Friday, July 23, 2010

Palin's Shocking Admission

Excellent piece by David Corn:

Sarah Palin can't expect anyone to take her seriously as a presidential candidate -- not after what she said this week.

Thanks, Dave. That's a load off...

But Palin was offended. In responding to The Daily Caller piece, though, she conceded a major point about herself: She does not posses a hardy enough constitution to be president. In that interview, The Daily Caller reports, Palin

said the media became a key reason she decided not to finish out her term as governor.

Consider that for a moment. Eight months after the grueling 2008 campaign was over, Palin, by her own admission, was not tough enough to handle the media and had to quit her job as Alaska governor. After confessing that, how can she possibly present herself as presidential timber? If she allowed herself to be hounded out of office in Juneau by the big bad press, could she withstand the slings and arrows of the media while under pressure in the White House?

This part of her reaction to The Daily Caller article is a tell. Looking to scapegoat the media for her decision to quit -- a decision widely described at the time on the left and right as bizarre -- she displays her own weakness. Does a true commander in chief turn tail when "sick puppies" bark?

Usually they just delegate their Quick Reaction Spinmeister to respond.

I wonder if Palin meant to reveal this much. Possibly, she was lazily exploiting the latest Journolist revelation. Bashing the liberal media is good for Sarah Inc. It sells books and six-figure speeches. And it's good politics, for this theme is an oldie-but-goody relished by the GOP base and Tea Partiers -- the sort of voters who will dominate the Republican Party's 2012 presidential primaries. Still, saying that she could not do her job in Alaska because of pesky reporters is a true admission of weakness. If you can't stand the heat from reporters (including the ferocious liberals of Journolist), how can you be strong enough to deal with the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Iranians, the Taliban, and, oh yes, the terrorists? They're a bit more fierce than Katie Couric.

There's a phrase in there that bears repeating:

...the GOP base and Tea Partiers -- the sort of voters who will dominate the Republican Party's 2012 presidential primaries.

The candidates they select could be the best thing that could happen for this nation. As long as Non-Brain Dead Voters outnumber the Dead End Quarter in the general, we're safe. The results aren't in on that, of course. Let's wait and see how the teabagger candidates do later this year.

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