Patterico's Pontifications

7/3/2009

Krauthammer Says Palin Is Not a Serious Candidate for President

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:02 am



Via Hot Air, where the clip has generated a lively discussion.

42 Responses to “Krauthammer Says Palin Is Not a Serious Candidate for President”

  1. Neither was Obama.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  2. Mr. K is just another beltway elitist who would rather be invited to the right cocktail parties than do the right thing.

    He lost his credibility last year. He’s just another George Bush-McCain RINO.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  3. happyfeet also says the Sarah Palin, she is not a serious candidate for presidency. Thank Meghan’s loser daddy’s loser narcissistic campaign staff for that and also Barack Obama’s dirty socialist media what employs the Katie Couric trollop and – not coincidentally – also employs the geriatric child-rape afficionado David Letterman.

    happyfeet (e8d590)

  4. *aficionado*

    happyfeet (e8d590)

  5. Honestly, there is a stink of elitism about all this. And if The Elite™ are going to say that Palin isn’t serious…well, a certain community organizer with less executive experience than the Governor of Alaska certainly was.

    In the final analysis, I don’t care for boffins telling voters who is “best.” So much of politics is staged and showcraft in the first place.

    I respect the heck out of Dr. Krauthammer on many topics. Not this one.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  6. Watch it, pruneface, or next time we’ll let the air out of your tires.

    Official Internet Data Office (bc15a9)

  7. Ouch, OIDO!

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  8. I am willing to wager Palin would have made better choices than to increase our debt beyond our ability to pay, block sanctions against Iran, and back the want to be Chavez in Honduras. I do not believe Sarah would sign a cap and trade bill nor would she advocate for state run health care. I do not think she would have used our tax dollars to buy GM and Chrysler for the UAW. Did I miss anything? I don’t know what she knows or what she doesn’t know, but I have a feeling most understand what she would do in situations calling for an executive decision. Sarah was not raised by communists.

    Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (312d4c)

  9. Sometimes, the trick is to know what you do not know. Some of the “smartest” and “most successful” people suffer from hubris. Humility is more important, especially with huge and vital problems.

    The point with Sarah Palin is simple: she needs to prove herself. The Elite™ seems to have decided all about her already…

    But could anyone, including Dr. Krauthammer, really claim that she is less intelligent or has less gravitas than Joe Biden?

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  10. I’m a Palin fan but I agree 100% with Dr. Krauthammer. I want to see Palin succeed and would love to see certain people’s heads explode if/when she gets a veep slot (or more!). But she is not going to get there if she does not start putting in serious time learning foreign policy, history, economics, and public speaking. And while she has time, I don’t see any indicator that this is a priority for her. That gives me concern.

    In this day and age of post-everything, there is ironically not a level playing field and still a double-standard re women; her looks are ultimately a quality she needs to be able to distract from by her (hopefully) strong, solid background of necessary knowledge and insight. She needs to be able to play up her seriousness, not her charms or star power. And there is the very real possibility that might be difficult for her as she’s probably used to using that charm and star-power to advance herself. It might be tough for her to break out of that habit. But she’s really got to start pushing the big rock up hill and dig in. We’ll have to see…

    I was talking to some women friends about Palin’s latest photo shoot in Runner’s World, and while she looks terrific in every shot, she gives off a bit of dolled up cheesecake – which is fine – but she needs to realize it just increases the target on her back. Of course it’s not fair, not right, and immensely hypocritical but that’s not going to change – she needs to fight back on the correct battle field and stop giving them more opportunity. They’ll hate her no matter what, but at least fight as a serious contender with gravitas and a mastery of the subjects. (It’s really unfair because the same thing could be said of our current president: he should study, study, study because his lack of the facts and broad base is not boding well for us but that’s another story…).

    Dana (8d88ef)

  11. Comment by Zelsdorf Ragshaft III — 7/3/2009 @ 10:30 am

    I agree with this but she still has to get into office and that means winning over a lot more people. The question is, how does she do that? Her current solid base is not enough.

