Raising McCain

*
After strongly supporting Sarah Palin for well over a year, American Thinker has now turned against her, it seems. The fourth consecutive post either critical of Sarah Palin or negative in tone toward her appeared on AT today. It follows the meme of the latest spin against her, criticizing the former governor for her support of John McCain. There is a lot of resentment against McCain out there among conservatives. We understand that. We don't have much use for him ourselves. But we know why Sarah supports him, and it makes us respect her all the more. 

Meanwhile, Gov. Palin's enemies are going wild on sites like Free Republic in a number of threads they have started, trying to bloody her up using her loyalty to McCain as a club to swing at her. They are also using her choice of which events she chooses to participate in or to skip against her. The Left and some supporters of her potential GOP opponents in a hypothetical presidential primary are always quick to seize upon any issues which divide conservatives, and they play them for all they can in the lamestream media (LSM) and on the nutroots blogs.

But, as we have stated repeatedly, anyone who doesn't understand Sarah Palin's sense of loyalty to the man, doesn't get her at all. Actually, it's about more than loyalty, unless viewed in the light of her loyalty to her own word. It's about honesty. Asked by Glenn Beck in a recent interview about why she still supports John McCain, the governor replied:

"I'm supporting him. I keep my word."

Her answer was succinct, but it speaks volumes about the strength of her character. Sarah Palin is such a good and decent person that her word is her solemn bond. She doesn't turn her back on those she has promised to stand with. Now, in a politician, this is indeed such a rare quality that many of her critics just can't manage to wrap their little minds around it. Sarah Palin is the polar opposite of Barack Obama, who has managed to break nearly every promise he made on his way to the White House.

The know-it-alls who are slamming Sarah for supporting McCain are pronouncing this as her Waterloo, the death of her political career. Heh. We wish we had a dollar for every time some self-styled expert said she was political toast. If we did, we wouldn't need a tip jar on this blog (which, dear reader, you are free to hit whenever you feel like we have earned a modest donation).

Actually, if she makes a couple of cameo appearances for McCain in Phoenix in March, sends the old guy some SarahPAC money and then manages to avoid getting hit by any stray punches thrown between McCain and his primary challenger J.D. Hayworth, we don't think that she will be hurt that much. Surely supporting McCain will be less damaging than deserting his ship like a rat, an act for which she would be eviscerated by her critics. We can see the headlines now -- "Palin Quits McCain" -- atop articles which would mercilessly pound her for betraaaaying the man who pulled her out of the Alaskan wilderness and gave her a national platform to stand on. You don't need to be a visionary to get the picture.

Sarah Palin's greatest political gift may be her uncanny ability to make decisions which at first appear to be very bad career moves, but over time she somehow manages to turn to her advantage. She has a history of defiance of the CW, and even her opponents have admitted that her political instincts nearly always wind up serving her well over the long run.

Frankly, it defies explanation. It's not something one can be taught or just learn from the school of hard knocks. It appears to be something of a sixth sense which not many politicians seem to possess. This God-given gift is made all the more remarkable because though she is really quite politically ambitious, she can go on with a smile on her face even if she never holds public office again. Unlike with other politicians, her ambition is not all-consuming, and she will not break her word bond to feed it. Her priorities are God, family, love of country, love of Alaska, and her various causes (our troops, the sanctity of innocent human life, special needs families, etc.) -- in that order. Everything else just has to go down further on the list below those five. She summed it up best when she paraphrased scripture, saying, "If I die, I die."

We used to think that she was eying a 2012 White House run, and she may well be. But we wouldn't be at all surprised if she is patiently waiting for 2020, when she will be only 56 years old. Why not let Romney, Pawlenty or whoever the GOP establishment candidate turns out to be, fight it out with Huckabee or some unforeseen candidate on the right in '12? She can avoid the bloodletting. Meanwhile, she can prove that she's a good team player and will build up some serious cred with the party establishment and with the key players in this game -- independent voters -- as well. We wouldn't be all that shocked even if she challenges Mark Begich in 2014 for the Senate (a term which would conveniently expire in 2020) or gets appointed Energy Secretary if a Republican wins.

Whatever she chooses to do, it will likely surprise everyone, and she will be severely criticized for it by the chaterati. Eventually, she will come out of it smelling like a rose. How many times has she been pronounced politically dead and rebounded to prove the experts wrong? The Arctic Fox must be part Arctic Cat. She always lands on her feet. 

Related: Doug Brady's take on all this.

- JP