Conservative Base Finally Has Something to Shout About

I know the feelings I had on Friday as I watched Sarah Palin took her first steps in the presidential campaign. To say the least, I was thrilled. As a conservative John McCain pretty much left me cold, but for the first time during this campaign I could actually see myself voting for him...well, not him, really, but her.

I'm not alone:

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate has electrified conservative activists, providing a boost of energy to the GOP nominee-in-waiting from a key constituency that had been previously had been lukewarm — at best — about him.

By tapping the anti-abortion and pro-gun Alaska governor just ahead of his convention, which is set to start here Monday, McCain hasn’t just won approval from a skeptical Republican base — he’s ignited a wave of elation and emotion that has led some grass-roots activists to weep with joy.

Serious questions remain about McCain’s pick — exactly how much he knows about her and her positions, past and present, on key issues. But for the worker bee core of the party that is essential to any Republican victory, there are no doubts.

“I woke up and my e-mail was just going crazy,” said Charmaine Yoest, head of the legislative arm of Americans United for Life and a former top official in Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. “And then when it was announced — it was like you couldn’t breathe.”

The media elite — as well as elite members of the GOP consulting community — have all but mocked Palin as a former small-town mayor with zero Washington experience. But that view of her totally misses the cultural resonance she carries to crucial Republican power centers and could not be more at odds with the jubilation felt among true believers that one of their own is on the ticket.

Palin, say conservative activists, has instantly changed how they feel about McCain’s campaign and spurred them to go to work for the Republican ticket.

First, though, they’re expressing their newfound fondness for McCain with their checkbooks. Since tapping Palin, the campaign has raised nearly $7 million online, according to McCain aides.

Most importantly for McCain, the two constituencies who are most energized by Palin just happen to be the twin grassroots pillars of the GOP: anti-abortion activists and pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts and sportsmen. Without these two camps making phone calls, stuffing envelopes and knocking on doors, Republican presidential candidates would severely lack for volunteers. They are critical to the health of the conservative coalition that has dominated Republican politics for a generation.

Republicans say the primary source for the passion can be found in Palin’s example and authenticity.

What has amazed me about the reactions to Palin is not what the Democrats are saying, because sneering condescension is par for the course from those morons. The real surprise has been the sneering condescension from a surprising number of high-profile Republicans. As I read the talking points they were creating for the Democrats I found myself feeling like Casey Stengel looking at the '62 Mets and asking "Can't anybody here play this game?"

After reading a number of comments at The Corner that I thought were self-destructive, I sent an email to Kathryn Jean Lopez who runs that place:

Subject: Why Are Republicans Eating Their Own?

K-Lo - I'm trying to figure out why so many members of the Republican pundit class are so pessimistic about Sarah Palin, to the point of writing the Democrat talking points for them? David Frum is writing their ad copy, and any number of others are doing all the Dems oppo research work for them.

Doesn't anybody on our side want to win? Palin's our VP nominee for better or worse (I personally think the choice was brilliant), but we're cutting our own throats if we can't just shut up about any negatives. Some of the pundits are so busy trying to show the world how politically astute they are they're ignoring the damage they're doing in the process.

As I said on my blog, this was a Reaganesque move on the part of McCain. Reagan knew how to bypass the media and the chattering class and speak straight to the voters. McCain just did the same thing with the Palin choice. My readers are ecstatic about the choice and they're just average run-of-the-mill Republicans. Some of our pundits need to put a cork in it and leave the opposition to the Dems.

Rick Moore
HolyCoast.com

Now, I'm not saying that we should just blindly ignore flaws in Republican candidates. What I'm saying is let the Dems figure that stuff out for themselves. We don't need to provide the spotlight on our own candidates.

It's really a shame that Hurricane Gustav is going to make a mess of GOP Convention plans because it would have been quite a scene if the conservatives were able to celebrate Palin's nomination as vigorously as they would like to. But things will probably have to be toned down quite a bit, and there's a possibility that neither candidate will actually make their acceptance speeches in Minneapolis.

The storm, however, will not dampen the new-found enthusiasm for the GOP ticket. The harder the Dems hit at Palin, but more entrenched the support for her will become among Republicans, and I still believe that after watching Hillary take a beating during the primaries, there will be a lot of Dem women who won't appreciate seeing the same treatment given to another woman.

All I ask is that the self-important Republican pundit class that's determined to undermine the campaign either get on board, go join the Obama campaign, or shut the heck up.