One Tough Politician

You can’t tell a dog when it’s out hunting. You can only tell how good it is when it’s being hunted.

That’s why we don’t have a clue what Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) would be like as president.

A couple of months ago we had the same problem with Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK). Yes she could give a boffo speech, but what would she be like when the going got tough? Would the tough get going? Would she have a future as a national Republican politician, or would she turn out to be a flash in the pan?

Now we are beginning to get her measure. After an unprecedented firestorm of invective and criticism, including ruthless gotcha interviews from Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, she has not lost her nerve.

When criticized about her $150,000 wardrobe she didn’t miss a beat but came right back and played the sexism card on the liberals that criticized her.

And now we have the unsourced article from CNN. “Palin’s ’Going Rogue,’ McCain Aide Says.” If your liberal friend has caught onto the article, he’s probably sneered knowingly about it.

On the contrary, the news couldn’t be better. Palin has determined that the McCain campaign is mishandling her, so she is ignoring them and taking her own counsel. That may not be too good for anonymous McCain aides, but it portends well for the future.

It means that Palin is not out for a Sunday drive. She is an ambitious politician thinking of the long term, running for president in 2012, for starters.

So now we are beginning to take her measure. She is gutsy. She can take a punch. She won’t lie down meekly and allow people to drive her into the political wilderness.

What we have here, it seems, is a politician of remarkable courage and talent. She seems to have Bill Clinton’s talent to turn lemon into lemonade, and never, never, never, let anyone think that you are whipped.

Republicans aren’t used to this kind of leader. Even Ronald Reagan often reckoned that discretion was the better part of valor.

Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.