Palin gives keynote speech at 'tea party' gathering

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

This is my thing. I just don't have a lot of confidence in her skill set, organizational ability, or her intelligence to be President. There's something to be said for surrounding yourself with the right people, but I don't even think she could do that.

I think her best role is what she's doing now: political commentator and conservative "activist." (I also think it's Mike Huckabee's best role as well) I hope that's the role she chooses going into the election. I just don't think she's good for the Republican party, and she represents some issues I as a Republican have with certain factions of the party.

Trouble is, the folks they surround themselves with these days are probably nothing more than a chorus of yes-men. And in some places, vapid campaigns based upon platitude and being folksy is enough to get you elected.

Here in Oklahoma, where we tend to be a lot more conservative and a lot less educated than most other electorates [that's the only way I can understand someone like her having any sort of success], we recently had a U.S. Rep (Mary Fallin) run commercials saying she stood for "Faith, family and freedom," and based on the fact that she had some name recognition (was Lt. Gov. for a long time) and the mere fact that she was a Republican, she ran away with the election. Now she's about to do the same thing, but this time, she'll be in a position to do some real damage -- she's running for Governor.

My observation as to local politics (and I think it translates nationally) is this -- politics has become less and less about ideas and more and more about name brand promotion. The key is not to actually have ideas people agree with, it's to make people think you have the same ideas they do without ever directly communicating anything. This is accomplished by making folksy common-sense statements, running on platitudes, and above all else, making oneself look like the least-bad choice.

I think the Tea Party concept in itself is meritorious, but it's inevitable that it'll be completely hijacked by special interests at some point. Look for an announcement very soon that 'true conservatism' really means tort reform, increased military spending and deregulation of securities (actually, I think the Heritage Foundation probably beat me to the punch there).

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Trouble is, the folks they surround themselves with these days are probably nothing more than a chorus of yes-men. And in some places, vapid campaigns based upon platitude and being folksy is enough to get you elected.

I don't know if I'd go that far. To be sure there are going to be some "yes-men" in the crowd. But, there are politicians who surround themselves with smart, capable people. There are some good people working on campaigns, both national and local.

Originally Posted by Kevin

My observation as to local politics (and I think it translates nationally) is this -- politics has become less and less about ideas and more and more about name brand promotion. The key is not to actually have ideas people agree with, it's to make people think you have the same ideas they do without ever directly communicating anything. This is accomplished by making folksy common-sense statements, running on platitudes, and above all else, making oneself look like the least-bad choice.

I think that could go for any local or national election around the country. It takes so much money to run a campaign these days, let alone a successful one, that candidates have to appeal to those areas of the electorate where 1) they could get votes and 2) they could raise money. If that means focusing on one or two issues and glossing over the others, that's what they'll do.

There's such a thin margin of error with the process, especially in the day of the 24 hour news cycle. If you make a mistake of fact, or you go too far one way or the other, you're done. Look at Howard Dean - he had a lot of momentum, got too excited after a primary, and his campaign was finished. (that may be oversimplifying things, but you get my point)