Gerard Baker, in his own inimitable style, gets it right once again.
So, the Palinphobia is so shot through with condescension and ideological incomprehension on the media's part that trying to cut through to the reality of her political message is not easy. Her performance on the campaign trail has been shaky, it's true, though it has significantly improved of late (she is now talking directly to reporters more frequently than any of the other candidates). But in the absence of much hard experience of national politics it does seem as though she and her Republican handlers fell back on the Sarah Palin Story as a substitute for a political argument.
This has harmed her and distorted what she could bring to a Republican Party inrenewal. There's still a better story to be told about her record as politician inAlaska, where she has achieved more of substance than Barack Obama has in Washington.
As for the anti-intellectualism she seems to represent, this is a favourite old saw not only of the Left but also of the whole Establishment crowd. There's an unshakeable view among the coastal elites that real wisdom is acquired only by circulating between the ivy-encrusted walls of scholarship and the Manhattan and Hollywood cocktail set. But there's real wisdom among those derided Americans who have never even ventured to the coasts, but whose steady consistent voice and values have been truly responsible for America's many successes.
Say hello, Joe.
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As for the anti-intellectualism she seems to represent, this is a favourite old saw not only of the Left but also of the whole Establishment crowd. There's an unshakeable view among the coastal elites that real wisdom is acquired only by circulating between the ivy-encrusted walls of scholarship and the Manhattan and Hollywood cocktail set. But there's real wisdom among those derided Americans who have never even ventured to the coasts, but whose steady consistent voice and values have been truly responsible for America's many successes.
This seems to me not to deny that Palin is anti-intellectual, but to affirm that as a positive thing. Is my analysis not correct?
If that is the case, then I am still disappointed in Palin (and other populists) for settling for mocking that with which they cannot intelligently argue, instead of engaging the ideas they disagree with in a thoughtful and original way.
Citizen.VII
Sarah Palin is no intellectual; the gist of Baker's piece is that intellectual capacity is not the sine qua non of the presidency. Intellectuals are famously short on common sense and good basic instinct. James Madison, brilliant theoritician of the constitution, was a disaster as president. Woodrow Wilson, president of Princeton University, ditto. Jimmy Carter, nuclear physicist. 'Nuff said.
Harold
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