"The inherent condescension at the heart of the anti-Palin campaign"

Mel Gibson in 'The Patriot"' outfoxes the Redcoat," we captioned this image in our April 2010 post "Obama as George III, a 'clueless foreign ruler from central casting": "Their mindset hobbled by top-down regimentation, the Brits were no match for the nimble, leaderless rabble in arms, whose bottom-up  — aka grassroots — tactics resonate in today's Tea Party movement that has old-think politicians and their media allies scrambling for cover."

"While Palin might never be the rockstar Obama is, her vision may be greater," Richard Fernandez writes in a perceptive if flawed analysis of two "Competing Visions." Citing Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen and other members of Angelo Codevilla's "Ruling Class" who fell hard for the purple prose of Barack Obama's snake-oil sales pitch in the heady days of election 2008 even as they suffered the throes of Palin Derangement Syndrome, Fernandez gets it almost right. Here's Cohen reflexively reciting the legacy-media liturgy:

The fierce stupidity of this woman is hard to comprehend. It is the well from which she draws her political sustenance. … Katie Couric’s CBS, the network she thinks so unfairly skewered her by asking, for instance, what newspapers she reads. … The polls say she can’t win. I betcha Palin thinks she can’t lose.

Fernandez delves deeper for a stunning insight:

Cohen thinks it is all about winning the presidency. Putting a Her in place of the Him. It never occurs to Cohen that Palin might think more in terms of helping her country “win" than in personally occupying the Oval Office …

Palin has the ability to generate leaders other than herself. That quality was in evidence in the recent campaign when she successfully encouraged others, some of whom had never been in public life before, to throw their hats in the ring and run for office..

… then falls back upon the inevitable Palin disclaimer:

It would be odious to compare Sarah Palin to George Washington but less of a stretch to liken Cohen to George III.

Odious to compare Palin to George Washington? Tunku Varadarajan's patronizing words of the other day come to mind:

The best — the only — way to "manage" Palin would be for the Republican establishment to treat her with respect, and to avoid any hint at all of a patronizing attitude.

Even our own ever thoughtful and astute Elizabeth Scalia flirts with condescension in her must-read "Tea Party Candidates Must Learn the Art of Fencing":

This is something Sarah Palin (and for that matter, the Tea Partiers) may wish to keep in mind for 2012. Palin is perfectly capable of deft bladework, but too often chooses to attack when a parry-and-feint will do. Her methods may please her press-hating base but — as we see with Angle and O’Donnell — one needs more than principles and an echo-chamber-emboldened base in order to win an election. One needs to be able to demonstrate skill with a keen-edged sword, so that when one lifts it above the noise and the babble, a majority will want to follow it to victory.

Admittedly a Mama Grizzly fan from day one because of Sarah's charisma, common-sense intelligence and authenticity, we guess that makes us part of her "echo-chamber-emboldened base," and according to professional pollsters her "popularity still lags." But Sarah's calling out of the "lamestream media" resonates. As we wrote in Scalia's comments:

[Sarah's] energetic embrace of the full panoply of media, old and new — from Twitter and Facebook to Fox News, Entertainment TV, her forthcoming TLC "Sarah Palin's Alaska" series and even her daughter Bristol's appearances on Dancing with the Stars — allows her to disintermediate the gateway media and reach the hearts and minds of the Country Class on her own terms. PLUS, unlike the President's unpresidential attacks on us "folks" he calls "enemies," her colorful, targeted attacks on the legacy media have the ring of truth.

We predict that over time, as the authentic Palin "brand" becomes better known amongst our fellow Americans, her "numbers" will rise. Presidential candidate or kingmaker, time will tell. Cinnamon Stillwell described the "Palin Effect" way back in September of 2008:

What her detractors don't seem to realize is that in the process of insulting Palin, they are insulting the majority of the country. If being a self-made success story, a working mother, a church-going member of a small-town community and a believer in moderate to conservative political viewpoints disqualifies Palin, what does that say about mainstream America? The inherent condescension at the heart of the anti-Palin campaign is coming across loud and clear, and it may actually be boosting her popularity.

Update: For the latest on the "Palin Effect," be sure to read Melissa Clouthier's rousing "I Am Sarah Palin, See Me Roar: Reclaiming America With New Leaders." Is Marco Rubio on Sarah's short list?

Update II: You'll get teary eyed. Well, we did, anyway. Stacy McCain gets Doug Hoffman on the phone and posts a touching tribute to a great patriot:

Doug Hoffman's Legacy in 2010 Victories.

As we wrote in Stacy's comments:

Thank you, Doug, and thank you Stacy. Doug's campaign represents my own come-to-Jesus moment, as described in this October 27, 2009 post: "Give to strategic small-government candidates, not parties."

In rereading that post, I notice that Marco Rubio — future President of the United States? — was among my earliest out-of-state targeted candidates. Thrilling to be part of the Army of Davids who are retaking the Shining City!

 Update III: Stacy links!

Crossposted at Riehl World View, Cloven Not Crested and Liberty Pundits.

Comments

[chickelit]

I've been a fan too since day 1, though I didn't exactly shout it: link.

LOL: I think Victoria thought I was ChuckB--see her subsequent comment.

[retriever]

Loved that scene of Mel's. Particularly his teaching his kids how to help him ambush the wicked Brits. I know, I know, they are our allies now...

Good point about how much of what the MSM is most scathingly critical of Palin for is characteristic of much of the regular people in the country. The arrogance...I don't always agree with her, but I like her and she's real and most of the people I know who hate her are phonies...nuff said.

[Tom the Redhunter]

Good stuff here. Indeed, those who attack Palin are attacking a majority of the nation. Eventually they'll realize their mistake, but only too late.