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08 July 2009 3:00 PM
The Elite Conservative Media
Love her or hate her, Sarah Palin draws crowds -- that's why she grabs the headline and subhead written by my excellent editor at The Daily Beast. The core argument of my piece, however, is that despite conventional wisdom suggestion her demise is due being hated by America's elites, Governor Palin actually garnered a lot of support from powerful, rich, well-connected Americans.
I go on to make the case that conservatives won't get better leaders until they acknowledge that the ones they've got are part of America's establishment ruling class. See that argument here.Why elide the fact that Sarah Palin is a darling of Fox News, the highest rated cable news network in America? Or that she is regularly defended by Mr. Limbaugh, famous television personality Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, a nationally syndicated radio host whose latest book just ended a run atop the New York Times bestseller list? Or again, surely these savvy Sarah Palin defenders know that the editors of National Review and The Weekly Standard, tenured members of the political establishment, lined up behind her candidacy, and that Gov. Palin herself is a millionaire who enjoyed a six-figure family income before she ever took the statehouse--never mind the lucrative book contract and pricey speaking fees now available to her.
Isn't it actually the case that a good chunk of elite America loves Sarah Palin, or at least is willing to lend rhetorical and financial support to her.
Comments (1)
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I'm curious, Conor -- before her election to the governorship of Alaska, how many times did Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, The Weekly Standard and The National Review -- who apparently now embody the media elite in America, despite the journals having less than half the circulation of, say, The Atlantic -- promote her as a candidate for that office? Did they write or talk about her extensively? Or did they only come to defend and promote her, say, 10 months ago?
You understand that this would be a measurable number. It would tell us whether this actually qualifies as an idea, or just a blog post.
Regardless, the idea that this small portion of the right-wing media liked Palin's ideology equates to endorsement by the media elite seems like the sort of quality idea that The Daily Beast is already known for. I am glad to see it published there. I am curious, of course, as to whether you view them as part of this "establishment ruling class" you describe, and what they think of Sarah Palin.