Posted by
thekeenobserver on Friday, July 17, 2009 11:36:49 PM
"Those phony politicians! They're nothing but a bunch of crooks!"
This is the bitter political irony that haunts Sarah Palin.
In 2002, after serving three terms as mayor of small-town Wasilla, Palin ran for Alaska's lieutenant governor, finishing a narrow second in a five-way Republican primary.
In the proceeding autumn, long time U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski would win the Alaskan governor's race.
Governor Murkowski had all but decided to appoint the charismatic Ms.Palin to serve his two remaining years in the U.S. Senate, but instead chose his own daughter, state representative Lisa Murkowski, then named Palin to the Alaskan Oil and Gas Commission.
That was irony number one, and a huge one at that.
Two years later, the "Anchorage Daily News" was urging Palin to oppose Lisa Murkowski, and thwart her chance at a successive Senate term. But shockingly, Palin declined, revealing that her family- particularly her teenage son - opposed it.
Indeed, what other person would have put family before the limelight of the U.S. Senate? Only Sarah Palin would be forthright enough to admit that.
That was irony number two.
Then finally, the payoff: In 2006, running on a clean-government platform, Palin got "retribution," defeating the incumbent Murkowski in the Alaskan gubernatorial race.
Now the final irony: how Palin - rated the most popular governor in America in 2007- a year later would become one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. political history.
Despite being the most accomplished woman to have entered national politics in a generation, Palin fell hapless victim to her deep sincerity and candor; and the leftist media had uncovered the one weakness that could entrap her.
Playing defense was not how Palin had risen her way to the top political post in her home state.
But after electrifying the Republican convention with her "lipstick on a pit bull" speech, Palin mysteriously emerged a month later, meek as a chihuahua - ironically, a victim of bad advice from campaign handlers, who had encouraged her to play nice.
Immediately - smelling blood in the water - the media sharks began circling for the kill.
Remember the prank caller from a Montreal radio station, pretending to be President Sarkozy? Then follow that up with the fateful interviews with Couric and Gibson, and it was absolutely stupefying how fast she had crashed - never to recover.
Thanks to "Saturday Night Live," it was Sarah Palin, the brilliant orator of late summer '08, to the "I-can-see-Russia" airhead by October- does it get any more ironic than that?
And more ironic yet- half of Americans currently view her negatively..."not bright, not educated, possesses a 'cheerleader' mentality."
But the other half sees her as..."fearless, stands up for conservative family values"...and..."just what the Republican party needs."
Nowadays, America's electorate has sunk to the lowest common denominator in our nation's history:
People no longer demand (or respect) honesty in their political candidates. This of course, results in America getting the government it deserves- phony politicians who'll stop at nothing to keep themselves in office.
And herein lies Palin's problem: let's call it the "Serpico syndrome."
In his classic 1973 hit movie, Al Pacino playes Frank Serpico, the brutally honest New York City cop who refuses to take bribes. Ironically, his fellow officers would set him up for an eventual fall, before he could make the rest of them look bad .
And Palin has become the Republican's Serpico; she has that rare, intangible quality of sincerity that makes her a decided threat to all other candidates; thus she was set up to fail in '08, and would be set up again in 2012 should she decide in favor of a run at the Whitehouse.
Sarah Palin running for president would be like Michael Jordan when he attempted to play major league baseball; despite his incredible athleticism, Jordan quickly discovered the difficulty of hitting the curve ball -something that requires years of experience.
Palin, at some point, needs to realize that like Jordan, she doesn't yet have the seasoning for the big leagues (national politics) - which also requires mastering curveball media questions. Ironically, she's just too brutally honest to run for President.
But like Jordan playing basketball-- if Palin sticks to her game (state politics)-- the one obvious place where she'd have maximium impact would be (hello) in the U.S. Senate!
But opposing Lisa Murkowski for her incumbent's seat presents problems; Alaskan polls taken in early 2009 suggest Senator Murkowski is doing a good job; so why "cannibalize" one solid Republican for another?
Why not compete where Sarah could really wreak havoc upon the devious democrats - where her honesty could really get voters excited?
Here's the obvious race nobody is talking about; go after the most dishonest, sneaky democrat of them all- Chuck (the scum) Schumer!
A Schumer- Palin contest would be the biggest draw in New York since the Ali- Frazier fight.
Every media outlet would be there for the political story of the decade... "Migrant Palin pulls a Hillary and defeats Senate incumbent Schumer!"
And - considering the contrast- it's not even a longshot; not only would Palin be able to utilize her agressiveness vs. the wormy, slithery Schumer, picture the two in a one-on-one debate:
In one corner, the beautiful, talented former governor of Alaska, versus the swarmy, sneaky, smirky Charles "we-can't-drill-our-way-out" Schumer.
By late summer of 2010, it would be cinch to be the lead story on the national nightly news:
Imagine, soundbites of the fiery Palin, chopping away at democrats (Schumer) for their traitorous energy policy & deficit spending , while Schumer would be doing what? He'd be on the defensive- something that almost spells defeat for any longstanding incumbent.
Picture it...Schumer vs Palin- it would be like Dracula against Wonder Woman; light vs. dark; truth vs evil.
The scummy Schumer is certainly not lacking in guile; but he has done nothing in his entire career but win elections- all in underhanded ways.
Schumer has a history of playing on the border - but he always seems to come out unscathed.
During his first term as a U.S. Congressman, he was censured for using his taxpayer- funded staff to illegally collect campaign contributions for his re-election.
Schumer knows the best way to win elections. He's the unequaled master of the political innuendo; he has an uncanny way of negatively casting political opponents in one-line soundbites.
Defeating Schumer is key to any possible resurgence of the Republican party in the near future; and Sarah Palin would be uniquely suited to repel his unfounded scurrilous attacks.
Picture the firebrand Palin in the Senate, sponsoring bills to re-open Alaska for drilling offshore, and speaking on behalf of America's one overriding problem - lack of a coherent energy policy. Here is where Ms. Palin would shine like a constellation.
It's actually a dream scenario for Republicans - Americans all across the nation, rooting for underdog Sarah Palin, patriotic energy expert, vs.Schumer, the creepy defeatist author of the "we can't drill our way out" mantra, who'd rather send OPEC $700 billion annually, than permit Americans to improve their standard of living with cheaper domestic energy.
So Republicans, let's end all the irony.
Wake up and realize that Sarah Palin is one in a trillion: a magnetic HONEST politician, with that certain intangible quality that no one can define, but everyone recognizes as capable of political miracles; and being the woman who's indeed, come a long way baby.