...What her opponents do not realize is they can't defeat her spirit by defeating her politically. I think that is really scary for them. While many were eager to say she was politically dead, she had no trouble saying that if that was the case "so be it." But if it were true they would not be so upset about her move.
... The reaction to Palin's nomination was as visceral as it was unhinged. Knowing almost nothing of the feisty hockey mom turned political dragon-slayer, some in the media turned rumors -- had Palin supported Patrick Buchanan? Had she been a member of the Alaska Independence Party? Did she believe that dinosaurs were around a couple thousand years ago? -- into established facts.Not content to examine Palin's actual record, the press did its best to transform the unconventional, pragmatic politician into a fire-breathing social conservative who was outside the American mainstream.
Democratic partisans committed to Barack Obama's election demonized Palin until she became the emblem for everything liberals think is wrong with America. Comedians lampooned her accent, her looks, her religion, her education and her family. The same McCain aides who championed Palin for vice president later turned on her and leaked damaging (and false) information to a press eager for any tidbit confirming its view that the governor was unqualified and reckless. One lousy interview with Katie Couric didn't help.
Something about Sarah Palin riles people up. After the McCain-Palin ticket lost the election and the governor returned to Alaska, the onslaught against her did not cease. The Democrats in the state legislature who once had been Palin's allies turned on her. Her opponents, continuing their never-ending search for dirt, inundated the governor's office with 150 Freedom of Information Act requests for documents relating to Palin's schedule and contacts.
The Anchorage Daily News counts 18 ethics complaints filed against Palin. All of them have been dismissed, but at great cost to the state in man-hours and wasted resources. The Palin family's personal legal liability is around half a million dollars.
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Palin did nothing to deserve the acrimonious venom that has been flung at her non-stop since she first appeared onstage with McCain. The professional, emotional and financial toll on her has been incredible. Partisan agendas and personal animosities have left her with few friends and many opponents in Alaska. And so, last week, she did what she is used to doing. She shook up the playing field.
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Palin is impulsive. Her charisma is such that she does not need to hold an office to command attention or wield influence. She resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission all of a sudden in 2004, plunged into a Republican gubernatorial primary in October 2005 and joined McCain's campaign without hesitation. Two of these three dizzying moves ended up in victory, and one did not. Two out of three isn't bad. Why shouldn't Palin think another gamble might pay off?
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They fear and hate her more than anyone since George Bush and they will do anything to marginalize her. They thought they had her in the box with the frivolous ethics complaints and part of their anger is that she has slipped that trap. You saw part of the drill when she made the speech up in New York. While there were 20,000 in attendance for a speech about the guy who bought Alaska from Russia, the reactions of her critics were disproportionate. So has been the reaction to her resignation.
I think she has rattled the opposition again.
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