Posted by
Bill Crawford on Monday, November 23, 2009 10:53:56 PM
The lightning rod is out there again, drawing jeers and cheers in the high decibel range.
Her presence is an unapologetic slap in the face at both coasts and most of the northern cities. The book itself is a slap at the Beltway crowd. There is no index, and everybody knows that D.C. people love to peruse the index to see where they are mentioned. They all had to actually read the damned thing, and there will be hell to pay for that.
Sarah is an advance man's dream. Tell everybody where she will show up, and the overflow crowds appear without any effort. The flyover people love her, and would run through a wall for her.
She is trying to establish a new media model. George W. Bush let his detractors write his history, and she is openly defying the power of the media to write hers. She is openly mocking the mainstream media, and not caring about maintaining cordial relations.
This is a dangerous game. When the old media mocks you, you lose swing voters in the process. If enough swing voters need to be convinced first that you are qualified for office, that is historically a huge burden to overcome. I don't know if she can do it, but I agree with her that it is her only choice.
She may not rise to national office- soon. She will at least be a credible Republican kingmaker in 2012, and her support of candidates will garner her chits for future plans.
I think she may have a chance when she gets older, and has a few more wrinkles, which casual observers will equate to gravitas. But she will not succeed before then- we won't get over the brutal sexism of the notion that attractive women aren't capable.
We are in the middle of a full ought culture war in this country, and Sarah is the poster child for the conservative side. Her supporters are tired of being told that the cadidates they support are stupid and unqualified, and by logical extension, they are stupid, too. They are enjoying watching the blood pressure of her detractors explode every time she talks.
At least I am.