April 20, 2022 - 7:00am
A bona fide celebrity ever since she was introduced to the nation in 2008, Sarah Palin speaks for the forgotten men and women in the heartland (even though she is, literally, from the far periphery). She may be light on the whole governing thing — she resigned her last political position, Alaska governor, mid-term — but as a political commodity she seems evergreen. Is she the one to lead the sad sacks roughed over by the globalists to a populist revolution?
In some ways a harbinger of Trumpist populism, the odd thing about Sarah Palin is that she comes not from this political era but the last one… even as she’s running for Congress for Alaska’s at-large district.
The late John McCain’s hail-Mary selection for Vice President on the 2008 Republican ticket, Sarah Palin looked at one point a smart pick. Forgotten now in what is written off as a doomed race, McCain-Palin actually briefly matched the Obama-Biden ticket in the opinion polls. She united both William Kristol, the godfather of neoconservatism, and Steve Bannon, who made a film about the wunderkind of Wasilla.
This was before that brutal autumn of 2008, remembered now for two things: Western financial ruination and disclosures that the governor of the Western Reserve possibly didn’t know the name of a single newspaper, nor who comprised the Triple Entente.
It ended badly.
Years on, Palin staggered through macabre family embarrassments, which may have bolstered her standing among downtrodden Americans whose lives have been marked by a similar severing of familial ties. Leading opinion polls for president in 2012 at one point, along with Dick Cheney, she passed on a run before jumping on the Trump train early in 2016. But, yet again, she disappeared from the frontlines of American life.
But that hack Fitzgerald got it wrong. In the 21st century there are many second acts in American life.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeWhy McCain selected her must remain one of life’s mysteries, (other than the most simplistic ticket balancing) but she just was not, is not, will never be up to the job, any senior political job.
If the GOP want to really destroy themselves as a credible force, then Sarah is the one, but if they want to win in ’24 and heal and repair a wrecked country, they need a much stronger candidate than this
This article is fantasy. Palin’s not getting anywhere near the presidency. The terrifying fact we have to live with in reality is that Harris is literally standing next in line.
Yes, but there will be an election……..
…nor was Trump, as I recall…
McCain’s story made him my hero.
Revisiting Hanoi, where John McCain was shot down and held as a POW – CBS News
The Palin episode confounds me to this day.
It’s hard to imagine a dumber vice president than Palin would have been, or Dan Quayle was, but Kamala Harris has them both beat. All three were apparently chosen for their looks. Here’s to an ugly but competent VP candidate in 2024.
You forgot about Joe Biden in your list of pathetic VPs.
Sarah Palin should be a comedian: it is patently frightening that any country on the planet could possible take someone with the vocabulary of an 11 year old, parochial ignorance, and absurd lack of knowledge seriously…. let alone in such numbers
She is surely inarticulate? Mind you so are Trump, Biden and Harris as was Bush jnr. Time for a literacy test for the Presidency? Just read any of Lincoln’s correspondence and weep.
Sarah Palin is running for Congress, folks, to be one of 435 in a body where Maxine Waters, Bennie Thompson and AOC are considered leading lights and where the Black Congressional Caucus bills itself as “The Conscience of the Congress.”
As I said a couple of weeks ago, “Two, three, many MTGs!”
Well, if Donald Trump could be President, anything is possible.
When a headline ends in a question mark the answer is usually no or probably not.
Can anybody with more insight give me a very quick breakdown of what to think of this Palin person? Is she more of a corrupt career politician, or a populist? Does she have real policies or just fluff? Is she more of a fearless leader like DeSantis, a cautious actor like Abbott, or a pushover like Romney?
You need to read about the run up to, and the process of the 2012 Presidential election. She is a populist certainly, whether that be good or bad or neither here or there, but she is not at all bright; very emotional, has little foresight or insight; and over reacts to criticism. There were suggestions and suspicion of some corruption, but that was more to do with extreme naivety than genuine badness.
The GOP can do so very much than her. It is time for a woman Republican candidate, but not that one!
Aka an imbecile
“not at all bright; very emotional, has little foresight or insight; and over reacts to criticism.”
Seems to have worked for Joe.
Thank you so much!
She is no different than any other modern politician, who you apparently put too much faith in.
I literally wouldn’t have asked the question if I put any faith in politicians. Not sure why you would assume anything about me from asking a simple question.
Sorry, but there are many who use the term O’biden as a reference to the current POTUS being just another 4 years of Obama. Good sophomoric attempt, however.