It Begins

The Sarah Palin backlash, that is. That's what's beginning.

This just in from the Values Voters Circle Jerk or whatever they call it, where Palin did not show up because she was attending a taping of Dancing With the Washed-Up Has-Beens:

[Family Research Council President Tony] Perkins, in a bit of candor that some conservative leaders don’t always voice, called Palin “a great spokesman” and added that "she says what a lot of people think."

"But you know a lot of people sometimes realize we shouldn't say everything we think," he continued. "Maybe it is that she is more of a cheerleader and one who rallies conservatives together as opposed maybe to being their top choice for president."

Oh, snap!
No he didn't!

More from the Values Voters Slumber Party or whatever:

The annual Straw Poll of dedicated theocratic nutball voters showed Mike Pence as the crowd favorite potential presidential candidate. Who is Mike Pence? Hell if I know. But he's not Sarah Palin. And neither is second-place finisher Mike Huckabee.

So, really, who is Mike Pence? According to the Wall Street Journal, he's this douche:

Associated Press

Also, he is a congressman from Indiana, which many consider an actual state and not just a swell racetrack for racecars.

Political analysts say Mr. Pence has credibility among establishment Republicans, as well as with the tea-party movement and social conservatives, which could could make him a contender for the presidential nomination

So, he's got cred with the assholes, the loons and the self-righteous prigs.

The tea-party movement has focused heavily on government fiscal responsibility,[and wild conspiracy theories] and many of its activists distrust establishment Republicans after the federal deficit run-ups over the last decade. Mr. Pence, a five-term congressman, is one of the few elected members of Congress to speak at tea-party rallies.

And that is, apparently, a selling point.

Mr. Pence opposes abortion and gay marriage—key issues for social conservatives—and has credentials with fiscal conservatives. In addition to battling President Barack Obama's fiscal policies, he led a failed revolt against former President George W. Bush's campaign for federal prescription-drug benefits for the elderly, saying he didn't want to create new federal entitlements.

I fought to prevent old people from getting medicine! Hell of a campaign slogan!

Palin, by the way finished 5th in the poll behind Pence, Huckabee, Romney and Gingrich. She received 7% of the values vote. 7%. Looks like maybe the long honeymoon is finally over.