A fact-challenged Michael Gerson seems intent on largely blaming two lost Senate seats on Sarah Palin. But given that the facts don’t support his claim, what he actually reveals is just how much his brand of establishment Republican detests the Republican base – provided they are not doing as told, apparently.
O’Donnell and Angle were gifts of Sen. Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin to their party. Tea Party enthusiasm and shallow ideological purity were supposed to be better than outdated, “establishment” attributes such as achievement, wisdom or qualification. This approach to politics is expected of DeMint, who has gained national prominence by accusing his Republican colleagues of compromise. Coming from Palin, however, it is a threat to the Republican future.
According to Fox News, Christine O’Donnell “soundly” defeated establishment Republican Mike Castle in the Delaware primary on September 15th. Yet, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin only came out for O’Donnell on her Facebook page … just a mere six days before on September 9th. Does Gerson now want us to believe that Palin can so alter a Senate race less than a week out from an election, especially after the establishment threw everything behind Castle for months? That’s foolishness.
What this is intended to be is a distraction from the GOP establishment’s failure to anoint a candidate seen as satisfactory to the majority of its own party’s base in Delaware in the end. Meanwhile, Public Policy Polling was already pointing out how many Delaware Republicans disliked Mike Castle back in August. Christine O’Donnell tapped into that, not Sarah Palin. If anything, Palin mostly followed the people’s lead.
It was Delaware Republicans who defeated Mike Castle, not Sarah Palin. Gerson also reveals another ugly truth about his sort. Evidently, he doesn’t believe voters, even Republican ones, are capable of making up their own minds. How else to explain his weak reasoning that O’Donnell’s winning the GOP primary was somehow Palin’s, or someone else’s, fault?
As long as the Michael Gerson’s hold sway in Washington, the GOP will only continue to alieanate it’s very own base. We’re he truly as smart as he seems to think he is, he might consider taking responsiblity for his party’s failures over the years, instead of casting about looking for someone else to blame. Unfortunately, he seems incapable of that.
As for Sharron Angle – here’s another fact Gerson apparently didn’t check. Sarah Palin endorsed her on August 18th. Sharron Angle won the GOP’s Nevada primary two months earlier, on June 9th, for heaven’s sake. But don’t tell Michael Gerson that, because Angle’s loss is suddenly all Sarah Palin’s fault.
What Sarah Palin did with Sharron Angle is precisely what Gerson and his ilk didn’t do in so many states, from Alaska to Delaware. She got fully behind the Republican nominee after they won a primary based upon the support of a majority of Republicans.
What Gerson and friends are really losing is influence, thanks, not to Sarah Palin, but mostly to conservatives and a growing Republican grassroots fed up with the very type of governance they spent several years selling to us. And that influence won’t be returning any time, soon – particularly given their now struggling so badly with the truth.
Save the demagogy, Michael. You are embarassing yourself. And, next time, check your facts, don’t leave them at the door. Oh, and don’t let said door hit you in your backside on your way out, either. You already sound butt-hurt enough.