Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Hillary Supporters Backing Sarah Palin

Beginning in April, 2008, I began working with many people, Democrats, Independents, and even a few Republicans, who supported Hillary Clinton. It became evident that the "Hillary votes" were critical to any Republican candidate running against Obama. My guess was that we needed six million of the 20 million voters (including those in caucus states) who supported Clinton in the primaries.

I began a blog (HillarySupportersforMcCain) and posted a couple of hundred pieces on it. Today, eight months later, I stopped posting on that site long ago, but it still gets 30-35 or so visitors a week.

A not-so-secret-secret: I don't like Hillary Clinton as a politician. I never did. But I believe my efforts helped the McCain-Palin ticket by my emphasizing that Hillary Supporters' votes were needed and valued. (I did believe Mrs. Clinton would be much better as a president than BHO, although not nearly as good as many of her Supporters believed.)

For months, I was co-host, with the irrepressible Cristi Adkins of VA, on the radio program "Clintons4McCain." We had a blast . . . and interviewed many terrific guests, including Bev Perlson and Gold Star Mother Debbie Lee.

In the end, we didn't get the six millions votes (from Hillary Supporters) that we needed. However, we apparently did get four million-plus of them. The additional two million votes would have allowed us to win several states (perhaps including FL) that would have provided many more electoral votes.

Many of the Hillary Supporters, including some on this list, have become good friends of mine. . . and tremendous allies in advancing the cause of Gov. Palin. Yes, I sometimes got a major Excedrin headache from Hillary Supporters -- mainly those who saw her wrongly as a modern Joan of Arc.

But I always tried not to stray far from political reality. My goal over the next several years is not to step out of that Political Reality Zone. Arguing with people who support Sarah is pointless.

Some of the Sarah/Hillary Supporters have a history of being fairly liberal -- Elaine Lafferty (former editor of Ms.) is one, along with Camille Paglia and Tammy Bruce. I don't care about their pasts; I care about Sarah's and America's future.

Remember, a couple of million people who call themselves "conservative" voted for Barack Obama. I don't recall him or Axelrod handing back those votes.

Sarah Palin's appeal transcends ideology. As I said before, she has conservative, libertarian, and populist (like the Alaska Constitution) elements. She has strong support in the gay community. She has great potential with young voters and Hispanics. She can draw many votes from YWP (Young Women Professionals) as soon as it dawns on them she's a YWP. The large number of parents of special needs children are seeing her as a major advocate.

If we're successful in reaching out to voters in the above communities, we will end up electing this good woman as POTUS.

As governor of Alaska, Sarah was basically being held prisoner in her home state. Now, she's free to be a national leader. She belongs not just to Alaska, but to America. "Free at last . . . free at last . . . thank God Almighty . . . "

No comments: