Writes Ross Douthat in today’s NYT (Palin and Her Enemies)
Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.This ideal has had a tough 10 months. It’s been tarnished by Palin herself, obviously. With her missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues, she’s botched an essential democratic role — the ordinary citizen who takes on the elites
I have heard and read similar claims since Palin’s announcement and even before that recall people talking about how the “elites” (especially “media elites”) are allied against her. I know populism is all the rage these days, but I must confess that the notion that Palin is some type of commoner versus the elites is a bit difficult to swallow at this point in her career arch. She currently holds (although granted, not for much longer and by her own conscious doing) one of only fifty governorships in the whole of the United States and she held the nomination for the Vice Presidency of one of the two major political parties only a few months ago. Further she is currently considered someone who could be considered a serious candidate for her party’s nomination for the presidency in 2024.1 That is, by any definition of the term, the description of an elite. Indeed, she rather effectively demonstrated her elite status by calling a press conference during a three-day national holiday and managed to get all of us to pay attention (and continue paying attention). That’s pretty elite behavior (with a clear response thereto), if you ask me.
Yes, it is true that Palin has an array of critics, but even as Douthat acknowledges in the piece, Palin has brought a good deal of that on herself (indeed, I am not sure how one can divorce Palin’s “missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues” perhaps they are the reason for the critiques and derision that she has received, not just because “the elites” are out to get her).
One of the ironies about populists is that they have to be elites so that they can make their appeals to the masses while all the while decrying elites.
Sphere: Related Content- Yes, the consensus is (rightly, I would add) that she hasn’t a prayer to win it, but if she runs she will get both press treatment and political attention that a major candidate would get–something that a lot of candidates do not receive–ask recent nominees of the Greens and Libertarians, for example. [↩]
July 6th, 2024 at 12:15 pm
I read that column this morning and didn’t quite follow his logic.
Right before the quote you excerpt he posits Obama as representative of the “meritocratic ideal,” saying that Palin is the “perfect foil” for Obama because she represents the “democratic ideal.”
I understand how Obama is emblematic of a mertiocracy–but I’m not sure how “democracy” can be thought of as a “foil” to merit? I mean, Obama beat the McCain/Palin ticket by an overwhelming margin–wouldn’t that make him emblematic of the democratic ideal to a degree much larger than Palin??
The only way his logic makes sense is if you have a Maoist understanding of “democracy” where individual achievement (i.e. “merit”) should be minimized for the good of the collective.
July 6th, 2024 at 12:20 pm
Shouldn’t there be a minimal standard of reality for something to rise to the level of a “scandal”?
July 6th, 2024 at 12:30 pm
Ratoe,
I noted that as well and almost went on to write about it as well, but simply didn’t. It is a valid point and I am not really sure how one makes the distinction between merit and democracy in this context.
Andrew,
You are going to have to be a bit more specific.
July 6th, 2024 at 1:17 pm
I am not really sure how one makes the distinction between merit and democracy in this context.
The other weird thing about her speech is that you can read it as ambivalent at best when it comes to democracy.
Her main rationale for quitting was that she didn’t want to become a “lame duck”:
And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade - as so many politicians do. And then I thought - that’s what’s wrong - many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”. I’m not putting Alaska through that - I promised efficiencies and effectiveness!
Her thought process is just weird, but the kicker is that her solution for solving the problem of lame duckness isn’t to actually concentrate on governing effectively, but to essentially nullify the election by quitting prematurely. It is only through voiding the representative contract that “efficiencies and effectiveness” can be realized.
This, frankly, seems pretty anti-democratic.
One other part of the Douthat column was similarly weak. It was where he defends her “victimhood” meme:
Here are lessons of the Sarah Palin experience, for any aspiring politician who shares her background and her sex. Your children will go through the tabloid wringer. Your religion will be mocked and misrepresented. Your political record will be distorted, to better parody your family and your faith.
You can basically make the same case for ANY major candidate for office. It has very little to do with her “background” and “sex.”
Obama, Bush and Clinton all met the same challenges. To say that Palin got treated differently due to her sex and class is just silly.
July 6th, 2024 at 1:23 pm
“Andrew,
You are going to have to be a bit more specific.”
If someone is said to be facing scandals don’t there have to be actual scandals. I don’t mean wild accusations that go nowhere, but stuff with some real substance.
July 6th, 2024 at 1:32 pm
So, you are disputing Douthat’s usage of the word “scandals.” I would note that Douthat is writing a from a generally pro-Palin perspective and he appears to consider the word appropriate.
July 6th, 2024 at 1:33 pm
I would note that may basic point stand whether the word “scandal” is used in the above post or not.
July 11th, 2024 at 6:59 am
[...] She takes to task the notion that Palin was some sort of anti-elite (a topic I recently discussed here) and notes the following: “The elites hate her.” The elites made her. It was the elites [...]