I think everyone recounts this past Tuesday when Barack Obama was elected President by the American public in a relatively close popular vote – certain sections of the media pointed to the electoral college vote and declared it a “landslide.” Barack Obama is, after all, their adopted son and he can count on their support. However, the topic of my post today is Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska and John McCain’s vice presidential running mate.
My view of Sarah Palin has jumped around quite a bit during the course of the election. I, unlike most Americans, did know who she was before John McCain announced that he had chosen her for the number two position. I had heard she was the most popular governor in the nation with an approval rating in the 80s and that she was very fiscally conservative with a borderline libertarian economic position. She took down a lot of corruption in Alaska, where my friend who lived there for a half a year confirms that politicians there tend to be pretty corrupt. However, I heard she was the exception (and still believe that.) I was hoping that McCain would either pick her or Bobby Jindal (they are both non-corrupt governors of corrupt states, young vibrant traditionalists, fiscal conservatives and are both either a woman or a minority – which would help their election.)
I did some intense investigation into Palin once the election was underway. I read her whole biography.
http://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Hockey-Alaskas-Political-Establishment/dp/0979047080
It was an illuminating read. I saw how she got into politics, fought corruption and became governor first-hand. She seems like a real life Mr. Smith. A genuine outsider. She may be just what we need-someone to shake up the political establishment of the whole country just like she did for Alaska. Maybe turn the Republican Party back to its real small-government style. She did support Pat Buchanan in the past. I see that as a good sign.
To fully understand Palin, one should look at others that are around her, such as her lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell. Palin and Parnell have had a close relationship within the Alaskan Executive Branch. They kept the door separating their offices open at all times. They were both fresh young faces fighting corruption and runaway spending. They both sought national office in the 2008 election season. Palin ran for VP and Parnell ran for the US House against scandal-ridden, corrupt RINO Don Young. Parnell was endorsed by Palin and the Club for Growth. Unfortunately, Young beat him by a slim margin in the primary. I do not think it was all in vain, though. Palin and Parnell have reformed the Alaskan establishment heavily in the past and although they did not succeed that particular time, they sent out a message that will resonate with liberty-loving citizens in the future.
The biography might have had a slight bias to it, so I also checked out this site:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
I highly recommend it. It gives objective reports on accusations by and about politicians. This is where you go to set the record straight about anything. After looking into her on this, I decided she was inherently good, but not without some flaws. But, of course, she is human.
In the beginning, I was confident that Palin was sincere and effective enough to win the votes and remain the way she was in Washington. As many Republicans say, they tried to change Washington and Washington changed them. Tom Coburn, the Senator from Oklahoma, wrote a book about this entitled Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders in 2003. It is on my reading list. I thought that America would embrace her as I had. I was naively overconfident in my hypothesis. The media began tearing her apart and her lack of experience on foreign policy began to show. Pointing to her state being close to Russia as her foreign policy credentials was a poor move. I began to doubt that she could cut it in Washington and lost faith in her. When she performed well in the vice-presidential debate, my faith in her was partially rejuvenated. Although, at that point I pretty much knew she would not win the election. I was hoping for her to make a bid in 2012 and it seemed like she had the same idea. However, with Big Media going after her left and right, would she emerge from this election enough unscathed to do so?
Yes, the media and elites have had at her since she came into the national spotlight. I have heard people ridicule her as dumb, rural, crazy and inexperienced at every turn. But, really, what has she done that is so terrible? I would like to dive into some concerns people have against her and share my thoughts.
She has had scandals, it’s true. Troopergate, unethical activities. These are flaws that most politicians have and she gets points off, but it’s nothing to put devil horns on her about. McCain, Biden and Obama have some of their own. The book banning allegations, however, are unfounded. Politifact pretty much sums it up here:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/707/
Some say that she does not believe evolution and she has been ripped on about that. I snicker now as I remember Matt Damon saying “I need to know if she thinks dinosaurs were her 6,000 years ago.” It is true that she has said that she favors schools being ALLOWED to teach intelligent design alongside evolution if there is enough support. She has not said what she believes herself, which I do not see as important. do not agree with literal creationism, but I think her position on it is perfect. Let me explain why. Her position is one that supports Academic Freedom opposes Big Government. Evolution MUST be taught because, despite still being labeled a theory, it has enough evidence to enter our curriculum until any scientific evidence sounds otherwise. Since the issue is so controversial, it is only right for decisions regarding it to be made at the state and local level. Public schools are, in fact, funded largely by state and local property taxes. This also makes it an academic issue instead of a political one, which is a better place for it. In short, Palin gets top marks from me in this arena.
Another concern against Palin is her stance on sex education. It is common misconception that she supports firm abstinence-only approaches. She supports abstinence education, but not abstinence-only education. She supports teaching contraception alongside it. This is, from my perspective, an ideal approach to sex education. Teach all the options with no bias, no agenda and no special interests so that the kids can make a mature decision when the time comes. She does not support an absolutist approach like McCain does, despite being viewed as to the right of him. Again, she get full marks from me.
Yet another concern is her lack of sufficient experience. She has six years as a mayor and almost two as a governor. She has begun her career relatively recently, but the fact that it is executive experience rather than legislation, means that her time in office is worth more than if it was all legislative. She does not have much foreign policy experience yet and perhaps that means she should not be president at the moment, but she may gain experience in the future.
So where does this “hockey mom” go from here? Her public image has been shaken up by this three-month vice presidential quest to say the least. Some conservatives have already begun chanting her name for 2012. After all the lashing against her by Big Media this year, that seems an unlikely prospect, although I would not be shocked if I am proven wrong on that. Indeed she has endured skepticism from people throughout her career and exceeded expectations repeatedly. Right now, she is still the Governor of Alaska and she has two more years to serve alongside Parnell. It is unclear if she will remain in the national spotlight in the near future. She has the option of running for a second term as governor. What I would like to see is her run for Senate or Congress. I think her being a rookie outsider not experienced enough for the presidency, but still with some good quality, is reason for her to make a fine national legislator. I would happily see Palin and Parnell replace Ted Stevens and Don Young, two of the most corrupt, pork-driven politicians in the nation, and both from Alaska. A concern of mine is what kind of foreign policy she will advocate in the future. She was reasonable enough to support a timetable for the Iraq War, but I wonder if her personal beliefs may drive her into a hardline stance against Iran and other countries. I need to know what her foreign policy is before I give her my full political blessing. Her vague comments on several issues such as the Bush Doctrine have put her in uncertain territory. I think the only sure thing to say about her right now is that she has a long way to go. I’ll be watching – and I encourage others to do the same.
