Dr. William Dixon: What exactly is wrong with Palin as a candidate?

Press her detractors for facts
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Dr. William Dixon, who served as an Army surgeon and Lieutenant Colonel in the special forces, searches for reason in the left's unreasonable hatred of Gov Palin and the lack of esteem for her among some on the mostly RINO right. When pressed for facts, he says, many of them are woefully ignorant of the former governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate's record "of Palin’s background and remarkable accomplishments. Why is that?" he wonders:

All but three of our presidents in the last hundred years graduated from elite universities, often with law degrees. Truman did not attend college. Ike graduated from West Point, and Reagan graduated from Eureka College in Illinois. Those three are considered among the best of presidents by most. Reagan and Truman were thought stupid by some. Is it that Palin did not graduate from an elite university that causes some conservative pundits to reject her as unintelligent?

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It seems unlikely that her performance as mayor of Wasilla, cutting taxes while expanding the town’s facilities so that it could grow, would be anything but a plus. Just so her role as a member of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She outed two corrupt officials, one of whom was chairman of the state Republican Party.

Was she wrong in running for governor to oust a corrupt and wasteful officer of her own political party? Was it lack of wisdom which led her to sell the state plane, cut expenses of her office by 75 percent and pass a bipartisan ethics bill? Was she impolite in chasing away the oil company lobbyists so that she could start work on a stalled pipeline for natural gas? Not likely.

President Obama was elected because he appeared to be extraordinary. His academic pedigree and soaring rhetoric shielded from voters his appalling lack of real-world experience and complete lack of substantial accomplishments. His presidency is struggling.

By contrast, Sarah Palin, despite her talents and obvious achievements, seems very ordinary. Americans, believing the smears and punditry, will likely reject Palin without really getting to know her. Once again the nod will go to a member of the cultural elite, a group which has routinely failed to govern well.

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Not if we refuse to let the left and its media hounds choose our candidates for us, Doc.

- JP