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Exactly Why Is Erick Erickson Obsessing Over Sarah Palin Announcing Or Not?

By: tomtflorida (Diary)  |  September 30th, 2011 at 06:06 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

You have to admit that by posting hourly the lack of an announcement from Sarah Palin of her intention to run for president or not is a bit over the top.

But more importantly, why is Erickson altering the entire alignment of his universe over Palin’s potential actions?  If it were someone on the Left, we’d call it what it is – Palin Derangement Syndrome… just another example of the level of irrational fear that Palin generates for her opposition.

So is that what this is?  Does Erickson see her as “opposition”?  Which would indicate that he has already picked his horse in this race and is concerned that by entering, Palin becomes a formidable obstacle to the success of his entry?

Or does he genuinely feel that Palin simply cannot beat Obama and is just acting in the best interest of the conservative movement?  A bit ‘elitist’ if you ask me, but he’d be standing on principle were this his motivation.

Or is it the fact that Sarah Palin is a woman that bothers Erickson?  Hard to quantify such a claim, yet there is such a theory bouncing around on Twitter…

Not sure what’s driving his actions, but I suspect there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye and if there are ulterior motives, I don’t anticipate those reasons will be gracing the pages of RedState any time soon.

Bottom line is that Sarah Palin will announce when she feels ready.  Yes, she indicated an approximate time and that time may or may not be passing, but ultimately, it’s up to her to decide when it’s time.  If you don’t appreciate the way she’s handling it then support another candidate, it’s that simple.

But to mock and ridicule her because she doesn’t meet your expectations of how she should act is a little too much for me.  After what this woman and her family has endured from fellow “citizens” from the Left, conservatives should have a little more respect for a true American patriot.  Just saying…

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COMMENTS

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  • freentn

    out of it.

    • freentn

      he is simply reporting his impressions of the Republican Field. I don’t see any agenda whatsoever. Palin will not win the GOP Nomination. Maybe Perry will. Maybe romney will. Who knows? But I don’t see Erick trying to push any particular candidate. He seems to be like the majority of us who simply want to see the BEST candidate nominated.

    • azaeroprof

      But they can backfire at times. You don’t make a joke about boobs in front of a woman who’s had breast cancer; you don’t make a “retard” joke to a person who’s child is autistic. So what do you accomplish by ridiculing a woman for whom you think her fans are too emotional?

      It appears the goal is to purge RedState of Palin fans. OK, they have every right to run the site how they choose.

      • wilgolden

        But she has waited too long. Had she gotten in about the same time Rick Perry did (even a week later), she would have been fine.

        Now, I think Erick is making a statement about her )($*#(!^#&#(%$(# teasing. One I agree with.

        just a thought . . .

        • freentn

          because of Palin but she is rapidly losing my support.

          • wilgolden

            She is the reason McCain “only” lost, as opposed to a complete meltdown embarrassment. She brought back about half the votes the establishment cost us by nominating “the electable one.”

            (as an aside, could you imagine, say, Fred Thompson getting the nomination, and HE picked Palin? but I digress. . . )

            I love Sarah, and if she actually has Presidential ambitions, she could conceivably run in any of the next five elections. Unfortunately, the best explanation I can come up with for her behavior for the last 6 to 8 months is that she is intentionally setting herself up as a lightning rod, drawing hostile media attention away from out real nominee. An honorable intention, but it is driving some of us ABSOLUTELY BATS**T INSANE.

      • freentn

        made any of the SICK JOKES that you have made. Get the Beam out of your eye, PalinPal.

        • azaeroprof

          Can you please provide the links to my comments where I supposedly made “sick jokes”?

          My point is that if Erick thinks Palin fans are too emotionally connected to her, by ridiculing her non-announcement he is succeeding only in alienating them. As I said elsewhere, if that’s the goal, then fine. He’ll have been very successful by the time it’s over.

          • freentn

            will or will not support her. If they can’t take a joke so be it but I seriously doubt that Erick’s posting will have any effect on any of the Republican Candidate numbers vis a vis Palin because Erick has not committed to a particular candidate.

          • tom_ohio

            not commited to a what?
            right, ok

          • snowshooze

            I can’t tell. But it might offend someone who took themselves too seriously.
            And we certainly couldn’t afford to offend anyone. Even if they were some kind of Yoyo…

  • funwithknives

    citizens. I did last Sept., and it was most instructive. Not too many fans were found, as she was viewed by those I talked to as a quitter,and self-promoter.{ as a rule, with exceptions}
    The apple does not fall too far from the tree, as Bristol wrote her Memoirs {fer cryin’ out loud!}, and what has She accomplished? Zilch,{Birth} and little-else.
    Less a candidate, than a Reality-Show **Star**. And we all know how respected for their intellect they are.
    Where’s a drum roll when you want one?

