The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.
Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.
Sarah Palin
Former Governor of Alaska
?Bouncy? might be the best word to describe Sarah Palin. She’s bounced from field to field ? beauty pageant contestant to TV sports reporter to elected official to reality TV star wannabe. She even bounced around in her college days, too, attending five different schools in three different states before finally getting her communications degree from the Univ. of Idaho.
And she first bounced into politics on a whim in 1992. At the young age of 28, Palin bounced onto the city council and later mayoral seat of Wasilla, a small town of less than 2,000 households. She became popular for her strong application of a particular Republican economic principle ? sharply cutting property taxes and business taxes. She became unpopular years later, though, for her other typical-GOP financial methods ? she spent big money on silly projects that led to lawsuits, adding about $24 million in debt on the tiny town, and leaving Wasilla to be what the Wall Street Journal called a ?financial mess.?
Seeking to milk more out of the rural politics in Alaska, she bounced into the Lt. Governor’s race in 2002. Palin lost the primary but gained some notoriety by volunteering for the campaign of Frank Murkowski, the Republican candidate for governor who was then the state’s junior U.S. senator. Seeking to pay her back for her help after winning the election, Murkowski appointed Palin to various committees and commissions ? but not to be his replacement in U.S. Senate. That didn’t sit too well with Palin, apparently, because she bounced back and went to war with Murkowski shortly after. She beat the incumbent in the GOP primary in 2006, and went on to win the governor’s seat with a 48-percent plurality.
And then she bounced into stardom less than two years later when John McCain’s presidential campaign decided it needed something to swoon young female voters and the Religious Right. And as we all know, they regretted that decision from Day One. She gave horrible interviews. She made stupid comments (see a collection of them in the video below). She even spoke on subjects the campaign didn’t approve. And it was McCain’s own campaign staff that was leaking news of her stupidity to the press.
She couldn’t name the countries involved in the North American Free Trade Agreement, for example. Shocked, the team asked her to identify the countries in North America. Palin couldn’t answer that question, either. She even was surprised to learn that Africa was a continent and not an independent nation, they said. It got to a point that campaign advisors wouldn’t let McCain appear with Palin. When the presence of both was absolutely necessary, they wouldn’t let her speak at the engagement.
Offending them more, she was costing them quite a lot of money, spending over $150,000 on clothing for her family. (One McCain staff described the Palins to be ?Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast.?) Add in that Palin’s pregnant-but-unwed daughter damaged their goal of appeal to the Religious Right, and McCain’s staff was ready to give up. Three weeks before the election, his advisors concluded they should tell McCain to concede.
Palin kept on bouncing after the loss, though. She formed her own PAC. Deciding the new novelty of her name was worth more than her salary as governor, she resigned in July 2009. She wrote books. She went on national tours. She tried a short-lived reality show. She charged up to $100,000 for single speaking engagements. She went on a spiel of endorsements of other female Republicans across the country.
And Palin bounced into the 2012 presidential race, too, hoping to continue riding the wave of Tea Party fanaticism. While early polls showed her to be a contender, her consistent stream of stupid statements (now dubbed ?Palinisms?) only did additional damage to her reputation. She quickly slid, and decided to drop out of the race in Oct. 2011.
Meanwhile, Palin continues to bounce around from speaking engagements to television appearances, and even a new reality series (although this ?Amazing America? series has been critiqued as ?incredibly goofy?).
She could bounce right back for the next presidential race, though. A January 2014 poll shows Palin has the highest favorability rating of many Republicans who might seek the office.
Visit Liberal America for future updates on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.
What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.
See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:
Kelly Ayotte??|?Haley Barbour?|??John Bolton?| ?Jeb Bush?|?Hermain Cain? |?Ben Carson?|??Chris Christie??| ?Ted Cruz??|?Mitch Daniels??| ?Newt Gingrich??| ?Nikki Haley?|?Mike Huckabee?|??Bobby Jindal?|?John Kasich?|?Peter King?| Susana Martinez?|
