Posted by
Philip Mella on Monday, July 06, 2009 3:30:18 PM
A vital component of political credibility is the quiet confidence that accompanies great leaders. Men such as Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Reagan, exuded that special kind of confidence in ways that blurred their occasional lapses of judgment or failure to maintain a complete command of the facts. We can debate the degree to which these traits are innate, how they're cultivated by daunting experience and tempered by failure, but regardless of such discussions, they are clearly a sine qua non of all presidents, or would-be presidents.
That's why the case of Sarah Palin is so perplexing. We know from the current White House incumbent that a lengthy and laudable resume is not a pre-requisite for political viability. However, voters are drawn to candidates gifted at filling in our voids, making our personal worlds complete with broad and sweeping plans to reanimate our nation, sating our aspirations as a Republic, one in need of direction. President Obama deftly rose to the occasion, a kind of political cipher for the 21st century, in whose confidence just over half the electorate has invested, in ways that at once tease the imagination and cause concern for America's future.
Although Mr. Obama hasn't managed so much as a shoe store, much less a Fortune 500 company, he did convince millions that his vision for a new America is precisely what is needed at this juncture. Although there appears to be a profound gulf developing between what many signed up for and what's being delivered, what's remarkable is that he won the hearts and minds of so many voters with nothing more than a tissue of hopes and dreams, one far more left of center than his campaign would lead us to expect.
Her gender momentarily aside, Mrs. Palin is the near antithesis, exuding spontaneity and heartland American values, but someone who lacks Mr. Obama's apparently deeper intellectual bench. Whereas he is the epitome of control and restraint, she rushes into the breach, unwittingly confirming our fears that her thin resume betrays a commensurately thin understanding of history and a superficial knowledge base concerning the key issues facing our nation.
It's curious how presidential candidates are minted, particularly in this age when marketing has effectively supplanted product integrity and image replaced substance. Although she has always engendered excitement, it's typically among the traditional values crowd who are understandably pining for a candidate to champion their causes. I concur that the ideal conservative presidential candidate ought to defend traditional values, but they are secondary to the two cornerstones that define political viability at the national level: A lengthy resume of public service that demonstrates key accomplishments, and the political skills that carried the candidate to victory against a strong headwind.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Palin has neither, which her advocates seem to overlook, but which is obvious to the common observer. Clearly her candor and lack of political guile are seductive, but they simply don't translate into the kind of electoral potency necessary to win national office. Her announcement last Friday that she not only won't seek another term as governor of Alaska, but will step down later this month only confirms all of this. If you watched the news shows yesterday, comments ranged from complete mystification from George Will on This Week to the "Crazy like a fox" approach by Bill Kristol on Fox News Sunday.
On Fox News' Special Report Friday evening, Charles Krauthammer, made a credible case that being cut loose from her work as governor--and the obvious negative spotlight of the many unproven ethics allegations--would allow her to become a national voice for key issues, to build her case for her candidacy; that's a stretch, but his argument was, as always, very thoughtfully reasoned.
If you ran anonymous excerpts of various speeches and interviews of Jean Kirkpatrick or Madeline Albright and juxtaposed them with those of Mrs. Palin, this would all become glaringly apparent. Neither of those public servants were plausible presidential candidates, but they run circles around Palin when it comes to their depth of knowledge of policy and history. None of this excuses the vitriol and venom spewed by the left, which Andrew Breitbart eloquently and caustically captures in today's column.
As a panelist on This Week commented yesterday, the fact that the media generally and Republicans specifically are paying such close attention to Mrs. Palin is evidence of just how far the GOP's political stock has fallen. It will take a candidate of real substance to change that PE ratio, and whether it's a Mitt Romney or someone else is unknown at this time. But it would benefit the Republican Party and its chances to regain the White House, if Palin's champions recognized her irreconcilable political challenges and lobby behind a truly viable candidate.