Palin Dismembers the GOP on a Whim

Written by Allen Raymond on November 04, 2009, 02:47 PM

A reliable Republican congressional seat now belongs to the Democratic Party because Sarah Palin woke up one day and decided it would make for good Facebook content to sabotage the Republican Party in NY’s 23rd Congressional District special election. Palin, whose sabotage was joined by Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.), couldn’t have found this congressional district on a map before this election. It did not take long for her and Pawlenty to drop in from nowhere and have a huge impact on the outcome of the race only now to move on to another victim to feed their ambition; like a science fiction characters devouring planets.

It clearly hadn’t occurred to the egocentric, selfish nature of Palin and Pawlenty that the Republican Party leaders in New York State knew what they were doing when they nominated Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava as their candidate in this special election. Intervention by the likes of Palin and Pawlenty was not necessary; the challenge was well in hand by those closest who knew best. It is hopeless to try and get Palin, Pawlenty and others like them to hear reason as they are so prejudice they refuse to listen.  Palin and Pawlenty enabled the Democratic Party to increase its caucus size in the U.S. House, but they refuse to believe they are now standing in a pile of waste of their own making even though everybody else sees and smells it clearly.

The truth is Palin and Pawlenty stink. They reek of ambition, selfishness, prejudice and self-righteousness that destroyed the Republican Party in NY’s 23rd congressional district and will destroy it nationally if left unchecked. NY’s 23rd Congressional District has been a cornerstone of the GOP in New York State represented for decades by Republicans very much like Scozzafava. Perhaps she is not as conservative as Palin and Pawlenty claim to be, but she still had solid support from reliable conservative coalition members like the National Rifle Association and National Federation of Independent Businesses as well as a 60% rating from the NY Right to Life Committee.

Republicans across the country of every stripe should be furious with Palin and Pawlenty and the other meddlers who have decided they own the imperious right to select and reject from afar who is allowed to represent the Republican Party on the ballot.

However, Palin and Pawlenty can now serve a higher purpose. Their shrillness and panic about a moderate in the Republican ranks may have in the end a positive effect by drawing attention to their prejudice and small-mindedness. Palin and Pawlenty’s folly in NY 23rd congressional district should awaken Republicans everywhere that if it could happen in upstate New York in can happen in their backyard. With the threat of Palin and Pawlenty showing up close to home to dictate terms, perhaps sensible Republicans, moderate and conservatives, will band together knowing that not to means inevitable destruction at the hands of politicians like Palin and Pawlenty who are driven by ambition, not principle.

The Republican Party requires now more than ever unity of purpose in the face of fiscal mismanagement by the majority party in Washington, D.C., not a putsch by the self-righteous.

Allen Raymond is a former Republican campaign manager and consultant and author of “How To Rig An Election; Confessions of a Republican Operative.” Read more of his blog at www.redelephantgop.blogspot.com.