Barack Obama told this country that his VP pick would be an example of his decision making in how he would run our country. So he turned to a Washington DC insider, Joe Biden, who has more years in the Senate than John McCain. So much for hope and change.
Senator John McCain, who never proposed a bill to Congress which had ANY earmarks in his own long senate career, made his own decision making and governing intentions quite clear with his VP pick. He chose someone with executive experience who has shown a clear desire to reform anything with which she was associated, someone who has kept her promises in any office she held, and someone to whom her constituents have given consistently high approval ratings. He has made the RIGHT choice in Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska.
The selection of Governor Palin has, to no conservative's surprise, caused a bit of panic on the Left as they have fallen over each other trying to make McCain's decision look like a huge mistake. Unfortunately for the Left, their reasons given do more to put the spotlight on their own huge mistake in choosing Barack Hussein Obama for the top of their ticket. Here are some examples:
1) McCain can no longer use his best argument. ---The liberals think that because McCain chose someone for VP who is young and fresh, he can no longer accuse Obama of being too young and inexperienced. But Obama is at the top of his ticket and is not running for a legislative position greater than his. He is running for the nation's top executive position with NO executive experience whatsoever. McCain was at least leader of his own squadron during the Vietnam War. Palin, who is only running for VP, has executive experience as mayor and then governor of the largest state in the country, land-wise.
2) Alaska is corrupt. --So are a lot of other places. She has been a strong reformer in that state, obviously swimming against the tide. There has been much fruit for her labor, too. While Obama hails from Chicago, another corrupt locale, where his work as community organizer has not stopped the city from becoming once again mired in an intense level of violence not seen since the early 1970's.
3) No comparison to Hillary. ---Yes, and thank God for that. Sarah Palin, unlike Hillary, is a strong woman who did not use her husband's coattails to get herself elected governor. Palin is a tenacious fighter, an athlete who played in pain on the high school basketball team as point guard. She is a woman who earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda." Hillary has also earned several nicknames, none so flattering.
4) She has no base of support. ---Obama won his senate seat with 18 million votes while Palin won the governor's office with nearly 115,000 votes. What they fail to mention is that on the very day McCain announced his VP choice, he and Palin received over $7 million in contributions the first day. Part of that was $500 from me. So I consider myself, a non-Alaskan, part of her base of support.
5) She has never traveled outside the US. ---Would you believe someone on CNN (Crescent News Network) actually speculated this? First of all, she was born in Idaho and moved to Alaska where she grew up. Anyone with any knowledge of geography knows you have to leave the US in order to get to Alaska from the lower 48 states. Second, she has indeed traveled to Ireland once. And in 2007 she traveled to Germany and Kuwait. Looks like she made it to both places before Obama did, and SHE made it a point to visit the troops!
Isn't it funny that nearly every criticism of her is done with a comparison to Obama? Are they forgetting she is only running for VP? I tell you, every time they make a comparison between Palin and Obama it merely highlights Obama's weaknesses.
I look forward to seeing how she does on the campaign trail and in the debates.
For a host of sources see the Wikipedia page on Palin. Also used Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog.
Senator John McCain, who never proposed a bill to Congress which had ANY earmarks in his own long senate career, made his own decision making and governing intentions quite clear with his VP pick. He chose someone with executive experience who has shown a clear desire to reform anything with which she was associated, someone who has kept her promises in any office she held, and someone to whom her constituents have given consistently high approval ratings. He has made the RIGHT choice in Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska.
The selection of Governor Palin has, to no conservative's surprise, caused a bit of panic on the Left as they have fallen over each other trying to make McCain's decision look like a huge mistake. Unfortunately for the Left, their reasons given do more to put the spotlight on their own huge mistake in choosing Barack Hussein Obama for the top of their ticket. Here are some examples:
1) McCain can no longer use his best argument. ---The liberals think that because McCain chose someone for VP who is young and fresh, he can no longer accuse Obama of being too young and inexperienced. But Obama is at the top of his ticket and is not running for a legislative position greater than his. He is running for the nation's top executive position with NO executive experience whatsoever. McCain was at least leader of his own squadron during the Vietnam War. Palin, who is only running for VP, has executive experience as mayor and then governor of the largest state in the country, land-wise.
2) Alaska is corrupt. --So are a lot of other places. She has been a strong reformer in that state, obviously swimming against the tide. There has been much fruit for her labor, too. While Obama hails from Chicago, another corrupt locale, where his work as community organizer has not stopped the city from becoming once again mired in an intense level of violence not seen since the early 1970's.
3) No comparison to Hillary. ---Yes, and thank God for that. Sarah Palin, unlike Hillary, is a strong woman who did not use her husband's coattails to get herself elected governor. Palin is a tenacious fighter, an athlete who played in pain on the high school basketball team as point guard. She is a woman who earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda." Hillary has also earned several nicknames, none so flattering.
4) She has no base of support. ---Obama won his senate seat with 18 million votes while Palin won the governor's office with nearly 115,000 votes. What they fail to mention is that on the very day McCain announced his VP choice, he and Palin received over $7 million in contributions the first day. Part of that was $500 from me. So I consider myself, a non-Alaskan, part of her base of support.
5) She has never traveled outside the US. ---Would you believe someone on CNN (Crescent News Network) actually speculated this? First of all, she was born in Idaho and moved to Alaska where she grew up. Anyone with any knowledge of geography knows you have to leave the US in order to get to Alaska from the lower 48 states. Second, she has indeed traveled to Ireland once. And in 2007 she traveled to Germany and Kuwait. Looks like she made it to both places before Obama did, and SHE made it a point to visit the troops!
Isn't it funny that nearly every criticism of her is done with a comparison to Obama? Are they forgetting she is only running for VP? I tell you, every time they make a comparison between Palin and Obama it merely highlights Obama's weaknesses.
I look forward to seeing how she does on the campaign trail and in the debates.
For a host of sources see the Wikipedia page on Palin. Also used Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog.
Matt, a masterful essay!
ReplyDeleteI just offered a bet to a liberal buddy (who said that Palin's choice would ensure a runaway election for BO) of: twenty bucks that the election will be decided by less than 3% of the popular vote, and thirty bucks that McCain will win. Okay, so I'm not Nick the Greek, but I'm pretty confident of this bet.
Like you, I consider this a brilliant choice by McCain and (tho anybody can screw up in the next two months), all the initial reactions appear to be favorable (except from the lunatic fringe), I'm delighted with the choice of Sarah.