At Indianola, Iowa Sarah Palin Brings Sunshine, and Inches Forward a Wee Bit…
Posted on: September 5, 2011
- In: Ah, Sarah! | G.O.P. | Nobama | Sarah Palin 2012
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The weather was a perfect metaphor for the day. Will Sarah Palin announce her candidacy or won’t she, was nicely paralleled by the question about the Sun, will he come out or not. A low pressure system transited through the Des Moines area and Palin supporters waited under dark, drizzly skies, eagerly wishing for Sarah and the sunshine. Eventually the Sun did shine through just as it was time for her arrival.
It was as if Sarah Palin brought sunshine with her. The other question remained: will she say the magic words?
Palin continued at Indianola, Iowa what she does best, keep supporters close, but keep her cards closer. Her rousing speech to the thousands of ardent fans and the tantalized media was again demonstrative of her two-pronged strategy: keep the pressure up, keep her powder dry.
She taunted and teased; postured and promised. She did all but announce her candidacy for 2012 election.
She did in fact stop well short of being definite, but inch a wee bit forward. Her words, tenor and cadence suggested an increase in amplitude, richness of proposals, condensation of verbiage.
While paying a tribute to the spirit of the Tea Party, she hinted that curing what ails the nation is not simply replacing Obama.
So, this is why we must remember that the challenge is not simply to replace Obama in 2012. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country. [snip]
I want to tell you what my plan is. My plan is a bona-fide pro-working man’s plan, and it deals in reality. It deals in the way that the world really works because we must talk about what really works in order to get America back to work. [snip]
– let’s enforce the 10th Amendment and devolve powers back locally where the Founders intended them to be.
– We must repeal Obamacare!
– Third, no more run away debt. We must prioritize and cut.
– Fourth, it is time for America to become the energy superpower.
– I propose to eliminate all federal corporate income tax. And hear me out on this. This is how we create millions of high-paying jobs. .. To balance out any loss of federal revenue from this tax cut, we eliminate corporate welfare and all the loopholes and we eliminate bailouts. This is how we break the back of crony capitalism because it feeds off corporate welfare, which is just socialism for the very rich.
{Emphasis added}
Transcript source: C4P
Hope versus Real Hope.
By now nearly all of America is familiar with the ‘hopey-changey’ ridicule line that Sarah Palin made her signature taunt. But here comes a more substantive gauntlet thrown. Real Hope. Hope is so 2008, and phony. Real Hope is, well real. Hope simply promises, and is offered by the one who wants to get elected. Real Hope, it springs forth from practical Americans, full of action-dreams and, ah yes, Commonsense Conservatism.
No less than a dozen times, Sarah Palin used the word real in her speech, as in Real Reform, and Real Hope. And drew a vivid contrast with the blithe spirit of 2008 that propelled so many naive voters into trusting the Democrat ticket. But bad reality collided nastily with phoney Hope.
Sarah Palin drives home the point that hopelessness wrought by the hype of Hope can now only be redressed by Real Hope.
real hope isn’t in an individual. It’s not in a politician certainly.
Folks, the truth is Barack Obama is adrift with no plan because his “fundamental transformation” is at odds with everything that made this country great. It doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t make sense.
General Election Now, Primary Later:
Candidates usually try to win over the base of party loyalists in the primary first, and then move to the center later for the general election. Nomination in hand, the candidate reaches out to the wavering, suspicious ‘other’ spectrum of the voter roll. It’s only rarely that a person can win over large swathes of both parties, and the Independents. Ronald Reagan was one such giant fixture. He got away without having to shift on the stump, the country shifted toward him! Governor Sarah Palin is planning for something similar. For the past more than two years she has been working to build a following across the political spectrum first. She rarely used skewed party rhetoric. Ideological yes, party line acquiescence no. She is not ‘wired for that’. She just speaks her mind. And the interesting effect of all this is that it feels as if Sarah Palin is running for the general election now, only to run in the party primary later. And why not indeed, after all she already won the hearts of the party faithful this day three years ago, and can do it again with ease. The 2012 primary calendar favors late season states. The real prize is in the next Fall. Her task is to have all Americans see her as being ready for the general election without the rigmarole, taint or talk of defining who she really is vis-a-vis the other candidate. Since we already know who that is why not act like it’s the general election, now!
