Sarah Palin is the New Nixon

Richard Nixon has been reborn -- in heels, with a pregnant unmarried daughter.

Despite the media's near-erotic obsession with Sarah Palin, conspicuously absent from the commentariat has been any chatter about the many parallels between her, and the original culture warrior Richard M. Nixon.

Yes, there are differences. So let me start with those to silence the objections in advance:

Nixon was a national figure when Eisenhower chose him, after the young anti-Communist crusader national prominence with the Alger Hiss case.

Nixon was really, really smart. He won scholarships to Harvard and Yale, but couldn't afford to go. He ended up at Duke Law School, where he was third in his class.

Nonetheless, the two of them have a creepy amount in common -- and not just because Nixon was a vice-presidential candidate on the ticket with one war hero, and Palin is filling the same attack dog role for another.

Nixon almost single-handedly created the political landscape that Palin romps in; a painfully polarized America defined by O'Reilly vs. Olbermann, your bumper sticker vs. mine, Nascar vs. NPR, arugula vs. Applebee's. It's an argument sizzlingly realized by Rick Perlstein in his recent book Nixonland.

Like Nixon, Palin draws stark lines: her paeans to the good people grown in small towns, to the pro-America part of America, is just a reiteration of Nixon's famous "silent majority."

And for both of them, the enemy of this Rockwellian American goodness is the chattering East coast elite. (Nixon's loathing goes deep; unable to attend the Ivy League, he always felt like the little boy with his face pressed against the sweet shop window the rest of his life.)

In his tapes, Nixon railed against the urban elite, with a special corner of rage reserved in his wounded heart for Jews and blacks. (The Palin tapes haven't been released yet.)

Indeed, Palin's attacks on the liberal media and those opposed to the war are eerily reminiscent of both Nixon's, and his own Vice President's. Spiro Agnew famously called them "an effete corps of impudent snobs" and "ideological eunuchs." (Well, actually it was William Safire who called them that; Agnew just delivered it.)

Like Nixon, Palin gleefully taps into fear, and is an expert demonizer. His anger boiled to the surface; hers does too, but is modulated by her everyday mom-ness. Both attract less-educated white males who share their hostility at the privileged elite.

They also have a parallel history. Nixon's first election was against Congressman Jerry Voorhis, whom he accused of being soft on communism. He next ran against Helen Gahagan Douglas for the Senate, and continued his red rantings, accusing her of being "pink right down to her underwear."

Palin's accusation that Senator Obama "pals around with terrorists" is the post-9/11 version of the Cold War charge of coddling Commies. Ayers is her Alger Hiss.

And Governor Palin also has her own equivalent of the Voorhis/Dougas smears. As Salon reported:

"Even though Palin knew that Stein is a Protestant Christian, from a Pennsylvania Dutch background, her campaign began circulating the word that she would be "Wasilla's first Christian mayor. Some of Stein's supporters interpreted this as an attempt to portray Stein as Jewish in the heavily evangelical community."

Salon goes on to provide another dirty tricks example:

"The Palin campaign also started another vicious whisper campaign, spreading the word that Stein and his wife -- who had chosen to keep her own last name when they were married -- were not legally wed. Again, Palin knew the truth, Stein said, but chose to muddy the waters. 'We actually had to produce our marriage certificate," recalled Stein, whose wife died of breast cancer in 2005 without ever reconciling with Palin."

Reports out of Alaska -- including the investigation into abuses of power regarding the firing of her brother-in-law Trooper Mike Wooten -- more than suggest a Nixonian cast to her personality: grudge-holding, a casual disregard for limits to power, seeing oneself as a victim of political persecution.

Lastly, there is the matter of a wardrobe controversy. In 1952, Nixon was dangerously close to getting tossed off the vice-presidential ticket for financial shenanigans. He saved his campaign by getting on TV and giving his famous Checkers speech, in which he celebrated his humble virtues and his wife Pat's "respectable Republican cloth coat." Governor Palin has today's equivalent: the issue of her far-from-humble $150,000 designer garb.

If Sarah Palin loses, though, I doubt if there'll be a "You Won't Have Palin to Kick Around Anymore" speech. Like Nixon, she is likely to have many political lives. And besides, the prospect of a Palin Enemies List is just too appealing. To her, and to us.

