The Palin Phenomenon

Of course they didn't publish it, but I waited all the same to see, just in case. I submitted this letter to the Wall Street Journal in late December.


To the editor, regarding Sarah Palin:

It’s about time we heard John O’Sullivan weigh in on Sarah Palin (“Conservative Snobs Are Wrong About Palin,” 12/23). As Margaret Thatcher’s confidante, he would certainly know better than any pedigreed conservatives whether Governor Palin may be compared favorably to the Iron Lady. Not only so, but one would think that a close personal friend of Ronald Reagan, such as he also was, would be well equipped to know a rising star when he sees one.

I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. O’Sullivan aboard the National Review post-election cruise in November, and was already pleased then to hear a man of his stature speak in such glowing terms of Mrs. Palin. Indeed not only I, but a day earlier the entire audience had erupted in rather wild applause when he first mentioned her name. That spontaneous reaction, one of the unmistakable high points of the cruise, in itself suggests the likelihood that the Palin phenomenon is far from over.

Rev. Burnell Eckardt
Kewanee, Illinois