So far during this craziest of presidential-election seasons, I haven’t been right about much of anything yet (though I take solace in the fact that neither have many other people). Still, I keep hoping that will change; and in that spirit, I’m officially hopping on the Sarah Palin bandwagon. Gov. Palin isn’t all that well known as yet, since she’s the governor of Alaska, which isn’t exactly a media hub, and an Alaska native to boot; that’s the one argument against John McCain choosing her as his running mate. The rest of the arguments all line up in her favor. Ann Althouse points out a few, Jack Kelly of RealClearPolitics adds some of his own, while Fred Barnes’ piece in The Weekly Standard, though written last year, lays out a few more, and they’re compelling; aside from the fact that she’s not from a populous, media-heavy state, she’s about as perfect a fit for Sen. McCain as one could imagine. (Update: Beldar thinks so too, as does Jonah Goldberg.)One, she’s young, just 44; she would balance out Sen. McCain’s age.Two, she has proven herself as an able executive and administrator, serving as mayor, head of the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and now as governor; she would balance out Sen. McCain’s legislative experience (though he does have command experience in the Navy).Three, she has strong conservative credentials, both socially (she’s strongly pro-life, politically and personally) and fiscally (as her use of the line-item veto has shown); she would assuage concerns about Sen. McCain’s conservatism.Four, she’s independent, having risen to power against the Alaska GOP machine, not through it; she’s worked hard against the corruption in both her party and her state’s government. She would reinforce Sen. McCain’s maverick image, which is one of his greatest strengths in this election, but in a more conservative direction.Five, for the reasons listed above, she’s incredibly popular in Alaska. That might seem a minor factor to some, but it’s indicative of her abilities as a politician.Six, she has a remarkable personal story, of the sort the media would love. She’s a former beauty-pageant winner, the mother of five children (the oldest serving in the Army, preparing to deploy to Iraq, the youngest a Down Syndrome baby), an outdoorsy figure who rides snowmobiles and eats mooseburgers—and a tough, take-no-prisoners competitor who was known as “Sarah Barracuda” when she led her underdog high-school basketball team to the state championship, and who now has accomplished a similar feat in cutting her way to the governor’s office. No one now in American politics can match Sen. McCain’s life story (no, not even Barack Obama), but she comes as close as anyone can (including Sen. Obama); she fits his image.Seven, she would give the McCain campaign the “Wow!” factor it can really use in a vice-presidential nominee. As a young, attractive, tough, successful, independent-minded, appealing female politician, though not well known yet, she would make American voters sit up and take notice; and given her past history, there could be no doubt that she would be a strong, independent voice in a McCain administration, should there be one.Eight, choosing Gov. Palin as his running mate, especially if coupled with actions like giving Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal the keynote slot at the GOP convention, would help the party going forward. The GOP needs to rebuild its bench of plausible strong future presidential candidates, and perhaps the best thing Sen. McCain can do for the party is to help with this. The party needs Gov. Jindal to stay where he is for another term or two (as, I believe, does the state of Louisiana), but in giving him the convention slot that launched Sen. Obama to prominence four years ago and putting Gov. Palin on the ticket, Sen. McCain would put two of the GOP’s best people and brightest hopes for the future in a perfect position to claim the White House themselves; in so doing, he would make them the face of the GOP for the future.
I like the fact that she has put her money where her mouth is, so to speak. She will care aobut the troops and the outcome of the war because her son is there. She has shown that she will remain true to her principles by her choice to keep a baby who, in the eys of some, should have been aborted. She kept a tight rein on the oil interests, and knows they should not be dictating policy. And she cares about consevation, coming from the stte with the largest percentage of federally conseved land. She has also dealt well with the Native American population of her state. Sounds like a winner to me!
Wow, lots of typos 🙂
Palin is sooooo obviously the choice for McCain’s Veep that the only possible argument against picking her would be that she is “too obviously” the best.
