McCain - Palin

“Sarah Barracuda” was the name given to her by her high school classmates. She was born in Idaho but grew up in the hunting, gun-shooting, fishing wilderness of Alaska. She has five kids. She’s the first female Governor of her state. She’s confronted and fought corruption face to face. She is the first Republican female Vice Presidential nominee. She, Sarah Palin, is John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 election.

This morning when the news first broke, I initially held different thoughts about his decision, and was willing to clap my hands for what McCain had done in my mind to merely give the election to Obama by choosing this inexperienced candidate. That thought disappeared minutes into her acceptance speech when I saw the public reaction that seemed to give the GOP a positive roar of excitement. However, I was still skeptical.

Let’s first discuss why McCain picked Palin. To start, he definitely needs to persuade swing voters and shake off the preconceived notion that he will not be more of the same. Secondly, after gender has played a role in this election, with a major following of Senator Hillary Clinton until she dropped out of the race. Palin may have solidified her party and the indecisive voters because it showed the Republicans weren’t scared to elect a woman. But what she doesn’t have is a long resume of national experience, which the GOP has often criticized Obama for lacking. In all fairness, I do think it was a very strategic move to choose Palin for purposes of capturing voters, sparking excitement, and closing gender gaps for winning the campaign. However, is this really fair to the country to put one of the most inexperienced candidates as second in line to our Commander in Chief?

This question has had me going back and forth over whether McCain really had the interest of the county in mind or just the interest of winning the campaign in his favor. Because all too often we become enthralled and inspired by the idea of the individual and forget that their experience, ideals, and leadership ability will have to carry our country through prosperous and devastating times. Many have responded by saying that Palin has made the campaign more exciting for the GOP, but I have to ask why? It’s not because she brings more experience as I have touched on already, nor does she bring a credible background of dealing with national issues, which the McCain campaign harped upon Obama for lacking as the center theme of his campaign in recent months. I am afraid people feel this excitement for all the wrong reasons – because she is a woman, she is an unknown, and the decision itself was completely unexpected. These are not good enough reasons for me to thank McCain for making the Republican ticket ‘stronger.’ He may be able to lever this to win the campaign battle, but the question is whether or not the two of them together can win the war of four years in office.

On the contrary, although I do sit on the left side, I do realize that it seems many have been backing Obama for all the wrong reasons as well. And for this, I reach out to the American people to beg of them to pay attention to the issues at hand and not the historical significance whether it is a woman vice president or a black president. Don’t vote for the individual personality, vote for their ability to turn this country into a positive direction.

I find that Palin does have an appeal about her that makes her very likeable. She is a child of the middle class, an avid ice fishermen and moose hunter who can relate to a population that most people cannot. She has a son about to deploy to Iraq and has a family of five children. She brings more of a “close to home” appeal than most politicians. I certainly can’t say I do not like her, but I am still skeptical that despite her likeability factor, she just isn’t ready to make the leap from Juneau to Washington. Overall, we cannot help but feel somewhat empathetic to the courageous Mother and hard working woman that Palin is. But when it comes to John McCain's famous appeal of "country first," did he really live by his own words and put the country first by making this choice?