Palin Might Surprise
Wow. The events swirling around this GOP presidential ticket is bordering on the bizarro. First John McCain picks this unknown, somewhat attractive female from Alaska as his running mate.
Then came word that Gov. Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months’ pregnant. The right wing is coming out to defend Gov. Palin and Bristol. Most notably, Focus on the Family has stated:
“We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.”
That’s all well and fine. But the blogosphere is rife with speculation about what tune the conservatives would be singing if Barack Obama had a pregnant teenage daughter.
Back to Palin. I grudgingly give John McCain props for picking this unknown despite her “thin” credentials and conservative politics. If she were to become Vice President and McCain were to croak, I’m not sure Madame Palin would do such a bad job as President.
I’ve talked to people who spoke highly of folks who accidentally landed in the Oval Office, namely Harry S. Truman and Gerald Ford, who were good in the office precisely because they didn’t seek it. In other words, Truman and Ford were regular people – well, as regular as politicians can be – who were thrust by circumstances into the highest office in the land.
My reading of history says they weren’t too shabby. Truman made the hard decision to nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, bringing a quick end to the United States’ fight with Japan during World War II. Ford issued his post-Watergate pardoning of Richard Nixon in 1974, to heal the wounds created by Watergate. Both were hard decisions, but you had the feeling Truman and Ford acted on principle, partisan politics be damned.
Sarah Palin is married with five kids – the youngest with Down’s syndrome – smoked weed, was a local TV newscaster and was a small-town mayor. In other words, she was as close to a normal person as a politician can get. She’s a regular woman who just might get the Presidency and carry out her executive duties with judgment and some common sense, all the while comporting herself as a decent human being.
You think I’m crazy? Lyndon Baines Johnson, a prototypical Southern redneck politician, was chosen by John Kennedy as his running mate to deliver the South in the 1960 presidential election. But did anyone really expect Johnson, thrust into the Oval Office when JFK was assassinated in 1963, to embark on the Great Society program? Did anyone predict Johnson would push bills on civil rights, voting rights and consumer protections into law?
I don’t think so. Now, this isn’t to say I’m going to vote for McCain. But if McCain won the election, and God forbid something happened to McCain to allow Palin to become President, she just might surprise some folk.
Peace.
Yeah I thought it was actually quite genius that he picked her. That’s the only way he could even be noticed with Barack and Bidin.
True dat, Aly. I like Palin because she seems real, from where I sit. It seems, especially in this cable TV-driven media age, that being human is a disqualification for the office of POTUS.
Comment by aly — September 3, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
I don’t like her Pro. She seems like a “real” hypocrite and Bible-wielding thug. I don’t like her views or positions. I don’t like her. I like the environment. I choose that. I like someone who won’t embarrass us in front of diplomats. I choose that. I am pro-choice, meaning pro-choosing BEFORE you have sex, but those who are anti-choice/pro-life frame their argument in a way that’s insulting, condescending, and arrogant. I don’t like her, Pro. I’m sorry. I just don’t. Most Republicans are not good Christians. They’re just good liars. G.W. the current is our prime example of that.
Thank God I’m independent.
A, there’s no need to apologize. If you don’t like her or her positions, that’s cool, too. I’m just saying that yeah, she has to play that role on the campaign trail, but her behavior once in office may be completely different. And by different, I mean she may actually do things with the regular people in mind rather than those of high-level corporate folk. Perhaps I’m dreaming, but a brother can dream, right?
Comment by A — September 4, 2008 @ 10:29 am
I watched her speech last night and, as a male, was disgusted by the fact that she played heavily on the notion that she is a hockey mom. I for one, think that she sold herself short to try and appeal to female voters, but really she just undermined what feminism really is about.
“Whats the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick.”
Really Sarah?
I respect you as a person though our views differ, but I certainly think you’re better than that.
Whats most disheartening about this is that the female voters that she does win over, may make the transition for this same very reason.
J.R., welcome to my spot! First time visitor or longtime lurker? Anyhow, I’m trying to separate what I believe could be a stateswoman from the pandering politician we’re witnessing now. Don’t be a stranger.
Comment by J.R. Bermard — September 4, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
wont be a suprise to me
have a gr8 weekend jones
Interesting take. You too have a great weekend.
Comment by rawdawgbuffalo — September 5, 2008 @ 8:56 am
Yeah the landscape is changing drastically, but it begs the question if this is the direction we’re headed or if this will be an exception to the political rule, so if Obama doesn’t win (and I pray to God that he does), we won’t see another black candidate ever again. I prefer to think of my glass as being half full!
Cord, welcome to Pro’s spot! I think there will be another black candidate. It may take another 20 years, and this time he or she may be a Republican. And if Obama does lose the election, he still wins, in a way. He’s proven himself as a political product who will go down in history. He’ll return to the Senate, probably get any chairmanship he wants, and will make millions on the lecture circuit. He can call his price for life.
Comment by Corduroy Johnson — September 8, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
Man, if you don’t update this blog!! I know something!!
What is it that you know? They’ve been keeping me hopping here in MD!
Comment by A — September 8, 2008 @ 5:09 pm