I agree. McCain/Palin would definitely be the “money where their mouth is” ticket–the integrity ticket, you might say. I agree too that she ought to be the obvious choice–but the old “pick someone from a populous swing state” way of thinking still carries a lot of weight. It shouldn’t (my father-in-law, a big fan of Gov. Palin, points out that there are a lot more female voters than there are voters in, say, Michigan), but it does. If that line of thought gives us Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney on the ticket (not that I have anything against either of them), I’m going to be seriously irritated.
And as a side note, I was interested to see comments come up on this post so quickly; I think it’s indicative of Gov. Palin’s appeal, and a sign that her “small state” status wouldn’t be a drawback, which further reinforces the arguments in her favor.
Rob,
Great column! That’s one of the better pro-Palin pieces that I have seen.
I was wondering if we could add you to the “Endorsements” list over at “Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President” (palinforvp.net). Also, if you want to be totally plugged in to the Draft Palin Movement, you can get on our mailing list by emailing me at palinforvp@gmail.com.
Thanks again for a great column.
Adam Brickley,
Founder, “Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President”
Sure, if the endorsement of a nearly-anonymous northern Indiana preacher actually means anything . . . 🙂
Mac Pick Palin Veep BEFORE Hil Campaigns w/Obama!
In addition to her overwhelming attraction on the oil/energy issue and the female/disaffected Hillary voters, her human interest story will generate millions and millions of dollars worth of publicity and media coverage — essentially free to the McCain campaign — more than offsetting Obama’s reported money advantage.
I agree with that calculation; I can understand Sen. McCain wanting to make sure that whoever he chooses is extremely thorougly vetted, though. I can’t imagine there being any skeletons in Gov. Palin’s closet, but obviously, you want to be as certain as humanly possible of that.
Besides, I don’t think Sen. Obama’s going to pick Sen. Clinton, and I’m inclined to believe the rumor that the quid pro quo to her for her throwing her support behind him was his agreement not to pick any other woman as his running mate. I suspect, as someone put it, that he’ll wind up picking some boring white guy as his running mate because he isn’t one himself.
Sorry about not posting the link sooner. I’ll get you one the endorsement blogroll.
And yes, we love endorsements form “nearly anonymous” people…they are the backbone of our movement.
A commenter on another post says it much better than I can:
“They say McCain reads the blogs, so here goes —
Senator McCain- Don’t let the campaign kibbitzers muddle things up.
First and foremost, Sarah Palin shares your values. She killed the bridge to nowhere. Need we say more?
As for the politics, Sarah Palin transcends geography. Her constituency, like yours, goes beyond state lines.
She will get your ticket access to voters all over the country based on who she is and what she stands for. Because she’s young, a woman, a mother with young kids, she will grab media attention more than any other potential candidate.
Gov. Palin also has a son in the active duty military. You have very wisely taken your son’s service in Iraq off the table as a campaign talking point. That is and should be respected. But others can talk about it and reflect on what it means.
A McCain-Palin administration would be the first in memory which has family members in uniform during wartime from both the President and Vice President. That would be a powerful statement as to the importance of national service, especially in uniform.
Most importantly, any Vice President should be ready to step up and serve in the event she is needed. Frankly, who is really ever ready? Gov. Palin is as ready as anybody, she is a quick learner, and in her public career has exhibited the courage and decisiveness needed for a great leader.
Godspeed to you in your campaign and in making this important decision.”
I can see it all now, Alaska Gov Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd, introducing Sarah as the next Vice President of the United States at the Republican National Convention later this summer, to the tune of Shania Twain’s “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face”.
Here it is:
Just imagine!!! (Dems, eat your heart out)
I’m moved again to the thought that I wouldn’t have expected this post to be racking up the comments as it has; the fact that it is, I believe, is indicative of the strong enthusiasm out there for Gov. Palin as Sen. McCain’s best running mate. I hope he’s paying attention.