Warning: Politics
I get asked a lot about Sarah Palin. Do I think she's a good pick, do I think she can help McCain win, do I think she has enough experience for the job, etc. Here are my thoughts for the record.
I think it's about time we had a person of some actual, no kidding life experience running for high office.
That's pretty much it. I doubt that I'd have this same opinion if the person I were referring to were a Democrat, but my experience is that most people who live in the same world I do are not Democrats, at least not in the modern sense. Most of them, whatever their opinions on abortion or capital punishment, tend to be people of sense that understand the necessity of protecting real people from government. Sarah Palin strikes me - and strikes most people, apparently - as a person that gets it. She is like us.
This presents a twofold problem for the Left. First, they don't understand her. The usual methods of attack - distortions of the voting record (not unique to either side), jibes about being rich and out of touch, hostile to women, etc. - do not work on her. She is proof against all those. The only attack with any teeth so far has been on the subject of lack of experience, with which there are enormous problems given the Democratic PRESIDENTIAL nominee. Most Americans seem to understand that mother-of-five is a much, much more demanding job than Vice President.
The second is, however, much worse, and that is that most of those on the left, most of those in positions of campaign responsibility, don't even know anyone like Sarah Palin well enough to be able to understand her appeal. The left has for generations talked about being the friend of the workingman, but for once the lie is exposed - not only is the left not the workingman's friend, the left doesn't even have any working acquaintances. Joe Sixpack on the docks in Green Bay has less in common with Barack Obama than he does with Vladimir Putin. Sarah Palin points this up rather dramatically. She is the woman we all married, or the carpool mom that lives next door. Whoopi Goldberg can snip about how Palin wants to send blacks back to slavery - no, she really did this - but the complaint is shrill and stupid and falls on increasingly deaf ears. Nobody can believe anything like that about Sarah Palin because we KNOW Sarah Palin. America - the part of America that still reminds me of home - is filled with women that are just like she is.
So yes, I think she's a great pick. I think she's intelligent and daring, tough and smart, and almost to real to be true. I wasn't going to vote for McCain before. I am now.
I think it's about time we had a person of some actual, no kidding life experience running for high office.
That's pretty much it. I doubt that I'd have this same opinion if the person I were referring to were a Democrat, but my experience is that most people who live in the same world I do are not Democrats, at least not in the modern sense. Most of them, whatever their opinions on abortion or capital punishment, tend to be people of sense that understand the necessity of protecting real people from government. Sarah Palin strikes me - and strikes most people, apparently - as a person that gets it. She is like us.
This presents a twofold problem for the Left. First, they don't understand her. The usual methods of attack - distortions of the voting record (not unique to either side), jibes about being rich and out of touch, hostile to women, etc. - do not work on her. She is proof against all those. The only attack with any teeth so far has been on the subject of lack of experience, with which there are enormous problems given the Democratic PRESIDENTIAL nominee. Most Americans seem to understand that mother-of-five is a much, much more demanding job than Vice President.
The second is, however, much worse, and that is that most of those on the left, most of those in positions of campaign responsibility, don't even know anyone like Sarah Palin well enough to be able to understand her appeal. The left has for generations talked about being the friend of the workingman, but for once the lie is exposed - not only is the left not the workingman's friend, the left doesn't even have any working acquaintances. Joe Sixpack on the docks in Green Bay has less in common with Barack Obama than he does with Vladimir Putin. Sarah Palin points this up rather dramatically. She is the woman we all married, or the carpool mom that lives next door. Whoopi Goldberg can snip about how Palin wants to send blacks back to slavery - no, she really did this - but the complaint is shrill and stupid and falls on increasingly deaf ears. Nobody can believe anything like that about Sarah Palin because we KNOW Sarah Palin. America - the part of America that still reminds me of home - is filled with women that are just like she is.
So yes, I think she's a great pick. I think she's intelligent and daring, tough and smart, and almost to real to be true. I wasn't going to vote for McCain before. I am now.
posted by Cj at 6:56 AM
5 Comments:
All of this is going to be in a post that I may not ever get around to finishing but I think your right. I think you're not the only person who's going to vote for Sarah, and in doing so, of course, votes for McCain. And I think it's interesting that this race is really coming down to Obama v. Palin.
But Mostly I think this year, this race has done great things for politics, not the least of which is that it's made politics interesting. it must have if it's got me paying attention.
Clearly Palin has animated the right. I suppose my question, now and forever, is why can't America have that nominee for President. Well, chalk it up to youthful enthusiasm. Also, this is one of your cousins. Guess which one.
Poor John McCain. Isn't it interesting that before the Palin pick, McCain had a long life expectancy, but now that he's picked someone inexperienced to be his running mate, he's sure to be dead within the year.
Well, it could be Paul, because I know he's a reader, or it could be Richard Kumen, because, well, just because. But neither of those feel right.
The answer to your question is that we CAN have this nominee for President, but it takes either a truly exceptional man (Reagan) or a truly gutsy pick by someone (McCain) to elevate the person to a position where becoming the nominee is possible.
No, you were right the second time, it's Richard Kumen. While I quite like Palin, I can't justify voting for Mccain. Which is irrelevant of course, as I live in Arizona, which he will win regardless, which frees me to vote for whomever I like. Although, in this election year, who I might like better is an open question. I may write in Ron Paul. Or perhaps Barry Goldwater, just for grins.
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