as we can get over here in the USA.

Zordana

At least she is legal, unlike Obama (allegedly)
Barack Obama is reported to have said, "...you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship."

How does he get away with it while she is ridiculed and abused,for being honest - what has gone wrong with America?
Oh i forgot, he is a New World Order plant, she is not.

David

Theres a reason the media INSTANTLY shut down talking about her state governing record.They instead went after her family,the trivial & her clothes.If you study her record you find how fast she got things done.She passed her states strictest ethics laws.Restructured taxes on big oil,to benifit her citizens more.Made big oil deal with officials in public.Gave every man woman and child in her state an extra $1200 rebate 2 Xs.Put her state 20%on energy renewables, & on a path to be 50% by 2025.Reduced almost a billion in gov spending out of 2 budgets.Before her it was over 11 billion.She reduced dependence on federal earmarks by 85%.Medicade backlogs by 83%.She set hundreds of millions to the side for energy renewable projects,weatherization,and home heating oil rebates.She negotiated a 40 billion dollar masive private sector cng pipeline deal.Made her states taxes Americas lowest.Saved billions in good times for times like now.Negotiated several trade deals with forighn govs for her states resourse & seafood industries.Invested $ with her states PDF fund that brought back good returns.Won a supream court decision to open a goldmine against enviro wackos.There is much more but this is too long allready.Palin like her or not,is no dummy.

John.Frank

Ms. Phillips,

Good analysis. Thank you.

Gabriel J. Benton

Ms. Phillips as an American, who can trace his roots to the American War for Independence, I have to say that you are spot on the money with your timely piece on Mrs. Palin. I will say further that I have watched in great dismay to see the Great Britain that I have come to love through the history books slide from a great monarchy to a petty Orwellian/Huxleyian socialist state. My plea to Great Britain is to return to a God fearing liberty loving monarchy and may God bless America and God bless Great Britain and may God save the Queen.

Robert Arvay

Daniel Hannan!

Rathtyen

I have a running discussion/argument with friends regarding Sarah Palin. They don’t follow US politics the way I do (we are in Australia), so have the MsM view, and almost universally regard Palin as an idiot, at best a hopeless lightweight.

I’m old enough to remember a similar level of scorn and dismissal directed at Ronald Reagan (even though I was still at school), and the similarities are interesting. Democrats, and Republican competitors, do not take Palin seriously enough, and your article does a good job of outlining how little sense this makes.

Palin is using a Wal-Mart strategy. She’s bypassing the normal lines, and wooing the all-too-often forgotten or taken-for-granted masses. Wal-Mart concentrated on the areas others ignored, and barely unnoticed, accumulated a massive business base. Palin is doing something similar, and if she stays on track, will accumulate a massive backing of people who believe (and probably with good reason) that she can see things from their perspective.

Palin will also have something else. Obama benefitted from a view “it’s time” to have America’s first African-American President, and as the first serious choice available (Colin Powell would also have had this support, but didn’t run) picked up extra votes on that sentiment. But now, that’s been done, and already most people are over it.

Expect to see a “it’s time” theme for the first female President, quietly sponsored by Palin and/or Clinton (assuming she manoeuvres herself for a run: I think she will). That has the potential to swing extra votes her way.

If Palin doesn’t make a major slipup(s), on her current trajectory, I think she’ll be in a position by 2012 to swamp Obama. Against Clinton would be a more difficult call, but I think Palin would carry that too. Clinton is damaged goods, and to get to run in 2012 she’d likely alienate many Obama supporters, who would rather see Palin win than Benedict Arnold-Clinton.

Nick

Gabriel Benton, as Alastair Campbell so correctly observed, the British 'don't do God', and rightly so. 'Guns, babies and Jesus' is worthless currency in the UK.

I love all this carping about 'elitists', by the way. Who would you rather have running the country? An elitist or a hillbilly? (And what was George W. Bush, other than a Harvard graduate and Texan oil billionaire? Was he a 'common man'?)

