Palin Out but not Down

Gloria Feldt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:38:44 -0500

America's most famous female point guard has dribbled off the court...for now.

But don't count her out. Linda Lowen at About.com describes cheering crowds
for Sarah Palin in Auburn NY last month when she visited the home of
William Seward, whose purchase of Alaska was deemed folly at the time.
Little could the public back during Andrew Johnson's presidency have
known our frozen new territory would one day spawn Palin.

Twitter was predictably awash in clever tweets, many snide and yes some sexist ones that I won't dignify by repeating here:

Misha1234 RT @cbn2: "I love my job and I love Alaska...but I'm doing what's best for Alaska." - Sarah Palin (Last part is *true*.)

RosieCaat Sarah Palin's
political ambition combined with her intellect is like putting a jet
engine on a golf cart; lots of horse power & no steering

garybc RT @LouYoungNY: For everyone who was tired of Michael Jackson dominating the news: Sarah Palin heard you.

Lowen has this right:

To say she received a hero's welcome would be an understatement. She
rode in a parade down streets jammed with gushing well-wishers. Local
television showed smiling faces -- young, old, male, female -- all
saying how attractive she was, how sweet, how much they admired her.

She has deeply devoted, dedicated supporters.

On that day, Palin enjoyed a kind of rock-star celebrity that was a
far cry from her more pedestrian day-to-day dealings with legislators
back home in a state where her approval ratings have dropped
significantly since she stepped onto the national stage.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza thinks she
resigned to prepare to run for president in 2012. Others are sure she's
escaping some sort of scandal about to break. Some assume it's pure
petulance coupled with the looming storm clouds on Alaska's financial
horizon. Or, who knows, maybe she saw Russia about to take some
sinister action while she was looking at it from her porch.

MY prediction? Palin has big money contracts for media gigs and her
book, has pr handlers who have helped her orchestrate her rollout as
"the voice of the Republican Party" and position her for a presidential
run. Her speech was rambling, filled with platitudes, and nonsensical,
but that has never bothered her dedicated supporters.

Palin may well have resigned because there was a scandal brewing
and/or she has big problems in Alaska, as many have speculated. But
this resignation is her way of staying in control, of asserting her
power. Her gutsiness would be admirable if it were possible to see any
reason other than self serving ones for this move.

Count her out for the moment, but not down.

http://www.GloriaFeldt.com/heartfeldt-politics-blog

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Palin Out but not Down