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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009

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|NEXT STORY »

OPINION

She Should Never Have Run for VP

By Jason Farago| Posted Jul 6, 09 7:11 AM CDT|

(Newser) – Sarah Palin might have had a shot at the presidency, writes Ross Douthat, but she blew it—10 months ago, when she accepted John McCain's offer to join the ticket. Instead of easing her way into the national spotlight, she was catapulted before she was ready, exposing her inexperience and putting her children "through the tabloid wringer." For the New York Times columnist, Palin's failed transformation from hockey mom to "Mrs. Spiro Agnew" was probably fatal.

From avoidable scandals to disastrous interviews, Palin has fallen short of the up-from-nowhere ideal of a Harry Truman. But "the media and political establishments" have been brutal, mocking her faith and political record—and men and women alike have attacked her with jibes no male candidate would face. Barack Obama might suggest anyone can be president, but Palin teaches another lesson: if you're a woman from the wrong social class, "don't even think about it."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, is joined by Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, during a rally with supporters on election night in Phoenix, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin waves after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced her as his running mate Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sarah Palin winks during her vice presidential debate against Joe Biden, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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And now, seemingly, it’s over. Oh, maybe not forever: she’s only 45, young enough (and, yes, talented enough) to have a second act. But her bizarre, rambling resignation speech should take her off the political map for the duration of the Obama era. -

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35 comments

VIEWING:

DJM420
Jul 6, 09 7:16 AM CDT

i only disagree with the last statement..."if you're a woman from the wrong social class, "don't even think about it." - - thats BS --- this woman is from the WRONG MENTAL CLASS, not social class - bitch has a 225k$ house, social class my ass Reply

+34

IN RESPONSE:

armywife
Jul 6, 09 7:23 AM CDT

a resounding Amen! i had and have no idea what mrs. palin's "social class" is, and i dont give a rat's ass either. the woman could have been born in cardboard box or with a silver spoon in her mouth and she would have bombed because she is ignorant and too stubborn to admit it or do anything about it. she made dan quayle look smart and presidential. she's also so right-wing that she scared off any swing voters. and i for one found her winking and folkisms more annoying than mccain's continued use of "my friends". his campaign turned into a trainwreck the minute she hooked up her little red caboose. again, "social class" had nothing to do with it. unless you count her being "classless"...

+29

IN RESPONSE:

JonmarkP
Jul 6, 09 11:20 AM CDT

It's a $600,000 house, possibly paid for by a contractor to whom she steered about $35 Million in contracts. She suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder, a legend in her own mind. No, she never, ever "had a shot" at being President of anything but the PTA, and even they couldn't stand her. Bush pretty well ruined the chances for all other mildly retarded, angry bullies - at least for a while.

IN RESPONSE:

mayo68
Jul 6, 09 2:30 PM CDT

It wasn't because she's a woman. It's because she was a pig-ignorant hillbilly shyster.

| 0 minutes ago

gabo
Jul 6, 09 7:17 AM CDT

Igloo trash.. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

ack
Jul 6, 09 7:34 AM CDT

[chuckle]

IN RESPONSE:

ArtfullyViscious
Jul 8, 09 12:28 AM CDT

You just made me piss myself!!!! I think I love you....

-1

| 0 minutes ago

Fondue
Jul 6, 09 7:17 AM CDT

How can you not mock this person? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Nwambe
Jul 6, 09 7:19 AM CDT

Yeah, Hillary Clinton did a pretty damned good job of making a run for President. Douthat ignored her completely in this article. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

armywife
Jul 6, 09 7:25 AM CDT

perhaps that was what the allusion to 'social class' was about, but either way, a lame article. i think i just threw up a little in my mouth....

| 0 minutes ago

LiberalJesus
Jul 6, 09 7:26 AM CDT

The only lesson Palin teaches us is that good looks cannot trump intelligence. She might be blessed in the former but woefully short in the latter. What amazes me about her supporters is their constant charge of "shes not being treated the same" ...really...really.....In what world do these people live? The biggest reason the Palinistas are carping on the media is because they cannot cover up the mess and running sore that won't heal that is Sarah Palin. She should have never been govenor either. Ignorance is ok as long as you keep it and it's damage restricted in your life. Being stupid and President got us where we are now after Bush. I dont think America needs a sequel to that disaster. It's not about where shes from, what her 'social class' is, that she is a woman or even a conservative ( whatever that's worth today) it's the simple fact she is stupid! Nothing wrong in calling something that it is, what it is. Accept that Palinistas and you will be better for it. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

ack
Jul 6, 09 7:35 AM CDT

Anyone who complains about her "Not being treated the same" is forgetting Dan Quayle -- another Repub in the spotlight with a double-digit IQ.