Surely the elitists look after their own, with their tax breaks, light-touch regulation and kickbacks. It's the poor, uneducated hillbillies the American Right should fear; they if anyone know the value of the redistribution of wealth and the benefits of universal healthcare.

Trumpeldor

@Melanie,

I do like that lady
She has style,purpose,a correct dress code,human values,a political message which sounds good to my ears.
Take Obama,he has none of the qualities except the dress code
By electing a character based on skin color,US citizens,especially liberal Jews,are poking their eyes !
Yes,it is painful ,still more painful for Israeli citizens who will have to act ,on their own,as usual, againt Iranian fasists

Gene Carr

The American left/liberal elites are not highly educated. They are 'half educated' which is worse than not being educated at all. Also, anyone who has taken the trouble to study what Sarah Palin has actually accomplished, particularly during her first 18 months as Alaskan Governor cannot but be impressed, not only bay her practical common sense, but by her obvious high intelligence. Would that we had pursued her fiscal policies in this part of the world. Run, Sarah, run!

Pete

James, I wouldn't worry. Palin will never be president. Rights, wrongs, and IQ scores aside, it would just be a really, really stupid move for the Republicans to run someone who could alienate pretty much every undecided voter out there. She'll enter the primaries, whip her supporters up into a frenzy, and then tell them to back some smiling hair-cut who has half a chance of winning.

John A. Davison

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air in the political scene. Unfortunately, women hate beautiful women even when they prove to be very intelligent. Palin's greatest adversaries will be members of her own sex. She would make a great Secretary of State.

An American

David,
Thank you for your indepth stats on Palin's accomplishments for Alaska. I knew some of them, but not all...pretty impressive, and even more so when you compare them to Obama's complete lack of accomplishments...

Rathtyen,
A great comparison between Palin and Reagan. I was much younger when Reagan was president and I believed what the media and the libs said about him, much to my shame. Without a doubt, history will someday put Reagan in the company of the best of our founding fathers.
What made Reagan and now makes Palin special is that they believe in a simple, common sense direction for American based on the Constitution.

David,
My daughter and I discussed this...she was surprised how many of her female friends didn't like Palin instead of supporting her...and we both chalked it up to nothing but jealousy. Unfortunately good looking women are still viewed as less intelligent than homely women or men... but hopefully Palin and some of the women at Fox are in the process of helping change that ancient idea.

Mercian

Non choice is just right.

My own shire town of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire - normally a safe Tory seat - has now got a Tory candidate who is Pakistani, Muslim, metropolitan and - a Banker.

There is no muslim "community" in Bromsgrove. His profile in no way matches the community that the Tories say he should serve.

They just want to tick the ethnic/muslim box. The electorate are incidental - its a "safe seat".

There is now a possibility that, for the first time in living history, the Tories will not be voted in in Bromsgrove.

Oh, and the LibDems are fielding a Chinaman and Labour, well, Labour is so dead it's attracting flies.

Trust in politicians is now so low that people will be voting for anyone but the main parties - or no-one at all.

There could be a major upset in Bromsgrove - "Worcestershire man/woman" may just vote BNP, UKIP or just anyone but the usual suspects..

John A. Davison

I agree with Gene Carr. President Harry Truman voiced a similar opinion of liberals when he described William J. Fullbright as "an overeducated son of a bitch."

jadavison.wordpress.com

A.Mactaggart

I understand that Sarah waived her $100,000 speaking fee for the privelege of Addressing the Tea Party

Christopher Chantrill

The problem is that the core Conservative voters in Britain are just sitting around "in despair."

In the US, in one year after Mr. Hopey-Changey was inaugurated, there is a full-scale popular rejectionist movement that's held a national convention and has a headline politician already co-opting it.

Nothing will change in Britain until the people do something other than sit around in despair.

logdon

Poll: Palin Tops GOP Field for 2012

Sarah Palin's recent book success and her new high-profile role on Fox News are having a stunning impact on her political standing with a Newsmax-Zogby poll showing the former Alaska governor now leading the GOP field as the party's preferred candidate for president.

http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/palin-poll-zogby-romney/2010/01/27/id/348220

Ian

She's as mad as a box of frogs, but I love her. I hope she runs for prez as she'll be good for a barrel of laughs for years to come. The thought that the possessor of such monumental simplistic ignorance could eventually be the most powerful person on the planet has to be the pinnacle of the American political system.

