Sarah Palin Needs to Ditch Beltway Style for Republican Substance
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I don't think Sarah Palin is dumb, but I do wonder how ready to work she is. Jonathan Capehart has a good post today on Sarah Palin's weekend debut into the beltway elite, particularly in regards to where the Alaska governor ranks in terms of influence in her party.
Palin, he noted, was included in Chris Cillizza's recent roundup of the most influential GOP leaders:
Governors from South Carolina (Mark Sanford), Louisiana (Bobby Jindal) and Mississippi (Haley Barbour) made the list. As did former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has huddled with congressional Republicans to discuss the stimulus bill. Not unlike Palin, the other governors are running their states in the worst economic environment in decades. But Sanford, Jindal and Barbour are also in positions to directly affect the policy direction of the GOP. Sanford is the current head of the Republican Governors Association. Barbour, a former chairman of the party, is seen as a front-runner for the RGA top-spot in 2010. And Jindal talked candidly about the party's need to retake the mantle of ethics and good government.
Palin, Capehart notes, has become the political equivalent of being famous for being famous, but has thus far failed to actually articulate a vision (or even try) for where she wants to take the party.
When Palin spoke to the Republican Governors Association a week after the election, she reverted to the cotton-candy campaign stump speech that proved unsuccessful. When House Republicans invited the life of the Grand Old Party to give a morale-boosting speech to the faithful this past weekend, she begged off. Something about pressing business in Alaska keeping her in the state. Things must have wrapped up pretty quickly, because there she was with the Washington elite she so disdained at the Capital Hilton on Saturday night. Palin's Capitol Hill colleagues were not amused.
Which brings us back to the issue of Palin's smarts. I don't think she's an idiot, I think she was poorly prepared for high office, but might well be as bright as some say. That said, assuming that she is in fact interested in a 2012 presidential run, what she needs to do now is leave the spotlight for a while and actually do the hard work of preparation. As a start, that means visiting with House Republicans while snubbing the Alfalfa crowd, not the other way around. And it means boning up on policy and making a substantive contribution to the party's debate.
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Reader Comments
Is Palin smart enough?
We have all been told how smart Oboma is--from what he has done so far he's as dumb as a ROCK, one stupid thing after another. Look at what they have done an you will quickly see that Palin is doing a far, far better job then Oboma--give me a BREAK!!
Palin = Dangerous
What if she's President and has to deal with a very, very difficult situation like someone asking what newspapers she reads? She might choke again!
palin's smarts
Whether or not the article is original, is not essential. The question remains, is she educated enough about world and domestic affairs to run the country? Does she know how the Fed works as opposed to the Treasury? Has she geo-political knowledge which will allow her to make informed choices when difficult situations present themselves? Has she any knowledge about all the difficult problems dealing with the large cities on the coasts? Does she have an understanding of the powers and limitations of using military strength in problematic situations?
All these and an infinite number of problems arise which require, if they are to be dealt with wisely, a large view of both American and world history, economic dislocations, environmental concerns, political alliances and tensions. No one has argued that she could discuss any of these subjects without a tele-prompter feeding her popular tag lines.
When you get into a meeting with experts in any field, it is not enough to give a stump speech appropriate for an audience who have no knowledge about a subject.
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