Dynamic equilibrium was one of those concepts most of us learned to reduce to a formula in chemistry class. The proof formula was far too complicated to explain the simple idea that there is a state of balance somewhere between equal opposing forces. I learned enough about the concept to recognize that the GOP has found equilibrium. In fact, they were able to package it in the form of Sarah Palin.
Seven in ten Republicans say they would vote for Sarah even though less than 30 percent of all American voters polled said she was qualified to be President. The good news for Republicans is that they have finally found their true voice in Palin. Since their defeat in 2008, they have been trying to arrive at a state of equilibrium. Pundits on all sides were asking, who are the Republicans? Who best represents the face of the GOP? Anyone asking those questions should feel a sense of relief because Palin is telling us, Look no further. "It are I."
But what does it take to arrive at that place of perfect balance? What are the opposing forces that produce that perfect balance personified by Sarah? The first step is for the party to ignore the GOP old guard strategists who helped elect Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. When Republican veteran strategists like Mike Murphy tells GOP leadership that Palin is a "political train wreck" in the works and that she is a "stone cold loser," don't overreact even though Murphy has consistently won for the party. Balance that criticism with the obvious. She is on the cover of Time Magazine. Thousands of Republicans are showing up for her book signings. Her new repackaged media launch has been described as a "Palinpalooza" event that places her in the position of the Republicans' next best hope.
Even though the opposing Republican forces pushing the party toward equilibrium have snarky criticism about their own party's new voice, never miss the point that Sarah is the most vocal and visible Republican in the nation. When uber Republican and conservative columnist, David Brooks, calls Sarah a "joke," recognize that that opposing voice is balanced out. Sarah is after all the new voice for the tea party arm of the GOP. That group tells us that they will dominate American politics by 2012. Disgruntled commentary and criticism by conservative voices like Kathleen Parker, Karl Rove, and Meghan McCain have not been able to overcome the opposing force of Sarah's celebrity. Americans love celebrities. That new place of equilibrium that the GOP has been able to find is driven by the party's belief that America is anxious for a helicopter hunting, moose skinning, almost Governor, beauty queen, celebrity to sit in the Oval Office.
It was a mistake for the two GOP candidates who just won the governorship of Virginia and New Jersey to tell Sarah to stay away from their state campaigns. They apparently didn't get the memo explaining that their party had finally reached true political equilibrium. They had not recognized that after months of push-back from two opposing sides within their own party that like it or not Sarah represents the very best balance the GOP has to offer.