Frank Rich on Sarah Palin: "She Broke the G.O.P. and Now She Owns It"

Love this image:

And kind of astounding:

In the aftermath of her decision to drop out and cash in, Palin’s standing in the G.O.P. actually rose in the USA Today/Gallup poll. No less than 71 percent of Republicans said they would vote for her for president. That overwhelming majority isn’t just the “base” of the Republican Party that liberals and conservatives alike tend to ghettoize as a rump backwater minority. It is the party, or pretty much what remains of it in the Barack Obama era.

That’s why Palin won’t go gently into the good night, much as some Republicans in Washington might wish. She is not just the party’s biggest star and most charismatic television performer; she is its only star and charismatic performer. Most important, she stands for a genuine movement: a dwindling white nonurban America that is aflame with grievances and awash in self-pity as the country hurtles into the 21st century and leaves it behind.

Comments

[Mike Licht]

Governor Palin's record of resentments was chronicled by Noam Scheiber before the election.

See:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=8c130fe3-adab-4cb3-8443-c363f085cf13

Sarah Palin has only one member of the media to blame for her treatment: herself.

She has a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter and TV sportscaster.

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/01/10/sarah-palin-mad-as-hell/

[sloane]

The only thing I like about Palin is that she's good fodder for Tina Fey. But criticism of her resignation--which is coming from people who aren't her supporters anyway--only illustrates how out-of-touch political pundits are, and why Sarah Palin does (still) appeal to a lot of people. "Real America" as much as I'm not fond of the term (and would be excluded from the narrow interpretation that has been given to it..by her detractors) does understand and respect the decision to put family first.

John Tantillo is a branding expert and does a weekly brand winner/loser post on his blog. In last week's post, he named political pundits the 'brand loser' for being out of touch, predicting their decline as they listen "to their own little echo chamber"--and named Palin the brand winner, explaining that it is entirely consistent with her personal brand, and thus actually positions her for a future in politics if she should want one. In resigning, she stood behind her own family values (as her family was being dragged through the mud by the media) and her stance against waste (as she was watching millions of AK $s be spent on frivolous investigations). Full post.

[CB]

Love this quote:

"If Sarah Palin looked like Golda Meir, would we even be talking about her today?"

-Mike Murphy - Repbulican strategist

[CB]

One more thing. Lest we forget, this is who Palin is and what she brings to the table:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk8moOxzlGQ&feature=related

Good lord! It blows me away that this woman is still even in the conversation!!!