Much has been made of Barack Obama and John McCain’s vice-presidential candidate picks, and for good reason. Both men have sought to allay the public’s most intense fears: Obama’s utter lack of experience, and McCain’s age. In Senator Joseph Biden, Obama chose a seasoned and largely well respected politician whose lengthy experience many perceive to make up for Obama’s lack thereof. In Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain chose someone who is clearly much younger than he but perhaps much more significantly, is a highly capable executive.
While both Presidential candidates seem to have chosen partners who appear to make up for their most significant shortcomings, Palin is an infinitely better choice than Joe Biden.
What I find most ironic about Obama choosing Biden is that despite the formers preaching about change and chants of “Yes we can”, he has chosen a Washington insider of some 20 plus years of experience whose slogan should be, “I could’ve but I didn’t”. That is, despite all of Obama’s change-talk, he has chosen a man who is quintessential Washington and a leading member of our current do-nothing Congress.
Governor Palin on the other hand completely upended the Alaskan political establishment and has since crusaded against excessive government spending, corruption and has finally put Alaska’s government back on the side of the people. She primaried a sitting Republican Governor, handily beat a former one in the general election and now enjoy an 80% approval rating amongst Alaskans. That tells me she’s been doing something right.
I would like to touch on two matters though which some people bring up as Palin disqualifiers: her pregnant daughter and the current ethics charges against her. I will readily admit that Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy is unfortunate- not because she is pregnant, but because she is pregnant at such a young age. I can see how some people might view this situation as a poor reflection on Palin’s parenting abilities, but I would kindly remind them that she is now running for Vice-president of the United States and not for the family nanny.
Additionally, there is a real beauty in her daughter’s situation. Instead of adding to the ranks of the millions of babies aborted already, the Palin family is fully supporting their daughter, allowing her to choose the best option: life. Here then the Palin family- already with impeccable pro-life credentials- might just show America how a strong family unit can properly handle an unplanned pregnancy without resorting to the knife, and with any luck, set an example to follow.
The second major concern most people have with Palin is the ethics charge against her. Undoubtedly red flags should always shoot up when we hear about an ethics violation, but it is very important to understand the context in which this charge has been raised. Palin has uprooted a corrupt Alaskan political system, passed major ethics reforms and lead with an unblemished record. It is my opinion that the current ethics charge against her is retaliation by upset Alaskan politicians unhappy that they can no longer have their free way with such a stellar Governor in office.
This particular charge stems from Palin’s firing of her commissioner of public safety who oversaw her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. Essentially people are accusing Palin of abusing her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired (read: a man who drove his police car drunk, threatened his family and even tasered his own ten year old son) as well as the commissioner of public safety. In short, Palin once again stood up for ethics and standards in government and now the people she had to dispose of are coming back to get her.
At the end of the day though, Palin is infinitely more impressive than Joe Biden. She has proven herself an adept executive and a principled citizen and leader. That’s the type of woman I want by my President’s side.
