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September 1, 2008

Exclusive: Sarah Palin – Shaking Up the Race

Pam Meister

Now that Sarah Palin has joined John McCain’s ticket, the real race for the president can begin. With only nine weeks to go until Election Day, voters will finally join the ranks of political junkies in following the candidates’ every move, utterance and fashion faux pas. And they’ll be evaluating which man will be the best to lead America through thick and thin for the next four years. And unlike the mainstream press, they’ll be looking for a true leader, not an ideological dream.

The selection of Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate was a surprise to many, even keen political watchers. While her name was among those floated around during the summer (along with fellow gubernatorial newcomer and Republican up-and-comer Bobby Jindal of Louisiana), many dismissed her out of hand as being too inexperienced for a national ticket. Apparently John McCain and his vetting team felt differently about Palin’s being “ready for prime time.” Her speech at last Friday’s rally in Dayton, Ohio was just an introduction to the woman who, if McCain wins on November 4th, will act as his right hand and – should something happen to him – take over as president.

The Obama campaign reacted swiftly to the news of Palin’s selection with criticism for McCain’s putting “the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency” – tastefully building on his theme of “bitter” small town Americans clinging to their guns and Bibles. By the way, have you seen how Sarah Palin handles a gun?

Yet according to Obama, his foreign policy experience consists of “ties to relatives in poor villages in Kenya and the years he spent growing up in Indonesia. Now he has added a new personal detail to that résumé: a trip to Pakistan while a college student.” Perhaps his recent whirlwind trip to the Middle East and Europe, where he spoke in front of thousands of adoring Germans, can be considered another notch in his belt. There’s nothing like a rousing rendition of “Ja, wir können!” to get Americans pumped up about a candidate.

Obama’s experience also includes his career as a community organizer for an organization accused of mixing “public tax dollars with political projects” and known for voter fraud; seven years in the Illinois senate (where he voted “present” on a number of critical bills, which is tantamount to avoiding making tough decisions); and 143 days experience in the U.S. Senate before announcing his intention to run for the presidency. Palin may be a “heartbeat away from the presidency” if McCain is elected - but if Obama is elected, he’s sitting in the driver’s seat from day one.

Who has more practical “experience?”

Prior to her assuming office as Alaska’s governor in 2006, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska city council; served two terms as Wasilla’s mayor; and chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission while serving as Ethics Supervisor of the commission. (She resigned from the Commission, citing “lack of ethics” of fellow Republican members.)

In all, Palin has seven and a half years’ worth of executive experience under her belt – while Barack Obama, his running mate Joe Biden, and even her running mate John McCain have none. Former presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee noted on Fox News that

“you get more experience to be president in a month of being governor than you do as several years as being a senator, and let me explain why: When you’re governor, you don’t sit making speeches and listening to people talk in committee hearings. You make decisions every few minutes; you make ‘em right now; you live with the consequences. If they’re wrong, everybody blames you; if they’re right you have a hundred legislators all taking credit for it. But when you’re a senator, you know, you have the luxury of picking two or three issues. You don’t have to look at the whole field of play.”

Hugh Hewitt reminds us too, that

“Local government experience means an immersion in the real problems of real people as well as with a myriad of issues from the details of budgets for road maintenance and police and fire forces, to…land use issues…to parks and recreation and school construction issue issues.

[…]

It also means appearing at thousands of the events that define small town life, from the Rotary to the start of the local fund-raising 5K, and the hiring and firing of staff that has to make the traffic lights work and oversee the trash collection.

And mostly it means being able to connect with people who look to the local government to get the big things in small towns right.

Perhaps blogger Ace of Spades put it best:

Obama was not the mayor of a big city. He wasn't the mayor, or governor, of anything. Though he's from a big city, he actually just represented a part of it. And the key word is "represented." He didn't lead; he sat in committee and cogitated and voted (well, he mostly voted present, but whatever).

And is it a surprise that Palin is already being compared to Ronald Reagan, the man considered by many to be the standard bearer of the conservative movement? On his radio show Saturday, economist Larry Kudlow said Palin has her finger on the pulse of what is bothering Americans. She also knows about a critical component in this year’s election: energy, including energy security, energy economics, and she governs the nation’s largest energy supplies. In a recent interview on the topic of energy, Palin said that “if a domestic solution [drilling in Alaska] isn’t part of a national energy plan, then our nation is in a world of hurt. We’re going to continue to rely on foreign – dangerous – regimes to feed our hungry markets.” (Please ignore that last sentence; I was told Mrs. Palin knows nothing about foreign policy.)

At first glance, Palin’s optimism, coupled with a faith in America, seems to be the same breath of fresh air that blew through our nation nearly three decades ago. The real test, of course, lies ahead. She must prove her case to the voters via campaign appearances and a number of debates with Joe Biden. How she comports herself between now and Election Day will either prove her readiness to serve at the right hand of President McCain or be her ticket back to the governor’s mansion in Alaska. Whatever the outcome, it’s sure to be an interesting ride.

Then again, I could have it all wrong: perhaps the reason Obama is jumping all over Palin is that he’s no longer the best-looking candidate in the race.

Pam Meister is the editor of FamilySecurityMatters.org.

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