Thursday, November 25, 2010

Elephant Dung #5: Palin attacks elitist Bush "blue-bloods"

Tracking the GOP Civil War


(For an explanation of this ongoing series, see here. For previous entries, see here.)

It's one thing to go after those Times-readin', Volvo-drivin', latte-sippin' liberal Democratic coastal elites, whether they exist or not, quite another to go after the plutocratic Republican elite, whether coastal or Texan, and, say what you will about the Bushes, they're a veritable Republican dynasty with two ex-presidents, a pile of up-and-coming relatives, and Jeb waiting in the wings for the right time to run. 
That's an awful lot more than you can say about the Palins.

So it doesn't make much sense for less-then-one-term-governor Sarah Palin to target the Bushes, however much she may object to Barbara's suggestion that she "stay in Alaska." As she told Laura Ingraham in another friendly interview that allowed her to avoid having to face anything resembling a tough question that might require her to think (and fail):

I don't want to concede that we have to get used to this kind of thing, because I don't think the majority of Americans want to put up with the blue-bloods -- and I want to say it with all due respect because I love the Bushes -- the blue-bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition.

Right, with all due respect.

Now, to be fair (and balanced), there's certainly something to be said for an anti-establishmentarian approach to party politics, and, here, Palin is merely expressing the view of much of the grassroots Tea Party base of the GOP. Obviously, it's not necessarily for the best when a party adopts a next-in-line approach to selecting nominees, or when a few dynasties dominate.

But one imagines that many in the pro-Bush Republican establishment are none too pleased than an upstart with little experience and a whole lotta ignorance, even a star like Palin, is challenging their authority. 

Look for the establishment, such as it is, to continue to do everything it can to block Palin's ascendancy. Much of the country finds her repugnant, but it's the "blue-bloods" in her own party who really have it in for her.

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posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at 2:00 PM

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8 Comments:

  • Hoping you enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving with family & friends!

    By Blogger Unknown, at 4:02 PM  

  • Yeah, I wouldn't expect to see the Barricuda on the ticket come 2012. The establishment needs another Bush. At least he was smart enough to take their marching orders. Palin isn't even bright enough to understand the orders in the first place.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    JMJ

    By Blogger Jersey McJones, at 6:11 PM  

  • Michael,
    You don't believe that given a choice between a progressive Democratic reformer and Palin, that the Republican establishment, including the "blue bloods", will choose Palin? They may not have much respect for her but they know who threatens their economic interests and its not Palin. She is a useful puppet.

    By Blogger john horse, at 10:58 AM  

  • "a veritable Republican dynasty with two ex-presidents,"

    And a money launderer for the Nazis

    By Blogger Capt. Fogg, at 12:46 PM  

  • Despite all the talk about the Tea Party and Palinism, the blue-bloods still control the GOP and the money. And they will never let a woman be the nominee. It will be Romney after a bruising primary season and a Dixiecrat-style insurgency that leaves Romney limping into the convention. Pass the popcorn.

    By Blogger Mustang Bobby, at 5:50 PM  

  • She's living true to the populist (as in majority rules) spirit of the Tea Party. She is the one politician who never gave in, never compromised, never caved. That strength is what we need now.

    By Blogger john bailo, at 12:33 AM  

  • No, John, she just quit her job halfway through it because she was bored and could make more money shilling a ghost-written book, she deliberately lies about such things as "death panels," she has the maturity of an eight-year-old, and she's a flaming hypocrite about such things as privacy: she goes all Mama Grizzly when people talk about her kids and then she turns around and makes snarky comments about Michelle Obama. She's a charlatan, a con artist, a mountebank, and an intellectual midget. And if you think that's what this country needs right now, we are so screwed.

    By Blogger Mustang Bobby, at 10:11 AM  

  • Thanks, Swordfish.

    John Horse: If it came down to Palin or a Democrat, obviously Republicans would hold their nose and back her. Remember, that's what Rove did with O'Donnell this year. He obviously couldn't stand her, but he kept his views quiet. Certainly, Republicans are very good at rallying together and avoiding internal strife. Pat Buchanan's insurgency was the exception. But look how even conservatives uncomfortable with McCain were on board in '08, even if they weren't happy about it.

    My point is that the establishment will try to derail Palin before it gets to that point. I think some still see her as a puppet. That's why the neocons liked her even before McCain (a neocon guy) picked her as his running mate. They thought she could be a vehicle for their foreign policy objectives, and, indeed, she's still more neocon than realist (even if she doesn't have a clue what she's talking about) -- consider her extremist pro-Israel position. And, true, she wouldn't necessarily threaten the economic interests of the establishment.

    But... she's just not one of them. She's a populist demagogue. The establishment prefers an insider and will likely back Romney or Pawlenty or some other less populist option for '12. (Note that Bush I recently said that Romeny would make a good president.) But if they think they'll lose, they may just let Palin take the fall in '12, then back someone like Jeb in '16.

    By Blogger Michael J.W. Stickings, at 5:19 PM  

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