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| Palin with her former political prop, courtesy of Facebook. |
Sarah Palin’s latest effort to unseat a Republican leader fell short when House Speaker Paul D. Ryan cruised to a victory in his primary, easily dispatching the insurgent Mrs. Palin had backed.
It’s the latest episode in which the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee has seen her star fall as the tea party movement she championed has splintered and the former Alaska governor’s populist appeal has been overshadowed by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s far more outspoken campaign.
“She speaks to a part of the GOP primary base, but when it comes to general election messaging, she can really complicate things,” said Craig Robinson, a former GOP consultant who runs “The Iowa Republican” website. “So I think a lot of people stay away.”
That hasn’t quelled her own support for Mr. Trump, and she continues to defend him — and fire at liberals, the media and her other critics from atop her Twitter perch, with its 1.28 million followers, and elsewhere online.
Of course most of those Twitter followers are fake, but why quibble?
After her vice presidential run, some analysts predicted Mrs. Palin would be in the running for the top of the ticket in 2012 or 2016. But she took a pass. Instead, she has fired shots from the sidelines, albeit with less of an audience.
“Five years ago, she would have drawn 25,000 people to an event, and today she would do well drawing 2,500,” said Ken Crow, a tea party activist in Iowa.
Mr. Crow said Mrs. Palin remains a beloved figure — though some were turned off by her decision to back Mr. Trump over Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whom many see as the ideological chief of the grass-roots movement.
“Although we realize her political stock is not what it used to be, her devotion to country and conservatism is stronger than ever,” Mr. Crow said. “We do love her, but realize that she will never be president. We realize that she will never be vice president, but she is one of the moral and emotional leaders of the tea party movement and she always will be because she preaches conservative values.”
I really think that when conservatives claim that they "love" Palin they are really in love with their idea of who she is and not with the reality of who she is, which as of now is of being a Facebook troll, a failed parent, and an albatross around the neck of the Republican party.
This Craig Robertson guy essentially drives that point home:
Mr. Robinson said it appears that as far as elected politics go, Mrs. Palin’s “role has been diminished to the point where she is a role player in primaries.”
“In [2008], I think people were looking at her as the future of the party, and I don’t think anyone is looking at her like that today,” he said.
Boy there's an understatement for you.
I am still amazed that there are people out there who are still willing to speak about Sarah Palin as if she was EVER anything more than a pretty face, with limited abilities, desperately in search of adulation.
In truth she was never an effective politician, never a faithful member of the Republican party, and certainly NEVER the future of anything.
And people really do not need to imagine what it would have been like if Sarah Palin HAD run for the presidency, and HAD been the future of the Republican party.
Because that reality is staring back at us from our TV sets every damn day!
Source http://ift.tt/2aYzdnx