    Dana (8d88ef)

  12. The problem is not that the elites and the press have it in for Palin — they do — it’s that she has been woefully unable to put them in their place. In that, she is very much like GWB; always on defense.

    They tried to do the same to Reagan, and he made them eat every word. That’s going to be what it takes. Not sure who has that ability. A older, wiser Gingrich? Romney, who can clearly think on his feet? Someone new?

    But it clearly isn’t Palin, who couldn’t even put the idiot Biden away. She’ll get the 25% of the primary vote that Huckabee got, but never the majority of the party. Most of us don’t give a tinker’s damn about social issues right now and view anyone who does as a distraction.

    It’s the economy, stupid.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  13. This idea that there are serious people with serious opinions who should be taken seriously happens to be a cherished trope of the media, especially on the East coast. It’s a symptom of aspiring to be a serious journalist, whom people take seriously, writing for a serious newspaper, especially on the East coast. Of course, this is a pretentious idea, especially since Krauthammer’s own newspaper, the Washington Post, was caught compromising its integrity by offering soirees with newsmakers for up to $250,000 a pop. (Seriously!) If anyone should not be taken seriously from among the 2008 candidates, it’s Joe Biden.

    But the most surprising of Krauthammer’s remarks was that he thinks Romney is the next in line, as the eminence grise of the Republican Party. What is that all about? Does Krauthammer like the way Romney’s graying at the temples, or something? Technically, the Republican old guy next in line would be Gingrich.

    Official Internet Data Office (bc15a9)

  14. Palin’s Alaska is in worse financial straits than California, with the highest 2010 deficit (percentage-wise) of any state. Not encouraging to the economically oriented.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  15. woefully unable

    that’s not as much because she is Sarah Palin but because she’s a Republican and a filthy Christian one to boot

    happyfeet (e8d590)

  16. Romney is next in line because he would have been a better choice in 2008 — probably would have won with the issues so clearly economic, being his strong suit. Would have been a better VP candidate, too. Would have destroyed Biden in debate.

    Gingrich is the party’s old flame. Is he older and wiser and past the adultery scandal? I’d like to think so, but we need to see him put that attack down hard before he can be taken seriously again.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  17. feets, but Reagan was both and still prevailed. Whining about the press doesn’t help. You have to bend them over and make them like it.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  18. Note that, if the economy is booming, Obamacare proves good, cheap and pleasant and Iran hasn’t nuked anyone, it won’t matter who we put up. In that case maybe it will be Palin.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  19. oh. I don’t agree exactly Mr. Murphy but this is why… it’s cause the press in Reagan’s time is not the same as the Katrina/Lakoff fascist media of today… we have to stop mistaking journalists for real human people what if they are in the middle of the road you swerve your car to avoid hitting them

    happyfeet (e8d590)

  20. Murphy, Alaska is not using IOU’s to pay its debts like CA. If Sarah decides to run, she will campaign. In that campaign she will either win support or not. Anyone can make all the pronouncements they wish about if she want to or is suitable to run for the Presidency. If it is time for a woman to be President of the United States, and it may well be, let us hope it is Sarah rather than Hillary.

    Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (312d4c)

  21. Palin is the only potential Republican candidate out there that i have any interest in. all the usual cookie cutter middle aged male offerings are completely underwhelming and uninspiring.

    what’s worse is, that for the most part, they are all either squishy RINOs or religious nuts. i’ll pass.

    if you don’t like Palin, you’re gonna have to find some other new blood, because the old product is past it’s shelf life.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  22. Yes indeedy, only elitists think that Palin isn’t “more popular than air”, as Hugh Hewitt once put it. So let’s test that idea. I really hope the GOP nominates Palin for President in 2012. Surely, she’ll beat Obama 60-40, right? Bring it on, it will be fun to watch.

    Jack (900fbe)

  23. Jack, sarcasm is not an argument.

    Palin has a very impressive resume as a governor who has done a great job of cleaning up corruption in Alaska… and that includes getting prominent members of her own party in serious trouble.

    Obama doesn’t have her ability to lead or her experience level. His foreign policy record is far inferior to hers at this point.

    So laugh away and be sarcastic.

