Tony Lee: Sarah Palin's Potentially Inclusive Message In India

Human Events writer Tony Lee, posted a very insightful article about the speech Governor Palin delivered in India over the weekend. Lee shares his keen analisys of the message the governor was sending to both Indians and Americans. He writes:

Palin told her audience that she “grew up in a very small town, perhaps like some of you (though half-a-world-away)” that was “far from the avenues of political power.” Palin talked about “Pioneer Peak,” one of the mountains close to her home that is a symbol of the pioneering spirit of the frontier and Alaska, referred to as “the last frontier.”

She then linked the frontier spirit, which loathes centralized bureaucracies, to India’s rise. Palin said that she knew Indians understood this “because in the early 1990′s, due to clear, commonsense, pro free-market reforms, India’s economy took off! You abolished import licenses; cut import duties; removed investment caps & broke the union’s grip on industry.”

Palin said that when government’s grip was lessened, Indians “unleashed the creativity & hard work of the Indian people; you turned away from a system where ‘central government’ sets targets for all sectors of the economy, to a system that lets the market set its own targets.”

It is this theme that I think Palin could employ in a future campaign. She can remind Americans who think only central planners in the government have all the answers to look at America’s immigrants and remind themselves of what makes America exceptional. She can then call on Americans to restore the entrepreneurial spirit that is in the air on the frontier and in the blood of newly arrived immigrants to restore America to greatness.

[...]

As she told the Indian audience, though some people may want to think that America is in decline, “I completely reject this … I completely reject this! it represents wrong-headed thinking by our some friends and wishful thinking by our enemies. America’s demise has been predicted before. It didn’t happen then. It won’t happen now.”

Palin then said that, “when people realize even the briefest glimpse of this freedom & opportunity – even a hint that they can succeed through honest hard work – they run towards it! They embrace the promise of ‘better days ahead!’ They will sacrifice today for a better tomorrow for their children & grandchildren. With individual responsibility, drive & determination, they will work together to carve a life for themselves out of the wilderness! They’ll voluntarily contribute to help their neighbours even those half-a-world-away!”

And this, according to Palin, is the “optimistic and pioneering spirit of America’s frontier. That’s the spirit of India’s progress too.”

It's a great piece, and you can read the whole thing here.