Hundreds, (more or less), of Duffy's readers have asked him what he thinks of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement. Well, for one thing Duffy likes looking at Sarah Palin. She is one good looking woman. When she compares to some of the females in the Democratic Party, Michelle Obama being a notable exception, there is no comparison. (think Hilary and Pelosi). That said, here is Duffy's take on Sarah. Two events in September 2008 transpired that sunk John McCain's election. The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the selection of Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The Lehman Brothers collapse was the tipping point that started the Great Economic Panic of 2008. Sarah Palin drove away moderate Republicans and Independents. They weren't ready to elect someone who looks like a typical 6 o'clock local newscaster. True, she energized the Far Right like no one else but the Republicans will never win a general election relying on the Far Right. In fact, one can say that Mr. McCain did the Republican Party no favors in bringing out of nowhere a woman totally unprepared to be Vice President much less President. Now don't get Duffy wrong. He has nothing against Sarah Palin. She is not dumb or stupid as the liberals try to paint her but she is ignorant in a lot of areas. Ignorance just means lack of knowledge. Mr. Obama is a very smart man but at his election woefully ignorant in several important areas, most notably foreign affairs and the military.
Sarah Palin will definitely have a large influence on the Republican Party and national politics in the years ahead. She is a classic populist appealing to the anger of the middle class. She's not going away as much as the main stream media and liberals try to demonize her. She is smart, hard working and determined to "spread a message." Duffy doesn't think she quite knows what her message is yet except to annoy and confound the liberals and the Obama agenda. Not a bad thing everything considered. She likes the adulation and needs the money.
Duffy still doesn't know quite what to make of the Tea Party movement. The TPM means more than "Taxed Enough Already!" Duffy thinks that the American people have finally reached a tipping point where there is a general consensus in the country that "enough is enough" when it comes to Big Government. Mr. Obama ran as a moderate centrist but quickly showed his true colors once in office as a far left ideologue. Duffy doesn't think his inner nature will allow him to pivot to the middle to appeal to moderates and independents in time to save his presidency. He will, like Jimmy Carter, be a one term president unless he has a total "conviction transplant" between now and November 2012. And he can't shake Nancy Pelosi.
The TPM, by itself, will not elect a Republican president in 2012 either. At some point as this is happening already, the TPM will become an structured organization with recognized leaders, a permanent funding source, office in Washington, the whole nine yards. The TPM will favor Republicans more than Democrats especially as long as Nancy Pelosi is running Congress. And she is, in fact, running Congress. Harry Reid is on his way out and pretty much a hack anyway. Again, the TPM is symbolic of a pervading sense sweeping across America that the total debt burden of this country is unsustainable, that Congress is pretty much worthless to fix anything and that bank bailouts, cap and trade, immigration "'reform", owning car companies, buying off the unions, is not America and shouldn't happen again. The Republicans, Duffy believes, should and must appeal to moderates, Independents and the people of America in the ideological center to elect a president in 2012. They can enlist the aid and energy of the TPM but can't depend on them to set their agenda or expect them to be the "core" that will boost their chances in 2012. Duffy thinks the TPM is a good thing for the country as a whole and the liberal Democrats, who don't understand it, have a right to be worried.
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