PrintOctober 3, 2008
Palin Has Everything that Counts
I must admit to being quite taken aback, last week, by Kathleen Parker's insistence that Sarah Palin do the Country and her Party the favor of withdrawing from this race. One is left to only imagine whether Ms. Parker is of the same mind today, or whether she will now be sending this advice to Joe Biden instead.
As for me and my vote, Sarah Palin has everything that counts. She has had my admiration since day one, and I've seen nothing of significance to change my mind. I read Kaylene Johnson's biography, Sarah, this week. It's the portrait of the hockey mom, "who turned Alaska's political establishment upside down," a woman who has produced some rather extraordinary accomplishments for her family, her town and her state, in that order, taking one thing at a time. According to those who know Sarah best, she has done it not so much with extraordinary talent as with personal drive and hard work.
The kind of effort most Americans value most.
For all the talk about the smallness of the governments Mrs. Palin has run successfully, one might get the idea that it's harder to sit among a large group of Senators on the Hill in Washington, D.C. than being on the hot seat all alone in a mayor or governor's office.
Well, that's pure poppycock.
We don't need any more proof than the recent revelations of hidden-in-plain-sight shenanigans of Congress -- up to their eyeballs in Freddie/Fannie corruption! - to know which job is hardest. It's a whole lot more difficult to be constantly exposed to watchful constituents in one's own hometown and state, than it is to be ensconced on the Hill hundreds or thousands of miles from the taxpayers.
To listen to Governor Palin's critics lately, though, one might imagine that none of her real accomplishments, nor the honesty and integrity evidenced by Mrs. Palin in office, actually count any more. Sarah Palin has proven her qualifications by actually making decisions that have borne real fruit -- results. And proven results certainly matter to me.
When I saw Sarah Palin make her national debut at the RNC convention, and again in her first major debate last night, I found her to be quite the American version of Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher, too, faced scathing derision from her country's press and from her opposition, much of it focused on the issues of small town vs. big city and commoner vs. elite.
And, like Palin, Thatcher rose above it all with grace and made her case to the actual voters, who elected her again and again, until the Iron Lady became the longest sitting Prime Minister in more than a Century. What did Margaret Thatcher credit with her amazing success?
Thatcher said simply, in much the way I expect Sarah Palin will:
"I just owe almost everything to my father and it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."
And as the first female Prime Minister of England, Margaret Thatcher, also said, "Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country." Then, she set about proving her own words true.
Despite her harping critics, Maggie Thatcher proved to be a most able leader upon the world stage, even at a time of rather perilous threats on many fronts. When besieged by naysayers, she once remarked, "If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim." And after watching Sarah Palin last night, I would say that she agrees with Maggie.
Don't let the naysayers ever get you down.
Peggy Noonan was actually one of the first journalists to pronounce that McCain's pick of Sarah Palin signaled the end of his presidential quest. Oddly enough, however, Peggy Noonan sang quite a different tune some years ago, when she declared "character" alone as the essential requirement in a President.
"In a president, character is everything. A president doesn't have to be brilliant... He doesn't have to be clever; you can hire clever... You can hire pragmatic, and you can buy and bring in policy wonks. But you can't buy courage and decency, you can't rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him... He needs to have, in that much maligned word, but a good one nonetheless, a "vision" of the future he wishes to create.. But a vision is worth little if a president doesn't have the character-- the courage and heart-- to see it through."
Well said, Ms. Noonan. When did you lose your way?
My favorite part of the debate last night was when Governor Palin reminded us all of Joe Biden's characterization of paying more taxes as "patriotic." Sarah Palin's authenticity is the most powerful gift she has, in my opinion, and she smiled right into the camera, looked with a mischievous grin, and said that plans for the redistribution of wealth were not how we real Americans in the middle-class see "patriotism."
Can you say moose-in-the-headlights Biden?
Why does everything with liberals always come down to throwing money at problems?
It wasn't hard to see why Joe Biden has been a Senator and never really in charge of anything on his own. He came across as someone, who did little more than rehearse a role for public performance. Governor Palin, on the other hand, is the professional politician's worst nightmare.
Just as Margaret Thatcher pulled the rug out from under a lot of old hands in England, here comes Sarah Palin going right over the heads of media elites, who think they are charged with the responsibility of telling the rest of us what things to consider when casting our votes.
No one thought Maggie Thatcher, raised over a grocery store in a small town, could be the first female Prime Minister of England, either. But the Iron Lady did quite a splendid job. And I predict that Sarah Palin will as well.
Sarah Palin is the perfect balance to McCain's experience and wisdom. She is fresh, genuine and as American as apple pie. Smart as a whip to boot. She evidences the spark of true humility, a willingness to learn from others, and the character so necessary for sound judgment.
In everything that counts, Sarah Palin has what it takes to make a great Vice President. And someday, she'll make a terrific first female President too.
I hope I live to see it.
Kyle-Anne Shiver is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. She blogs at kyleanneshiver.com.
