Melissa Clouthier on Palin Power

Melissa Clouthier discusses Palin Power in her latest Pajamas Media op-ed. It is becoming clear that the Left, the media and the GOP power brokers have all made a gross miscalculation where Sarah Palin and the political power she can project are concerned:

Palin has been sending a couple messages recently. First, she has, since stepping down as governor, started to communicate with the people not through the press but around the press. In other words, she’s speaking directly to the people through social media.

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This has had the benefit of letting the press know that she does not need them. Rather than go the Obama route and deny what is perceived as the one “enemy” to her aims, Sarah denies nearly everyone. And why not? The press trashed her with risible lies. Why give a dying breed ratings when she can reach the people herself?

Second, Sarah Palin has a massive army fundraising for her. It has been interesting to contemplate how she’s going to use that power.

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With her decision to endorse Doug Hoffman, the conservative (not Republican) candidate, Sarah Palin sends the Republican Party a very clear message. She will be using her considerable fundraising ability to fund candidates who ideologically match what it used to mean to be a Republican. Since the Republican Party, from its toes to its nose, has difficulty identifying candidates with those credentials, she’ll help them do it.

The Republican Party has a choice. They can continue to antagonize those who vote them into office or they can start paying attention. They mistakenly buy the D.C. bubble philosophy that moderation is the way to find good candidates. What they’re seeing is a base willing to lose if the Republican Party doesn’t change its ways.

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The base won’t be discounted any longer and they have found their champion in a very powerful Sarah Palin.

Since her name first came to national attention, those who know Sarah Palin well -- both friend and foe alike -- have warned that her opponents who underestimate her do so at their own peril. Those who have tried to destroy her and have failed should have listened.

- JP