GOP Draws Internal Battle Lines Around Sarah Palin

With the GOP looking more and more set to fracture as the possibility of electoral defeat looms, the cannibals' knives are out. Consider this quote, via Yglesias:

Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin's critics as "cocktail party conservatives" who "give aid and comfort to the enemy".

He told The Sunday Telegraph: "There's going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?"

Hold it now. They're serious about going all in with the Palin loyalty test? Uhm...apparently so! Nuzzo adds:

He said: "Win or lose, there is a ready made conservative candidate waiting in the wings. Sarah Palin is not the new Iain Duncan Smith, she is the new Ronald Reagan."

Yowee. So, for the sake of Sarah Palin -- who many conservatives correctly assessed as the candidate-born-yesterday -- a whole slew of Republicans-in-good-standing are going to be thrown under the bus? That's a serious civil war, or rather, a war betwixt the Serious and the Un-Serious. Keep in mind that Palin's critics are not marginal figures in the conservative movement. We're talking the aforementioned Brooks and Noonan and Frum, and we're adding Christopher Buckley, George Will, Kathleen Parker, Colin Powell, Charles Krauthammer, Matthew Dowd, and for the sake of argument, we'll throw in Chuck Hagel, Andrew Sullivan, and Christopher Hitchens, even though I hesitate to pin any of them to any sort of doctrinaire conservative group.

This is, indeed, a "bloodbath," and for what? A distinctly semi-pro Alaskan governor who's more or less made the charisma-free Tim Pawlenty look like What Could Have Been?

Additionally, this sort of line-in-the-sand drawing avoids another obvious truth -- come 2012, someone besides Palin is going to vie for the GOP nomination. Someone like, say, Mitt Romney, who famously earned the backing of the National Review, which called him a "full-spectrum conservative." What happens to Romney, now that he's on the wrong side of the Palin line? Because that's where he is:

Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers, some of whom are currently working for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin's bid for the White House, have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election. "Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012," says one former Romney aide, now working for McCain-Palin. "The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney. He's in charge on November 5th."

[...]

Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a "diva" and was going off message intentionally. The former and current Romney supporters further are pushing Romney supporters for key Republican jobs, including head of the Republican National Committee.

If I read this right, the GOP is set splinter into a trio of factions: the Palin-philes, the Romney remainders, and those excommunicated from the movement for daring to make a lick of sense at one point. Fitting isn't it, that a McCain loss might precipitate his party coming to resemble the factionalism of the Iraqi misadventure they all cooked up in the first place. Maybe Joe Biden can help them reach some sort of triple-partition solution!

Comments

[jackjack]

wow...I thought the republicans were smart. The only people this ditz inspires is your ever shrinking base and thats who becomes the leader of your party? The GOP is becoming narrower and narrower like Powell said. Sad they cant see that. Great for Obama though...t­hat'll guarantee he gets two terms.

[strandwolf]

Whatever happened to the National Enquirer expose of her love affair with Todd's business partner? That got plastered all over their front page about a month ago and no mention of it has been seen or heard since then. They ruined John Edwards' career; why not hers?

[prcleburne]

She'll survive The Enquirer. Edward's problem was that the story is true. He destroyed his own career. Obama seems to have survived the " Proof : Obama is a Muslim " expose.

[Val49]

I think the GOPers are old men the age of McCain and they are fasinated with her looks, she's pimping the old men and destroying the Republican Party at the same time, I betcha McCain wish he had left her ass in Alaska. I have conservative friends but they don't act nothing like those, what ever they are that are at all of her rallys in fact my friends are like OMG what is that, and I start laughing and then I reply "those are your peeps" And some of them say "I like Sarah because shes a lot like me" and for me thats more of a reason I don't want her in the White House, Why would I want someone in the White House like them, thats crazy.

[rpyon21]

The Republican party may be tearing itself to pieces over this election, separating into pro-Palin and anti-Palin factions. Which side are you on? If you're not sure, visit the Daily Source's page of Palin videos, at www.dailysource.org/palinvideos. We have over a hundred videos on Palin, which will give you a good picture of Palin's personality and political record.

[courageunderfire]

IMPLOSIAN.­..... ahhh the sweet sounds.... let's hope it crumbles into a thousand pieces.

[crazyv]

be careful of what you wish. I think Democracy requires an loyal and responsible opposition. One party rule tends to allow the wingnuts to take control. While I am less worried about the wackos on the left a stronger Republican party will keep them on the reservation.

[frantaylor]

I like the new policy of the Republicans where the allow Socialists to be members. Sarah Palin is the most effective socialist leader in this hemisphere, it is good that the Republicans are allowing progressive thought like this in their party. She represents free money for all people and that is an effective new slogan for the Republicans.

[therblig]

GOP - the new chilean soccer team.

[bujeeboo]

Yes, PLEASE! Trot that light weight out in 4 years. Please!!!

[somsoc]

She is much like Bonzo, no facts, relies on personality, total BS for brains and dangerous beyond belief. Will the GOP have to flash the lights like they did for Bonzo to get her to shut up?

[FrankN]

It's not suprising that the fault line in the GOP crackup concerns the top ticket. Of all the values conservatives claim to support (our troops, traditional marriage, small government, small town values), the modern conservative movement worships HOLDING POWER aobve all other values. Other values have been dispensible to them.

[gfs5541]

Well congrats republicans, you just split the party! Hoorah!

[Rog49Thomas]

Well it's been a long time since I agreed with my former church elders in the RP, but I heartily endorse this idea.

It's time to purge the the RP of the disloyal elements.

Just what is needed is a good old fashioned witch hunt.

At a time like this one can't be too careful, so if they're not 100% pure (and float), cast the unbelievers into the fires of eternal political d*mnation.

An appropriate text is as follows:

I, through the Will of God, hereby Excommunicate ab homine the man {David Frum for example] from the Most Holy and Patriotic Republican Party for his crime of obstinate disobedience and heresy, whoever rejects the means of attaining the common ends of the Party deserve to be removed from society.

Res sacrae, ritus, communio, crypta, potestas, praedia sacra, forum, civilia jura vetantur.

[bakunin]

Too funny, Rog. McCain needed but one admonition, caveat emptor!

[Mike169]

The Republican Party ought to toss their entire screwball right under the bus. For all their complaining about Obama's "socialism" - it was the Republican's beloved president that tossed $700 to the rich to save their sorry a*ses.

[TakeNoNeoConPrisoners]

People, this is good for progressives. Seeing the Rethug party fracture and splinter into several fringe groups can only cement the progressives in elections for the foreseeable future. I guess if you wait long enough, there is justice after all. Perhaps it's God's way of telling the religious fundamentalists on the right, that they do not know him after all and armagedan is being postponed indefinately. Oh the rapture. Wait fundy freaks, wait...

[Tobagogirl]

Now here is something you won't see on Fox. All throughout the Primaries and afterwards all you heard about was the warring factions in the Democartic party. They even brought on a slew of so called pro Hilary supporters who despised Barack Obama. that guy form PUMA had a rented seat in Fox studios. Now the republican party is in such disarray beacuse of that woman there is nothing about that on Fox. All you hear about night and day is income redistribution and Obama is a socalist. But you can't help but feel sorry for Fox after all with the republicans out of the White House all their talking points and special information gravy train would come to an end. Hopefully that would also prompt them to get off the air as well!