As my writings over the years clearly indicate, I’m no big fan of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican from up the road in Janesville who currently serves as speaker of the House. But neither am I so obtuse as to deny that Ryan’s intellect and political acumen are vastly superior to those of Sarah Palin.
You may have heard that Palin is quite upset with Ryan for declaring the other day that he’s not yet ready to endorse the candidacy of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president. Indeed, Palin is so upset that she’s threatening to campaign on behalf of Paul Nehlen, Ryan’s GOP rival in the coming congressional primary election.
Palin goes so far as to declare that Ryan’s political career is virtually over.
But there are two things wrong with that judgment. First, the most recent polls show that Ryan remains popular among residents of his district and appears likely to turn back Nehlen’s challenge without much trouble. Second, Ryan’s reluctance to quickly endorse Trump seems to be in keeping with the prevailing attitude among his constituents.
Palin says this: “Paul Ryan and his ilk, their problem is they have become so disconnected from the people they were elected to represent.”
But the people Ryan was elected to represent mostly voted against Trump in the recent Wisconsin presidential primary. In fact, exit polls showed that more than one-third of them would vote for somebody else or sit-out the general election if Trump is the Republican nominee.
So much for Ryan’s so-called disconnection from the Republicans he was elected to represent.
Yes, this is a crazy political year, and almost anything could happen. But I wouldn’t bet the farm on Paul Ryan losing his Republican primary to some long-shot right-winger who’s been running way behind in the polls — even if Sarah Palin campaigns for the underdog.
This nonsense from the former half-term governor of Alaska brings to mind something Jacob Weisberg wrote about her six years ago in promoting his book “Palinisms: The Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Sarah Palin.”:
She is proud of what she doesn’t know and contemptuous of those “experts” and “elitists” who are too knowledgeable to be trusted. This curious self-regard echoes through her book, “Going Rogue,” described by the critic Jonathan Raban as “a four-hundred-page paean to virtuous ignorance.”
The issue is not that Palin, thrust upon the national stage with little warning, still doesn’t know all the details. That’s understandable. The issue is that she rarely appears to have the slightest grasp of what she’s talking about even when she’s supposed to know what she’s talking about.”
