I want to dedicate this blog post to Sarah Palin. I hate her guts and think that there should be a new level in hell created to house her, her oversized ego, and the hate that spews from her mouth. But despite all that, I have to give it to her - Palin is one shrewd and successful politician. From an absolutely objective viewpoint, without considering the message that she spreads or the initiatives she supports, Palin's rise from a relative political nobody to the national stage has been quite astonishing. Few politicians have been able to achieve what Palin has achieved, but here is a short non-comprehensive list of some of those who have: Hitler, Stalin, and Putin. Three figures that are hated in politics, but three of the most brilliant political geniuses that ever existed. In this blog post, I want to draw historical parallels between Palin and these political stalwarts.
Comparison with Putin
Vladimir Putin was plucked out of obscurity when he was appointed as Prime Minister by Boris Yeltsin, in a surprise move that caught Yeltsin's opponents by surprise and led to Putin's victory in the Presidential elections that were held after Yeltsin resigned as President. As the President, Putin mobilized the people with perceived injustices against Russia's oligarchies and the Communist bureaucrats that remained after the collapse of the Soviet Union. With the Chechnyan terrorists, Putin united the country against these rebels and crushed them. He re-ignited Russian national pride, and united the country behind his leadership.
Palin was plucked out of obscurity from her house in Wasilla by John McCain, and quickly ascended to stardom. Similarly, Like Putin, Palin quickly jumped on the opportunities that were offered to her, and quickly gained a base of support. She transformed from a nobody to a household name within months, held her ground against Joe Biden during the one debate they had (though this is debatable), and quickly developed a political strategy aimed at "small-town USA" and "non-elitists". This quickly polarized the Democrat and Republican bases, and initiated a drift towards political extremism which is still ongoing today.
The parallel would have continued had the McCain-Palin ticket won during the elections. Instead, Obama-Biden won, and Palin and McCain were relegated back to their posts of governor and senator. However, this wasn't the end of Palin.
Comparison with Hitler
Hitler rose to power through pure luck and democratic processes. After his appointment as Chancellor, he slowly began taking the elements of democracy away, one at a time. Nobody noticed, or perhaps nobody wanted to speak up, and Hitler managed to transform a democracy into a dictatorship within 5 years. One crucial element in Hitler's success was his use of propaganda. Goebbels, who was the Nazi's propaganda minister, was able to use propaganda to create fear, use the fear to manipulate citizens's thoughts and objections, with which Hitler could justify the removal of even more democracy. In a few short years, Germany had transformed into an anti-Semitic and populist country.
Palin, like Hitler, came to prominence through luck. But instead of fading away into the abyss, she somehow managed to mobilize BOTH the conservative and liberal medias to her cause. Without the usual political training of keeping quiet, Palin's big mouth drew much of the liberal media's firepower. Conservative media, outgunned by the resources available to liberal media, took it on themselves to advance Palin as much as possible. They don't actually care about Palin, but she is just a tool to distract the liberal media's fire away from the real issues. It worked wonders - liberal media nowadays blindly follow and shoot at Palin's comments, regardless of whether it was uttered from the Alaskan wilderness or a Republican fundraising dinner.
Therefore, Palin is really a tool, being used by both the parties involved. Conservative media has nothing to talk about - so they talk about Palin. Liberal media is so eager to refute these claims and comments that they throw the real issues out the window - continuations of the BP oil spill, Republican senator's efforts to block health benefits for 9/11 responders, or comments that are made by Republicans who were actually voted into office and can actually make decisions for the country. It is a scarily effective strategy. Palin's populist messages, and the liberal media's attempts to discredit her, have cemented populism in the minds of the conservative masses. The constant conservative bombardment of "right-wing radical extremist socialist etc etc" has also created fear in these conservative masses. Populism + fear + Republican politicians = ?
The American political landscape is looking more and more similar to that of Nazi Germany during the pre-war era. The main difference is that the liberal pushback to the conservative message has polarized the population, in order to keep a balance. Therefore, instead of a dictatorship moving more and more toward a radical position, we have alternating governments which flip-flop between extreme right wing and extreme left wing policies. An oscillation that seems to be increasingly in amplitude, if not for the successes in the lame-duck session in this past week.
Comparison with Stalin
Stalin's political genius mainly comes from his ability to eliminate his rivals. At Lenin's death, everybody expected Trotsky (the intellectual) to be the successor. Through shrewd accusations and political maneuvering, Stalin (the populist) managed to create a cult of personality around Lenin (Leninism) and himself (Stalinism). Using this populism, Stalin was able to use the power of masses to "cleanse" the political playing field, through his Great Purges. Until he was the last person left standing.
In November 2008, not many people thought that Palin actually stands a chance at being the 2012 Republican candidate. Sure, there were talks about it...but nobody took them seriously. Serious contenders were Romney, Huckabee, Gingrich, etc. But again, she used mass media to her advantage, to create a cult of personality around herself. I really don't want to call it a cult of personality, but that is really what it is - she even has her own reality show, in addition to being a regular on conservative news networks.
Today, she is considered a serious contender for the Republican 2012 presidential candidate. She drew Huckabee's support base away from him, and is more popular amongst Republicans than Romney (who's a Mormon) or Gingrich (who has remarried several times). In my opinion, there is a strong chance that she will win the Republican nomination.
Conclusion
But that's where my (faint) praise for Palin ends. If she clinches the Republican nomination, I don't believe she can win, unless the Democrats were to field someone ridiculously under-qualified. The biggest difference between Palin and Hitler/Stalin/Putin is that Palin's successes have all come from essential half of the country - the half that she has warped around herself in a populist strategy. The other half has been repulsed away from her, and with an approval rate at 30%, it doesn't say much for Palin's chances when subjected to an actual popular vote.
If Palin were to take a leaf from the books of the political geniuses of the old, she would either want to mobilize the masses against her Democratic opponents, which is close to impossible barring a Watergate-style occurrence, or she would need to unite the masses against an external threat (Hitler with Jews, Stalin with the anti-Leninists, Putin with the Chechnyans). Palin may have succeeded thus far as a tool of the Republican Party, but whether she can use this advantage to her own benefit in 2012 will ultimately determine her success and place in the history books as one of the shrewdest and luckiest politicians ever.
-FCDH
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