Robert Twizell

America and the west are on a downward economic trajectory.

On the whole, standard of living has to fall in the Western democracies.

While many people don't see the big picture, they feel the short term effects of this long term slide. Namely the gyrations in the financial markets of the last few years, the jockeying for position of the economic elite with vast salaries and bonuses.

The mass develops a formless anger.

The mass of course, are marshalled by an intelligence guiding them for their own purposes. They find a figurehead like Palin and of course, their 'oratory', itself a kind of formless yell, is attractive to the growing mob.

Then we get the war.

mark

Death Panels. Sarah's contribution to political discourse on health care reform.
If she is as smart as some say then then she cynically lied. If she believes it to be true then she's crackers. Give me Dopey Changey thing any day.

Peter T

Mark,

Death Panels? What do you think NICE is? If they decide the medicine is too expensive you won't get it even if you need it. As for Sarah Palin, if she was standing over here I would vote for her. I suspect many others would too.

mark

Peter
"As for Sarah Palin, if she was standing over here I would vote for her. I suspect many others would too"

Perhaps many others would but I do not believe a majority would. NICE is an unfortunate acronym. It rations out of budgetry necessity, which may be relieved with some reform of the NHS with an enhanced private option.

However intelligent debate in this country is stifled because some scream "Privatisation" and they are not properly taken on. This is the retort of hardline leftists. Such people hold certain sway over the body politic but an overtly left winger is unlikely to be elected to the highest office in the land. Ordinary middle of the road, or floating voters like me won't go there.

The Obama reform was based on the notion of a public option to improve a healthcare system that costs 16% of GDP: twice that of most OECD countries. Rationing in this system is on the basis of ability to pay. Tens of millions of Americans cannot afford insurance or are underinsured. No government QUANGO to ration, a simple case of no insurance no treatment.
In order to defend this status quo Sarah Palin uses the highly evocative term Death Panel.
It has the same effect of strangling rational debate as the Privatisation cat calls I alluded to earlier, although the language is a tad nastier. Someone is equally unlikely to be elected to the highest office in this land. Most people will not stomach such use of language to defend such a system. I think also that an episode such as the Katie Couric "What newspaper do you read?" interview would finish her in this country. No one here would attempt to portray such an exchange as part of a left wing media campaign to undermine her. Ludicrously this has been claimed in The US. We may not respect our politicians but we do expect a minimal level of erudition and awareness

Perhaps the most appropriate retort to Palin's Death Panel statement was made by Sharon Lee, US healthcare professional who works in the Family Healthcare clinic, Kansas. She and her fellow professionals work at a flat rate of $12 per hour in an institution reliant on charitable donations.
"I'm very angry, very angry, Many of the people I treat have already been in front of a death panel and have lost – a death panel controlled by insurance companies. I see people dying at least monthly because we have been unable to get them what they needed. It's the working poor who are most at disadvantage." The full article can be seen here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/21/healthcare-provision-us-uk.

I trust that the name of the publication will not put contributors off reading it.

There is a slim chance that she may be elected in the US but I very much doubt it. She has a bigger following there because The US is, in my view to the right of the UK.

The republicans will keep giving her enough latitude whilst they rebuild. She fulfills the role of providing vocal opposition to Obama in the mean time. Deep down they are counting on her at some stage offending a far more electorally important constituency than underpaid caring professionals and the poor. My guess is that she will do this after or during the mid term elections, quite possibly using rope quietly fed to her by her fellow republicans, many of whom cannot and will not forgive her for breaking ranks and in their mistaken belief that she cost them the presidency. However History does teach us that constitutional parties of the right who adopt such tactics can come badly unstuck, albeit with far more extreme right wingers than Palin.

So Peter that's my reply for what its worth. Might be interesting in 9 months time to see where the Palin campaign has got too? Stay in touch.