Bernie Quigley: Palin and Perry Speak to the Public

Bernie Quigley at The Hill has an interesting piece today about the direction of the Republican Party in the age of Obama. First he discusses the tendency of Obama to care more about being loved by European socialists than looking out for the interests of his own country:

I think it is fair to say that President Barack Obama loves Norway more than he does Kentucky, loves France more than Georgia and doesn’t love Texas at all.

He sees himself as a citizen of the world, as they used to say in the 1950s, and feels at home in the world at large. Quite often, more than he does here in the Land of the Free. And there is an unsettling sense that he sees himself as a world sovereign — a caliph, Khan or Kennedy — whose task it is to bring final conquest on behalf of the rest of the world to those rural and regressive pockets in the American heartland where they still listen to George Jones and Hank Williams.

Quigley next gets into the meat of his article when he discusses that, despite Obama's falling popularity, there are few Republicans willing to take him on directly. Notably, Quigley cites two Republican leaders who have shown they are willing to challenge Obama's disastrous policies: Governor Perry and Governor Palin:

The president is operating out of a fundamental misunderstanding of history, which might be called the New York view: that the tenor and temperament of America today is the same as it was when Eisenhower handed the keys over to Kennedy. It is a static view of history, but history is dynamic, not static. The South and Texas were still honorably submissive in 1960 to the will and whims of New York & Co. as per the conditions of conquest set in 1865. No longer. And so today Perry speaks up. Last week he wrote a letter to the EPA asking it to withdraw its finding that greenhouse gases threaten Americans, alleging the findings are based on manipulated data. Sarah Palin opposed points of the Copenhagen agreements as well, with an editorial in The Washington Post.

After discussing the importance of Governor Palin's Tonight Show appearance, which we discussed in a post yesterday, Quigley ends his piece with the following (emphasis mine):

Dan Balz has a convincing essay in The Washington Post this week making the claim that the future of the Republican Party rests with the governors. He cites Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, Perry, Palin, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty and others. But Palin and Perry are speaking to the public while the others are speaking to the faithful. They are being brave when it is time to be brave, which is now.

Quigley is exactly right here. Most of the Republicans are playing it safe, hoping that the public will turn to the GOP when Obama's horrendous socialist policies result in economic and foreign policy disaster ala Jimmy Carter. These "play it safe" Republicans are making a big mistake. The Republican brand is still toxic for many voters who see Obama as simply following the same path, albeit on steroids, as the Republicans in Washington have followed over the last ten years. Simply hoping your political opponent slips up may be the safe way in their minds, but it's no way to build a majority.

Governor Palin and a few others, Rick Perry being one of them, are boldly leading the opposition to Obama and his administration. Governor Palin was correct to endorse Governor Perry in his re-election bid, despite the contrary advice of some. Just yesterday, in an article in the Washington Post, Rick Perry had this to say when asked about the importance of Governor Palin's endorsement:

Oh my God. Sarah, number one, is a longtime friend, both personal and professional. I greatly admire her. I think she is a principled, serious conservative that is wildly popular in a lot of different circles. I'll take that.

The gallant efforts of both Governor Perry and Governor Palin need to be rewarded. The other governors Balz cites above are, for the most part, sitting on the sidelines which is no way to inspire people to participate in a conservative resurgence. Governor Palin and others, like Rick Perry, are walking the walk as well as talking the talk. They have earned both our support...and our respect.