Konyok:

Hmm. So it was Buchanan she really quoted. That makes sense, at least in terms of trying to keep paleoconservatives from voting for Barr or Obama.

Although I strongly disagree with Pat Buchanan on the vast majority of topics, I think the proper response to his ideas is (1) sober refutation and (2) domestication of a sufficient amount of his rhetoric so his actual political ideas don’t gain traction. Hopefully, Sarah Palin can interpret Pat Buchanan’s remarks in a manner that doesn’t promote his policies.

Is Sarah Palin a Buchanan conservative? It’s hard to say, although I suspect that she doesn’t subscribe to the doctrine of preemptive defense. Thus, the apparent confusion. (Actually, neither do I. I support the overthrow of Saddam Hussein based upon very different reasons than the doctrine of preemption espoused by the Bush administration.)

In any case, it should be interesting to find out whether Sarah Palin changes Beltway politics or whether Beltway politics changes Sarah Palin. She does seem to be adept at cutting losses with the example of turning against the “Bridge to Nowhere” after she knew the political costs of getting it were too great. Of course her opposition was rooted in opportunism and expediency; so what’s new in politics? (The Golden Gate Bridge could also be considered to be “The Bridge to Nowhere”, but it was the people of Marin County who bought the bonds for that wonder, not the federal government.)