    The truth is, Palin will be better off is she elevates above outrage at the jerks who hate her and starts talking about policy at a higher level. Romney, Liz Cheney, and Pawlenty have this ability. Palin has something more: the ability to connect with the people. That’s because she’s sincere. And with that sincerity alone, she will probably be able to win the nomination. Remember, she doesn’t need to win a majority to win the nomination.

    Juan (ba249c)

  24. While I’m absolutely convinced that Palin would be preferable to Obama or Biden (Or Hillary), I have never heard her say anything to make me think she is an exceptional conservative politician with what it takes to be a great president. Jindal and Flake have each impressed me more.

    The amount of deranged hate that the left has for this woman is no reason to blindly follow her down a dead end road. I’m not dismissing her, I just need to see something more than being a competent governor.

    Where is America’s Thatcher?

    harkin (3769c8)

  25. Gee, Jack 60 to 40 is such a small number. I suggest 70-30. By the time 2012 rolls around, the only people voting for Obama will be card carrying communists and hard core ACORNs who have not been sent to prison. When the press wakes up to smell what Obama is cooking, he will be toast. That staunch concervative, Helen Thomas asked the question about puppets. The Obama admin answered yes.

    Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (312d4c)

  26. If it is time for a woman to be President of the United States, and it may well be,

    Good grief, why the need to make a distinction? Why not, It’s time for the best, most viable, and strongest candidate to be President…? I sincerely hope this sexism lite doesn’t reflect the general mindset of conservatism.

    Dana (8d88ef)

  27. Hell yeah, Dana.

    If Palin is to be our president, it’s because she’s better than the others…not because of her identity group.

    But then… you didn’t see this kind of energy around Liz Dole or Colin Powell. Palin’s appeal is simply that she’s not the kind of candidate you’d expect Krauthammer to endorse.

    And I have to wonder if Krauthammer is clever enough to see this, and he and many like him are going to distance Palin from the beltway Republicans simply to continually keep clear that Palin is something new and unlike all the GOP fools who the electorate justifiably distrust. There’s no hope for Palin at all once Peggy Noonan starts to sincerely love her. Voters don’t like anybody Noonan and friends are going to push forward.

    Juan (ba249c)

  28. I agree with Krauthammer about her needing to spend time learning issues. Margaret Thatcher did exactly that when she was first brought into Heath’s government (in a typical woman’s post) and Palin should do the same. It’s harder for her because Alaska is so far from the guru center in DC but she needs to have an inner circle coaching her.

    She could be doing it although I suspect we would be hearing about it from hostile media if she were.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  29. “But it clearly isn’t Palin, who couldn’t even put the idiot Biden away.”

    Biden lied his way through the campaign and no one called him.

    davod (bce08f)

  30. I would have been OK with Romney for the nomination, and I believe he would’ve cleaned teh One’s clock in the debates. Not to mention he would’ve put the media immediately on the defensive – he put away a particularly odious scumbag reporter from the Boston Globe not too long ago, and it was a beautiful thing to watch.

    Good grief, why the need to make a distinction?

    Wouldn’t that be awesome, Dana? But it is not to be, as we’ve seen with the alleged “post – racial” candidacy of teh One. Obama has put his race front and center every opportunity he gets, and his supporters bray the charge of “wacist!” every time he receives anything short of adulation. He and his party have made identity politics a de facto reality for many years to come, I fear. Just take one look at the absurd process for his new SCOTUS nomination – what superior attributes does she possess from her prior career to merit such a distinction? Hint: it sure ain’t her judicial record.

    Dmac (f7884d)

  31. Wow I’vew rarely seen a bigger liar than Kevin Murphy. Please tell us how Alaska’s debt is rated compared to California. Are you a dullard or what.

    Its sad to see the people who voted for Obama acting as mobys and telling us why isn’t up to it. She is head and shoulders above Presidente Zero as we are all learning to our cost.

    Its truly sad to see the mobys pushing Romney, who is Obama lite. He is pathetic as people are finding out to their cost in Massachusetts.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  32. Krauthammer doesn’t like her because she’s not an intellectual, and she reacts more from her gut than she reflects with her mind. Then again, so did Reagan.

