“America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag” by Sarah Palin is not on this week’s New York Times’ best-sellers’ list, but it will be at or near the top next week as Sarah’s army of supporters quickly make a political statement by purchasing the book. They will also be getting a very fine read, one that displays a unified theory of America and a complete understanding of the key currents that will swirl through the politics of the next two years. Readers will also be absorbing a near perfect setup for a presidential run.
“America by Heart” adds detail to the story of Sarah and Todd Palin and their family since the conclusion of campaign 2008. We are caught up on the lives of Track, back from his service in Iraq, of toddler son Trig and grandson Tripp, of Bristol’s life as a single mom (though of course without much more than a mention of “Dancing with the Stars” as the book went to press weeks ago), and of Willow and Piper. These family anecdotes often launch Palin on a chapter concerning a relevant subject, such as her essay on the sacrifices of the military which — relatively rare among American political figures — can include the line “as the mom of a U.S. Army combat vet. …”
Palin’s take on many issues is often unique. “Frontier feminism,” for example, is simply not a subject that most American politicians are familiar with, but when Palin writes that the “frontier also produced a different kind of woman” — and backs it up with the story of Caroline Nichols Churchill — she is making a case that most coastal elites cannot refute or even debate because of their near complete ignorance of the subject matter.
If the book has a target, it is in fact the coastal elites that define and drive so much of American culture. The big foots of Manhattan-Beltway-Los Angeles media aren’t going to be familiar with Charles Stanley or Max Lucado, but Palin is comfortable quoting them in support of her points. Some of those elites might recognize the names of Fred Barnes, Arthur Brooks, Jonah Goldberg, Kathryn Jean Lopez, and Rich Lowry, but they may blink at Palin’s quick references to the Brooks’ key book, “The Battle.” The odds are good that these elites are not regular readers of National Review or the Weekly Standard and thus not remotely familiar with the arguments that powered the red wave this past November.
Palin’s grasp of the current political moment is comprehensive. She knows the conservative movement. She is generous about those who lead it with her, spending time praising Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, for example. And contrary to press reports, she allots very little ink to direct criticism of the president.
“America by Heart” is an upbeat, positive affirmation of traditional American values. I have often thought and said that not since Richard Nixon can any Republican divide a room more quickly than Sarah Palin, and this is because she is so completely the anti-anti-American, totally comfortable with and confident in her assertion of American exceptionalism. Palin is also very much the counterforce to Al Gore, not only as the repudiation of his ideology and his politics, but also as a base-rousing, media-driving original whose appeal cannot be blunted by the endless abuse she receives from the unwatchable washed-ups on “The View” or elsewhere.
“America by Heart” will be under a lot of Christmas trees, an invitation from one family member to another to take seriously a powerful American voice, one that will remain that way for years to come, whether she runs for president in 2012 or not.
Examiner Columnist Hugh Hewitt is a law professor at Chapman University Law School and a nationally syndicated radio talk show host who blogs daily at HughHewitt.com.
