The Rise and Fall of Sarah Palin

With the latest round of polls confirming that Obama has recaptured the national lead and that Sarah Palin's favorability rating is sinking rapidly (two developments that I suspect are closely related), the realization that Palin may end up being a liability and not an asset is slowly starting to dawn on conservatives, and it's a sad sight to behold. Take, for example, this distraught post by Jay Nordlinger at the National Review. Nordlinger discusses the kinds of emails he's been getting from NRO readers:

Other readers said that Palin was finished, done: “I see that the polls have dramatically switched in Obama’s favor within just one week. I guess that the Borking — the destruction — of this governor is complete.” Another reader said, “I thought Sarah Palin would be a superstar. Now, she’ll be nothing more than a national joke. The Republicans haven’t fought back. The MSM has won.”

Yes, the MSM has really conspired to bring her down. First, they investigated her background because no one knew anything about her. Then they backed off when Republicans screamed that that it was sexist to ask basic questions about her background and qualifications. Then they effusively praised her convention speech. Then, after she refused to submit to even a single media interview for weeks, they had the temerity to suggest that a Vice Presidential candidate really should be interviewed. Then when one reporter finally got the chance, he asked some basic questions that she didn't answer particularly well. That's quite a conspiracy. But Nordlinger continues:

Then there is continuing amazement over the sheer hatred that Palin has aroused: “I am almost 60 and come from Massachusetts. In all my years, I have never seen anything like this, and don’t want to see it ever again. I have a friend who is both feminist and left-leaning. I asked her why they hate Palin so much. She said, ‘Because she’s had it all: family, career. And she did it without a man like Bill Clinton helping her. She did it on her own.’”

Yeah, that's definitely why left-leaning women don't like her. Because she made it on her own. In all seriousness, that may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Nordlinger then gets personal:

I myself have a tale to relate. An episode left me kind of shaken, honestly. Last week, I was talking to a friend of mine — a very warm and humane woman. We’ve been friends for years. I had been away, and we hadn’t talked politics — but then, we never do. We never had. She’s a liberal, of course — virtually everyone here in NYC is. And I never, ever bring up politics (with pretty much anyone — not worth the trouble) (and, of course, I do it professionally).But she said to me, out of the blue, “What do you think of Sarah Palin?” And while I was drawing breath to answer, she said, “I hate her.”

That kind of took my breath away — because this friend of mine is no hater. But she said it with firm, horrible conviction. She said it with true emotion in her eyes. Frankly, I was too taken aback to reply, other than to say, “Well, my feeling is the exact opposite.”

I can see how you might disagree with Governor Palin — she’s a conservative, after all. I can see how you might find her unprepared even for the vice-presidency. But hate? Hate a woman who rose from a modest background to be governor of her state? Who is obviously a warm, civic-minded, talented mother of five?

He concludes with this:

I consider myself a very patriotic person, and I have been teased or damned all my life for my pro-American views — particularly in academic settings. But, I’m sorry, this is, in many ways, a sick country.

Boo hoo. People don't like Sarah Palin, and therefore we're a sick country. I wonder, has Nordingler ever listened to the folks on right wing radio talk about Michelle Obama? They hate her, spewing endless vile about how she's some kind of angry anti-American militant. And this entire caricature is based on a few statements taken completely out of context. She too is a "warm, civic-minded, talented mother." For that matter, so is Hillary Clinton, who right-wingers have spent the last 18 years hating passionately. Same goes for Nancy Pelosi and virtually every other female Democratic politician who has been the object of Republican hatred.

But let's return to the subject of Sarah Palin. Is it really so hard to understand why a certain segment of the population is so turned off by her? After all, she introduced herself to the country with a speech that--while well-delivered--was very mean-spirited and filled with cheap shots directed at her opponents (who had been nothing but respectful to her). It was a speech designed to rally the Republican base and, therefore, axiomatically, to piss off the Democratic base. That was the goal. Mission accomplished.

Moreover, Palin has spent her first few weeks in the national spotlight making transparently cynical overtures to Clinton voters (who have nothing in common with her) and repeatedly lying about her own record. People don't like being lied to. Sometimes they even come to despise the people who continue to do so even after their lies have been exposed. This is a very predictable response and hardly evidence that our nation is "sick."

Conservatives really need to get a grip. Palin just isn't the magical savior you thought she would be. Stop whining.

UPDATE: As if to prove my point, Michelle Malkin's has a new post entitled "Obama's Bitter Half: She's Baaaaaack." It begins:

I get a half-dozen e-mails a day asking me, “Where’s Michelle Obama?” Well, The Queen of “Downright Mean” has returned.

This kind of stuff is perfectly sane and rational, but when people don't like Sarah Palin, it's evidence of how "sick" the world is. Please.