Palin Takes on Obama at SRLC

By Mark Murray


World Blog
April 9, 2010

Excerpts with topical links added

NEW ORLEANS — Around the very same time that President Obama spoke at the White House to comment on Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens‘ retirement, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took the stage … at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference to once again criticize his presidency. …

Palin interjected during her speech: “The president with the vast nuclear experience he acquired,” she said sarcastically, pronouncing “nuclear” “nuk-cue-lar.” …

Palin criticized Obama on foreign policy, too — arguing, as conservative commentator Liz Cheney did the night before, that his administration shunned Afghanistan President Karzai (even though Karzai threatened to join the Taliban). “They treated the Afghan President Karzai poorly, and they faked surprise when he reacted in kind.”

Moreover, she called to “repeal and replace” the new health-care law. And she said: “Don’t retreat, reload,” adding that the phrase “is not a call for violence.”

Palin recycled many of the lines and jokes she’s given over the last two months. “How’s that hopey-changey thing working out for you?” she asked. “We are the party of HELL NO!” she later said. And Palin read off the palm of her hand, once again calling it the world’s oldest teleprompter. …

Full story

Related reports

Obama faces global realities in no-nuke pledge (AP, April 11, 2010) — President Barack Obama’s pledge to one day rid the world of nuclear weapons runs up against global realities this week when representatives from 47 countries try to craft an agreement on keeping nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands. … Full report

Secret mission marks Obama nuclear strategy (AP, April 11, 2010) — President Barack Obama’s major shift in U.S. nuclear strategy puts a new emphasis on securing weapons-grade nuclear material, recognizing that terrorists and rogue states pose a much more immediate threat than the old fears of a communist nation provoking nuclear Armageddon by attacking the U.S. or its allies. … Full report

Rise in markets shows ‘Obamanomics is working’ (Business Week, April 9, 2010) — Despite public opinion polls to the contrary, markets say the economy is back on track. How did the president’s economic plan help turn things around? … Full story

“If Obama was a Republican, we would hear a never-ending drumbeat of news stories about markets voting in favor of the President,” says one economic strategist. (Photo credit: Saul Loeb / AFP — Getty Images)

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Background report

The Personality Profile of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Following are abstracts of two independent investigations of Sarah Palin’s personality characteristics and leadership style, conducted in 2009 and 2010 at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, directed by Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D.

Sarah Palin’s most prominent personal attribute is a dominant, dauntless quality. Her profile also indicates ambitious, outgoing, and contentious tendencies. Palin’s constellation of personality patterns is congruent with several personal qualities associated with success in politics, including assertiveness, determination, ambition, and personal charisma. The combination of ambitious, dominant, dauntless, and outgoing patterns in Palin’s profile suggests an “ambitious competitor” personality composite. (Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, 2009)

Click image for larger view

Sarah Palin emerged from the study as an ambitious competitor personality type, with a mixed Ambitious/self-serving and Dominant/asserting primary personality pattern and secondary features of the Outgoing/congenial and Dauntless/adventurous personality styles. (Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, 2010)

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6/3/2011 Update

Sarah Palin claims Paul Revere warned the British

Video

On Thursday, June 2, 2011, at a stop on her “One Nation” tour at Paul Revere’s house in Boston, Sarah Palin responded as follows to reporters when asked who Paul Revere was:

“He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin’ sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed.”

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 11, 2009

MPR political analysts Todd Rapp and Tom Horner.
(Photo credit: MPR photo courtesy of Himle Horner)

Minnesota Republicans Ready to Ditch Bachmann?

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I featured a discussion by Minnesota Public Radio political analysts Todd Rapp and Tom Horner on whether Rep. Michele Bachmann is a liability to the Republican Party.