Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Palin Rorshach Test

Palin is a genuine cultural phenom who has both die-hard fans and die-hard detractors, who in both cases, in a kind of Derangement syndrome, manage to rationalize their opinions of her actions through the prism of their view of her. The rationalization goes like this:
1. I like/dislike Palin.
2. Therefore everything she does is great/stinks.
3. Therefore her decision was good/bad.

As in "My candidate thinks outside the box... The other guy is erratic."
From this I conclude that her decision to resign as Governor of Alaska was neither helpful nor hurtful to whatever political ambitions she has. Interestingly, Gallup confirms my suspicion.

While many base voters are fine with Gov Palin's decision, I don't quite know what to make of Governor Palin's decision. I prefer elected officials to fill their terms than quit mid-term, but that's really an issue with the people of Alaska. The liberals will keep bringing up experience, conveniently forgetting how inexperienced Obama was (and is!) This decision may end up being the liberating start to a national campaign or the beginning of the end, and she needs to find herself a kitchen cabinet of trusted, smart advisors if she wants it to be the former not the latter.

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