Okay, here’s a little more analysis of Palin’s endorsement of Trump
Yesterday I was being a bit cute when I wrote an entire post that went like this: “‘Palin endorses Trump’….well, naturally.”
Today I’m going to say a bit more about it, but only a bit more. It doesn’t interest me all that much, perhaps because that “naturally” is what I truly think. I wouldn’t have expected anything else, despite the fact that Trump’s opponent Cruz would be the person most in line with Palin in terms of conservative principles—at least, it would seem that way.
But just think about it. Palin has lost a lot of support from the rank and file right over the years. Her stint as a reality star, her increasing family chaos, but perhaps most of all her initial resignation from the governorship—all have taken a toll on her reputation for seriousness in the political realm. Despite that, she has many many die-hard supporters, and they are, for the most part, the very same people who support Trump.
Not all Trump-supporters are Palin-supporters, but I would guess that nearly all of Palin’s recent supporters are Trump-supporters. And in endorsing Trump she was not just playing to her own base, or even riding on the coattails of a popular media figure and he on hers. It’s that Palin was always a populist and Trump is a populist, and she’s supporting her fellow-populist. That’s their bond, and it’s a strong one.
Populism transcends political philosophy for both of them. Populism, and that “maverick-y” quality. Both enjoy saying things that shock and jar, and which their followers consider brave. Both have followers rather than supporters, although they have supporters too. Both thrive on celebrity. Cruz is too wonky and could never be considered a populist, and although he’s a maverick of sorts he’s a very controlled and cerebral maverick with a very different style. Palin could support him as senator, but in a national race that Trump had entered and was seeming to dominate, for Palin it was no contest.
Those of you who have read this blog for many years know that I’ve defended Palin from the start, despite the fact that she’s hardly my favorite politician and I’m never been a big fan. But you could look long and hard on this blog if you wanted to find criticism of her, much less a hit piece. And this post isn’t a hit piece either, although I completely disagree with Palin’s choice. But the choice doesn’t surprise me, and it makes sense for her, despite the fact that Trump goes against many of the conservative principles she espouses. For whatever reason, a lot of people who support Trump are able to ignore his liberal qualities because they think he will do One Big Thing, something no one else can do. It doesn’t even matter what that one thing is—for some, it’s ending immigration. For others, it’s ending PC speech. For still others, it’s causing the demise of the Republican Party (okay, maybe three big things). I’m not sure which is foremost for Palin, or maybe all three, but they are things she wants, and things she may believe Trump can do. At the very least, she wants to hitch her wagon to him, and maybe there’s something in it for her in the future.
I don’t happen to think Trump would accomplish any of those things if he were elected, and certainly not in the way his followers think he will or with the benefits they think will come. I’m not going to turn this post into one about Trump, though—do a search and you can find plenty of those on this blog (notice, though, that I’ve still resisted making a separate category for him, although I realize I should).
So in closing I’ll just repeat—Palin endorses Trump, naturally.
Trump took Sarah’s endorsement so he could win the media for 1.3 days. That’s it.
There is something in it for her, as i mentioned the other day. Trump floated the idea of Palin as Sec’y of Energy. And now I take that idea more seriously.
When she was governor and before all the hype of the 2008 election, she had something like an 80% approval rating in the state of Alaska, because she did what she campaigned on…cleaned up corruption in the oil industry in Alaska.
To me, for the short time that she was a political figure with an actual elected position, she did what she said she would do. I liked that, and still like that, about her.
Very similar to Trump’s core statements of getting things done and making America Great Again.
“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. As such, I am bound to disappoint some, if not all, of them.”
-Barack Obama, so confident that his followers would continue to follow him, that he lapsed momentarily into honesty. Audacious!
The same phenomenon is occurring with Trump. His followers ignore all factual evidence that contradicts THEIR view of him, including but not limited to video/audio of the Strong Leader saying things that would make them foam at the mouth if it was coming from any other candidate. Some, if not all, of them are bound to be disappointed.
A politician, turned TV reality star endorses a TV reality star turned politician. I didn’t come up with this – journolist did. But it does seem to fit.
The question is, can a citizen, such as Palin or Trump, be an effective government executive? Palin succeeded, at least for a time. Could Trump succeed as President or would his celebrity and his enemies turn his term into chaos? That is the question, IMO.
I just want to know if Trump will listen to advisors if he becomes president?
