Political bogeymen are Palin's touchstones. She's tried her hand with a variety of these to varying success. Not that long ago, Palin said it was the federal deficit that was ruining the economy. But having now lost the budget ceiling fight, she appears to have abandoned the deficit. It appears she believes the answer is to warn of capitalism as the root cause of America's downward spiral.
This message has the dirty word "socialism" written all over it. It sounds in fact a lot like what presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs was saying in 1912. Could Sarah Palin run for president based on the platform of the Social Democratic Party of the United States? Or is it that attacking "crony capitalism" is just another easy for Palin to appeal to the masses?
Quick: what do "pallin' around with terrorists," "death panels," "lamestream media," and "crony capitalism" all have in common? Fear mongering.
Palin might not know much about what she reads, as she made evident in the infamous Katie Couric interview of long ago. But she clearly understands how to capitalize on the fears of Americans. When she was running for governor of Alaska, Palin instinctively perceived Alaskans were fed up with what they took to be a rotten establishment controlled by the "Corrupt Bastards Club," filthy-rich Big Oil and an arrogant governor who thought he deserved a private jet.
And when she quit as governor, there were new fears toward which to turn the people's attention. It was in her resignation that she warned of the "political operatives (who) descended on Alaska."
Nonresidents of Alaska might not fully understand the appeal to provincial fears inherent in the latter statement, but Alaskans live in a land where it is normal to despise and fear Outside interests. Palin's husband, Todd, is a former member and current supporter of the Alaska Independence Party, an organization that began by advocating secession from the United States. It has since tempered that view somewhat, but still wants to keep the federal government at arm's length. Alaskans really would like to be a foreign country north of Canada receiving a ton of U.S. foreign aid and advice, but not having to take any of the latter. Think of the place as sort of the Pakistan of the Arctic and you'll get the idea.
And that is the environment that forged Palin. She knows all about playing people's fears. She first ran for mayor of Wasilla on the issues of gun control and abortion. The city of Wasilla was not involved in either issue. The city had no gun control. The city wasn't financing any abortion. But Palin understood she could whip up the fears among the electorate by suggesting her opponents might be for the former and against the latter.
Bogeymen helped Sarah get elected mayor and then governor. This she obviously understands. Since she quit office, she's been trying to play the Alaska game on a bigger stage by whipping up national fears.
Craig Medred is dead on with this description of Palin's fear based approach to politics and that she learned it in one of the most distrustful places on the planet.
I live in Anchorage, which rural Alaskans disdainfully refer to to as "Los Anchorage" while claiming it is not the REAL Alaska. And they are not exactly incorrect about that.
In my part of Alaska we are only about five years behind the times compared to the rest of America, but many other places they are still dreaming of the day that they will have indoor plumbing and talk to their friends everyday via short wave radio.
Palin took full advantage of the fact that she was surrounded by undereducated God fearing people in Wasilla, who placed faith and church attendance well over the importance of a college education, and played on their emotions until they were afraid NOT to vote for her.
And sadly Palin has learned that there are Wasillians ALL over the country, in small towns and poor communities, who are every bit as responsive to her brand of hateful rhetoric, and scare tactics, as their Alaskan counterparts.
That is the secret of her success, and that has also been the key to her defeat. Educate the masses and you take away her influence. Revealing the truth about her, and shining a light on her numerous gaffes and public relations disasters, has slowly chipped away at her support, until today we see her as a mere shadow of her former frightening self.
But I am not convinced that we are completely finished yet which is why I still want people to read the books coming out about Palin this month and take the time to watch Nick Broomfield's very humorous documentary.
Information is like Kryptonite to Sarah Palin, so the more we learn, the less she, and those like her, can affect us in the future.
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