As her prematurely terminated stint as governor of Alaska fades into history and questions swirl about her future plans, Sarah Palin is proving to be a “divisive figure” for Republicans, says a top Republican speechwriter.
David Frum, a columnist and the speechwriter widely credited with coining the “axis of evil” phrase, says Palin is a polarizing figure both within and without the Republican party.
Frum, along with conservative pundit Ann Coulter, returned to CBS’s Early Show Monday morning after having made an appearance, along with Bay Buchanan, on the show’s Saturday edition two days earlier, to discuss the same topic — Sarah Palin.
During that first discussion, Coulter described Palin as being “a bigger story than the president of the United States,” pointing to the president’s declining popularity numbers.
Though CBS did not address why they would bring in two conservative pundits twice to discuss another conservative, it was clear that Frum was positioned to play the role of Palin critic — and in doing so, he showed exactly how Palin’s ascendancy to political stardom has split US conservatives.
“Her divisiveness is not just within the country, it’s divisive within the party, and many fear, as I do, that while she’s very popular with some Republicans … she represents a future that leads the party both to political defeat and then to ineffectiveness in government,” Frum told CBS’s Harry Shearer.
Frum went on the attack against Palin’s style of politics.
“It is an amazing thing that a governor whose most notable achievement in office was to distribute an extra $1200 a year to every resident in Alaska would include in her speech an attack on government handouts,” Frum said.
“She’s also leaving her state in great fiscal difficulty, and I don’t know what kind of right-wing Republican you are when you say ‘I’m giving away money that I’ve raised by raising taxes on oil companies.’ As a right winger, it’s a strange approach.”