It’s weird. My wife is a senior executive with an engineering background, makes a ton of money, manages scores of people, hates hates HATES feminists and is very conservative.
But she goes ape \>*} against Palin. I don’t get it. When I call her on it she can’t explain it logically. Could it be that I mentioned that Palin was hawt?
My wife heels to me at home but I leave the Palin thing alone and something I let lie. Maybe she sees her as competition – strong yet feminine, powerful in the world but knowing who the boss is at home.
This is the dynamic you should be looking at for the Palin-Trump deal. A powerful women submitting to a more powerful man. Some women will reject it, but the vast majority will understand it at the lymbic level. They see the loveless marriage of Hillary and what rampant careerism brings.
And my wife would vote for Trump the general. She despises democrats and has a particular hatred of Hillary that eclipses the endorsement of a former Alaskan governor.
Payback’s a beeotch.
Sarah Palin, I think I can safely suppose, remembers pointedly how the GOPe treated Sarah Palin in 2008 and then onward.
I suppose (still safely?) that in Sarah Palin’s mind, it’s time to graciously repay the favor.
Payback’s a beeotch. You betcha.
You betcha, but the question remains: Why pick Trump instead of Cruz? The populist goes with populist answer is the most compelling one.
What MJR said.
She was a successful governor, wildly approved of in Alaska. She worked her way up from low-level public office without being the spouse or spawn of anyone not already in politics – which certainly can’t be said of prominent political women from Hillary on down.
I have no idea of what Aarah Palin’s plans would have been, if the McCain campaign had not asked her to come on board. But I am pretty certain she has wished ever since that she could travel back in time to 2008, and graciously say, “Thanks, but no, thanks” to the McCain campaign. She was the only reason McCain had any chance at all – and his staff and the Establishment GOP treated her like dirt.
And the vitriol poured on her from feminists and women in the national media? I have not forgotten about that. And I’ll bet that she hasn’t, either.
“Payback’s a beeotch.” Right on, MJR! Her book “Going Rogue” went into great detail about how McCain’s handlers wouldn’t allow her to write her own speeches but insisted she was forced to mouth the pre-arranged pablum that the GOPe handed her. I still haven’t forgiven Charles Krauthammer for all the horrible things he said about Palin – She was our VP candidate for God’s sake! I dumped Fox news altogether in response to his smears.
Whatever – I’ve found that women judge other women extraordinarily harshly. Men might despise women as a group, but no man ever judges an individual woman the way a woman does. Guys may compete for their place on a pecking order, but they’ll accept the final results. Women won’t, at least not against other women.
Losing populist support or more significantly the populist vote is not a small thing.
Cornhead:
“Trump took Sarah’s endorsement so he could win the media for 1.3 days. That’s it.”
No, that’s not it. You ought to start seeing the game that is, instead of the game you wish was and perhaps that used to be.
“You ought to start seeing the game that is, instead of the game you wish was and perhaps that used to be.”
Thanks for the Ice Cream Koan, Eric.
I wonder a thing: Neo, you mention Palin’s recent supporters. I’ve not followed Palin’s later career at all, so I wonder whether she’s picked up a lot of new, fresher supporters or fans (if that’s not too inappropriate a word)? And what types of people has she picked up in this sense, and whom has she lost at the same time?
As you indicate, it would be interesting to know how much overlap there is between the current Palin crowd and the current Trump crowd. These types of questions might help us model that.
Janetoo says, “I just want to know if Trump will listen to advisors if the becomes president?”
Did you forget a sarc tag?
I saw a Wapo report that Palin’s son was arrested last night after a fight with his girlfriend. Apparently they had been arguing all nightbecause she was still incontact with an ex boyfriend. She hit him; he hit her, and he was arrested with a gun that turned out to be unloaded. It sounds like a messy scene, and I’m not willing to judge what happened. If this gets wider coverage, it may dampen the effect of Palin’s endorsement.
I think Sgt. Mom has got to the nitty gritty. Palin had a promising political career in Alaska, and perhaps beyond, until McCain tapped her for VP and then hung her out to twist in the wind. Same goes for the gope pundits who trashed her.
expat: The left is going freaking nuts over the Track Palin situation. All the hateful rhetoric is bubbling up again. The comments on Twitchy are disgusting and I won’t link them. Clearly, Palin Derangement Syndrome is not dead. For a psychological analysis of these people, I defer to The House of Eratosthenes: What I Notice About Palin-Bashers.
