Matthew Continetti: Palin in the mainstream

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Weekly Standard associate editor Matthew Continetti writes on The Blog that as he listened to Sarah Palin's Susan B. Anthony List speech Friday morning, he was "struck by how Palin's positions are widely shared":

"She opposes the health care law — so does the public. She’s concerned about the federal deficit — so is the public (see question 10b). She supports the Arizona illegal immigration law — so does the public. She supports the right to life — and the public is moving toward her. She supports the Afghanistan surge and the current course in Iraq — both Obama administration policies."

So why aren't Gov. Palin's poll numbers higher?

"I’d say the resistance to Palin is based on certain unique traits of hers that concern large numbers of people — her qualifications, her preparedness, her decision to leave the governorship, and her unwillingness to participate in media ritual sacrifice."

"This is why the Democrats’ feverish attempts to link Palin to Republican candidates have failed."

[...]

"And to the extent that Democrats attack Republican candidates because they share Palin’s politics — well, the public is well disposed to those politics, at least for the moment."

"Palin’s personality and sociocultural populism may hurt her in 2012 (though not necessarily in a GOP primary). They are irrelevant, however, to voters’ calculations in 2010. The Democrats can bash her all they want. The storm is still coming."

Read Cotinetti's full TWS Blog post here.

- JP