Palinism: The Substance of Sarah Palin's World View

A recent New York Sun editorial makes the observation that the essence of Sarah Palin's world view — which the editor has dubbed "Palinism" — is emerging:

"...and it is far more substantive than her detractors suggest or than we gained a glimpse of during the campaign. She has been, in a straightforward way, stepping up on certain issues that her fellow Republicans would do well to emulate."

The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate's statement on Israel is one example cited in the editorial:

"It provides a glimpse of a leader who would respect Israel’s right to establish, democratically, its own strategy in its own sphere and could restore the standing of America’s president in the eyes in the Israelis, among whom it has plunged since President Obama’s speech in Cairo and his out-reach to the non-democratic Arab leaders."

Sarah Palin is also doing her part to bring other issues to the forefront, including -- but not limited to -- energy security, cap and trade, the value of the dollar, jobs, taxes and runaway federal spending:

"That is not the riff of a lightweight but of someone who has thought about and studied the relationship between high tax rates and high unemployment."

The substance of Palinism grows out of seeds planted long ago by such conservative luminaries as Thatcher and Reagan:

"John O’Sullivan, who was part of the Thatcher brain trust and knows her well... compared Sarah Palin 'not with the Margaret Thatcher that we all have heard of, but with the emerging Margaret Thatcher' whose 'sophistication and ability to articulate issues' were still being honed."

[...]

"Aside from her display of a deeply held commitment to certain basic principles, [Sarah Palin] turns out to share with Ronald Reagan a quality that will stand her in good stead for years to come — people keep underestimating her."

This, the editorial concludes, puts former Governor 180 degrees away from President Obama:

"...who has been credited with a lot more savvy than he has, at least so far, displayed. It puts Mrs. Palin right where she wants to be as she positions herself for the sustantive debate that will be needed to bring our country back."

Read the NY Sun editorial in its entirety here.

- JP