Reform School

Sarah Palin and the future of the GOP

SARAH PALIN is by most accounts a capable woman, but it was hardly fair to ask her not only to raise five children, govern a state, and run for vice president but also to carry all the symbolic freight of America’s culture wars. Yet it has been her fate in this election to become a symbol of everything that some people like, and some people dislike, about our red states.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Sarah Palin and the future of the GOP

SARAH PALIN is by most accounts a capable woman, but it was hardly fair to ask her not only to raise five children, govern a state, and run for vice president but also to carry all the symbolic freight of America’s culture wars. Yet it has been her fate in this election to become a symbol of everything that some people like, and some people dislike, about our red states.