HomeNixon FoundationNixon Center

Andrew Sullivan’s Malignity In Victory

November 6, 2008 by John H. Taylor | Filed Under Hackosphere, News media, Political Philosophy, Republican Party, Richard Nixon 

Andrew Sullivan continues to savage Sarah Palin. He erred in republishing the transparent lie that she wasn’t Trig’s mother, which proved to be the most effective libel of the 2008 campaign. As recently as election day, he was keeping the lie alive. So he is fully vested in her political demise.

The GOP must nonetheless ask itself if Palin, as we know her today, is its phoenix. Sullivan and other proponents of classical conservatism are right that Republicans must use their wilderness time to decide what they believe, what makes them indispensable, and how they’ll win. Angry and sure of themselves today, they need to find their way to curiosity and even self-criticism. One of the study questions is whether their rootedness in social issues is a help or hindrance.

So if Palin and her advisers really envision her as the new Reagan, I’m not so sure. But the new Nixon…?



Comments

7 Responses to “Andrew Sullivan’s Malignity In Victory”

  1. David Emig on November 6th, 2008 8:02 pm

    With all due respect Rev. Taylor: RN knew what the Vice-President’s duties are, and knows that Africa is a continent and not a country. And RN was five years younger than Governor Palin when he ran for VP in 1952.

  2. John H. Taylor on November 6th, 2008 8:05 pm

    Thanks, David. What I was hinting at (unsuccessfully, it appears) is that she’d have a lot to learn — not to mention a considerable distance to travel ideologically — to be the new Nixon.

  3. David Emig on November 6th, 2008 8:25 pm

    Point well taken. Simply put, she isn’t taken seriously. Conservative Democrats and Moderate Republican such as myself ran for the hills at the notion of Palin being a heartbeat away. Could you picture Palin in the crises that RN had while VP. Ike’s heart attack and stroke?? Could you picture Palin chairing important meetings in those times? Can you picture Palin in the Kitchen Debate with Putin? And finally, could you really see Palin being picked by RN in 1960 or 1968??

    She needs to hit the books, hard. In 2010, she needs to run for re-election…as there isn’t any open Senate seat unless she challenges Murkowski in 2012. Good luck with that… Perhaps she can take some international trip to show her new found experience. RN did this to great effect during his vice presidency and his wilderness years.

    After that is done, Palin reaches the next series of tests. Her extreme views that are out of touch with many in the nation and her own party.

    She might just be the new Gerry Ferraro…

  4. godson on November 6th, 2008 9:57 pm

    Mrs. Palin isn’t taken seriously by whom Mr. Emig? People who just lost an election?? Strange that the stories now coming out about Mrs. Palin are from “unnamed sources” rather than from the reporters who dogged her every move and hung on every word during the campaign. Using such stories to bolster ones position indicates weakness in that position.

  1. Keeping The Lies Alive : The New Nixon: News and Commentary about the President, his Times, and his Legacy
  2. Hey, Andrew: Ridicule Her Now : The New Nixon: News and Commentary about the President, his Times, and his Legacy
  3. How Palin Becomes The New Nixon : The New Nixon: News and Commentary about the President, his Times, and his Legacy

Got something to say?