Sarah Palin wants all voters to know who she is for real. She is in effect taking her fight straight to the street, even if the media doesn’t realize it, and even if the pundits go on about how she is not taking this step or that. So many would love to be employed by her right now!
Her speech at Indianola is addressed to all Americans, not just the so-called base. It’s aimed at both workers and owners of business. At people on the political right, left and middle. Above all it is aimed at the non-partisans. Sarah Palin just didn’t embrace Tea Party, she pretty much embodies it, hence it’s being demonized. Sarah Palin’s fate is in the hands of the independent minded voter, the pumas, the conservative working class Democrats. It’s the middle that makes the difference, after all.
Complete coverage courtesy of C4P.
A few memorable lines from her speech:
President Obama, these people – these Americans – feel that “fierce urgency of now.” But do you feel it, sir?
All aboard Obama’s bullet train to bankruptcy.
Polls are for strippers and cross-country skiers.
Barack Obama has shown us cronyism on steroids.
Tip: After C4P, one of the nicer summaries of Sarah Palin’s speech can be found at The Tree of Mamre. Give them a visit.
Conclusion:
So then, given these indications why did she not utter the magic phrase? “Today I announce … “
Three explanations quickly offer themselves:
She is saving it for New Hampshire;
She is waiting out the month of September;
She is waiting for the field to winnow itself thin.
1. She is saving it for New Hampshire. The first in the nation primary is a much more substantive, nominally correct and official event while the Iowa Caucuses are fraught with immense logistical issues. While amenable to some grassroots efforts the caucus exercise demands inordinate amounts of ground game that conflicts with Sarah Palin’s overall strategy. Winning Iowa is symbolic at best for Sarah, but it won’t be substantive for the nomination. Barack Obama proved that it takes massive, often fraudulent efforts it takes. Dr. Lynnette Long did extraordinary amount of research into the 2008 season. Even a blog exists documenting her work. DVDs have been made about it. Better to save the big moment for other the big moment. Iowa remains beloved and significant in proving the political mettle overall and will continue to dominate news. But real polling begins at NH. Caucuses should be gotten rid of anyway. Yet the Tea Party people deserved a paean and Iowans live in our hearts.
2. She is waiting out the month of September. The latest kerfuffle about the impending speech by the president puts Palin in context. The Zero August phenomenon makes it doubly tough. Why not give the president another shot at his own fantasy projects, let him speak again about how more of the same is needed. Let him notch another failure on the empty six-shooter! Most experts believe the legal deadlines begin to loom large in October. So Sarah Palin has a few more weeks to play out. Her style of campaigning, her manner of organizing, and her teams that lay dormant across the country since 2008, all of them let her do that to some extent. But once the giant awakens, watch out. It will never go back to sleep even if New York did.
3. She is waiting for the field to winnow itself some. Why deny others the limelight they deserve and enjoy. Let them bask in attention devoid of the Palin Presence that will suck the oxygen out of the air (though no fault of her, but the mindless obsession of the media mavens). Once Palin enters the race all attention will be on her. Some fell already, will Santorum, Huntsman, Paul, and Gingrich be the next ones to exit? They should be. Bachmann will be graceful and yield to Sarah, one hopes, either before or after Palin announces.
Sarah Palin will say something one way or another for sure. By her own admission she will do it sooner rather than never. The world waits with bated breath.
Meanwhile, the air over Indianola is heavy with cool, moist air, and the sun has gone out again. And left everyone wondering when will this all clear up?
