Thursday, June 10, 2010

Quigley: Arnold and the Palin Paradigm

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At The Hill's Pundit's Blog, Bernie Quigley opines that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "may have saved the state" by advocating and promoting Proposition 14, the just-passed ballot initiative which will do away with traditional party primaries in 2011 in favor of open primaries which will send the top two vote-getters -- regardless of party affiliation -- to a general election showdown:
"Proposition 14 may be a harbinger, but the big winner in this week’s primary was Sarah Palin. As the Wall Street Journal reported, three candidates she supported prevailed in their contested primaries. Since she took the initiative to support Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in NY 23 last October, the winning cycle has followed her initiative. The Texas primary in March established the Palin Paradigm. The Republican establishment, featuring Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Bush I and Bush II and others lined up to push Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to beat incumbent Rick Perry. Perry had Palin on his side and beat the establishment in a landslide. Palin has successfully and single-handedly incorporated Tea Party initiatives with entrepreneurial spirit of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. To look at this as pushing conservatism to the right is to use the old 1930s paradigm and miss what is happening. The Palin Paradigm is Jacksonian. It represents the rise of a free, western view in opposition to the aging, bipartisan Eastern establishment. Palin is spirit force to this 'new west' direction but Arnold can be seen as champion."
We have no opinion on Prop. 14, and we do not share Quigley's high opinion of Da Governator's politics (though we think his movies are swell escape vehicles). But we do tend to agree with Bernie's observations about Gov. Palin.

- JP

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