On Sarah Palin: The Future of The Republican Party?

When Sarah Palin was picked as John McCain’s running mate I was, not only shocked, but also delighted by his surprise nomination. Not just because of the increased historical significance of this current election and what she brings to it, but of who this women is and how she conducted herself within the national spotlight when she appeared at the podium in Daton, Ohio. She seemed extremely civil and articulate, yet she communicated in way where she didn’t sound like a politician and that is truly what I liked most about her.

The Democrats were quick to attack her on her lack of experience, which Obama himself refuted right away; smartly I may add. Obama has been attacked for not being experienced enough and I believe he knows that if engages in this argument, then it only serves to emphasize himself and he will be held at the same standard he is applying to Palin. He thereby might be considered hypocritical and this would not reflect well upon his candidacy. Truth be told, it is really the liberal media that has been more critical of Sarah Palin than even the Obama campaign, excluding of course the campaigns initial statement. The media sites her limited experience in an only local government and a lack of experience in matters of foreign affairs. These people have obviously never spent any significant amount of time in Alaska.

I come from a long line of commercial fisherman (Long line? Get it? It’s a commercial fishing joke! Hilarious!) and have spent many seasons in the land of the midnight sun. When talking about industry, Alaska, which Palin is governor over, has vast amounts of international import and export. The commercial fishing industry itself is so massive that Alaska’s Dutch Harbor is the biggest fishing port in the world today. Through it and other various Alaskan ports, Alaskan caught seafood travels to all corners of the globe. In addition, Vadez sits at one end of the 800 mile long Trans Alaska Pipeline, one of the largest in the world, continually loading millions of gallons of oil onto outgoing international vessels.

Within all the domestic and international commerce, there is bound to be some tension on the international level and this is certainly the case with Alaska. Tensions between Alaksa, Russia and Canada are ongoing over the argument concerning the interception of pacific salmon in the region. It is true that this is not like dealing with countries such as Iran or Iraq, but a reasonable argument can be made concerning these issues that Sarah Palin has more foreign affairs experience than Obama does.

I believe, at least at this point, that this will become a non-issue, negated by the lack of experience by Barack Obama. Now, his lack of experience has never really been an issue with me when weighing the candidates, because I really am looking to have someone new in the White House. With this so-called experience that people are looking for, happens to come more corruption and a disconnection with the American people. I am not saying that Biden or McCain with their experience are corrupt and disconnected per say, for it would be unfair for me to make such an absolute judgment. However, I believe this to be the trend in government, and believe we do need “one of our own” to step in, so that the common man can be represented within the highest forms of government. Truth is, nowadays there are only representatives for the Democratic and Republican parties, not the people and its about time new blood comes to Washington.

To offer you a really stupid analogy, I recall getting some subs put in the back of my old Chevy Blazer (Gasp! Please don’t send me letters Greenpeace, I now know the error of my gas guzzling ways.). I was getting two put in the far back of the vehicle and told the stereo technician exactly where I wanted them placed. He informed me, because they were facing each other directly, with the same output, the noise emitting from each sub would be negated, not producing the high quality sound I was looking for on either side. This is going to be the case with the experience argument and instead this election will now focus on what it should; things like policy and individual merit, which thus far I feel it has lacked. So I welcome Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket, and for me at least, she has made the Republican ticket that much more intriguing.

Before I leave and take my weekly shower, I would like to say how shallow it is that the Democrats and media think that she was chosen just to pick up the Hillary vote. I find this idea to be, for lack of better words and a thesaurus, completely stupid and it has effected my view of the Democratic party and the media in general, because they seem to be engaged in a sort of panic mode, fishing for anything to discredit McCain and Palin. This might be an unfair globalization and this probably will not factor into my decision on whom I vote for, but I certainly think the argument is completely ridiculous. First, by her merits it is easily discernable that McCain would like her, Palin being so similar in personality, bi-partisanship and policy; though they do differ on some issues. Second, everything she has accomplished as an executive leader is completely ignored, as is the fact that she is the most popular governor in the country with approval ratings in excess of 80 percent within a state that is packed full of partisan, industrial, commercial and ethnic affairs. This is no small task even within the relatively small population of Alaska. Her merits as a reformer and her attacks against corruption in government, even amongst her own party, are well noted. Though it should be added that she is currently under investigation herself, but in an effort spearheaded by Democrats and some of those she booted out of power, which makes it suspicious. The charges are not even holding up against the intense media scrutiny that has begun to surround her.

This was a great decision on McCain’s part and a win, win, win one to boot. Maybe not in the general election, that remains to be seen, but in the context of what Palin does for the ticket. It will strengthen the base and energize those within the party. It will counter Obama’s historic run for the Presidency and perhaps pick up some of the women vote and blue-collar workers. When hearing these things discussed within the media, I have heard phrases like, “This is a political ploy,” or, “McCain just did this in response to Obama and to appeal to voters.” Are you serious? Of course! Is this really what are elected officials and those “educated” people within the media are saying? Welcome to Democracy moron. This is how the political system works, you respond to your opponent and try to attract voters and if your not supposed to, well you can just throw out the United States of American’s political system completely, including both McCain and Obama.

Above all else, where this succeeded was giving people, who might not as well have voted for the Republican party and undecided voters, a reason to look at the ticket and reflect on it. Even if it was for three seconds and people respond with, “I don’t think so,” it is still a success. Furthermore, I don’t think McCain will lose many votes with his choice, instead he will excite those with conservative political viewpoints, who maybe didn’t have a fire under their butt, to go and vote Republican. This was a perfect choice and I am excited for the Debates. The low expectations of Palin can be used to the Republicans advantage and she may end up surprising a lot of people in the end. Indeed, one politician in Alaska, whose name I didn’t catch, has said, “Obama and Biden have no idea what they just got themselves into.” With her nickname being “Sarah Barracuda,” this race could get very interesting indeed.