    • freentn

      Like it or not Sarah is a Potential Kingmaker and if she runs as an Indie all bets are off.

      • luvnthebigsites

        This is not a good sign because I have patience well beyond those who carry the “Blamstick”. Now would be a good time to push away from the keyboard.

        Just a suggestion.

      • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

        In fact, she’s a pretty lousy politician.

        She got caught in her own ethics trap in Alaska and then ran out the back door when the heat got turned up and for totally phony and manufactured reasons.

        Next, she has full access to any press and she snubs them rather than using them and in process generates a cult following among single digit IQ fools and pisses off the entire middle of the political spectrum – as in the people who will actually elect the next President.

        She’s a good motivational speaker for those looking for one-dimensional motivation. Beyond that, and being totally focused on “Sarah only”, she appears to be a not-too-bright-twit.

        • freentn

          !!!

        • http://www.usdebateboard.com usdebateboard

          Are ethics traps, media snubbing, and motivational speaking non-starters for “the middle of the political spectrum” more so than either end of the political spectrum?

          • wennejunk

            -beating Obama and throwing the left out of Congress on the coattails of the winner is vital to the bulk of the American people. We are in a race against time.

            -the middle of this country is sinking rapidly and need both hope that the agony will end and a champion they can rally around as soon as possible, not on Palin’s timeline.

            -the longer she delays and dallies and teases, the more unsettled the GOP side becomes. The more unsettled it becomes, the more likely the electorate will coalesce around the settle-for candidate: Romney.

            -the longer we dilly/dally about with multiple candidates, both announced and unannounced, the longer it will take to turn our attention to focusing the public attention on Obama, his horrible policies and on a positive GOP alternative.

            -As long as we are engaged in circular firing squads, we are not aiming at the opposition (rhetorical effect for those who think aiming implies any violence….)

            That’s what pisses off the Conservatives and the middle/right voters.

            The left, middle left and Romney lovers (but I repeat myself) think its just grand.

      • 6eorge Jetson

        Say what you will about her, but I don’t think she wants her legacy to be the Steve Bartman that got Obama re-elected and ruined America.

        • http://www.usdebateboard.com usdebateboard

          Nobody mentioned as a possible candidate but Donald Trump is that contemptuous of Republicans.

          • http://www.usdebateboard.com usdebateboard

            And, if so, who is Mookie Wilson?

          • Kenny Martsolf

            As a Red Sox fan, I would rather not see mention of you know who. Especially considering the month I’ve been put through.

        • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

          announce his candidacy today for any office. Feels right.

    • conservativecurmudgeon

      and others that were in the Alaskan legislature. They have a home across the lake from the Palins.

      They’ve vacationed with the Heaths years ago. They are of the opinion that they are a wonderful family, and that few people can handle a sled like Todd Palin. Most of their acquaintances are at a loss to explain the depth of the venom aimed at Sarah, and are sickened by it. They were astonished at Sarah’s victory over Frank Murkowski (–these folks are lifelong FDR-type Democrats, I will add).

      Of course, ‘knives, like your examples, this is only the opinion of a handful of folks, albeit rather “connected”. Mrs Palin is a tough bird. For gosh sakes, can we dial back the vitriol a bit, everyone?

      • nick2253

        Sarah Palin is a nice person, no doubt about it. Having met her at a RGA meeting, she’s a real sweet lady. However, the problems that we have are not with Sarah Palin, the person, as much as with Sarah Palin, the politician.

        I mean, if your sweet, old next-door neighbor forgets your name and calls your Billy, you don’t hate on her. The problem is that Sarah Palin, the potential candidate, isn’t a next-door neighbor. When, on national TV, she calls Herman Cain “Herb Cain,” that’s just not cool. And that’s only one example. When she uses “refudiate,” and then compares it Shakespearean genius, that’s a step too far.

        Furthermore, many conservatives I know are really bothered by the complete nonsense that goes on with that family, and how public she lets it be. I mean, a reality TV show!? That’s not the way a candidate acts.

