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The Political Life and Death of Sarah Palin 7/11/2009 1:21:30 PM
Ron Shegda writes from Hellertown, Pennsylvania The Political Life and Death of Sarah Palin
by Ron Shegda
Supporters and dTetractors alike can’t stop writing and talking about America’s favorite hockey Mom. How did Governor Sarah Palin’s July 4th Weekend announcement about her unknown future upstage President Barack Obama’s “détente” meetings with Russia’s leaders?
Hint: It wasn’t because our President put negotiations over our defensive weapon systems on the table for the first time in our history—maybe in any nation’s history.
Some say Sarah iced her political career. Others say she’ll soon be on a new goal setting and scoring streak. The fact is that America’s bench of well-prepared, capable leaders itself faces thin ice. Sarah Palin makes her liberal opponents uneasy. Maybe even scared. She’s as much a quitter as Barack Obama when he essentially left his Senate seat to campaign full-time for the White House during an exasperating 2 years.
Sarah Palin’s most remarkable achievement is that she represents conservatism done well. We all know the drill: limited government, lower taxes, peace through strength, traditional values. In the last 30 years conservatism was represented well only twice. The last time was the Congressional Revolution in 1994 when Republicans won the House for the first time in 50 years. Welfare reform, a balanced federal budget and other redirections became law. Of course, conservatism par excellence happened in 1980 with, well, Ronald Reagan.
Sarah Palin knows who she is and that she connects with everyday Americans. Is this hockey Mom abandoning Alaska? No, she’s fully joining Team USA and going for the gold like our 1980 Olympic Hockey Team. Just think. Alaska’s population of over 600,000 is similar to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. Imagine if County Executives John Stoffa or Don Cunningham were thrust on the national and world stages as a Vice-Presidential Candidate. Could the Valley hold them?
Of course, Alaska occupies 15% of America’s land mass. Governing The Last Frontier is not as simple as skinning a moose or gutting salmon. Yet Sarah Palin does all of these with excellence. Do you honestly think she won’t remain a sound voice for Alaska’s public affairs in the years ahead?
Palin’s situation at this moment is no different than when Pittsburgh Penguin phenom Mario Lemieux needed the addition of teammate Jaromir Jagr for winning two consecutive Stanley Cups. Or when superstar Sidney Crosby could not have led the Pens to this year’s Cup if not for Evgeni Malkin. For a Sarah Palin burst into sustained national leadership, she needs her Karl Rove—maybe it’s Laura Ingraham or Michelle Malkin. Palin needs an alter-ego strategist and writer just like Obama has David Axelrod.
Political debate and understanding today sways between liberalism and conservatism. Although these terms have changed meanings over the centuries, it’s the basic argument of more government or more privacy, more statism or more individuality. If Sarah Palin represents conservatism done well—even if the ice of leadership remains
thin—then America’s current liberalism may be viewed as extreme. Simply consider an unprecedented trillion dollar “stimulus” bill that no one read and hasn’t worked, or a previously unheard of $1.5 trillion federal budget deficit, or proposed laws that will tax away our coal and oil with no replacement, government takeover of private industries or the world’s best healthcare system, or a few dozen White House “tzars” that have real power but no Constitutional or Congressional authority.
It’s scary the way America looks. That’s why liberalism run amuck feels uneasy when looking at Sarah Palin. She’s genuine. Ask people from Wasilla or Alaska about her trustworthiness. Wow! What attributes for a public leader!! After all, Americans easily recognize reality versus image. That’s as long as we don’t overdo it with American Idol, or is it Idle?
