1 I think this purging of the old establishment can only be a good thing for someone like you, looking to make a career in DC.

2 One would think so, DPUD, but it never seems to work out that way.  The powers that be just fire the weak and re-trench.  We need a shadow party.  Dare I say it, a "New Party" equivalent on the right.  Something maybe not quite as disruptive as the New York State Conservative Party, but some level of organization within the GOP.

The Club for Growth was the closest thing we had to this, but I think their day in the sun has passed.

3

Nice to see the elites circling the wagons. And to think that Noonan worked for the antithesis of the "elite", Brooks was hired by WFB, Jr., and so forth.

 

And somebody needs to remind Ms. Noonan that Buckley submitted his resignation due to reader outrage, and it was accepted. He wasn't forced out.

 

4

Well, there's the Senate Conservatives Fund, but it seems to be slow getting going.

As for Noonan and the other pundits:  They don't like having to deal with outsiders in their little insular world.  Who would have been better as a VP pick in this election?  McCain may be behind with Palin on the ticket, but I think he'd be way behind without her.

5 Noonan in '06,

It has occurred to me that both parties increasingly dislike their bases, but for different reasons and to different degrees. By both parties I mean the leaders and representatives of the Democrats and Republicans in Washington. I believe I correctly observe that they feel an increasing intellectual estrangement from and impatience with the activists who people their base of support.

6

Palin has been put in the awkward position of being VP candidate to the least Republican Republican we've ever run. It's a VP's job to reinforce the message of the nominee, even when she doesn't agree. We all know that; surely Peggy Noonan does, too. You're not supposed to learn much about the second fiddle.

On those occasions when Palin's differences with McCain leak (like drilling in ANWR or the Jeremiah Wright business), I'm firmly on Sarah's side.

I'm telling you guys...Buckley, Noonan...this is pure class warfare shit. They don't like Palin because she's pretty and she talks like Marge Gunderson. End of story.

7 Not to mention that the whole premise of Noonan's article (that Palin is a failure because "we" don't know what she stands for 7 weeks later) is false, seeing as how Noonan was criticizing Palin as a failure before her RNC address.  

8 Oh, I totally agree Weaz, it's in large part a class warfare thing, there's other elements, but yeah, class warfare is number one.