Topic: Sarah Palin
The Sarah Palin Factor, Part 2 An update on my previous comments about GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin.by David F. Nolan
(libertarian)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Sarah Palin Factor, Part 2
Ten days have passed since I posted The Sarah Palin Factor here on nolanchart.com. That piece was written the day after Sen. McCain announced that she would be his running mate, and it contained some observations and speculations based on very limited information. This piece is intended as an update, and includes my response to some of the comments that were posted in response to my August 30 column.
In that column, I stated that I did not think Palin would help the McCain campaign very much. It now appears that she WILL be an asset to that campaign. Reportedly, she's getting bigger cheers at campaign rallies than McCain is, and the social conservatives are coming off the sidelines to support the GOP ticket. Whether that will be enough to overcome Obamamania and the media's worship of the Democratic nominee remains to be seen.
I caught some flak from several people for my remark that "while Ms. Palin seems like a sharp lady, a mom with five kids -- one only a few months old -- just has too many family responsibilities to be dealing with heads of state and trying to navigate the treacherous shoals of Washington power politics as a newbie." Interestingly, none of those critics took note of the last three words in that sentence, so point I'll them out. If Ms. Palin were already thoroughly familiar with the people and the procedures of Washington, DC, I would not have made my comments.
If she had spent four years in Congress, and another four as a Cabinet member, she'd know the players, the rules, and the traps that will be laid for her. But as a newbie with an infant child, I don't think she has a chance of both being both a good mother and an effective Vice President, let alone a President if McCain drops dead early in his term.
Also, in response from my comment that Palin is "hardly a libertarian," I invite my readers to see the excellent commentary on this point by my friend Tom Knapp. As he notes, she may well be a charming, articulate social conservative that aligns with libertarians on a few issues, but she's NOT A LIBERTARIAN.
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Lack of experience is no more a problem for Palin than it would be for any of the previous Libertarian candidates excluding Barr. None of them had any experience in politics. Beyond that, look at what the "experienced" politicians have done:
$10 trillion National debt.
$45 trillion in unfunded future liabilities.
Raided the Social Security trust fund so that it now contains $2 trillion in IOUs.
Started a costly and pointless war against a country that did nothing to us.
Passed laws that violate the constitution and intrude on our rights. (Patriot act, BCRA)
If that's experience then she's better off without it, and so is the country.
The "Not a Libertarian" part is true unfortunately.
Posted By: Thomas L. Knapp
Date: 2008-09-09 21:02:08
David S,
You write:
"None of them [previous Libertarian presidential candidates] had any experience in politics."
Former Vermont state legislator Roger MacBride (the 1976 Libertarian Party presidential candidate) would probably be surprised to learn that he had no experience in politics. I strongly suspect that former (as of 1988, when he was the LP's presidential nominee) and former Alaska legislator Andre Marrou (the LP's 1992 presidential nominee) would be as well.
I actually agree with the Rs - in that Palin has more experience than Obama. I'll take her executive experience over any of the Ds. Having said that, no she's not a Libertarian - she's a staunch conservative. But... I think the experience is more of a Democratic attack rather than a reality.
Absolutely right, she is no Libertarian. And, contrary to Bob Barr, she does not pretend to be one.
I don't think many Libertarians believe she is one of them. Her main feature for Libertarians is that she might be able to change the Republican party for the better and push the neo-conservatives to some corners. She might build bridges with the Ron Paul movement; she could ask for more auditing of the Reserve Federal or call for transfers of responsibilities from the Federal to the state level.
Sarah Palin as the next Ronald Reagan and conservative icon shows that the Libertarian Party's strategy of moving towards the conservatives in order to get the ball rolling is a poor strategy. Republican conservatives will always be able to reinvent themselves and marginalize third parties trying to bite or swallow them. Look how much she is hurting Bob Barr. Even Ron Paul has lost some wind...
She also shows that a narrative consistent with the political agenda is a very powerful combination. Frankly, Bob Barr and years of statism as a Libertarian hero...
Libertarians should stick to a radical message, avoid any ideological concession to statism and regard elections as opportunities to push the message and not as opportunities to take over government and shrink it once in power.
Sara needs to do some campaigning showing more cleavage or maybe one of those 'Britney-Spears-no-panties-coming-out-of-the-car' pictures. That would get McCain the horny-internet-porn-user vote who would otherwise stay at home self-loving on election night. Then when McCain dies next year, she would be the President that you would like to sleep with or maybe play with the cigars in the Oval Office.
That is how the Entertainment Industry raises their profits!!! Will it work with the vote-peddling business?
Palin is not a libertarian of any kind but she is at least a halfway decent conservative in the Reagan tradition which considering how far down the Republican party has fallen into the neo-con (facist) trap and the communistic Democrat Party has fallen from it Jeffersonian roots isn't a bad thing. I'm still voting for Barr.
Of course, "she's not a libertarian" in your opinion and in the opinion of Thomas Knapp. But both y'all's libertarian credentials are in question. Knapp is not a libertarian, but rather a hard-left liberal with occasional libertarian tendencies, who flirts with outright Anarchism. You used to be a Libertarian, but you've become much more of a Leftist over the years.
So, when one hears Dave Nolan or Tom Knapp saying so and so is "not a libertarian" you gotta take it with a grain of salt.
Posted By: David F. Nolan
Date: 2008-09-10 18:43:30
Gee, Dumbdero, I don't know of anyone except you who questions my libertarian credentials. You, on the other hand, are a self-proclaimed "proud Republican" who supports the Iraq War, and has spent several years now attacking Ron Paul. So why does your opinion about who is or isn't a libertarian matter to anyone?
I favor ending the Federal personal income tax and privatizing Social Security. I am a strong supporter of the ENTIRE Bill of Rights, including the right of individuals to own firearms. I don't think the Federal government should do anything not specfied in the Constitution. (That means staying completely out of areas like education and healthcare.) How does that make me a "leftist"?
Posted By: Thomas L. Knapp
Date: 2008-09-11 14:11:58
I object to Eric Dondero's characterization of me as "a hard-left liberal with occasional libertarian tendencies, who flirts with outright Anarchism."
The first clause is redundant, as libertarianism is liberalism (today's "liberals" hijacked the term from us), and as libertarianism has always been a hard-left political movement, ever since the supporters of laissez faire plopped their asses down on the left side of the assembly in France.
As to the second clause, I don't "flirt" with anarchism. I'm an anarchist -- which is just another way of saying that philosophically I am one particular kind of libertarian. As it happens, I don't generally express anarchism politically, as I figure that's a losing proposition. It's just a utopian dream of mine. In the real world, I work to reduce the size, scope and power of the state, not to eliminate it.
I think that's a better approach to libertarianism than Dondero's approach (drawing the names of big-government Republicans out of hats, proclaiming them "libertarians," and setting up cheering sections for them).
I find it interesting when critics imply that a married woman is less capable than a married man of having a career and a youngster at home. Todd Palin seems to be a capable father with plenty of prior experience. I had five children in less than 8 years. If my wife had a good paying job, I would have been happy to stay at home while she slayed the dragons. Other than providing breast milk, I made a pretty good mother. Five children over 20 years is more manageable. It's the Palins' hobby, followed by grandchildren next year. They're partners. It should be a non-issue.
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