Christopher Chantrill: Palin And The Future

Christopher Chantrill has a great article today at American Thinker. Chantrill begins his piece comparing Governor Palin to Ronald Reagan.

A generation ago liberals taught me to believe that Ronald Reagan was an extremist and a lightweight. Then I went to a Republican caucus in 1980 as a Bush supporter and met the Reagan supporters. I realized that they were the little people, mechanics, technicians, churchgoers, folks that used to be Democrats.

Now liberals are teaching us all to believe that Sarah Palin is a flake and a lightweight.

As the old saying goes: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

This is a comparison many of us, of course, have been making ever since John McCain introduced Governor Palin to the nation. Governor Palin herself has said she came of age politically during the Reagan years and considers herself a "Reagan Republican". One of the themes of Reaganism is a sense of personal responsibility, self-reliance, and a desire to pull oneself up by one's own bootstraps. Chantrill next reminds us of the fact that this kind of work ethic, exemplified by Governor Palin's entire life, is anathema to today's pampered liberals, many of whom have had everything handed to them as a result of the hard work of others:

Modern Liberals are fortunate children. They emerged in the late 19th century, children of the wealthy. They were ashamed of their crude fathers, up from nothing. They wanted to be refined, unlike father. They wanted to help the poor, but with other peoples' money. They wanted to give the poor an education, but with other peoples' money. They wanted to do creative work, and they wanted tenure.

This sense of refined privilege is simply not part of Governor Palin's constitution. Her entire life experience has taught her, correctly, that a sense of personal achievement is far more rewarding than a sense of entitlement:

Refined is something Sarah Palin has never been. Tenure is something she has never had. She worked through high school, waitressing, cleaning offices, inventorying groceries. Then she got scholarships and worked to pay for college. Then she joined boyfriend Todd in Bristol Bay, Alaska, salmon fishing, working slimy fish processing jobs at the canneries. Off season Todd would work as a baggage handler and she would work at customer service and part-time reporting.

Picked by Wasilla mayor John Stein, Palin ran for city council and won in 1992. After two terms she ran against Stein for mayor in 1996 and won. Then she ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2002 and lost. She upset incumbent Governor Murkowski in the primary and beat the Democrat in the general election to become Alaska's governor in 2006.

Throughout her life, Governor Palin has had to work hard for all the success and accolades she has earned, both personal and professional. Nothing has ever been handed to her. Elites can't abide the idea of someone who is not of their ilk achieving the remarkable success she has, and at such a young age. That she has done it fighting the very establishment they represent, solely through her own hard work, perseverance, and intelligence, really gets under their skin. She doesn’t need their approval or help to succeed. She knows this intuitively, and they know that she knows it. This is not an individual who will ever sell out her principles to be accepted by them and thus, not someone they can control. She will simply plow through any roadblocks thrown her way, whether institutional or other, as Chantrill notes:

No wonder the liberals hate her. The whole point of public education, of business regulation, or rampant credentialism is to smother people like her before they have a chance to get anywhere.

No wonder the McCain campaign couldn't handle her. She's a force of nature.

Chantrill next explores what the future might hold for Governor Palin. Obviously, the Democrat Party and their sycophants in the media have done everything they can to stop her and yet, her star is shining as brightly as ever. The Republican establishment holds her in contempt, much like they did Reagan in the 1970s. But, as Chantrill points out, this is nothing new for the force of nature that is Governor Palin:

If Sarah Palin wants to lead the Republican Party in 2012 she'll have to make her own weather. The Republican establishment isn't going to help her. But that's OK, she once ran against the Republican establishment of Alaska and won.

If Sarah Palin runs for president in 2012 she'll be running against an incumbent, President Obama. But that's OK. She ran against an incumbent mayor and won. She ran against an incumbent governor and won.

Unlike Obama, running against incumbents of either party has been Governor Palin's history, and nothing she has ever shied away from. Principle has never taken a backseat to political expediency, which is absent from her vernacular. Her loyalty has always been to her constituents, not to the political-media establishment. She refuses to kowtow to anyone or let roadblocks from any quarter deter her from moving forward. She has that rare ability and confidence to seize the moment or, as she has said, plow through doors, even if they appear closed to everyone else. Chantrill ends his piece with the following observation:

If you read Sarah Palin's book and listen to her interviews you'll know that she is hammering away at one simple idea: commonsense conservatism. What does it mean? That will depend. But Palin's record tells us that when it's time to run for election, she knows how to win. When it comes time to master the details, she's done that with Alaskan energy policy. When it comes to selling the public on her program with speeches and town meetings, she's been there. When it comes to getting her agenda through the legislature, she's done it.

If only our incumbent president could say as much.

Read Chantrill's entire article here.