+11

| 0 minutes ago

DeMartini
Jul 6, 09 7:50 AM CDT

Placing bet's that there is a scandal brewing right around the corner. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

shonangreg
Jul 6, 09 8:53 AM CDT

No need to gloat before anything even happens. That is what the Obama haters are doing as well, and it is just wasted drama . . .

| 0 minutes ago

Jojo
Jul 6, 09 7:53 AM CDT

Absolutely wrong - social class has nothing to do with it. And if you are a woman you are not entirely dismissed because of scandals and tabloid crap. No one ever accused Hillary Clinton for being a joke because of it, she is educated and knows what she is talking about when it comes to politics (no republican this, democrat that - I'm talking the woman knows her shit when it comes to politics). It was plain and simple - Palin is a moron. Reply

+11

IN RESPONSE:

JaneMP
Jul 6, 09 9:33 AM CDT

As a woman, I had a BIG problem with her. All my life, i was told by conservatives that a mother shouldn't work but should stay home with the kids. Only a few years agom, a conservative told a pregnant friend who was planning to return to work after the baby was born, "If you don't love your kids enough to stay home with them, you don't love them enough to have them." SO--when this woma with FIVE children who has been a governor and hopes to be a VP--possibly president--is adored by those same people who have judged me and my friends, the hypocracy is deafening. Different standards for Sarah? You betcha.

| 0 minutes ago

schmidtkoff
Jul 6, 09 8:07 AM CDT

due to her missteps she managed to make a caricatiure of herself. she aligned herself with a base of ordinary folks on the national campaign trail and was able to work them up into a froth. but in the end she came across as vacuous and unlearned. unfortunately there was definitely classism involved. (i could almost feel mccain's wife cringe when they were together. the image of the two together was startling.) of course pygmalian like she could turn into an eliza doolittle. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Caps
Jul 6, 09 8:12 AM CDT

JoJo, yes Hillary knew what she was talking about. She is one smart cookie, but Palin had no ideal and yes she was a joke. I just wish she would just go away and shut the hell up. She is a "FIRST CLASS BIMBO" Reply

| 0 minutes ago

NotEvsie
Jul 6, 09 8:15 AM CDT

I generally quite like the opinion columns in NYT, is it just me, or does this article seem a little beneath them? The full article is a little less scathing than Newser's summar, I grant you, but it still seems like opportunistic gloating from the New York Times... Don't get me wrong, I think Palin is a right wing fruit cake without the intellectual capacity to back up her beliefs with, y'know, thought out and structured arguments... but still. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

polstroad
Jul 6, 09 9:12 AM CDT

I disagree. Had she not run, she would be unknown even now and in the years to come...alas, she ran and exposed her many shortcomings, but that will not stop her supporters from trying to make her the nominee of the GOP. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Observer
Jul 6, 09 9:43 AM CDT

She brought this on herself. She was revealed to be shallow and stupid about serious issues. She is in no way Presidential material except maybe in the Monica way. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

irok63
Jul 6, 09 10:22 AM CDT

This is from a right leaning publication that is frequently full of bullshit. Palin failed because she is an idiot. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

JonmarkP
Jul 6, 09 11:25 AM CDT

Good comment - the NYT and the Washington Post are propaganda outlets for corporations, nothing more. The idea that they are "leftist" is ludicrous, pablum that the extreme right wing feed people who are incapable of feeding themselves.

IN RESPONSE:

JonmarkP
Jul 6, 09 11:26 AM CDT

Oh - Palin failed because she is a failure.

-1

| 0 minutes ago

sache
Jul 6, 09 11:14 AM CDT

I agree, she should not have run for VP. I will go one better and say she should not run for a national office of any kind. This country should not suffer because of her ambition. Her not easing into the spotlight wasn't the problem. Once people were exposed to this woman's ignorance on the basic issues, her fate was sealed. Palin is much to divisive and all that is wrong with the hard right. Gender nor class is the issue. Stupid is stupid. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

inky
Jul 6, 09 11:51 AM CDT

I for one am delighted she ran. The whole saga was very instuctive as to the depths to which the GOP will plunge to appeal to their "base." And base she is, through and through. Yup, you betcha. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