        Look, I’m not trying to be a hater. I think that Sarah, and what she stands for, are really good for the conservative movement. However, that’s Sarah Palin, the person, not Sarah Palin, the candidate. By “teasing” us with a potential candidacy, not only does she introduce uncertainty into the field, she prevents us from moving forward, picking a candidate, and getting on to attacking Obama. In all honesty, I think that the endorsement from Sarah Palin, the person, is much more valuable than the candidacy of Sarah Palin, the politician.

        • johnconradarens

          Palin is referring to Cain as “Herm Cain”. She’d known him now for a number of years. She knows is name, don’t worry. The one “Herman” I knew went by “Hermie” as a kid, and “Herm” as a man. “Herman” went the way of Herman Munster.

          • nick2253

            It’s pretty clear that she says “Herb”. Furthermore, it’s not about whether or she knows his name is “Herman” or not. It’s a respect thing. If someone calls himself Herman, and everyone else calls him Herman, than you call him Herman. Unless Palin has a special relationship with “Herb” (which I doubt because Cain himself said that only his enemies call him Herm or Herb) she has no right to pick a nickname for him, much less one “used by his enemies”.

            Like I said, it’s easy to forgive Palin, the person. It’s harder to forgive the politician. I mean, we all “say” we want a politician to be like us. Not true. We don’t want a politician who blunders. In reality, we want a politician that has a small town charm and a big city wit.

  • itsjoanne

    but her constant need for attention is how I see it.

    She’s not running, but she can’t say so, because that immediately makes her quite irrelevant. Bristol is exactly the same…. craves attention. She’s even doing her own reality show.

    Palin could wait until almost the end of October to get in, but that is cutting it really close.

    Time to focus on those who are running for office.

    • freentn

      appears that Palin is not running Republican, but she is still a Kingmaker in the Republican Party and if she runs an an Independent all bets are off.

      • acat

        Take your time, go look them up.

        Then, tell me just how she does better.

        Mew

      • nick2253

        Why, in God’s name, would Sarah Palin run as an independent? And furthermore, how do you see that doing her ANY good? When nearly the entire country has an opinion on Sarah Palin, and some 60% disapprove, how will she “break through” those kind of numbers and become the President?

        Furthermore, if she is the “Kingmaker” as you propose, dontcha think that she’d lose that position if she abandoned the party and ran on her own? Considering she’d likely hand the election to Obama, no one in their right mind would want her support in the future.

        I mean, let’s break it down. If (and it’s a big if) 100% of the conservative republicans voted for Sarah, and 50% of the establishment Republicans voted for her, she’d still be out a good 1/8 to 3/8 of the base (depending on how big the conservative vs establishment arms of the party are). This means that swing states, like Pennsylvania, Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio, all states with meaningful establishment populations, would swing to Obama. With PA, MO, IN, and OH, Obama would be virtually guaranteed election. Through in a likely win in Florida, and it’s two-term Obama.

        If you think Independents would come to the rescue, again you’d be mistaken. Her disapproval rating among independents hovers around 50%, so it’s not likely that they would be flocking to her anymore so than to the establishment candidate. Again, it’s a two-term Obama.

        Look, I hate to break it to you, but your attitude towards Sarah Palin is similar to Democrats towards Hillary Clinton. It doesn’t matter how fervorishly her supporters like her; what matters is how many people don’t like her. In our plurality system, you vote for the person you dislike least. In this way, even though I have no doubt about your support of Sarah Palin, it is naive to blind yourself to the reality of polling and a national election among people of all stripes: liberal, green, libertarian, conservative, constitutionalist, etc.

        Sarah Palin, as she is known now, cannot win a national election. Not with an R next to her name, and not with an I next to her name. If she changes her image, a la Nixon, or even Hillary, she would be a formidable candidate. But a Palin candidacy today is a liability to the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

  • freentn

    Palin can make or break any Republican Candidate and if she runs as an Independent BO/hillary will be elected President.

    • ruexperienced

      Republicans fear the kind of damage that could be done by a Palin candidacy or a Palin nomination.

  • wonkish1

    Nothing more!

    • Remington_Steele

      .

  • Scope

    to post as you will. This is the second time you have posted an article here at RedState dissing EE and Redstate. I haven’t see EE stoop to your level and post crap on your website.

    azaerprof- Please stop. You left here a month or so ago with much respect and good will. You’ve now entered C4P territory with your posts. If you keep refusing to understand that many of the die hard Palin supporters are damaging every announced candidate, then you refuse to open your eyes. It seems that you are hell bent to make every Palin supporter out to be the models of civility, and that just isn’t true. I’ve read their comments on many sites, over and over. At least admit that some of the Palin supporters have reduced themselves to the level of the Paul supporters, who will do everything in their power to diss any other candidate in the race, while putting their candidates on a pedestal.

