Sarah Comes to Town
By Steve Byas
A review of Sarah Palin's Visit to Norman and her book, Going Rogue
I arrived early (about six o'clock in the morning) so as to be in line, and get a wrist band, for my copy of Going Rogue autographed by its author, Sarah Palin. I am not good at estimating crowds, but the Hastings book store, the venue for the former Alaska governor's book signing is on the extreme western side of the Normandy Shopping Center. I was on the west side, too, but all the way in the back, because the line of others who coveted her signature snaked all the way around the shopping center.
I did not get a wrist band, and did not get a signed copy of the book, but I do have some thoughts about Sarah Palin and her book, after reading it.
First of all, as an autobiography, it is a worthwhile read. The one-man Steve Byas jury on Palin herself is still out.
My first knowledge of Palin was from the pages of Human Events, the national conservative weekly which did a series of articles on possible running mates for Republican presidential nominee John McCain. After reading the article, I was very impressed and very convinced that McCain would never pick Governor Palin to fill the office once occupied by Al Gore and Dick Cheney. She seemed far too conservative for the "progressive" Republican McCain. Then, when McCain did choose Palin, I was extremely happy.
I loved some of the things that I heard about Palin, such as she was a supporter of Pat Buchanan during his 1996 bid for president. She was photographed in 1999 wearing a Buchanan button, but the McCainiacs put out that Palin was just being hospitable to the visiting candidate (Buchanan beat Bob Dole, the 1996 McCain-like Republican in the Alaska caucuses). Sean Hannity even got into the act, denouncing the story that Palin had supported Buchanan as a smear. Despite three e-mails to Hannity asking him what was wrong about Palin supporting Buchanan, I never got an answer.
There are lots of things to like about Palin. First, I think it is great that she went to Idaho to college. After the string of left-wing Ivy Leaguers we have suffered through (the Bushes, Clinton, Obama), Idaho is just fine. Newsweek's cover story about Palin, "She's One of the Folks (And that's the problem)," sums it up pretty well. The Liberal Elites hate Palin because they consider her an average American, which they hate.
Hateful late night talk show host David Letterman's vicious "joke" about a baseball player raping her 14-year-old daughter probably sums up the moral vacuum of her liberal critics.
Sarah Palin is flawed as a conservative champion, but she is symptomatic of our lacking a true conservative champion for 2012. Former Republican governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee certainly have their virtues, but they are not ideal conservatives, either.
But, taking Palin at her own self-identification, as a "maverick," who went "rogue" during the campaign, I could discuss her positions on foreign policy, domestic policy, and the like. But, I will focus on one part of her book that troubles me, which casts doubt as to just how "rogue" she is willing to go in challenging the liberal establishment.
Early in the presidential campaign, when liberal John McCain's liberal advisers were discussing possible issues with Governor Palin, the issue of evolution was raised. Now, liberals can be "tolerant" of just about anything, except someone who deviates even one percent from the theory of evolution. Why a person's view on evolution is an issue in a presidential campaign is odd, but it seems only Republican religious views are fair game. Romney's Mormonism and Huckabee's Baptist views were certainly negatives to be attacked during the debates, as I recall, but the profane sermons of Obama's pastor were off-limits.
I have read pages 217-218 of Going Rogue several times, attempting to determine exactly what Palin's views are on the subject. She seems to want to keep her feet firmly planted in both camps.
"I believe that God created us and also that He can create an evolutionary process," Palin said she told the McCain inquisitor, and she writes, "I believed that we came about through a random process, but were created by God."
Well, I agree with Palin that we were created by God, but it was not a "random process." She calls her position a "nuanced position," but it strikes me as a politician's weasel way out.
And another thing. Her pot-shots at "Big Oil" no doubt are popular with the general public who have little understanding of market economics, but I want a candidate who will champion the free enterprise system itself. We haven't had a president who championed free enterprise since at least Ronald Reagan. Quick: name a time that George W. Bush was a spirited champion of the free enterprise system. On his way out the door, Bush gave us TARP, along with lots of other Republicans (some in our own congressional delegation!) and tons of Democrats, including President Obama.
Right now, I think that many on the Right are so starved for a champion, they are projecting their hopes and desires on the former governor of Alaska. I hope that, should she run in 2012, she will deserve all those hopes and desires.
The one-man Steve Byas jury on Sarah Palin is still in the jury room.
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