Sarah Palin and “Blood Sport”

For the media, the race is clearly in full swing, especially in regards to Sarah Palin. Reports of Sarah Palin's political death are highly exaggerated and reflect more the biases of the prophets, soothsayers and media talking heads than it does the political reality. Sarah Palin is a force in the GOP and one of the most promising figures in American politics whether she is governor of Alaska or not. It is totally premature to interpret Sarah Palin's announcement as a withdraw from American politics. A year from now, a lot of pundits may be eating their words. - Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: During her surprise weekend announcement, Sarah Palin bemoaned that American politics increasingly looks more like “blood sport” than it does legitimate debate. I agree. Thanks to figures like Saul Alinsky and his “Rules for Radicals,” the Left has put together a “kill machine,” funded by ideologues like George Soros, that is capable of destroying anyone who stands in the way. In recent months, Palin was the target of 15 ethics probes, all of them baseless, which cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend against.

Plus, the Left has countless “volunteers” in Big Media and among the “chattering class” who are tireless in their efforts to smear conservative leaders. They have fired more of their barbs at Governor Palin than at anyone else in the GOP, while at the same time arguing that she has no chance to be president. If that’s so, why waste their ammo? Why are they so obsessed with her?

Even as she announced that she was stepping down as governor at the end of the month, the Left was at her throat. They even attacked, once again, her son Trig, who has Down syndrome. In her remarks, Palin commented on Trig by saying that we need more such children because they teach us about our own humanity and the worth and value of all babies, even those society deems “less than perfect.”

Within hours, the Huffington Post, the preeminent leftwing blog, had posted a piece under the guise of comedy claiming that Palin would run in 2012 on a “More Retardation platform.” The Huffington Post was not the only leftwing site to use that line of attack. The rhetoric was disgusting and I won’t dignify it by reprinting it. But you will notice that the “watchdogs” of Big Media – always ready to pounce on Rush Limbaugh for alleged mean-spiritedness – haven’t said a word about how mean-spirited these attacks on Palin and her son are.

Meanwhile, while everyone predicts her political death, Governor Palin made it clear in her own online communications that she intends to remain a leader in the battle for conservative ideas. She told supporters to “hang in there” as critics “feed false info” to the media. She promised she would try to build a national consensus around smaller government, a strong national defense, fiscal responsibility and energy independence.

I want to save my last word on this today for some fellow Republicans. Once again, I watched in disgust this weekend as Democrats were joined by some Republicans in taking shots at Governor Palin. Ed Rollins, a longtime GOP consultant and advisor to Mike Huckabee, said her announcement was “suspicious.” Mike Huckabee himself couldn’t resist a negative “analysis” by suggesting her announcement raises questions of whether she can take the heat. A lot of GOP pollsters and consultants also weighed in with their political knives out.

Their performance reminded me of the saying: “Liberals resurrect their dead, while conservatives bury their wounded.” Come on, guys! Let’s aim our fire at Obama and his socialist friends. Our first priority should be retaking Congress in 2010. There will be plenty time in 2011 and 2012 for the GOP presidential nomination to play out.

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