    One thing I have to say about some of the Perry supporters, they are willing to denounce what they think he is wrong about, and are more than willing to say he is far from perfect, No one can deny that. It is when there is hero worship, with the hero being put into a position that he/she is beyond reproach that raises many hackles. That is the problem with some of the Palin supporters. You may think that this Palin watch is rediculous and is elementary and childish. That is exactly what those that don’t support Palin think of her supporters behaviour for the last several months. Once again, the supporters are more destructive than the person they are supporting.

    • http://www.floridapoliticalpress.com/ tomtflorida

      No dissenting views permitted on your watch, huh Scope? I wasn’t aware that it was a requirement to agree with Erick on every issue to post on RS. I am simply expressing my opinion, which was done in an intelligent, thought provoking manner. I personally do not feel that I disrespected EE (I suppose this is how his fan club refers to him) in any manner in the process.

      It’s ironic that EE said this about Sarah Palin fans; “Palin fans have become an online fixture with more venom and insanity than the most rabid Ron Paul fan.” – yet, if one were to read the reactions here of her detractors, one might get a different take on where to find the insanity.

      One thing is certain, I would not want to find myself in a universe that you control, my friend.

      • Scope

        I actually posted a dissenting view to one of the articles on your website, and, as a result I got a personal email from the author telling me more or less what an idiot I was. So much goes for dissenting views when the site comes back and trashes dissenters in personal emails. As far as I know, RedState doesn’t promote diary writers attacking commentors with personal email attacks.

        • http://www.floridapoliticalpress.com/ tomtflorida

          …while you’re behind. The only way you could have received an email regarding comments left on my site is if you provided your email address. Otherwise, readers have no way to contact you – unless they were able to locate your contact info online on their own through the username you provided.

          I do have access to commentors email addresses and I don’t recall ever responding directly to anyone, however, if I did it would have been for administrative reasons.

          And it really serves no one’s agenda to twist this into a pissing match between the two web sites… I’m but a blip on the screen compared to RS and fully acknowledge that.

          • Scope

            I most definately received a blasting post, in my personal email, trashing me because I didn’t agree with his post.. I posted against one of your Ron Paul supporter writers. In fact, I posted a comment to the writer on the website asking him to please not send me any more emails because I didn’t agree with him, and his support of Ron Paul. I will try to see if I still have that email in my undumped trash bin.

          • Scope

            without posting there email address. You shared my email address with your authors on your site.

          • http://www.usdebateboard.com usdebateboard

            My advice is not to share email addresses with social or political media that can readily be traced back to your meat space.

            I have one that I only use for my registrations at political sites where I may be prone to troublemaking.

            If you have a job, more and more companies are sniffing that stuff out and frown on it.

          • nick2253

            Where do you work? The CIA? Not only have I never heard of a company hiring or firing based on political beliefs, the idea that company would spend its time to track down what you do on political sites is ludicrous.

            If you let your political beliefs get in the way of performing your job, that’s one thing, and that’s a company’s prerogative to fire you for your personal life getting in the way of your duties.

            Now, if what you worry about is a company finding emotional “shouting” matches about social or fiscal policy, that might, just the tiniest bit might, have value to an employer, because it would give them a clue to how you handle confrontation. But if your comments are well reasoned and thoughtful, I see absolutely no reason why you should be worried about your job.

        • http://www.usdebateboard.com usdebateboard

          It’s a Monty Python thing.

          • GregInFla

            That would shake up the race a bit, whaddaya say, whaddaya say?
            Mark Steyn refers to our economy as the Dead Parrot economy.. here Palin plays Geithner.

      • satchman3

        I also think Erick’s posts are purposefully incendiary which I find annoying. I’m not a Palin fan so my spiteful response was to send $50 to Ron Paul today.

        • Scope

          Ron Paul’s retirement fund. Please send more and send him home faster.

  • azaeroprof

    (It’s only been 2 weeks, btw.) I don’t mean to imply that all Palin supporters are models of civility. I just think it demeans what has been my favorite conservative site for several years to react this way to some “kooks”, most of whom don’t post here anyway. The few really kooky ones that show up here are quickly driven off and haven’t been, IMHO, that much more numerous or virulent than some of the other “candibots” here.

    This tactic will certainly result in fewer Palin fans showing their faces around here, but also ensure that a much higher percentage of those who do are indeed the kooks they don’t want.

