There is a war brewing within the Republican Party and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin just fired the first shot. With the Republican Party leadership determined to stay the course by holding to the discredited squishy George W. Bush “compassionate conservative” battle plan, Gov. Sarah Palin is breaking with her party by supporting the Conservative Party’s Doug Hoffman in New York’s special election in the 23rd Congressional District. “The Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race,” Palin announced on her Facebook page. Palin, it appears, sees the political backlash building in the nation against our failed two-party system and wants to lead her party back relevance. This should send a chill up the spine of every “reach-across-the-aisle” Republican incumbent.
Palin goes on to give Republicans a little history lesson:
“Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of "blurring the lines" between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections.”
Sarah Palin is something of a pariah among Sen. McCain’s losing campaign “strategists.” They cannot blame her enough for the failings of their anemic choice to lead the ticket in 2008. While they scratch their heads trying to design a new “winning” blue state Republican strategy, Palin is appealing to the real power. That power was represented by the 1.8 million Tea Party protesters who marched on Washington not that long ago, which was comprised of disgruntled Republicans and Democrats alike:
“Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.”
In supporting candidates outside the squishy Republican mainstream, Palin wisely puts conservative principles above party. In other words, Palin gets it.
-- Mr. Curmudgeon
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