I’m not quite sure what was behind Sarah Palin’s announcement on Friday that she would not seek reelection and would resign as governor of Alaska (but, as Kim noted, I will take her at her word until persuaded otherwise by facts). If the past few days have demonstrated anything it is that the visceral hatred of Sarah Palin among those on the left has become pathological.
Just after the Palin announcement The Huffington Post post ran a piece titled “Palin Will Run In ’12 On More Retardation Platform”. After the Free Republic complained to the HuffPo the site took the piece down, but not before a screen cap was made. You can view it here. That a liberal site would use a special needs child as its foil is no longer shocking in the demented universe of Palin haters.It’s encouraging to see evidence that the Palin family is going to take the gloves off and go after these scum bags (read this for more).
I agree somewhat with William Jacobson that much of what drives the hatred of Sarah Palin is her son Trig. Trig Palin is, to put it bluntly, a living and breathing indictment of the abortion industry that simply will not go away. Trig Palin’s very existence makes the abortion advocates squirm in their seats and sweat. That’s why so much energy and attention has been focused on the political and personal destruction of his mother.
But there is another element to the Palin obsession on the Left. As has been thoroughly discussed on this site and in the comments, if Sarah Palin was the dolt her opponents so eagerly claim she is then why the non stop demonization of her well after a landslide victory by the Left in 2008? The answer is that the Left knows that Palin speaks to a large constituency in the middle class that is becoming more organized and vocal as each month of this economic collapse worsens. On a deeper level, the Left also knows that there is a thread of misogyny that runs through much of the propaganda against Sarah Palin and this deep seated contempt for women will bring about a furious backlash. Therefore, the Left must not just wound her, they must eliminate her.
Sarah Palin has been vilified unlike any politician I have seen in my lifetime. Unless there is some scandal about to break (and it appears unlikely) the Left (with its contempt for her family) will have succeeded in turning her into a martyr. As such, she will raise more money for Republican politicians than any other figure on the national stage. The midterm elections got a lot more interesting on Friday.
