Tony Blankley: Palin delivers sparkle, warmth

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In his Washington Times column Monday, Tony Blankley assessed Sarah Palin's Saturday address in Nasville in light of the dismissal of the speech by the political geniuses and usual suspects who hang out on the set of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. Blankley recalls that their criticism had an all-too-familiar ring to it:

Sarah Palin articulated with sparkle and sincerity last weekend... the principles that have brought the Tea Party movement into being. They are the same principles that inspired the conservative movement that arose in the 1950s-60s.

As an early foot soldier for Ronald Reagan (starting in his 1966 California primary campaign for governor against San Francisco Mayor George Christopher), I well remember with what bemused scorn the political establishment of both parties held for Mr. Reagan. Then moderate state Assemblyman Caspar Weinberger told the New York Times that "Christopher will do much better than Rockefeller did. Reagan will get the great bulk of the Goldwater support, but it does not represent much more than one-third of the party."

In the general election in which Reagan overwhelmed incumbent Democrat Pat Brown, years later Mr. Brown reminisced: "We thought the notion was absurd and rubbed our hands in gleeful anticipation of beating this politically inexperienced, right-wing extremist and aging actor."

Reagan was the Palin of his time. I am not equating the two yet. She still has much to prove to the public (as Reagan did in 1966).
I am not equating the two yet. She still has much to prove to the public (as Reagan did in 1966).

But the smarty pants who have driven America into the ditch by discarding traditional American values and principles should be cautious in writing off the most effective national advocate for such values precisely at the time that leftist programs have so conspicuously failed and outraged the public.

Read the full Blankley column here.

- JP