I like Palin, but her fans sometimes lose all reason.

Some amount of defensiveness is understandable, given how the media and the liberals were SOOO over the top in their attacks on Palin from day one. You’d think we’d be past that stage, but look at how all those nutcases went absolutely bonkers yesterday when it was announced she’d have an occasional show on FNC. Jeez – they don’t even watch Fox and so shouldn’t care about it, but they went crazy nonetheless.

When there’s this huge block of irrational opposition, it’s kind of human nature to want to just give them the finger, since these nutcase lefties can’t be reasoned with when it comes to Palin.

Having said all that, there is some danger of Palin backers getting locked into that mode vs all criticism.

SarahCult™ has more to work with than the Ronbots™. And, if she could win a primary I’d vote for her. Assuming she’s running as a Republican.

claim that Sarah Palin is perfect; is the answer to all Republican problems; walks on water; is Joan of arc; or is the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

What I have seen is supporters of hers bashed relentlessly by the handful of people here who detest her.

I was a Fredhead too. My memory is not so short. There were a great many over-the-top defenses of Fred’s lousy campaign. IIRC there was even talk of treating Fredheads the same as Paultards.

… seems rather like a natural event to me, given the degree to which conservatism has been bloodied at the hands of the establishment GOP and their Democrat masters.

Conservatives have been marginalized by the Leftist behemoth, and have been reeling from the dawning understanding that the GOP in its current permutation does not represent their interests as a national party and is not equipped or willing to take the Democrats head-on. Along comes Sarah. She connected with people on a visceral level in a way that only authenticity can connect. She rejuvenated and reinvigorated the hopes of people who believe that they are witnessing the dismantling and purposeful destruction of the values and nation they hold dear. She gave everyday Americans who don’t like what is happening in Washington DC a voice, for what seemed to many of us, the first time in our lives.

Is it any wonder that people would seek to protect Sarah Palin, and to keep the spirit that she engendered in so many alive by holding her up? It doesn’t seem like rocket science to me.

The question is, whether the place Sarah Palin holds in the hearts of so many is well-deserved. To answer that, I would suggest imagining the political landscape right now if John McCain had tapped Joe Lieberman or Tim Pawlenty to be his VP nominee.

I bought into the whole notion that Ron Paul was a lunatic on the fringe. I was a Fred-Head like the author of this thread. But in retrospect, when one looks at what Ron Paul was actually saying about many things like the economy and sovereignty, he was dead-on. It follows that people who understood how correct he was would be uber-enthusiastic about supporting him. That is NOT to say that supporting him was pragmatic. A candidate needs more than to be right in order to win a presidential election. But agreeing with Ron Paul in 2010 doesn’t seem as “kooky” now as it did in 2009.

I will defend her from the ridiculous attacks from the akle biters from the Left and MSM, even some from the right that call her a dumb Alaskan Barbie

With that said I will never worship any politician, however I agre with them. Yes I was a Fred Head and defended him . His campaign was over before it began because he started too late, but I thought he would be the only one to defeat THE WON when the tea leaves pointed in his direction.

Palin is great fo the Conservative Cause with her flaws and all, but some of the over the top adulation and fawning reminds me of both the Paultards and Obamanistas also.

I do not want to be seen as sheeple like the WON’s fawning fans where he can do not wrong. That is not the way any one should look at a politician. They are human and have flaws and make mistakes

a threat to their prejudices. It’s not an uncommon thing and, while not something of which to be proud, is perfectly understandable as a symptom of the flawed part of our human nature.

Just because some people paint themselves in team colors and dress up in weird costumes doesn’t make all fans of a particular football team nutjobs. However, reasonable people would agree that those who would classify all that team’s supporters with the “dressers” are not being fair minded. Further, they are not being fair minded because of their own issues, not due to some shared quality of those who they would demonize unjustly.

Brian, I have a lot of confidence that should you step back and consider your post that you will see that it is imperative that you carefully try to discern between those who may be unduly enthusiastic about Palin and those who are perfectly willing to give her the opportunity to grow into a viable leader or to at least reach her potential, which may be something less than that.

Now, I know that there are a few here like Art and Becker who may have perhaps irretrievably lost an ability to rationally respond to “Palin” or her likeness. I can accept that because I can still love them as conservative brothers and agree with them on most other issues which confront us.

Understanding these things is how we grow individually and what allows us to ultimately work together.

Gary and Josh have been gone for quite some time. I see very little of the kind of blind botlike behavior that those two were accused of among the Palin fans remaining (myself included). Most of us know full well she has warts, like all other politicians, we just happen to still like her anyway. And most of us are watching her moves closely to see how she plays her position.

And as was stated above, there is some protectiveness that kicks in due to all the bashing she’s gotten. But the defensiveness here is largely due to the bashing she gets from a few folks here at RS. Frankly, I see more Palin-bashing here than I do Palin-worship. There’s more than enough Palin-bashing (or any other conservative pol for that matter) in the lamestream media, it really sucks to see it at a conservative site.

And just for the record, I was for Fred in ’08 (he used to be my Senator) and I can’t stand Ron Paul!

Then, so help me God, I am going to bed without any further typing.

This is not a diary. This is an insult to anyone who is willing to even give Sarah Palin the courtesy of including her in the Republican Party. There may be a few people that think she is completely prepared to be President of the United States, and given the current occupant of the White House they can make a strong case, but most of us either are agnostics on that issue or understand that she has some polishing to do. Remember, we didn’t pick her. John McCain did.

