What is it about Donald Trump that has made many Conservatives lose their minds? Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and now Sarah Palin are among the many who have decided to ignore many of Trump’s very liberal leanings in favor of his celebrity. Yes, Trump does have many good conservative qualities. He’s always been tough on crime. Against Common Core and public unions. He calls climate change a hoax (though his reasoning for it is stupid). And there are many other things, for which he is Conservative/Republican now, but was very liberal not that long ago. What has seemed to hook people is his supposed toughness on securing the border, yet his disciples forget that he is also pushing mass amnesty. And, Trump speaks his mind, and refuses to back down in the face of liberal media and/or Democrat pressure, pressure which would have other Republicans huddled in a ball on the floor begging forgiveness from liberals, something we’ve seen happy many times.
So, rather than support real conservatives with real conservative records, we get a rambling, “folksy” homily, for which the transcript doesn’t even truly explain how bizarre this was
(Buzzfeed) “Thank you so much. It’s so great to be here in Iowa. We’re here just thawing out. Todd and I and a couple of our friends here from Alaska, lending our support for the next president of our great United States of America, Donald J. Trump.
“Mr. Trump, you’re right, look back there in the press box. Heads are spinning, media heads are spinning. This is going to be so much fun. (snip)
“When asked why I would jump into a primary — kind of stirring it up a little bit maybe — and choose one over some friends who are running and I’ve endorsed a couple others in their races before they decided to run for president, I was told left and right, “you are going to get so clobbered in the press. You are just going to get beat up, and chewed up, and spit out.†You know, I’m thinking, “and?†You know, like you guys haven’t tried to do that every day since that night in ‘08, when I was on stage nominated for VP, and I got to say, “yeah, I’ll go, send me, you betcha. I’ll serve.†And, like you all, I’m still standing. So those of us who’ve kind of gone through the ringer as Mr. Trump has, makes me respect you even more. That you’re here, and you’re putting your efforts, you’re putting reputations, you’re putting relationships on the line to do the right thing for this country. Because you are ready to make America great again.
Many of you know my feelings on the subject of Sarah Palin. She lost my support politically when she played the will she/won’t she game in regards to running for president last time around. She resigned as Governor of Alaska, supposedly to deal with all the legal issues for all the suits and things aimed her way from Liberals. Many Conservatives thought this would give her the chance to get ready to run for President, especially as she put together a PAC. Then she had her little bus tour, for which she also quit halfway through. She said she was going to do it her way, and did not compete in any debates. Then, after being asked again and again, and missing a self imposed deadline, all while raising lots of money for her PAC off the possibility, she said “no.” Interestingly, many others are coming to the same conclusion, such as Powerline’s John Hinderaker
Maybe not. Today Sarah Palin endorsed Trump, to the delight of the New York Times. Now they get to call Trump a conservative. I was a fan of Palin, until she succumbed to the siren song of celebrity, abandoned her post as Governor of Alaska and went Hollywood. One thing Palin and Trump have in common is that they are both stars of reality TV shows. Maybe someone needs to explain to both of them that reality television is not great preparation for dealing with reality.
Over the years, it seems as if Palin hasn’t increased her knowledge on the issues, speaking mostly in platitudes and talking points, and, as someone who has lived in North Carolina since 1985, her folksy way of speaking is grating, as is his act. Hinderaker, along with noting Trump’s liberal leanings, notes how uncomfortable Trump looks as Palin speaks.
Legal Insurrection’s Kemberlee Kay notes
And so we have a politician turned reality TV star endorsing a reality TV star turned politician. But this is what the people want, apparently. Limited government? Conservatism? Psssh. People want to be entertained!
There is no Conservative blasphemy afoot. Palin has long since forsook the Tea Party platform that propelled her into national stardom. After all, in the same year she endorsed Cruz, Palin endorsed the ultimate (by some estimations) Old Guard Republican — Senator Orin Hatch.
Then we have Charles C.W. Cook
Alas, there is no grand principle on display here. There is nothing but opportunism and ego. For a long time now, Sarah Palin has been apt to say anything and everything to keep the cameras buzzing around her hive. This rotten endorsement completes the decline. What, we might ask, has become of Palin’s beloved Tea Party? What, too, of her purported admiration for limited government, and of her ostensible hatred of heretics and fakers? The prospect of a mass movement that was earnestly committed to libertarianism was always a little too good to be true, but even I didn’t imagine it ending like this. All that talk of the Constitution and the Declaration; all that energy expended against the cronies and the rent-seekers; all those purifying voter drives — and for what? So that Sarah Palin could add a few zeroes to her bank balance and Donald Trump could go from the purchaser to the bought? Today was the day that Rick Santelli’s famous yelp finally melted into populism and avarice. Today, at about ten minutes past six, P. T. Barnum beat out Hayek for the soul of the insurgent Right. Today, the rebels became the charlatans they had set out to depose. What comes next will be anybody’s guess.
There are many references to Palin as “governor half-term”, many from people I know are Conservatives/libertarians. She also has a -39 rating among independent voters, and
Palin’s ideology lines up much better with Trump’s. When you convert Palin’s and Trump’s OnTheIssues grades to a -100 (most liberal) to 100 (most conservative) scale,1 Palin and Trump have nearly identical scores (47.4 for Palin and 47.5 for Trump). Trump has strayed from conservative orthodoxy on abortion, foreign policy, gay marriage, Social Security and a whole host of other issues. Palin is more interested in outsider credentials than conservative bona fides.
Two big takeaways. First, neither are particularly conservative. Second, she is mostly more interested in outsiders than electing conservatives. Will her endorsement help Trump? Sure, to some degree. Will it also hurt? To use her constant phrase, “you betcha”. I’m betting this drives many to actually take a look at What Donald Trump Believes, which will damage him, and drive many towards either Cruz or Rubio. Time will tell, especially once the primary voting begins.
Trump is still better than any of the hardcore leftists running for the Democratic nomination.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
“Maybe someone needs to explain to both of them that reality television is not great preparation for dealing with reality.”
Reality – as in paying the rent?
Palin’s endorsement of Trump before the Iowa Caucus was treachery and a gut shot to conservatism. Whatever Palin once was, she is simply a media whore now. Knowing how to get GAGs (guaranteed applause getters) in front of a camera is a useful skill but it doesn’t fix our Justice Department. It doesn’t fix our IRS. It doesn’t fix our State Department. We need the guy who can do that. Trump is NOT that guy. Palin practiced the art of the deal and sold her soul.