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February 11, 2012

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Sun editorial:

GOP and Palinpaloozza

Former vice presidential nominee starts book tour amid divisions in ranks

Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 | 2:04 a.m.

Sarah Palin is receiving wall-to-wall media coverage as she rolls out her new book, “Going Rogue” — and the Fox News crowd and right-wing radio talk show hosts are swooning over her. Rush Limbaugh, after reading an advance copy of her memoir, even went so far as to say it was “one of the most substantive policy books I’ve read.” Talk about a schoolboy crush.

The Limbaugh seal of approval isn’t persuasive enough for some conservatives, though. New York Times columnist David Brooks, in an appearance Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” news show, didn’t gush about the former Alaska governor who quit midway through her term this year. Brooks said Palin was a “joke.” So much for conservative harmony.

Brooks added: “I mean, I just can’t take her seriously. We have got serious problems in the country.” Then, alluding to rumors that Palin might get her own talk show gig, he got in this jab: “The idea that this potential talk show host is considered seriously for the Republican nomination, believe me, it will never happen. Republican primary voters are just not going to elect a talk-show host.”

Maybe Republicans won’t nominate a talk-show host as their nominee in 2012, but wasn’t it the lightweight Palin who Republicans nominated as their vice presidential nominee just a year ago, someone who could have been a heartbeat away from the presidency?

For that matter, someone should remind Brooks that talk show hosts such as Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck have taken over the Republican Party, as its leaders don’t dare cross the right-wing talkers. Indeed, sometimes we think we’re watching a ventriloquist act when it comes to right-wing talk show hosts and subservient GOP politicians.

The gulf between serious conservative thinkers, including Brooks, and those who are simply bloviating, such as Limbaugh, is huge. Their diametrically opposing views about Palin, a social conservative, illustrate the schism that is developing within the conservative movement and among Republicans.

The internal GOP divide was on display this month when a Democrat won a special election in a conservative congressional district in upstate New York, a seat that had historically been held by Republicans. Those on the far right, including Palin, refused to back the Republican in the race, saying the GOP nominee wasn’t conservative enough. They instead threw their support to the Conservative Party nominee. In turn, the Republican dropped out of the race the weekend before the election and endorsed the Democrat.

What has been happening to the Republican Party over the past several election cycles is that it has been losing races in the Northeast and other regions that had once been considered safe. Many moderate Republicans don’t believe they have a home anymore in the Republican Party, whose strength now comes from social conservatives and principally one region — the Deep South. And Republicans, because of the anti-immigrant wing in their party, have even suffered some setbacks in the Southwest, which was supposed to be a stronghold for them.

The far right’s strategy went so well in New York — if you think snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is an accomplishment — that it is being tried again in Florida against Gov. Charlie Crist, who is seeking the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat.

At first glance, Crist wouldn’t seem to be a likely candidate for the right wing’s ire. As a New York Times story noted recently, he is anti-abortion, against same-sex marriage and is a supporter of gun rights and the death penalty.

Crist’s offense? Being receptive to Florida’s share of the stimulus package passed this year and — horror of horrors! — he and President Barack Obama embraced each other at a town-hall meeting. It is obvious that civility, moderation and bipartisanship have no place in politics for the right wing of the GOP.

Traditionally, the party out of power gains seats in midterm elections, so Democratic losses are likely in 2010. But, as a long-term strategy, the rightward tilt of the Republican Party is out of step with most of the country.

For instance, its belief in unfettered free markets, without any meaningful government oversight, is what threw this country into its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The right wing’s bellicose, hawkish foreign policy also resulted in a disastrous war in Iraq, with hundreds of billions of dollars spent and thousands of American lives lost.

Polls show that Palin is viewed negatively by Democrats and independents, but she still has decent support among Republicans. If Palin is the future of the Republican Party, then the GOP is in jeopardy of being in the political wilderness — and out of power — for quite some time.

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