Comments

[joebiz]

Don't insult Nixon: WWII vet, law graduate; champion debater; congressman, senator; ran for California governorship, VP; foreign policy expert; crafted had one of the most liberal domestic policies.

On the flip side he had some paranoia issues and was a law breaker. But, Palin doesn't even compare to Ticky Dick. You give this Palin character too much credit: Nixon was miles ahead of the Wasilla Princess in just foreign policy, let alone politics.

FYI: Nixon was not accepted to Harvard Law after applying twice and chose Duke where he was on scholarship. He was offered scholarships to Harvard and Yale undergrad. The Duke scholarship maintained he graduate in the top three or five in the class. His nickname at Duke Law was "Iron Butt" because of all the house he spent studying in the library.

[anothervoice2]

Palin at a NC rally this past weekend as seen on Countdown: "You have never been not proud of America". Huh!?! Nixon this incapable of stringing together a coherent sentence?!

[JoePalooka]

Say what? That's a perfectly logical, coherent sentence; it is a basic double negative-- asserting a positive point. Very ordinary.

[Gib]

Nixon was very intelligent and knew a lot (we all know he was also deeply flawed.) In these two important respects Palin is nothing like Nixon.

[Indie2008]

As tempting as the comparison, I feel that it is an injustice to Mr. Nixon, who, despite his flaws and divisive administration, was regarded as a serious and competent world leader.

[pons1595]

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.

[batguano]

HEAR! HEAR! Exactly so!

[tejdar]

http://www.slate.com/id/2203120/

Completely lifted from Christopher Hitchens. Give credit where credit is due.

[DCato]

Thus does history repeat itself: Nixon the tragedy and Palin the farce.

[ElBruce]

As much as people like to tout Palin's "natural political skill," she's no Nixon, and never will be. Nixon was many things, but he wasn't dumb, and the plain fact is, she's dumb. I don't know how many times in the last eight years I've lamented that I would take Republican President who was merely evil (e.g. Nixon) over one who was both evil AND stupid (e.g. Dubya). Evil may still have a shot in the future, but the electorate is over and done with stupid.

Back in the early 20th century, it was the rich elitists who were all right-wing, and the working poor and rural folks were quite left-wing. Alarmingly so. The monumental task of "flipping" rural and working-class white voters over the 20th century to a philosophy that works directly against their own interests is an amazing political accomplishment. Thanks for reminding us of how much Nixon was a part of that.

[dlinguist]

I would make a similar argument for a McCain/Nixon parallel.

McCain's campaign this year has an eerie similarity to Nixon's political career in general but all the more so to Nixon's last days. Nixon resented the media, as McCain does now. He considers them "in the tank" for the other guy. His very personal, and undisguised contempt for Obama is similar to Nixon's for Robert Kennedy. His "either you're for me or against me" entrenchment which includes cutting off people like former campaign strategist Mike Murphy is also pure Nixonian. And these are just the ones that came quickly to mind.

[SaltySaltillo]

One major difference: Nixon was a lawyer from Duke; Palin doesn't even know what the Constitution says and couldn't get into law school if she tried.

[radiclib]

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And she also reminds me of Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000, a feckless Western governor filled with cocksure bellicosity and a willingness to attack others in a sanctimonious way. Watch out for people like this.
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[longislandlol]

Nixonian? ---but women cannot be fooled when it comes to their reproductive rights, rape issues, etc.. whereas Nixon kept mum on all this-- somewhat moderate-----so women gave him a large % of the vote---therein lies the difference--- women in droves will vote for their interests---and she is not representing the women in middle America---

[mule66]

I thought something smelled familiar .

[Downwithdumbness]

Bravo. Remember the Checkers speech: The corny sentimentality, the humble origins, the lame appeal to the common man, Pat's respectable Republican cloth coat. Palin took a few cues from Dick Nixon's playbook. Yisiree, the class resentments run deep. See Noam Schrieber on this: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=8c130fe3-adab-4cb3-8443-c363f085cf13

[ShinjiIkari]

These are interesting points, but IMHO Palin is more an echo of Spiro Agnew, who started out a minor government official, made it up to Governor of Maryland, during which tenure he started taking kickbacks and otherwise abusing his power, got asked to be a VP to a Navy veteran and filled that role by playing attack dog against the liberals and the media. Talk about deja vu all over again...