It seems that many of Sarah Palin’s critics are pushing the narrative that the former Alaska Governor has used her book and is using her book tour to settle old scores. They have bought into the Democratic talking point that the book in “political payback“. A headline in the Washington Times (of all places!) echoed this talking point by saying Palin has been painting herself as a victim.
I’ll reserve judgment on how she portrays herself in the book until I read it (I received my copy from amazon only today). I did catch this charismatic conservative last night on Hannity. She didn’t seem vindictive at all; she did not act like a victim. For example, when discussing the Newsweek cover which even Democrats are criticizing, she said, “But in the grand scheme of things, of course, things like that really don’t amount to a hill of beans”.
While she didn’t strike me as bitter, she didn’t strike me as presidential either. Hannity asked her what she would do to get the economy going again and she offered a string of platitudes, saying we should go back to the policies of Ronald Reagan. Now, that’s a fine sentiment to offer, her answer lacked specifics. She could have, for example, suggested cutting the corporate tax rate, given that we currently have the second highest such rate of the industrial countries. And talked about regulatory relief for small businesses.
Hannity tossed her a softball and she handled in a like manner. If she wants to be president, she needs offer more specifics. I suggest she take a cue from another up-and-coming female politician who has mastered the art of addressing the issues in a friendly TV interview:
Just watched the interview. Interesting.
1. No, I don’t think she came across as presidential either. Like you’ve said before, she needs to rise above these things more than she is in order to accomplish that.
2. She’s either improving or she gives a better interview when she feels less defensive… or maybe a little of both.
3. I think she did much better in the beginning of the interview than in the latter half. She seemed more at ease, her answers seemed both slower and more deliberate, and her body language was more relaxed, less aggressive.
In fact, I think the most notable thing about this interview is how much and how quickly she is improving. Both debating and this type of interview are skills that can be learned. Palin still has a lot of learning to do, but she is learning quickly.
I would still like to have a little zapper and give her a zap every time she uses a superfluous “there”, “too”, “also” or worst of all, several at once.
I think people forget that by the time she entered the presidential campaign, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain had ALL been campaigning at the national level for YEARS. For Sarah it was day one, and she has been playing catch up ever since.
The more interviews she does, the more she debates, the better she will get and the more formidable she will become.
Not sure if I actually think she is going to run for higher office though.
I think she’s going to need Senatorial experience before she’d ever make a half-decent presidential candidate. Being Governess of Alaska is all well and good, and her achievements there should not go unnoticed, but she had no experience at the federal level and I think that’s what counted (and will continue to count) against her. If she’d come in after a couple of terms running Alaska and THEN seen four or five years out in the Senate, she might have stood a better chance.
Neither did George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, etc.
Indeed, only a minority of our presidents have had national experience before running the country, and among those with national experience are some of our worst. Barack Obama and Warren Harding were both senators, for example, before going on to top the ranks of worst presidents ever.
What matters most are principles, character and leadership ability, all of which Palin seems to have in abundance.
Again, my prediction–she will move to a western state in the lower 48, probably Montana, become a senator, and then run for president later.
People in rural areas don’t show off their smarts. Women, especially, don’t say everything they know. Palin is like every smart woman I’ve met out here in flyover country.
As John Lennon said:
We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no
guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her
will to be free
While telling her not to be so
smart we put her down for being so dumb
All them good talkers do is impress the Left and the MSM into thinking they’ve got what it takes to be president…. My granny has never trusted a smoooooooth talking politician…. My granny and her friends talk just like Sarah Palin ….My granny and all her friends voted for McCain because of Sarah Palin.
And . . . “My granny and all her friends voted for McCain because of Sarah Palin.” McCain’s handlers and ‘advisers’ selected Palin in hopes of drawing votes. The Problem is that even though she had some experience she wasn’t vetted early enough and she wasn’t prepared to take on the media spotlight.
Through this carefully crafted book and very specific book tour Palin has the chance of gaining credibility and more skills.
Palin is a rogue player and will have to be paired with someone who will be able to handle the shared spotlight with Palin.
I do not think Palin is trying to look Presidential. She is scoring huge audiences for the interviewers and keeping her powder dry. The libs will attack her no matter what and her followers will defend her. But it the libs have to carp about her religion or holding warm moose eyes or her hillbilly family, etc. it just makes the libs look petty and churlish.
There is plenty of time for Palin to take on substantive issues. When she does, be certain that every lib talking head will blitzkrieg her but cut off her MSM route to respond.
Speaking of looking presidential, has anyone got a progress report on Obama? I heard him talking about making sure the people still trust the government. Did he mail checks to all those ACORN voters or are they still waiting for him to fill their gas tanks and pass out free drugs?
Did anyone notice that in the interview with Major Garrett on Fox, Obama kept using the wrong article: “a exact” instead of “an exact” for instance. This is basic grammar, folks, and he made this mistake several times. Why hasn’t anyone called him on it? How could you get through Harvard not know that you use “an” before a word which starts with a vowel?
Palin used “an” in front of words with a vowel, BTW.
Ash, screwing up an article… that’s the best you’ve got???
“Well, let’s see. There’s ― of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there’s never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but ―”
I’m one of those who would like a more seasoned politician for our next president. If Palin goes the route of Senator, I’ll consider her as possible presidential candidate.
Otherwise, if she remains on the scene as a strong voice for conservative values that is fine. Of course she needs to get better informed, platitudes about Reagan aren’t enough.
So, you admit that Obama misused articles in his interview? Subtract your Palin rant, you see my point? I would post his inarticulate rambling off-teleprompter, but the MSM cleans it up before it gets published.
What experience did Obama have before he became president? Not as much as Palin. I don’t know how I’d feel about her as president, but I think if he can be president, she sure as hell could too.
Knowing the difference between Iran and Iraq might help her seem a bit more “presidential,” too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM7Xhg0WIbU&feature=player_embedded#
The sad thing is, watching this, in conjunction with all the other nonsense she blathers, it’s really hard to make the case that this was a slip-up. Kudos to her, I guess though, for pronouncing Ahmadinejad correctly. After months of practice on the campaign trail, it practically rolls off her tongue. Which I guess is a step-up from the last Republican candidate for president.
Unfortunately for that argument, puppet william, your Barack Obama not only confused Iraq and Iran, he demonstrated complete and total ignorance of the fact that Iran was aiding and abetting terrorists who attack US citizens and US forces.
Don’t you ever get tired of ruining your credibility with such obvious examples of your hypocrisy? Or do you really believe that Obama should not be expected to know these things because of your belief that black people are inferior and cannot be held to the same standards as you do white people?