Well, “ending immigration” is not a Big Thing. It’s more of an Useless Thing, since white non-Hispanic newborns in US have ALREADY become a minority.
Next generation, US government will be decided by blacks and Hispanics, no matter how tall is the wall Trump builds.
Indeed, US is gonna be a very interesting sociological experiment about how a 1st-world society becomes a 3rd-world one. It has already happened in South-Africa, though media silence everything that is happening in this country.
US is the most interesting place to look at, right now. It’s like witnessing the fall of Rome in real time.
And, with a bit of luck, we will learn some lessons here in Europe, before it’s too late for us too.
parker:
Does Palin bear no responsibility for what happened? I think there’s enough responsibility to go around.
I wouldn’t call myself a Palin-basher. I’d never want to go through what she went through. But it left her with a level of visibility that any politician would be envious of. The way she failed to use it is her fault. Does anyone else remember how bad 2009 was for the Right? We needed a spokesman. Dick Cheney, God love him, was out making speeches, when anyone could see that he just wanted to go home. The President was picking fights with Limbaugh and FNC, because there wasn’t anyone else taking him on. Palin took the most trivial tack possible, “they made fun of me”, and went with it. We needed statesmanship, articulation of principles, and instead she threw a pity party. She allowed herself to look devoid of substance, and made everyone who had defended her look foolish. That’s her fault, 100%.
See my post on the previous thread. Key link is to Mead’s piece on Jacksonian America.
If there’s anyone I’d really bash, it’s Romney, because during those same tough years, we really needed an experienced voice on health care. I’m sick of people who are too busy being presidential candidates to find the time to be policy experts and leaders.
Which will bring us back to d’oh!, and Donald Trump’s incoherent policy ramblings. He can’t say he never had a chance to shine. What he’s done with that chance is on him.
PatD – I read that piece a while back. It sure does explain American populism, doesn’t it?
@Nick: The left went all out Alinsky on her and her family, to hound her out of office with frivolous lawsuits – ironically using using her own anti-corruption legislation against her. The GOP in Alaska, many of them members of the CBC (Corrupt Bastards Club), that she had fought and exposed, had it in for her. They got their revenge when they supported Lisa Murkowski as a write-in candidate against the GOP primary winner Joe Miller, who was supported by Palin.
Gov. Palin had governed with a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. After she ran as the VP pick, Democrats ran away from her. After all, she had taken on St. Obama. She really had no future in Alaskan politics after the McCain debacle.
Palin used her new-found celebrity to endorse conservative GOP candidates across the country in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 election cycles. Ted Cruz attributes his victory to her active support. She also supported Nikki Haley and Carly Fiorina in their campaigns.
In 2012, she had far more success in her endorsements than Karl Rove, with his $400 million Super PAC. At the time, Trump tweeted “Congrats to @KarlRove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race @CrossroadsGPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money.
3:56 PM – 7 Nov 2012”.
@Nick
So far Trump has five strong policy positions on his web-site.
Cruz has some on his web-site, too. I note that he claims credit for defeating the Gang of Eight bill.
The truth is that the bill had passed the Senate. It was all set to pass in the house; Boehner had the votes whipped into line, and then David Brat defeated Cantor and the votes evaporated. Brat had run on stopping illegal immigration. Cruz had nothing to do with defeating it.
PatD:
I guess you’re set on ignoring the links I posted about Cruz and the Gang of Eight.
Neo,
Palin is responsible for her decision to become a reality tv star. She did it for the money and I understand why she did given the lawsuits she faced and the hatred that came her way from the msm and the pundits of the ‘right’. I am not defending her decisions, merely stating I understand her motivations even though I do no applaud her choice to go down that road.
Yep, pretty good analysis. I’m with you. I see her as a fellow human being whom I happen to agree with on a lot of stuff. But we can disagree on things, and I don’t hate her for it. I’m disappointed in the Trump endorsement. But what are ya gonna do?
The way she failed to use it is her fault. Does anyone else remember how bad 2009 was for the Right?
Do you remember what happened to the Tea Party when they got “visible”?
Strategists have higher standards than make a wish foundations.
As for reality tv star, the DUck Dynasty is also on that level. When people smear Palin with it, they are also… well, let’s not mention that.