Kimberly Strassel writes: "The Problems With Palin"

Which gives me an opportunity to respond.

Dear Kimberly:

“... she shouldn't be averse to the same critical questioning.”

There is a big difference between critical questioning and snarky dismissal. Take Charles Krauthammer, who is otherwise a sane voice on the moderate side of the political spectrum (keep in mind he wrote speeches for Walter Mondale). He is often viewed as a conservative because many of the rest of the talking heads are liberal and he states his positions with wit and precision. He is socially liberal.  He is simply wrong about Palin’s need to “go to school” ... as if her participation in the battle of ideas since the last election has been as a pin-up girl. Go HERE HERE and HERE  for a fuller explanation.

“But she has not outlined many policies of her own.” I wonder who analyzed the ObamaCare bill and came up with the realization that it involved rationing that would inevitably lead to the term “death panels.” Your other questions regarding social security, Pakistan, taxes and much more are issues she has addressed. Perhaps not in “white papers” ghost written by the staff of one of the ubiquitous think tanks, but she has addressed these issues. During her term as Alaska’s governor she made major positive changes in the taxation of oil companies, her state’s largest single source of income (and did it in just two years). Can any of the other Republican candidates say the same thing?

Kimberly, you then go on to contradict yourself by saying that “She's purposely chosen to insert herself into nearly every national controversy.” How has she managed to do that by failing to outline policies of her own? Opposing ObamaCare and suggesting a free market solution is not a policy? Opposing drilling moratoriums and advocating more energy exploration is not a policy? Every criticism of current policies that she has made has included her own suggestions for what she would do. And, by the way, not borrowing money from China to give to whoever’s running Egypt today is a policy. You may not like it, but it’s a policy decision.

Palin is unconventional. She bucks establishments, both Democrat and Republican. Keep in mind that there are lots of people out there who dislike both parties. Who think that both elected Republicans and Democrats are part of the “ruling class” and that a change of parties in Washington is similar to re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. I don’t believe that but if you read letters to the editor, internet blogs and talk to the people around you, that belief is omnipresent.

Palin’s political fortunes have always been unpredictable and her rise to political stardom is unusual. Her campaign, if it is one, is also unconventional. But she can do what few others in the modern political era can do, and that is to shake up the way elections get decided and Washington works.