The thing that is done consistently on this site, time and time again, is to erect the strawman of “They All Believe Sarah Is Perfect! They All Believe She Is The One!”, then tear that strawman down. Again. And Again. And Yet Again. Very nice. 10th grade debate class. Whatever.

Here is the bottom line. For decades women in this country have been fed shriveled up, bitter, barren hags like Maureen Dowd, Andrea Mitchell, Gloria Steinam, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Mikulski, etc, etc, etc, etc as some sort of butchy feminine ideal they should aspire to. Then along comes Sarah – truly feminine, independent, outgoing, with a large and imperfect family (much like their own) who walks the pro-life walk and is, for whatever reason, able to inspire and electrify a crowd. Women across this country were inspired by her, by the *idea* that there was even someone *like* her, and they turned out at precincts and tea parties and rallies.

That is just the plain and simple truth.

If you want to stand with the foamy mouthed, Palin-deranged nutcases on the left, Brian, go ahead. As Tbone said above, I consider you (and others) conservative brothers with whom I vehemently disagree with on this issue. I choose to stand elsewhere. I choose to embrace someone, albeit an imperfect someone, who is inspiring a whole generation of voters that the helmet-haired, horse-assed men who run the club known as the Republican Party wouldn’t know how to reach if they were given an instruction manual enema the size of a billboard.

If you want to get busy tearing that down, that’s your business. I’ll save my ammo for other fights.

that there are those here who have blindly defended Palin from each and every negative comment. There are also those here who blindly attack each and every praise of the former Governor.

I wasn’t here during the primaries to see how the Paultards handled themselves here, but I did know a few of them in real life. If the ones here were near as bad as the ones I know, it probably was pretty ugly around here.

I didn’t know much about Gov. Palin before her nomination, other than recognizing her name as Governor of Alaska, I really didn’t know anything about her. After the nomination, I liked what I saw. When she stepped down as Governor, I didn’t feel I could support her. I didn’t fall into full hatred of her, but I didn’t think stepping down was the best thing for her to do. Since then, she has proven to be a great voice to conservatism, and I am pretty happy with what I’ve seen from her.

As someone who reads RedState several times a day, I have seen the people this diary addresses. I have also seen Palin supporters who defend her based on facts and with cogent arguments. I think it is important to not paint all Palin supporters with the broad brush of being equal to Paultards. I am quite certain that some commenters here deserve the comparison, but there are many who do not.

These types of diaries never win. Without fail, they draw only those cogent supporters of Palin who believe that they are being lumped in with the irrational supporters, and Palin critics, rather than those who really need to internalize the diary’s contents (namely, the PalinBots).

People are so desperate for a truly conservative politician that they latch on to anyone resembling one. Palin is not electable, but, sadly, she is the best the conservatives have.

Not all leaders require a degree or hands on knowledge of every aspect. The overly critical eye of those who critique them for the rest of us too ignorant to assess a leader ,will never be satisfied. Umm,maybe we should just wait and let the pundits chose our candidates,that way we know we have the perfect one.

Sarah Palin and Ron Paul supporters have something the beltway has lost,enthusiasum for. Maybe it is sheer faith in what that person says and does not what they may or may not do. Either way the energy is a positive thing and I hope it grows.

I don’t know.
I like Sarah, Ron, Fred and Mike. They get people fired up.
I can pick apart each of them and yet who would dispute that each of them individually would not be better than what we have?

If the folks around here had done a better job figuring out how to harness and direct the enthusiasm instead of trashing them and sending them down the road we might not be where we are.

I think Paul still has the one day record for fundraising in spite of what was done in MA yesterday. Who wouldn’t want that?

Nobody draws a bigger crowd than Sarah. Who wouldn’t want that?

Obama won because of enthusiasm.

There will be no long term victory on the right when the most enthusiastic part of the right is banned from the discussion.

I understand why people find sycophants irritating, its like a dog humping your leg.

Like it or not most people here agree with 90% of what Sarah, Ron, Fred or Mike had to offer.

But you did your duty and chased them off and now we have Harry, Barry and Nancy. And we debate whether it is better to associate with RINOs that sell us out whenever it is convenient.

who doesn’t deify her or any other politician. Very Alinski-like of her detractors (or Ron Paul’s) to diminish her supporters by giving them a cute derisive label.
One of the things that draws me to support her is that she has a clear, unapologetic philosophy. I know where she stands on all major issues without needing a press release. I don’t pretend to understand the ins and outs of Alaskan oil politics. But on issues of national importance it is hard for me to find fault.

Here is a challenge to both pro and anti-Palin posters. Come up with a list of “important” issues and rate her and other GOP leaders on their positions. The left specializes in vague insinuations against the character and personal beliefs of any conservative leader. We should embrace a higher standard.

You attack a candidate’s supporters just because they’re passionate? I will remind you that our current president was elected SOLELY on passion. It may be illogical, but it’s reality. At least Sarah has some actual substance to back it up, unlike the empty suit who’s fumbling his way through his first (and hopefully only) term.

Comparing her supporters to Ron Paul supporters is like comparing apples to oranges. Ron Paul didn’t draw the crowds or the ire of the liberal media like Sarah does. His supporters were a vocal minority. I’d venture to say that Palin was even more popular in 2008 than McCainf.

Does that mean I’d vote for her in a primary? Perhaps, if my promary vote even matters next time around (it didn’t in 2008, the way the current system operates). Personally, I think I’d prefer she run as a VP next to someone like, say, Mitt Romney. But then again, it’s still too early to talk 2012.

You ask:

Is is just me or are the Palinites starting to sound like Pauliacs?

I count myself as a fan of Sarah Palin.

Answer:

It is just you.