Well, I say if the media can have a love affair with Barack Obama, then I certainly can have a love affair with Sarah Palin. The difference of course would be that my affair would be strictly platonic. I wrote a brief about her on the day McCain picked her as a running mate, but now I'm going to give a more thorough break down on the night she is to accept the republican vice presidential nomination.
Many say that she was not vetted appropriately or carefully enough, and now McCain's camp is supposedly 'reeling' from the recent news about Palin's 17 year old daughter being pregnant out of wedlock. Folks, this really is a non-issue, and a weak attempt to discredit her through her kids (it has nothing to do with her ability to lead, or run a government). The second big one that people say is that she's inexperienced. Guess what? She has more executive experience than Obama, Biden, and McCain combined. None of them have held executive office. She has since 1992 (as both Council Member and Mayor of Wasilla, AK and as governor of Alaska for 2 years). The next way that people try to discredit her is by saying that she's neglecting her children and cannot be both a mom and a governor or Vice President. That is blatantly sexist and wrong. Does anyone question Obama's ability to be a father and President?
But, something I do love about the recent ads, and counter-ads by both campaigns recently is that they are pitting Palin against Obama, rather than McCain against Obama, as if she were going to be President! I love it. In fact, I would vote for her as President over McCain, Obama, and most certainly Biden.
(By the way, this is a picture of Sarah in Kuwait, visiting the troops, long before Obama did his bogus trip around the world - and the generals were impressed with her shooting accuracy)
Some of my friends and readers think that I like her because she's pro-gun, anti-abortion, pro-drilling (energy independence), and supports this country's ability to defend itself (pro-military - not pro-war, because c'mon, no one is pro-war). And, my friends and readers would be mostly correct. Except, strangely enough, the reason I most like Palin is because she's a mother of five.
For me, that says it all. She is raising five kids, running the largest state in the union, dealing with international affairs (Russian and Canada both border Alaska, lest you forget), drives her kids to hockey games, and all the while is unabashedly imperfect. The best part about the attacks against her (her pregnant daughter, the state police scandal, her inexperience and small-towniness) is that they are the exact reasons people are attracted to her. She is one of us. That, and she'll kick the crap out of her own party when it's wrong. She shook up the old boys club, and ratted out a corruption ring with the Alaska's state oil revenue practices. She's a lady with chutzpah, cajones - or to be callously vulgar, but at the same time completely appropriate, she has balls.
Palin 2012.