Time to Take Campaign Posters Down

November 19, 2008
Time to Take the Campaign Posters Down

Well, the last state finally reported results. Missouri went to McCain. Just barely, but that’s all it takes. McCain came out 3,632 votes ahead of Obama – out of more than 2.9 million cast! Too little, too late to do McCain much good but it was the first time since 1956 that Missouri didn’t "pick" the winner of the presidential race. It has been a strange election from every perspective!

And ... "Uncle Ted", the U.S. Senator that has represented this State for so long he had gained the title "Senator for life" ... lost. He was ahead in the vote count after the regular ballots were counted even after being found guilty for not noting some oil company "gifts" on his federal disclosure forms the week before the election. But we had a huge number of absentee and "other" ballots that were finally counted over the past few days and a "kid" [a 46 year old kid :-)] by the name of Mark Begich prevailed and today Senator Stevens conceded. Uncle Ted was so well known and so appreciated for all the loot he had brought home from the federal treasury that no one ever believed he would lose an election. But he did ... on his 85th birthday. He was likely the most important politician in Alaska’s history and much of what he did as a Senator (besides bringing home all the pork) shaped the State in many ways. Granted, I disagreed with much of what he did, but that doesn’t lessen the importance of it :-)

[I will, btw, be doing a future column on why the feds actually owe us vastly more than we’ve ever gotten from them. They flatly stole most of our (oil) wealth that they agreed by contract in the Statehood Compact was ours. But that will be a future column.]

So ... the elections are over. And I hate it when I still see campaign signs in people’s yards long after the election has passed, so I’ve taken mine down as well.

Besides, as thrilling as it was to have our Governor as a candidate for such a high office ... and the fact that her mistreatment by the press infuriated me ... she and I do disagree on much ideologically. [Which, however, despite the furor caused by the "stop her at any costs" national media ... she didn’t govern (that is past tense but I really don’t expect it to change) as a member of the flat earth society.] Indeed, her actual governance was not nearly as conservative as the campaign painted her. Frankly, she is a lot more tough minded and practical than she ever got credit for.

Although there are plenty of folks who disagree with me, I do believe ideology is important even if one appears to "transcend" it for practicality when necessary. And Sarah and I have some very basic, very different ideologies. I have spent a lot of time in this blog defending her against the phony attacks and simple lies about her told by the pressography during the election. To the extent that such continues, so shall I. But in areas where we disagree ... you’ll be hearing a lot more about those from me now that the election is over also!

I have not yet heard that Sarah has repudiated the claims that her beliefs include such things as the fact that evolution was divinely guided. I’ve also heard it claimed that she believes the world to be only 6,000 years old but that hardly fits with evolution, guided or not. Besides. Her father was a science teacher. Surely she knows better!

I do think highly of her, however, and this campaign has increased that admiration. I don’t know how anyone can take what she was put through. And her star is still in ascension! She continues to receive non-stop requests from the media, agents, producers ... she delivered a well-received (and well-covered) speech at the Republican Governors Association. She is more in-demand and the national ... indeed international ... spotlight is on her more strongly than it ever was when she was a mere vice presidential candidate! She has become a legitimate "star" in her own right.

The William Morris agency has called multiple times (and they only call stars :-). Barbara Walters wanted to make Palin one of her "10 most fascinating people" (and apparently she is still in contention for Walters' #1 Most Fascinating Person)! Interestingly, they have already announced that Tina Fey made the
list ... but poor Tina! After all the great stuff she's done (she is my second favorite female comedienne), she is now known as "Sarah Palin impersonator Tina Fey"! :-) Also see (one of her) fan sites: "Currently, Tina Fey is best known for her portrayal of the Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin".

Sarah has had offers to host talk shows, write books, and do countless interviews. She is finally free to do so ... and so she has been. She has done a tremendous job of turning her reputation as an intellectual lightweight into a solidly respected intelligent and resourceful person.

She is, (in the words of the McClatchy press no less!):

"A national political figure and one of the world’s most famous people."

Despite the desperate hope of many Democrats that she would run back to Alaska with her tail between her legs and disappear into an ice cave ... she is doing no such thing. And the Democrats who hoped so (and the Republicans to whom she is a potential competitor for national office someday) just don’t know this woman (as they clearly demonstrated during the campaign). She doesn’t put her tail between her legs. She is fearless. She took the best (worst) punches the national punditocracy could throw ... and she emerged stronger and vastly more respected than ever before.

They won’t succeed at pigeon-holing her with their caricatures of her in her next national venture. People will know her too well by then. They only got away with the phony portrait they painted because no one knew anything else, so they accepted the pablum the media fed them.

And she still emerged a star! One with a very bright political future. Is she the next Ronald Reagan? It could be. The resemblances are remarkable. The press tried to paint Reagan as a mental midget his first couple runs for national office as well. But it didn’t stick. He was known as the Teflon President because the people simply decided to ignore all the nastiness from the media about him ... even when they were right. They had cried "wolf" too often. They no longer had any credibility.

The same thing appears to be happening with Sarah Palin. As people discover who this woman really is ... they are learning to ignore what the press says about her. In their desperate attempt to ensure Obama's election, the press pulled out all stops in screaming "wolf" ... or, in her case "wolf killer" :-) But ultimately it is (and soon will be even more so) the press that lost credibility, not Sarah Palin.

She and Ronald Reagan both shared that ephemeral unlearnable "something" that people call charisma but which simply excites people and makes folks want to like them and want to please them. Obama has it. And Sarah Palin has it. Presidents Reagan and Kennedy had it. [Unfortunately, probably so did Hitler ... it doesn't inherently translate to "good" ... but it does tend to translate to "powerful".]

But it is a rare and potent gift. [I remember being in a room when Ronald Reagan walked in ... before he was President. The room was instantly and remarkably electrified. It was an amazing sensation and an fascinating thing to watch.] Sarah Palin is something special. And I’m not going to be bashful about recognizing and acknowledging that.

So ... the election signs are down. But we will, among many other topics, continue to follow the exploits of our Governor. And when I disagree with her (and I will!:-) I won’t be bashful about that either!