07-09-2009, 10:53 AM
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#169 (permalink)
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Junkie
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Here is a view from Alaska that I found illuminating:
Quote:
I didn't vote for her in the primary, or in the general election, because I thought she wasn't qualified. I sometimes think that the word "qualified" for higher public office really means 'not a part of the upper class political structure'. It makes sense in part. How could anyone who doesn't hobnob with the elite power structure have the knowledge and wherewithal to govern, which is in a large part hobnobing with the elite power structure?
I and a huge majority of Alaskans would say she has done a good job on the issues she has taken on. Alaska lives and dies by the oil patch. She squeezed quite a few sheckels out of the oil men, and reinvigorated a gas pipline that had been on hold status for a decade. I'm sure that was made easier by high gas and oil prices. She rooted out the old guard Republicans who were pretty corrupt, but her Republican predicessor Murkowski was almost universally disliked which probably made that job easier. The state is fiscally sound (believe it or not that wasn't the case recently), but with $100 oil for a lot of her term I'm not sure that speaks to Palin's abilities. She has cut next year's state budget by 7%, but the budget was bloated beyond belief. I would have been more convinced if she had used the scissors her first year.
The point? I'm not a huge Palin fan, but she hasn't made any large missteps in her times as mayor or governor. Both the claims of how wonderful or how terrible she is seem way off the mark of what I see from up here. People like Jon obviously don't even take the time to research the facts. People like Simon seem to be projecting the ideal of what they see to be good governance on her. I'd say the truth lays somewhere in between.
This is how I see Palin:
1. She is smart. I watched her dismantle the opposition in the primary and general. I felt genuinely sorry for them. She was using a notebook at the televised debates, but the facts were at her command, and she used them like a razor. If I hear someone say she is stupid or crazy, there is not much reason to listen anymore, since they don't know what they are talking about. Could she make the proper decisions in high level negotiations? I doubt it, but I figure it would only take her a couple of months to reach Obama's level of expertise (who is doing a reasonably good job of it IMO).
2. She is ambitious. I'm far from an insider but it is common knowledge she is pretty ruthless when someone is standing in the way of her agenda. She doesn't seem to be power mad, but she has stepped on quite a few toes on the way up.
3. This is completely heresay (in fact anything I'm saying here has at least 3 or more filters. I've never met the woman, or know anyone who has had regular dealings with her) but I've heard from people who should know that she has an extrodinary amount of common sense. If she thinks it will work it most generally does. Sometimes against the consenus common sense.
4. She talks funny. Sorry Palin lovers - she does. I'm not sure how she can ever communicate effectively to the mass until she does better with her syntax. I'm guessing that this is what brings out the bile in a lot of people. I mean you could break a finger trying to diagram one of her sentences! But if you listen (you don't have to interpret, just listen) what she is saying is not that hard to understand. Whether you agree with it or not. And to me at least she does sound a bit whiny. She is getting a raw deal from the media, but that's life.
5. She is personally socially conservative, but has made no effort to make social conservatism a part of the state's agenda. The internet rumor mill on this point has been astoundingly off base.
6. She is an outsider. The plus is that power corrupts, and 10 term senators are walking proof. The minus is that the POTUS is not an island. She has no connections. Washington is hardball, and she would be on the field by herself.
I have no insight to why she quit other than what she said, and agree with others who say that this is an insurmountable obstacle to her ever running for president. But I can tell you that I am interested in what she will do in the future, and wish her well. Frankly I hope she litters the ground with a whole lot of bodies along the way. It's time to clean up the political genepool.
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I found this here, if anyone wants to go back to the source. |
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