September 7, 2011
Erickson cries “Enough!” today at RedState, applauding Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham on their discussion about Sarah Palin last night on O’Reilly.
Or maybe he just said, “enough” quietly to himself, one never knows in writing. It’s a huge flaw in print media, and that along with the importance of brevity, has confused many enthusiastic keyboardists.
Erick Erickson has a radio show I think, and I think he shows up on CNN, and he has RedState, a very “well-connected” (to the beltway) blog, and he gives his opinion much like I do here. I was welcomed whole-heartedly on RedState when I campaigned for Dan Benishek, and I got to know some of the folks that belong to that blog. I left RedState when I questioned Erickson directly about the nastiness of his anti-O’Donnell commenters. And boy were they nasty. He defended them, called me to the carpet, and I left. I was concerned about the integrity of his blog if he does not use unbiased moderators at his site. But, it’s his site, so that’s his call. I don’t use unbiased moderators at my site, but then, I’m not as widely read as RedState.
At any rate, Erickson is complaining now about the ferocity of Palin supporters. He doesn’t like their attitude, and is turned off from campaigning for Palin (if she runs) because he doesn’t want to be part of that crowd.
Loud and clear, Erick. Your spot in the conservative sphere is now well defined.
The people supporting Palin with such passion are people new to the whole scene. We don’t watch what we say, we don’t care about your feelings. We are concerned about the destruction of our nation, and a lot of us have just figured out how to work computers, to be honest. We are truck drivers, waitresses, cooks, grandmas, veterans, union workers, mechanics, seamstresses, electrical workers, plumbers, carpenters, small businessmen and businesswomen, and lots and lots and lots of us are women. Homeschoolers, ranchers, farmers, miners, all of us could be categorized by the beltway political class as “rednecks.”
What rednecks do best is talk straight. What redneck women do best is point out where you’ve gone wrong, and sometimes that just seems over the top, but they don’t give a rip. We get made fun of by the political class, and that just firms our resolve.
So in my experience, the Palin supporters Erickson says, “have not evangelized on behalf of Sarah Palin trying to lead people to Sarah Palin, they have freaked a lot of us out,” is unfair, but in politics, to the people who follow politics on a daily basis, that is really a put off, and since Erickson, Ingraham and Coulter have a venue to talk about it, it is all that is discussed.
And a lot of it is also the “how could you?” suggestion that a lot of Palin supporters feel. The entire beltway, and most of the beltway bloggers have decided that Palin won’t be the next President. It’s that simple. In order to discredit and quiet her supporters, the political class often turn to the numbers surrounding the debate, and instead of give credence to the people’s ability to convince their neighbors and towns, suggest it’s all over but the cryin’.
So I understand how they feel, it is a lot like the disgust I felt at the fall out over Christine O’Donnell. It’s the tea party versus the beltway, plain and simple.
If Sarah Palin doesn’t run, it’s the dumbest thing she could ever do. We the people are behind her.
As for Coulter and Ingraham, they are just wrong, and quite frankly, have their own agenda.
Update: Dan Riehl links: Erick Erickson All Wee Weed Up Over Palin
Update: Texas4Palin links: Jen Kuznicki: RedState’s Erickson Dogs Palin Supporters
Jen Kuznicki
