Need proof? Take a look at the responses to Washington Post columnist David Broder's February 11 ode to Sarah. The "dean of the Beltway press corps" wrote a tribute to Alaska's former governor that praised her "pitch-perfect populism."
In reviewing Palin's keynote at the National Tea Party Convention, and her debut on Fox News, Broder hailed Palin as "a public figure at the top of her game—a politician who knows who she is and how to sell herself, even with notes on her palm." The long knives quickly came out for Broder. His Palin piece triggered an avalanche of comments (2,000+) on WaPo's website. That handily topped the 41 responses to Broder's take on Obama’s ties with Congress (Feb. 7), 312 for healthcare reform (Feb. 4) and 89 for campaign finance overhaul (Jan. 31).
Responders skewered Broder and Palin. Broder was largely attacked for losing a couple of miles off his fastball. He was blistered as "braindead," the writer of "drivel," master of "idiotic diatribe" and just plain "old and senile." Somebody should get Broder a bib, a responder snooted.
Others suggested the Broder has a crush on Palin, but warn that he is going to hurt himself if he "keeps on writing love letters like this."
For her part, Palin was dismissed as an "empty-headed, mean-spirited and vindictive person." She's trashed as a "train wreck" and demeaned as "Adolph Hitler in skirts." Somebody wrote Palin "has proven time and time again that she is nothing but a selfish, self-absorbed bully who cares about nothing above her own self-promotion." One wag worries whom Palin will pick for vice president, certain that she will find the presidency too tough and walk away like from the job like she did in Alaska. And another: "Dumb worship has become the new norm in American politics and Sarah Palin is the new Queen of the Idiot Class."
Everybody needs to take a deep breath.
Palin is currently leading a WaPo poll on who the Republican Presidential candidate will be in 2012. Her 36 percent vote tops Mitt Romney's 23 percent and Mike Huckabee's nine percent. "None of the above" ranks third with 16 percent.
Though many Democratic operatives write off the threat posed by Palin, she should not be underestimated. Would Palin be a tough opponent for President Obama?
You betcha!