When John McCain chose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, he sparked a ho-hum candidacy with an electric surge that sent fireworks all over the country. Everywhere Palin went tens of thousands turned out to see the Alaska soccer mom turned governor turned vice presidential candidate. One of the risks to McCain, in fact, was being upstaged by his smart, articulate, and beautiful running mate. Palin saved an unpopular candidate, in danger of losing much of the Republican base, from a complete meltdown at the polls. Despite being defeated handily by Obama, McCain won 46% of the popular vote and may well have done better but for the economic downturn, his refusal to engage the social issues, and the mainstream media’s relentless harping on trivial issues magnified into the latest Palin (blank)-gate. the obvious bias showed exactly how powerful Sarah Palin was. Obama got a pass and media excuses for his questionable associations, fundraising irregularities, and indeterminate citizenship; while Palin had to contend with hundreds of reporters roaming Alaska to root out anyone with a grudge. Throughout it all she retained her sense of humor, graciousness, and dignity. A lesser woman would have collapsed under the relentless assault.The savaging of Sarah Palin from liberal Democrats isn’t hard to understand. Liberals on both sides of the aisle hate her Christian take on social issues. Her unabashed pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-family credentials expose their own moral bankruptcy. The feminists, who should be thrilled at the rise of a woman through her own merits to run for the Vice Presidency, hold her in contempt for not being the “right kind” of woman. What’s that? One who will proudly kill her unborn child and unapologetically encourage her daughter to abort as well. The mean-spirited attack on little Piper Palin as she played mama cat to baby brother Trig at the Republican convention slicking down his hair with a few licks on her hand, showed how totally out of touch these angry women are with American families. The vicious rumors that Trig was Palin’s grandchild were particularly hateful. In the course of the feminist feeding frenzy, leaders from NOW, NARAL, etc. ignored Palin’s remarkable rise from small town council member to popular governor of the largest state in the country. They wanted her destroyed.
Although she's a woman with a thorough grasp of energy issues, feminists painted Palin as a diva, a prom queen, just another pretty face with no brains behind it. Their behavior was laughable. To see NOW question whether Palin could be a good mom and hold down a job at the same time made them patently (and hypocritically) ridiculous. After urging moms with children into the workforce for years, they could hardly be taken seriously. The Palin smear was reminiscent of the high tech lynching targeting Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court confirmation. Sarah, the uppity woman, meet Clarence, the uppity black.
But it isn’t just liberals who hate the governor as the nasty leaks from the McCain camp showed. The neo-con and country club Republicans detest Palin as well and appear bent on making sure this upstart soccer mom’s political career is nipped in the bud. Their anonymous attacks on her intelligence, her ability to work with others, the innuendo that she was responsible for the ridiculous wardrobe debacle, etc. were meant to undermine any future run for presidency. The Republican establishment doesn’t want Palin’s grassroots populism anywhere near the White House. Neither do they want to see a return to Reagan-style governance. Colin Powell, one more big government RINO (Republican in name only) recently joined the Palin attack basically calling on the party to move closer to the Democratics. That just indicates how very out of touch Powell is with reality. His recommendation is the very strategy that has brought the Republican party to near dissolution. Only by reclaiming authentic conservatism: less government, lower taxes, individual accountability, promotion of small businesses, etc. can the Republican party recover. Sarah Palin and other young turks like Bobby Jindal offer the best and brightest hope for a Republican comeback.
In the end, all the attack strategies against Sarah Palin are doomed to failure. Saxby Chambliss’ recent Senate run-off win in Georgia illustrates the Palin power. Despite the Obama campaign sending thousands of workers into the state to secure victory for Democrat Jim Martin and gain a filibuster-proof Senate, Chambliss won a stunning 57-43% victory. He credits it to Sarah Palin. "I can't overstate the impact she had down here," he told reporters, “when she walks in a room folks just explode.” The fireworks set off by Sarah Palin’s nomination as Vice President have just begun. She’s one smart lady with a bright political future and she has a growing fan club. Take a look at Team Sarah on the web.