    My problem with Palin is that I don’t give two hoots in hell about social issues, or at least not the red meat social issues that are all the rave. I’m a lot more concerned with not having the economy crater and not seeing any mushroom clouds. And there, I see no special quality in Sarah Palin, and much that worries me.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  33. Kevin, Palin is pretty in depth on domestic economic issues. It’s the media caricature that she’s not, but she’s spoken about it at length. If you look at things she said before she was even part of the Mccain campaign, it’s clear she’s not really about social issues.

    and I never really saw her as a red meat social conservative. I know she’s nominated a lot of different jurists to the bench. Plenty of liberals who happen to be level headed judges.

    I think she was considered the ultimate pro-life lady just because she didn’t abort her son. that’s silly.

    Juan (ba249c)

  34. I see Kevin Murphy mouth is like the River Platte. A mile wide and very muddy. Its sad to see someone lie as much as you, be called on it and just ignore it because you know you’ve been called.

    So lets face it, your a troll, an ignorant one, and one of those lemmings who support Presidente Zero despite his doubling unployment since his election, quadrupling the debt, and shredding the constitution, while displaying all the honesty and integrity of Al Capone.

    This sums up the ugly side of what a segment of our population represents. Thugocracy.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  35. It seems ‘Dr. Strangelove’ has made his choice on the horse he’s backing. Romney.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  36. Ah, I see that DCSCA is back with his name calling routine. Now we see DCSCA make fun of a man in a wheelchair.

    Wow, that’s hilarious.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  37. I wouldn’t bet against DuckCrap in a limbo contest.

    AD - RtR/OS! (ad12dc)

  38. Kevin Murphy,

    Articles like this one by David Harsanyi suggest Sarah Palin may be as much a libertarian as a conservative on social issues:

    “Yes, Palin is without argument a staunch social conservative. She is fervently opposed to abortion – even in cases of rape and incest, which will raise eyebrows, but is certainly more philosophically consistent than the namby pambyism of your average politician. The choice issue, after all, is complicated, even for many libertarians. And, as I was recently reminded, Ron Paul, the Libertarian champion of the 21st century, also opposes abortion.

    Even when advocating for “moral” issues, Palin’s approach is a soft sell. Palin does not support gay marriage (neither does Obama, it should be noted). Yet, in 2006, Palin’s first veto as Governor was a bill that sought to block state employee benefits and health insurance for same-sex couples.

    We cannot bore into Palin’s soul to see her true feelings about gay couples, but, at the time, she noted that signing “this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office” because it was unconstitutional. For most libertarians, the thought of politician following any constitution, rather than their own predilections, morality or the “common good,” is a nice change of pace.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  39. She’s a quitter. And quitter’s don’t become president.

    Steve (365c64)

  40. She’s a quitter. And quitter’s don’t become president.
    Comment by Steve — 7/5/2009 @ 7:15 am

    “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.”

    Stashiu3 (3fc50f)

  41. Actually, Alaska had amassed sizable reserves to the application of the ACES tax framework on oil, and prudent spending. She had certified the acceptance of the stimulus funds, that the legislators had done on Tea Party Day in a swap with matching state funds for economic
    development, she knew the stunt that Sanford pulled taking it to the courts, which we now know may have been motivated by other than strictly economic considerations, wouldn’t have worked.
    She had focused on the pipeline, which was the ostensible reason she was down in Texas, the only viable economic project that would likely have stimulated the economy in the long run,

    People say, she’s out of contention, because of this last move, but who’s the alternative, Romney
    with his own flawed legacy of health care in Mass, who the base will remember for his staff’s attacks on Sarah,and his week statements on the auto company takeover and Iran. Huckabee,Gingrich,
    sounded good on the NRSC dinner, but then one recall he ‘bailed’ out on Iraq, during the ‘civil war’;teamed up with Nancy Pelosi, on those global warming spots, was a lobbyist for Freddy Mac at some point.

    narciso (996c34)

  42. (Was that too subtle Steve?)

    Stashiu3 (3fc50f)


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