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Friday, October 02, 2009
Harper & Palin
Although I didn't watch it, ThePolitic.com reported Mr. Harper saying this in Question Period recently:
“When I was a boy, my father used to say that I should work on things that I am good at. The NDP is not good at fighting taxes. The NDP has opposed cutting the federal sales tax. The NDP opposed reducing business taxes. It opposed our cuts to personal taxes. It opposed our cuts to seniors. The NDP never saw a tax it did not like and never saw a tax it did not want to hike. Everybody knows that.”
Mr. Harper isn't afraid of speaking his mind; he lets the facts speak for themselves. In the American political sphere, Sarah Palin is still a popular figure for a simple, similar reason: common-sense.
In an unrelated post by Unambiguously Ambidextrous (say that five times fast), it is explained why Palin's fifteen minutes of fame are extending indefinitely:
There are a lot of conservatives who don’t like Sarah Palin, and are probably quite right to do so. It’s true that her popularity is not derived from her wit, intelligence, or cerebral prowess in general. In fact, that’s what makes her so alluring to millions of Americans, and a fair share of Canadians, in the first place. She isn’t yet another summa cum laude graduate from Princeton like Sonia Sotomayor. She doesn’t strike anyone as being an academic, or even draw upon her education during interviews with the media in order to impress upon people of her knowledge and insights. And that again appeals to the ordinary people throughout the United States who embrace her.
...
Sarah Palin is a classic populist politician, but what makes her so popular isn’t that she deliberately juxtaposes “the people” with “the elites”, but that by her nature she accomplishes it. She is the definition of “grassroots”, a working mother who successfully entered politics at the municipal level of Wasilla, and worked her way up to the top of the governorship. She didn’t manage this by impressing upon people of her five different institutions of education, nor about how many books she had written on Russian foreign policy. No, she managed it because she inspired Americans who felt that Sarah was “one of them.”
I recommend reading the whole post, but the point is there; like Harper's populist history, Palin's version is popular below the border as well. New leaders such as Tim Hudak are also bringing back the message that common-sense policies are making a come back. All we need now is for Pat Buchanan and Preston Manning to get back into the game!
[Cross-posted at The Right Coast]
Posted by Dane Richard on October 2, 2009 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
Comments
Dane,
I truly believe there is a difference between smart and intelligent. Some people can have both (pretty rare). Others have one of these qualities. Palin has neither.
Posted by: Charles | 2009-10-02 11:25:41 AM
Harper's populist history? Are you kidding me?
Posted by: Hugh MacIntyre | 2009-10-02 11:35:30 AM
This has got to be about the most shallow, partisan post on Harpo I have read here in a long time.
Harper. Populist.
Doesn't that statement belong on the other thread, about the pros and cons of pot legalization?
I will that add any notion of Harper being a tax cutter IS A JOKE.
Have you HEARD of inflation? Are you FAMILIAR with it economic impacts?
Harper's twinkie tax cuts, tax INCREASES (read: energy investment trusts, for ONE),combined with his mega tax HIKES, aka inflation, juxtaposed with his fraudulent rhetoric, paints him as a far worse abuser of the economy than Ronald Reagan turned out to be.
And Harpo has none of Reagan's redeeming qualities.
Posted by: John Collison | 2009-10-02 1:21:11 PM
That was also the most desperate defense of Sarah Palin I have ever read! Just substitute Sarah Palin's name with anybody and that defense applies.
How about "Kate" from "John & Kate plus 8"? How about one of those horrible women from "The View"?
How about your Grade 1 teacher?
Such silliness!
Posted by: beachgirl | 2009-10-02 2:47:09 PM
While the post makes some excellent points..it is flawed in that it fails to recognize that Palin is not simply "one of us"...unless you think everyone in this country is capable of being the governor of a state and achieving the type of success she had there before she ran for national office and becamse a threat to the democratic party...no Palin may appear and conduct her personal life in a very ordinary fashion..but her political skills are surely extraodinary...to fail to recognize her gifts in this arena and simply dismiss her as just "one of the girls"...would be like dismissing Obama as just another Harvard intellectual that's never really accomplished anything except hold a public office...same principle would apply...and would be just as false. Both of these individuals are extraordinary communicators and have the ability to connect to ordinary people in different ways..they share that gift...and no..they are not ordinary by any means in that sense. So please give Palin credit ..at least for being "extraordinary" at being ordinary.
Posted by: JL | 2009-10-02 3:15:46 PM
In typical Harpo fashion, he compares himself and his party of one, to a party of many (tho that is up for debate as well). Harpo is a wanna be dictator. Perhaps he should run for office in Africa.
I don't know much about Palin, I think she looks hot tho. Perhaps that had as much to do with her ascendancy to office as her supposed political skills. Although what I have read about her, she appears to be a bit of a hypocrite. All about family values, while her own family falls apart. Perhaps I'm wrong, its just my impression of her. I don't pay a lot of attention to American politics, unless its an issue that would affect Canada.
Posted by: Steve Bottrell | 2009-10-02 3:57:32 PM
The Comments part of this Post remind me of what I fell into behind a pig barn. Oh yea -- Pat Buchanan produced a lot of it.
