Listening to the Democratic leadership respond to John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, one hears echoes of the Alaska Republican leadership from just a few years ago. Barack Obama’s spokesman, Bill Burton, put it this way: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Former mayor? If you’re going to skip over her job as governor and, before that, her job heading the commission that oversees production of the largest petroleum reserves in America, why not “former high school student”? Bah, what does it matter: She’s just a small town mayor, just a hockey mom, just a beauty pageant queen. Palin has never shunned these belittling monikers, in part, I imagine, because the camouflage has served her so well. Soothed by the litany, her opponents tend to sleep too late, sneer too much, and forget who it is that hires them.
Watching Palin operate over the past few years has been like witnessing a dramatic reading of All the King’s Men. In 2002, Murkowski had interviewed but passed over Palin in selecting a replacement for the senate seat he vacated to become governor. In a grand act of nepotism, he chose his own daughter instead. Palin was tossed a bone: She chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees the production of petroleum in Alaska. When she reported conflicts of interest and other ethical violations by another commissioner, she was ignored by Murkowski’s chief of staff and ultimately resigned in frustration. One can imagine how the quick double dose of corruption–insiders having their way with the polity and its resources–sickened the young Palin. It also fired a savage competitiveness that is not, perhaps, apparent at first glance.
Read it all and then read Christopher Orr’s response to his friend from Alaska.
The dirfferance I see in Gov Palin is that while Senator Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago nothing happened in area where he worked. Gov Palin has taken on corruption reduced waste and the budget of Alaska and distributed oil revenues to the people and made a change. Senator Obama has blamed big oil, greed and speculation for our energy problems but done nothing to solve our energy crises. Gov Palin negotiaged with Trans-Canada to build a natural gas pipe line to help solve our energy needs. That is the differance in executive experiance and being a wanna be. Of course there is dirt peole can dish on Gov Palin, they don’t call her barracude becuase of her pretty smile!!!
One can probably pick apart any opinion piece as that ilk are essentially subjective, but here is an objective dysfunction in the second citation:
[blockquote]There’s very little evidence that she’s given much thought to the national economy…[/blockquote]
Well, Palin was commissioner on the Oil and Gas Commission and as Governor initiated the NGas pipeline, both of which are huge functionalities of the national economy. I don’t think Orr really did his homework well on that part of his argument.
The more I learn about her, the more I like her. She’s definitely a “do-er.”
If not VP this time around (I still think Obama has this election all but sewn up), we may be talking about President Palin in 2013 or 2017.
The more I read about her the more I think her positions are dictated by whatever the latest poll wants done. During her run for mayor of a small town that admits it’s in the bible belt of Alaska, the debate suddenly turned from roads & services to abortion. During her run for governor, the debate dropped abortion and turned instead to corruption and the good ol boy system. Not much of a track record to go on, I admit. So I’ll be waiting to hear just where her position is tonight and in the coming months. I guess I just expect our leadership to, you know, actually lead rather than follow the whims of the mostly uninformed public.
No offense, Mike L., number 4, but it sounds like you’re talking about this guy:
http://www.kollinger.com/_toons/choice91.jpg
The Democrats had a huge pool of great choices – and could have even picked up someone like Chuck Hagel. I can’t figure out why they got this one. Anyway, maybe I’ll discover the person you think Sarah Palin to be, but I haven’t yet.
#4 Mike L. You are anything but wrong, Gov. Palin resigned her positon on the Oil and Gas Conservation Committee because the head of the comittee, a republican was running the Republican party out of his office. Gov. Palin resigned when Gov. Murkowski refused to act. Palin then ran for Gov. as a reform canidate. Gov Palin won and worked with the FBI to stop other corruption. Gov Palin negotiated a gas pipe line to be built by Trans Canada. When Palin fired the chief of public safety Palin asked for an independant review and investigation of her actions. What has Obama done?
Oh, that little pipe line she got up and running is a 30 billion dollar project!!!
What has Obama done? Well, to hear him tell it, running a campaign has given him MORE executive experience than GOVERNOR Palin ever earned as Mayor of such a small town with so few employees.
Hmmm, wonder why he didn’t mention her experience earned as Governor and just focused on her mayoral stint? It probably wasn’t on the cue cards. {/sarcasm}
#6, thanks for stating I’m anything but wrong. And everything you posted did nothing to contradict what issues she moved on in her 2 elections to date. But if you like her that’s great.
Furthermore, she was shot at in Central Europe and was named for Edmund Hillary.