Sarah Palin and Margaret Thatcher

December 24, 2008 by Cato  
Filed under Conservatism, National Politics

The media, along with some nominally conservative elitists, want Sarah Palin’s head on a plate.  Why?  Simply because a politically and intellectually more mature Sarah Palin could ring the death knell of both the new faux moderate left AND so many Reagan wannabes.  They believe it’s better to murder her now.

John O’Sullivan provides an interesting comparison between Palin and a true conservative giant – Margaret Thatcher.  O’Sullivan is dead on.  However, if Palin is to emerge as “the next Ronald Reagan” she needs to start working NOW.  She can start by reading a few books.

I realize that anti-intellectual populism is in vogue right now among many on the fringes of the conservative movement.  Unfortunately, these people tend to forget one very important fact – we are about core principles and the IDEAS to apply those principles to our current state of affairs.

The George W. Bush’s and the Tom DeLay’s of the world have put us in our current position by pandering, looking for short cuts, and outright abandonment of those core conservative principles.  Neither Ronald Reagan, nor Margaret Thatcher, did that.  Reagan not only adhered to core principles, he knew WHY he believed in those principles.  Reagan was a voracious reader.  Reagan had Heritage.  Thatcher had Keith Joseph and was one of the founders of the Centre for Policy Studies.  Thatcher had actually read Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty, and understood it.

Palin needs to prepare herself intellectually for the fight ahead.  Do not misinterpret what I am saying.  I am not claiming that Palin is stupid.  Quite the opposite.  Palin has almost the entire package.  She’s bright, charasmatic, and attractive.  Her public speaking and debating skills could stand some polish; but not at  the expense of her inherent charm.  There is no doubt that she is conservative.  However, until she develops her own intellectual framework for WHY she believes what she does Palin will be unable to defend her ideas.  This could make her look foolish.  It could also allow her to wind up taking the dark path of “big government conservatism”, an oxymoron if ever there was one.

Thatcher not only knew what she believed, but why.  This was why she was considered such a threat by the Tory wet’s (a British euphemism for squishes or RINO’s if you prefer).  A Sarah Palin who depends on “advisers” rather than her own intellectual discovery may one day be elected President; but would be a disasterous leader.  A Sarah Palin who continues to take her own path, by developing her own intellectual framework, may one day be worthy of legitimate comparison to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.