Lincoln Blog
February 03, 2010:
Sarah Palin gets it.
Although vilified and ridiculed by the mainstream media and elites within her own party, Sarah Palin is proves again and again why she is one of the most popular personalities in the GOP.
Governor Palin is going to address a national convention of TEA party activists later this week in Nashville, Tennessee. Palin rightly sees the TEA party movement as a grassroots movement comprised of Americans who believe in what the Republican Party used to believe in - and must believe in again if it is to ever again become a governing party.
While the GOP has been crowing over the victory of Scott Brown in Massachusetts it is important to remember it was not the Republican establishment that is responsible for his win.
Brown was written off early by the Washington types who saw no chance for victory in the Bay state. It was the TEA party movement that lifted Brown up on its wings and positioned him for an upset win.
Now, to be fair, the GOP establishment - once it saw what was happening - rushed in with money and manpower. And that support helped to put Scott Brown in the winner's circle.
The lesson here is that the GOP cannot win without the TEA party activists - for many of them are in fact the disaffected Republican base. And, the TEA partiers are unlikely to accomplish their goals without support from the mainstream Republican Party.
Apart, both will fail. Together, they are unstoppable.
Sarah Palin understand this. And while party elites look down their noses as the TEA party movement, Palin is embracing it. Partly because she is politically savvy enough to understand the dynamics, and partly because her personal experience and believes are a perfect fit for the TEA party - she is and always has been one of them.
Of course the elites write off both Palin and the TEA party movement. They also wrote off Senator-elect Scott Brown.
Hmmm.
