I know what you're thinking:"Who the hell is Sarah Palin?"
or alternatively:
"I know who Sarah Palin is, and I totally agree/think you're an r-tard!"
Long story short, she's the Governor of Alaska. She trounced Governor Frank Murkowski in the Gubernatiorial primary and was elected by a decisive margin in 2006, despite the overwhelming anti-Republican feeling that election. Now, her approval ratings are in the high 80's and often top 90 per cent. For cereal.
Her positions on the issues are so good as to be postively delicious:
Abortion: Palin is a member of Feminists for Life, a pro-life, pro-woman organisation. In 2002, when she was running for Lieutenant Governor, Palin sent an e-mail to the Alaska Right to Life Board saying she was as "pro-life as any candidate can be" and has "adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion." Palin said that no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child. "I believe in the strength and the power of women, and the potential of every human life." She gave birth to her fifth child last month; he has Down's syndrome, which Palin and her husband knew early in the pregnancy. She refused to ever consider killing her baby, despite knowing the challenges he would face. Palin is also pro-contraception, but the non-embryo-killing kind, obviously.
Corruption: The prior Administration was most corrupt, and Palin has made sure to purge hers of the past; she sold a jet purchased by the prior Administration on State credit. One of her first actions as Governor was sacking a crony and midnight appointee of the prior Governor's. Just read this, and tell me she can't kick some corrupt arse. Also, she has endorsed her Lieutenant Governor in the primary for Alaska's at-large House district. Sean Parnell wants to replace Don Young of "bridge to nowhere" fame. (Oh, and FYI, Palin sacked the bridge, too.)
Energy and Environment: She is suing the Bush Administration to prevent polar bears from being listed as a "threatened" species. She supports drilling in ANWR. She is not a global warming alarmist to my knowledge, but she has created a sub-cabinet to address climate change. Real or not (and again, I side with not), there is definitely damage being caused to the Alaska shoreline, and really, I don't think Palin will sacrifice her State on the Altar of Gore. Palin: “I believe in protecting Alaska's environment through fair enforcement of our environmental laws. Having a clean record on environmental regulation is critical to getting ANWR open and maintaining our fisheries mining, timber, and tourism industries.”
Experience: Palin has only been Governor since December 4, 2006, but she has done so much in so little time I doubt that this will be the issue it would be if say, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana were the Veep candidate. He has been in office since January 14th of this year and is barely 37, seven years Palin's junior and ten years Obama's. Prior to her Governorship, she served on the City Council of Wasilla, a medium-sized city (for Alaska) and then as Mayor for another two terms. She resigned from her position as Ethics Commissioner on the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in protest over what she perceived to be the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders. Also, she is the mother five children, including her special-needs son. Think that will stop her? Palin was to deliver a speech when her water broke; she delivered the speech, gave birth, then returned to the Governor's chair three days later.
Teh Gheys: The perfect position: Opposes same-sex "marriage" but signed into law same-sex benefits to State employees when ordered to do so by the Alaska Supreme Court. Palin's first veto was used on legislation which would have barred the state from granting benefits to gay state employees and their partners. In effect, her veto granted State benefits to same-sex couples.
Teh Guns: “I am a lifetime member of the NRA, I support our Constitutional right to bear arms and am a proponent of gun safety programs for Alaska's youth….I have always strongly supported the personal use of fish and game by Alaskans. I grew up hunting and fishing in Alaska, and I am proud to raise my children with this same uniquely Alaskan heritage. … Anti-hunting groups who oppose hunting and fishing rights will be the winners if we allow them to pit us against ourselves….As an Alaskan with strong beliefs on this issue, I am confident in my ability to build consensus among diverse user groups and reconcile the many competing interests in a manner.”
More on her positions here. Palin-mania here and here.
Palin is a smart, independent, conservative woman, and I am proud to endorse her as Sen. John McCain's running-mate. Hopefully, we will see her as President in 2016 (or 2012 if President McCain decides to step down early), with fellow rising star Bobby Jindal as her second-in-command, ready to take the helm.
Just remember this: In 1900, President William McKinley used his running-mate to stump for him, and he was so effective that many people thought that they were voting for the Vice-President, not McKinley.
That VP was Theodore Roosevelt.
Then again, if you need any further convincing, there is always this.
