Impeachment: Palin's crusade, GOP's headache

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on Jul 13, 2014

President Obama's response -- "So, sue me" -- hardly revealed him to be quaking in his wingtips.

Nevertheless, the prospect of a lawsuit against Obama gives Republican lawmakers a reasonable way out of committing themselves with a yes-or-no answer when asked whether they believe the president should be impeached.

But Sarah Palin was not impressed. "You don't bring a lawsuit to a gunfight," she said Tuesday on Fox News, "and there's no room for lawyers on our front lines."

With that, the former Alaska governor, former Republican vice presidential nominee and current Fox News contributor effectively slammed Obama and lawyers and boosted gun rights in one rhetorical flourish. No wonder so much of the far right loves her.

So what, she might well say, if the love is not universally shared even in her own party? A new NBC/ Wall Street Journal/University of Pennsylvania polls finds that 54 percent of voters overall and 40 percent of Republicans say they've heard enough from Palin and wish she was "less outspoken in political discourse."

But the very fact that such a poll was taken offers evidence of how Palin, like Glenn Close's stalker character in "Fatal Attraction," is "not going to be ignored."

All of which probably leaves Speaker Boehner, as he tries to corral his quarrelsome caucus in a crucial election year, about as comfortable as a coach who is being heckled by his team's top cheerleader.

But cheerleaders matter. Palin was a powerful force for the tea party right in the 2010 elections. Her coveted endorsements helped some candidates to victory in a tide of anti-Obama backlash. Such colorful newcomers as Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul seemed to crowd her out of the limelight.

But her ability to stoke new fire in the impeachment debate shows her Kardashian-level fame and devoted fan base cannot be ignored. The pragmatic GOP establishment remains united with her, however uneasily, less by what they are for than by the president that they stand against.

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E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.