This isn’t a Sarah attack or apology. Just a little exercise.
I was comparing influential conservatives in the post-Reagan era. Here are two lists of ten people. ‘Pool A’ is a list of ten influential conservative non-politicians, I’ll call them culture warriors generally. ‘Pool B’ is list of ten influential conservative Republican politicians.
Pool A
Matt Drudge
Rush Limbaugh
William Buckley
James Dobson
Murdoch/Ailes
Clarence Thomas
Antonin Scalia
Karl Rove
Milton Friedman
Laura Ingraham
(Erick Erickson was number eleven)
Pool B
George W. Bush
Newt Gingrich
Dick Cheney
George H.W. Bush
Bob Dole
Trent Lott
Haley Barbour
Dick Armey
Rudy Giuliani
Jack Kemp
Which group has wielded more influence on our society and has done more to advance conservatism? Who do you consider the most influential conservatives of the modern era and are they politicians or culture warriors?
I admit I would be disappointed if Palin did not run for POTUS. I think she has enormous potential. That being said, I think she could work wonders outside of politics. Old white guys bouncing ideas off of other old white guys on talk radio will only advance the conservative movement so far.
I think Sarah could be the conservative Oprah. Every day Oprah attracts over ten millions viewers and uses her television show as a platform to promote her liberal world view. She recommends a book and it goes straight to the top of the best sellers lists. It was Oprah who anointed Obama as “The One”. Imagine if Sarah wielded the same influence for conservativism. I am sensitive to the way liberals influence politics through culture and we need culture warriors as badly as we need Republicans in office.
I think Sarah will be fine either way; Sarah-POTUS or Sarah-culture warrior. Even if she isn’t your preferred POTUS candidate, you should recognize that she is a tremendous asset and tearing her down or joining the anti-Palin media drumbeat is fratricide.
People need to relax. It’s all good with Sarah.
Steve Maley
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Palin could be the next Oprah
Scope (Diary) Sunday, July 5th at 5:09PM EST (link)but I would rather not see her tied down to any daily/weekly datime TV show as Oprah or the View. She is so much more than Haselback could ever hope to be. She needs to be able Swamp Yankee, I’m sure you didn’t mean that she should take any one poduim over another, and, she does fit the role of culture warrior, that can do some real damage to the” redistribute the wealth” types, and of course the Vichy’s (I guess that is the new term used for RINOS).
I have heard/read for ages now that the Republicans always eat their own, or police their own. They do it with a vengence, and come out showing their eye teeth.
Some recent, and not so recent examples. Those that were Fredheads (myself included) posted by the minute about how Fred was the greatest thing going, he was honest, he was above the fray, he was the most intelligent, he “blew it out of the park” when he asked for more time in a debate to answer Ifil’s (I think) question and said- then I’m not going to answer that. The gas tank on the Red Truck filled up constantly with every request to get money for the next state. The day after he announced that he was no longer running, those same supporters changed into animals over night. They said he lied to them, even though he said that if he didn’t come in at least 2nd in SC he was backing out. All of a sudden, he was not anything they believed him to be, he was a traitor, and some wanted their money back. The names he was called, by what were some of the most ardent supporters was insane. Fred had said that the media builds you up, just to take you down, and the farther they take you up, the farther you have to fall. Some of his supporters did exactly the same.
Sanford is another classic case. I do not condone his infidelities in any way, but, all of a sudden, everything he did so well and so right before his admission, was relegated to the garbage pile. I am not versed in the politics of SC, but, didn’t he refuse to take the stimulus money that would have encumbered his state, and encouraged further Federal encroachment on the state by Obama? I’ve read that he was very Conservative in how he governed the state, and that he was very popular for doing so. Was that just wiped out, and erased, because of his marriage infidelity. One bad wipes out all good, as though he never did anything good at all?
I’m sure many here can point to other’s that have been wiped out, and anything they did good for the Republican Party or Conservatives was erased, because of something that had no bearing on their votes in the House or Senate. The Republican’s don’t only eat their own, they regurgitate them, and then eat them again. They don’t only throw them under the bus, they drag them, and then back-up over them again. That seems to be what is now happening with Palin.
Palin, in not so many words, has promised to be a voice for Conservatives. She has never (to my knowledge) been vague or a flip/flopper. She will take her show on the road, and the detractors, haters, vilifiers and prognosticators be damned. I will be interested to see the pitbull with lipstick stick her claw in alot of eyes, and they will all have asked for it.
She needs to be able to act as a free agent.
Scope (Diary) Sunday, July 5th at 5:13PM EST (link)Sorry about that.
She needs to be able to act as a free agent.
Scope (Diary) Sunday, July 5th at 5:13PM EST (link)Sorry about that.
Swamp I still thinking on that list
Maggie_in_Indiana (Diary) Sunday, July 5th at 6:36PM EST (link)and it could use some work,but a good list .I just hope she doesn’t start writing book after book after book after book.
She already has the single name recognition,so that’s a plus and she’s a babe,that’s a plus….Nay I’d still like to see her tick off the left awhile longer as a candidate.
Maggie in Indiana