The Right Persuasion
House of the setting sun
08/06/2009
Many don’t realize this, but currently the Alaskan sun is shining 21 hours a day and resting for only three. Yet, while Alaska has its own laws of nature concerning the sun, its former governor, Sarah Palin, decided that July 26 would be the day the sun sets on her political service to her home state. Why she stepped down is the great mystery. Some can claim David Letterman has now won after all. Some claim Palin wants to make money in the private sector with lucrative book deals. But many think this is part of a bigger strategy to win the 2012 Republican nomination. Of course, mapping out a pathway toward what many pundits believe to be her goal is a tricky dance that needs the grace of a ballet dancer and the fire of a fully loaded musket. Here are a few suggestions for the former governor.
I hope Palin has learned from her David Letterman debate that you lose credibility with voters when you argue with the court jester. President Obama gained nothing in publicly bickering with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, but instead found himself isolated from the conservative voters he promised to bridge together with. Palin looked defensive when battling the late night showman, and made his crude joke even more popular in the mainstream news as Letterman was played over and over again. She should take a lesson from President George W. Bush, who smiled at the antics of Letterman & Co., all while getting to be the president! Next time Letterman or Jon Stewart begins a debate of wit and words concerning her family, I suggest she smile, wink at the camera and remind everyone that children act as children do. Because that is what those men are — immature class clowns wanting a reaction and not necessarily a revolution.
While Palin begins the process of creating a presidential aura, I suggest she not become a Fox News analyst like Newt Gingrich or Mike Huckabee, or else she will become a talking head who can never lead. While few doubt the intellect of Gingrich and Huckabee, they have become members of the media brought to you by chewing gum and Toyota cars. They are a part of channel-surfing culture, no longer able to be distinguished between political commentators and the seventh friend at Central Perk. Americans are smart, but not always able to discern where sitcom reruns end and reality begins. My advice to Palin would be to make the message intellectually clear. Write great books. Publish challenging articles throughout scholarly journals. Debate those who wish to shift the country left. Speak to audiences around the country. Be graceful and eloquent. Do not turn into Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham. If she becomes a media darling, then she will become the conservative version of Al Gore. You might win an Oscar, but you don’t get to be president.
As for the message? That must be delivered like a true sniper hunting his (or her) prey. The conservative message is simple enough. We want to respect the rights of all Americans by allowing innocent babies to live, guilty murderers to die, giving tax cuts to those who work, welfare restrictions to those who don’t, having a strong military, the choice to go to private or public schools, and the freedom to express religious beliefs without persecution. Yet, somewhere along the way, the party became only about gay marriage and abortion. The tent is much bigger than that, and Palin might be the best person to express the message since there is a camera and microphone in her face everywhere she goes.
Regardless of anyone’s opinion of the former governor, she is a true testament to the American Dream. A mother and wife who reformed her party from within and became a highly approved-of public official. While some of her speeches and current political decisions have become the meat and potatoes of cable news and The View’s discussions, she has still transcended American politics and risen quickly to Republican reverence. So as the sun sets on her governorship, let’s see if she can keep her own sun up long enough for the next presidential election.
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