Sarah Palin’s Defiance

by Douglas Gibbs 

When Sarah Palin was the governor of the State of Alaska, before she was asked to be McCain’s running mate, she was among the most popular governors in the country. Her style, and adherence to strict conservative principles, were among the reasons I predicted she would be the Vice Presidential candidate in the 2008 Election.
During those early days of the campaign, when eight or ten candidates remained in the race, there were others that pushed for Sarah Palin to be chosen as the candidate for Vice President, as well. I interviewed some of them on my radio program, and wrote often about the campaign to make Palin the next Vice President of the United States. The enthusiasm rising up was a welcomed change. When Palin was picked to be the running mate, after the less-than-conservative (domestically, anyway) presidency of George W. Bush, and a very moderate (if not downright liberal) presidential candidate in John McCain, it was a relief to see a bold conservative on the ticket.

Then, the politics of personal destruction, used in the same way that Kennedy launched against Robert Bork decades before, was catapulted at Palin. Lie after lie, and attack after attack, was fired in Palin’s direction. The accusations of being a book burner, a secessionist, or unable to put together two thoughts in a reasonable manner, were all a bunch of crap, but each of the attacks hit their mark. Even the ridiculous notion that Palin said she could see Russia from her house was used to damage her. She never said she could see Russia from her house. Tina Fey did impersonating Palin on Saturday Night Live. But, the uninformed masses, and even some of the sort-of-informed folks, believed the idiocy. Sarah Palin’s name became mud, and today one of those men that helped her reach the level of McCain’s running mate contacted me, asking to remove his name from any articles I wrote about Palin, because he is trying to get a job and he believes being so closely associated with Palin back then can hurt his chances for new employment.
I did as he asked, but I also wrote him that my principles are stronger than that, and I am not going to abandon mine as easily as he was willing to abandon his.

Now, Sarah Palin is a joke to democrats, and a pariah to republicans. The true conservatives, however, still hold her in high esteem. We still recognize her as a force to be reckoned with. Though she has stepped out of the political limelight as a candidate, and her time at Fox News has ended, she continues to be involved, acting in defiance of all of the attacks, and in defiance of the ill aura cast upon her by the liberal left.
This year’s Conservative Political Action Conference included Sarah Palin as one of the speakers, and she hit the Obama administration in ways conservatives had only hoped for, going after the democrat’s push for gun control, as well as their unwillingness to pass a budget.
With Big Gulp in hand she also hammered on liberal policies running amok throughout our country, calling upon the Constitution, hammering on the intrusive federal government, accusing the mainstream media, and revealing the dangers presented by the GOP Beltway consultants as they continue to work to move the Republican Party to the left.
Taking on the ruling class, or as she called them, the “permanent political class,” served as the primary theme of her speech. . . well, that, and calling for all to be involved in the fight.

“The last thing we need is Washington D.C. vetting our candidates,” she said, criticizing the GOP politicos who have had little success. And she referred to “the architects,” a none-too-subtle dig at Karl Rove, Stu Stevens, and others.
“We deserve better than the people who call themselves our leaders,” she said. “But we won’t get it unless we’re ready to fight, and this is one fight that is worth it.”