Sarah Palin made a speech a week or so ago to a group of conservatives in the Midwest, and people are still talking about it-negatively. By all accounts (not just liberal detractors), Palin’s speech was incoherent, rambling, filled with weird grammar and utter nonsense. Conservative pundits who championed Palin back in 2008 are now admitting they may have been wrong. Even Palin’s original patron in the conservative media, William Kristol, has been mum about her recently.
Though it seems a long time ago now, Palin originally burst onto the national scene with her acceptance speech at the 2008 GOP Convention. I praised the speech at the time, as did virtually every analyst across the political spectrum. Palin’s popularity soared above 80%, higher than Obama’s and John McCain’s at the time. This was prior to the Katie Couric interview debacles.
Since then, Palin has seen her popularity rise among hard-core conservatives and her unpopularity raise among liberals, Democrats and even moderates within the Republican party.
While serious political observers across the spectrum gave up on Palin as a serious political player a long time ago, her most recent speech debacle puts a nail in the coffin of her political future in the eyes of most other observers now.
But does that mean we have heard the last of Sarah Palin?
No. Like Donald Trump, Palin has realized that the American media establishment can be played like a fiddle. If you tease, toy, and shock with a little flair, you can go back to the well endlessly. As with Trump, I suspect we will be seeing Palin getting richer and richer, having the time of her life playing a political caricature in the public square. And in that role, Palin and Trump are the undisputed king and queen of the universe.
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