0001tr
Jul 6, 09 12:49 PM CDT

Speaking for only myself.. A. i am so glad i have done nothing with my life.. B. i am so smart that i can know the truth, and Judge others by what i read in tabloids. C. i have made no errors in the past D. nor will i in the future because there simply isn't time.. E. my only responsibility and new found life to the betterment of humanity is to share MY OPINION and be heard through these stupid Blogs.... F. AT LAST I AM SOMEBODY Reply

-5

| 0 minutes ago

custum
Jul 6, 09 1:48 PM CDT

"Sarah Palin might have had a shot at the presidency, writes Ross Douthat, but she blew it" I disagree. You can't blow a shot you never had. Reply

-1

| 0 minutes ago

lonewolf17
Jul 6, 09 1:57 PM CDT

"if you're a woman from the wrong social class, 'don't even think about it.'"?? More like if you're a certifiable idiot, don't even think about it. She doesn't have a chance because she is one of the stupidest politians I've ever seen - she's more an idiot than even Bush. That takes skill. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

TerrifiedCitizen
Jul 6, 09 2:31 PM CDT

It was a protection for Americans to get to actually know a candidate's real personality and qualifications before being prepped to carry on as a pol mannequin. More of this and a limit on campaign funding and terms might get America on the right track. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

avle
Jul 6, 09 2:56 PM CDT

JaneMP, you are right on the spot, I have been raised in a conservative, God fearing environment, and I have listen to James Dobson all my life, it just open my eyes how wrong those people are. What they preach is incongruent of what they do. thanks to them I just change from being a christian to an agnostic. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

anchower
Jul 6, 09 11:46 PM CDT

Douchehat's gotta go, NYT. Bring back Safire, or even Kristol, if you're gonna insist on having a retarded--I mean conservative--columnist. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

lindamae
Jul 7, 09 3:06 AM CDT

Just spent an hour on the Alaska state web site downloading news articles about Palin's ethics challenges. In each one, someone mentions the cost of money and time stolen from the citizens of Alaska and the personal cost to Palin. She is not as rich as other governors. She gave up her raise this year. The challenges are just plain ridiculous. She - and the state of Alaska - are being harassed by Alinsky's Rules for Radicals #4: make someone walk their talk. Palin has made her name from the ethics reforms she brought forth in the state so she is being harassed with phony ethics violations. Once filed, they are supposed to be private until resolved. The bloggers who file them - paid for by DNC - then make them public contrary to the law. I can see the concern of Palin and those who have to deal with the charges - 15 silly ones so far - with more on the horizon. If only the State could sue those bloggers who file them but they can't. Ironically, Palin runs a transparent government. Her web site reflects her ability to govern. Take some time to review her newsletters and the photo section to see why she was a successful governor with higher positive numbers than Pelosi and Obama. It also contains her speech. She didn't use a teleprompter and I remind everyone to go to the You Tube sites with Obama losing it when his teleprompter broke down. He couldn't even continue. I think there are 3 or 4 examples. Having read the transcripts of many of his speeches - I've concluded he is not very articulate. I can see why he uses a teleprompter. Of course, I also realize that public speaking is the one thing people fear the most - more than death. They are not actors on the stage so I expect human sounding speeches. Reply

-3

IN RESPONSE:

ArtfullyViscious
Jul 8, 09 12:36 AM CDT

Of COURSE she runs a "transparent government"...there is really NOTHING to run! She isn't as "rich" as other governors because it's ALASKA. Her decisions are so inconsequential it's not even funny. The oil processing is decided FOR her and is ran by the feds. Aside from cleaning up her OWN faux pas, there is really nothing else for her to do. Period. Not take a raise? PR move. There has been absolutely no definitive evidence that the DNC or any other organization PAID to have comments written about her; read this site, you'll find many of us carry the torch of disgust w/ out payment. In articulate? My 2 year old stays on topic better and w/ more ease and is well aware, by comparison, that Africa is not ONE BIG COUNTRY. Finally, the Alaska websites you're reading I'm more than CERTAIN are not bi-partisan and are being used as PR propaganda. As a political PR agent I can smell her and her crap from 6 miles away....all the way over in Russia.

-1

| 0 minutes ago

Caps
Jul 7, 09 7:58 AM CDT

What kind of drugs are you on lindamae? They must be strong ones. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

View all 35 comments »

Barack Obama • Alaska • social conservatives • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • political elite • McCain-Palin • media elite • Ross Douthat

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