Noonan on Palin and Reagan

10 November 2010 |permalink | email article

Peggy Noonan, the gifted conservative and Wall Street Journal columnist, noted that anti-big government feeling and insurgent anger contributed to the Republican victory last week – and that some of the most tea-partyish candidates, endorsed by Sarah Palin, were defeated.

Noonan opines, ahead of 2012, the latest battle in the war over the future of conservatism in America is beginning. She zeroes in on the personality of Sarah Palin and the efforts of conservatives who are skeptical of her abilities and want to prevent her nomination or deciding who does.

A primary speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and a Special Assistant to the President who’s much talked about again by conservatives, Noonan’s Irish is up over remarks made last week by Palin, who called him, on Fox, “an actor.” She was defending her form of political celebrity – reality show, “Dancing Wirth the Stars,” etc.

“Excuse me, but this was ignorant even for Mrs. Palin. Reagan people quietly flipped their lids. But I’ll make a larger point.’” Noonan goes on to describe Reagan as an artist who led a major American labor union, was twice elected California governor and went on to popularize the modern conservative movement. Then he was elected president.

“Americans don’t want, as their representatives, people who seem empty or crazy. They’ll vote no on that.” Noonan thinks that to make her case Palin has taken to invoking Reagan, which she believes “is a risky stratagem.”

Question of the Week

Why would Vice President Biden want to meet with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee? On Rush Limbaugh’s radio show he called President Obama “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.” Last week Issa appeared on Bill Maher’s show, sounding like he really wanted to work together with Obama. The meeting, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed. Is anyone surprised?

Quotable

“No one cares if you smoke a joint or not,” lame duck California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” with Jay Leno. Never a good judge of the body politic, he believes Californians voted against legalizing recreational use of marijuana in the election because a law he signed last month all but decriminalized smoking pot. The new law changes possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in the state from a misdemeanor to an infraction – what he likened to a speeding ticket.” 

“It’s a very blue state, and it’s getting bluer. As the red, you know, wave, kind of went one way, there was a bit of blue riptide coming the other way.” – Veteran Republican consultant Mike Murphy, paid $90,000 a month as chief strategist for billionaire Meg Whitman who spent $142 million of her own money in a disastrous gubernatorial campaign. “In California, if you don’t win a lot of Democrats, you don’t’ win.” It’s a bogus response.

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