Posted by: Agha Ali Arkahn | 2009-10-02 11:13:18 PM
The problem with most uniformed people is that they believe what the media writes about Palin which is mostly false. No her family isn;t "falling apart"...last I heard she was happily married and all her children were doing well at her side..even the unfortunate daughter that got mixed up with a low life boyfriend..it happens. She has been a successful mother, wife , businesswoman, and politician.. I think you better read for yourself and investigate her record in office before making up your mind by reading Vanity Fair and other tabloid material
The media will always portray her unfairly..as they do most conservatives..but especially the ones they fear can challenge their favored son..Obama. The media will tell us who they think is a threat to Obama by the level of criticism and scrutiny they hurl on that person....right now that message is coming in loud and clear and has been ever since she came on the scene..it's Palin.
Posted by: JL | 2009-10-03 12:21:12 AM
Palin is painfully dumb. Dubya dumb, maybe more so. Even discounting for the well-worn political tactic of acting a little dumber than they actually are.
If she can keep her MILFiness intact for another few years, she may be a threat, cuz she does have strong appeal to the post-Bush Republicans. She can count on the "Left Behind" vote for sure.
Only somebody dumber than Palin herself would write her off.
It is safe to say Palin is as smart as Stephen Harper is charismatic, personable, affable and magnetic. Do your own math...
Posted by: John Collison | 2009-10-03 12:28:38 AM
Wrong sir..no one that is "dumb" can deliver that speech at the Republican convention last year...simply can;t be done (pls stop repeating the liberal media mantra..and think for yourself for a change). Is she a rocket scientist..no..but Jimmy Carter was a nuclear physicist by trade..what did that get us?? Iron clad political convictions (of the right kind..not Marxist/Leninist Ideologies) and a patriots heart...are more important qualities than sheer intellectual horsepower...these are the qualities that will inspire others to achieve as well..Obama inspires no one...look at how he talks down to America in front of other nations...now our enemies are smiling..and allies look worried...what kind of President does that? Remember Reagan's speeches..legendary in their praise for America's virtues and inspiring to the entire world...It takes a real patriot to speak that way..Obama just isn;t one.
Posted by: JL | 2009-10-03 12:51:00 AM
Stick to the script..the Constitution...no need to improvise..too much of that is what get;s this nation into trouble time and time again...Palin will stick to the script...that's why she get;s my vote should she run. Obama not only wanders from the script..he wan;ts to burn it and write his own!..we don;t need a revolution minded, polished version of Hugo Chavez for President.
Posted by: JL | 2009-10-03 1:00:49 AM
Hmmm, seems to me, both sides are trampling your constitution. The Patriot Act ringing a bell? I think the only politician I have heard of that truly believes in the US constitution is Ron Paul. I'm sure there are others like him, but he seems to be front and center at the moment. Again, this is just a semi informed Canadians view. We have our own problems :)
Posted by: Steve Bottrell | 2009-10-03 1:11:03 AM
Sarah Palin is a very effective politician and tough negotiator - she fought oil companies, insurance companies, her own political party etc. - and won those battles. That's the flipside of her appeal, voters realize she drives a hard bargain on behalf of her constituents and then makes firm decisions. Harper has it tough as PM in a minority parliament, but he has shown incredible strength as a leader and decision-maker despite the separatists and socialists.
Posted by: philanthropist | 2009-10-03 11:35:40 AM
@JL: "...no one that is "dumb" can deliver that speech at the Republican convention last year..."
HUH?
What speech did you watch?
Palin sounded like an intellectually challenged kindergarten teacher addressing children.
ANYbody can read a teleprompter -- except Palin.
Your standards of intellect and leadership are exceptionally low, JL, which is why I fear dumbocracy. As Churchill once said, and I paraphrase, with apology: the best case against democracy is a five-minute conversation with someone like JL.
And, to JL & philanthropist: Palin's political philosophy, as near as can be discerned, is a mix of socialism and fascism, i.e., neoconservative. "Tough negotiator with oil companies"?? you mean tough shakedown artist and redistributionist?
Palin was smeared by the leftist press in the US BECAUSE SHE MADE IT EASY. Let's not forget she was hand-picked by a decrepit, delusional, fascist named John McCain.
Posted by: John Collison | 2009-10-03 2:01:51 PM
Without looking it up, who was John Kerry's running mate during the 2004 presidential election?
How much do we hear about his VP's political philosophy today?
Posted by: set you free | 2009-10-03 3:15:46 PM
"JL" has saved the Comments part of this Post.
Posted by: Agha Ali Arkahn | 2009-10-03 6:20:36 PM
John C. attacks John McCain as a fascist. Please, John McCain was wrong on a lot of issues. However, he also served his country honorably and should be recognized for that. I find your trivial use of the word "fascist" disgusting! This word is thrown around too often by people on this site at individuals that they disagree with. Such idiots show themselves to be no better than the mindless buffoons who claim that anyone opposed to Obama is racist. Talk to a holocaust survivor and they will be disgusted with how readily you apply the word. John C. your cavalier use of such a disgusting word cast nothing but dishonor on your very name
Posted by: andrew | 2009-10-05 3:09:33 PM
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