Elevating Sarah

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Marc Ambinder's Friday column has generated some blogosphere buzz. Basically, Ambinder believes that the Obama Administration should play the Palin Card so that the usual suspects will go all Alinsky on her. But wait, we thought they were doing that already. Oh, he must mean that they should go all Alinsky on her openly, instead of quasi-surreptitiously, as they have been doing since August, 2008. But we digress... Ambinder says the Obamunists should not worry that the White House, by focusing on Gov. Palin, will elevate her to even greater national prominence than she already enjoys.

Two bloggers who have posted their takes on Ambinder's take are Doctor Zero and MacRanger.

First the good doctor:

I hope the White House takes Ambinder’s advice, because it would be suicidal. His crack about Palin’s 'reveling in the culture wars' betrays his ignorance. He is confused by the details of her biography, and the sincere affection she earns from her admirers. His Palin Card is drawn from the wrong suit. She’s the Queen of Diamonds, not the Queen of Hearts. Her most impressive statements over the last two years have been on matters of economics, policy, and politics. She has shredded the Administration over health care, the Gulf oil spill, and unrestrained government spending. She’s endorsed dozens of primary candidates, with something like a 70% success rate. Her most notable clashes with 'culture' have involved asking it to stop making rape jokes about her daughters.

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Obama would be making a deadly mistake by calling out Sarah Palin for a political cage match. Let me put this bluntly: virtually no one in America gives a damn what Barack Obama says about anything at this point. What could be more predictable, and less interesting, than Obama’s opinion on any given subject? Who wants to contemplate the economic wisdom of a guy who looted the Treasury for a trillion dollars, with less benefit than we could have achieved by stuffing hundred dollar bills into random cereal boxes? Who’s excited to hear about the next plan to convert taxpayer dollars into Democrat campaign funds? Who’s hungry for another hour of tedious excuses about permanently broken markets and the titanic dead hand of George W. Bush? Who wants a lecture on ethical business practices from the titular head of the party that gave us Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters? What use is another hollow foreign-policy speech from a man who sees no global adversary to rival the menace of Arizona? Even Obama’s supporters don’t hear anything he says any more. There’s nothing left to hear.

Palin, on the other hand, commands attention. Lots of it comes from people who dislike her, of course, but she definitely gets people talking. Many of her detractors have a surprising ability to quote her verbatim, stretching back for weeks. Obama’s critics need Google searches to remember what he said yesterday. They can only recall that it was boring, and expensive.

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And from Macsmind:

Yes [everyone knows who Sarah Palin is] and it’s why the popularity is increasing. Why this is happening is a matter of object confusion for liberals like Ambinder. To them Sarah should have been dead and buried back in 2008. Certainly after she left the governorship. But after writing a book that flew off the shelves, still commanding crowds and even out endorsing Barack Obama with more successes than his failures, it’s undeniable. Like the Hulk, you keep attacking she’ll get stronger.

But another thing that liberals miss about Sarah is that she IS the voice, the national glue of the Tea Party movement. Somebody had to step forward and she did. She actually birthed the movement in 2008 from her run with McCain. In fact it all provided the most convenient of opportunities to lead this country back to the right, both politically and spiritually.

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Sarah talks of America’s greatness and potential. Liberals have spent their quarter talking down America and apologizing for her. Americans don’t believe that – the vast majority don’t and they’re sick and tired of that message.

Ambinder whines that the “Fox-Rush Nexus” would respond to criticism by Barack Obama, but so would America, who now are beginning to view her in higher esteem than he. It would be utter foolishness by Obama to take that advice.

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Our own take is that we never considered Ambinder to be the sharpest harpoon on the ship, and his latest column proves that. Doc and Mac have given his chronometer a thorough cleaning.

- JP