  • keepourrepublic

    How exactly is this supposed to help the coalition of conservatives?

  • railbird

    I just scrolled through the main page and 8 out of 12 articles are about Palin from EE.

    I am not even close to a Palin fan at all but the front page is essentially jaw dropping.

    Erick?

  • claydog83

    I believe it’s a great joke in time’s like these, but with some real credit as well which has been shown more and more above..

    What is a Palin fan or a Perry fan?

    Politicians rogue or not have a responsibility to We The People, which she subscribes to all the time

    We need a leader who is transparent——bottom line

    I say all of this with full knowledge that I would go to war for her over obummer..

  • dajeeps

    I agree with EE, to an extent, at least I think, but it’s hard to commit with certainty because his opinion is spread over so many posts.

    I think it is too late for Palin from a practical stand point, and probably Christie too. There are only so many talented campaign people and only so much money to go around. Then there’s the development that Florida is moving to Jan 31, which means voting will start early.

    In addition, from my perspective, it is rather rude to take a pass on the debates while everyone else is out there being figuratively poked and prodded in that part of the vetting process. If she wants to get in she should have been up there with the rest of them. I doubt that I would vote for her without having her record vetted, as I have heard little about it. Is she purposely avoiding them? I just don’t really know.

    • williamshipley

      When your name recognition is in the high 90% range. Most of the candidates have been working for months to get their name recognition above 50%. I don’t think Governor Palin was all that impressed with the quality of the talented campaign people on the McCain campaign — I know I wasn’t.

      As to money, there seems to be lot of people sitting on their wallets waiting to see what will emerge — which is probably the real reason for being upset at Palin for not announcing — no one is going to get the cash with her possibly getting in.

      There will also be lots of debates to come, so I don’t think we need to worry about her taking a pass on the debates — which at the moment are pretty shallow.

      As to her record, there’s a movie, watch it.

      As to her fans being fanatic, well some are. On the other hand, what wins elections are people working long hours on phone banks and getting the vote out. You get that with lots of cash, or with passion. Some analysis of the 2008 race indicates with a little more passion on the conservative side, it might still have been possible to win.

  • tom_ohio

    erick is leaving here to go to tv wasteland or some campaign position and could care less if he damages the reputation of redstate

    that is what it looks like to outsiders, anyway

    he is not doing the conservative cause any great work with today’s “joking” either

  • Remington_Steele

    you can’t afford the answer.

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    and very likely because she makes liberals in both parties wet themselves and go into fits of deranged verbal diarrhea that it usually takes a severe mismatch of their drug inputs to otherwise achieve…

  • gawken

    somebody has to…..

  • Common_Cents

    Is he really dilly rallying considering a run or is it all some obsession with the media bringing it up all the time?

    • Justin Spagnolo (standardcandle)

      He also continues to govern his state while taking the media head on.

      This is not so much about Palin as it is about the faction of her supporters that are nutty and can’t discuss anything but Palin

      It comes with the territory of being a celebrity rather than a politician.
      That’s why you won’t be seeing Christie threads.

  • Finrod

    SNL has a long history of taking what might have been a good 20-second joke and beating it to death for three minutes. Erick has shown that he has the ‘skill’ to beat a horse that’s not only dead but has decayed down to bones, so he’d be an excellent fit as a writer for SNL.

  • nvrepub

    nt

    • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

      Behave in the future, by the way. You’re on the verge of being boring.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    At this point the only people ‘obsessing’ over this particular topic are the ones commenting on three day old posts. You might have noticed that the front pagers have moved, as they say, on.

  • shadowtax

    I could see myself doing so, but then again, I am nobody. Who cares if I act like a Democrat mascot?

    Maybe the motivation was to stir the pot and generate buzz and traffic. He saw it as his responsibility to call Palin on her deadline, and did so in a way that would get noticed.

    • snowshooze

      I’m not above taking a cheap shot either.
      Just for fun.
      But I usually expect it will be received as such.
      I am still suffering the humility of the Meaghan McCain piece…
      ( Not really )
      But I am not all bent outta shape and sticking out my lower lip.
      I was had. So what?
      Now, how about you?

  • shadowtax

    The first post was mildly amusing and I got the point. The subsequent posts did nothing to add to the humor in my view.

    Maybe I’ve just grown too weary of ridicule as a form of humor. Even when I engage in it now, I can’t shake the feeling that I am just being mean. So, to repeat, if I had made those posts, I would feel embarrassed.