More Demonization of Republicans by Republicans
There are plenty of Republicans and conservatives out there who simply think that the choosing of Sarah Palin for the McCain ticket was a bad idea. Many of them actually supported Palin until recently, but now think the selection was bad. Yesterday, I wrote an article about Republican columnist Kathleen Parker, who actually got some death threats over an article she wrote suggesting Palin should step down as running mate.
Today, another columnist is being demonized, though not with death threats. But it’s still demonizaton.
The story: A Republican, Conor Friedersdorf, writes suggesting that Palin is not ready, and that she should resign from the ticket.
The response: Another Republican, Erik Erikson suggests that he and the entire website he works for is not worthy to be read, just because of this argument.
The argument seems to be that if you’re going against McCain/Palin this close to the election, and you’re a Republican, you’re not a real Republican, but just pretending. That’s about the biggest BS I’ve ever heard. When exactly were Republicans supposed to go against Palin? Maybe some wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. That’s reasonable enough; actually think through the decision before making up your mind.
Luckily, not all Republicans are on the same demonization bandwagon. One of Friedersdorf’s colleagues, Joe Carter, wrote what I think is an excellent rebuttal to the original article. Carter uses what are known as “well thought out arguments” to make his case that he thinks Friedersdorf is wrong. Yes, it can be done.
Ross Douthat, on the other hand, is not happy with Erikson’s approach.
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Sounds like Democrats response to Lieberman.
Sounds like the Democrats response to Lieberman.
Interested, huh? I’m unsure if that’s a rebuttal or not…
I was making the point that some gave her the benefit of the doubt, and now upon learning more, have changed their minds.
They didn’t have 19 months to get to learn about Palin, but 2-3 weeks, in which she didn’t have much visibility. I can’t fault them for jumping off the bandwagon after the Couric interview, since it was only the second real exposure she had outside stumping.