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Political Rant: My Views on Sarah Palin

Well, for the longest time we have been hearing a lot about McCain’s vice presidential pick, Sarah Palin. The press has been making a big deal about how McCain picked a woman and how much of a maverick they both are. WOO HOO!

Now I live in San Antonio, which is *clap,clap,clap,clap* deep in the heart of Texas, so I have had the great misfortune to hear lots of Republican voters remark about the Vice Presidential pick, first hand. The people I have heard from have ranged from young adult to elderly and from those who only have a High School education to those with Medical Degrees so I got a pretty decent span of age and intelligence in the mix. So here is what I heard from them about Palin:

‘I bet Obama is spitting nails now’ or some variation thereof
‘Do you think she was picked cause she is a woman?’
‘It’s amazing how McCain picked a woman and Obama didn’t’

etc.

Does anyone see a theme here?

Recently, Someone posted that she was disgusted with how the press was mostly posting on how she is a woman. Well, it’s her blog so I was kind. Now I am writing, and here is exactly the answer to her question.

The Press repeatedly reports about Sarah Palin being a woman because that is, by far, the greatest strength she is bringing to the table as a Vice Presidential Nominee!

I mean, what else is she bringing? Education or Experience? That is a big no!

Lets compare educations! First I will compare McCain’s and Obama’s education.

McCain graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He apparently graduated at a low standing despite being more intelligent than most of the students because he would be at odds with his superiors. He also has a lot of real world experience, including an excellent Navy career and quite a few senatorial terms under his belt.

Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School with a J.D. and taught constitutional law for twelve years. He was also a community organizer for three years while he was in college. He also has been a junior U.S. senator for 2 years and a Illinois senator for some years.

Since the lives of those two candidates are so different, and there is a lot to speak of for both of them I will not say that one wins hands down in the education department. My personal opinion is that Obama has an edge, especially when you consider what he studied and learned to prime him to become the President of the U.S. Call me crazy, but I really like the idea of a president who is an expert on constitutional law

Ok, now shall we compare Biden and Palin’s education?

Biden has a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law, and over 30 Years as a US Senator.

Palin has a B.S. in Communication-Journalism from the University of Idaho, 8 years as a mayor and 1+ years as governor of Alaska.

Ok, so clearly it’s not her education or her experience.

What about issues? Perhaps her support in certain issues?

Well, she up until recently has professed that people were not significantly responsible for global environmental changes. In direct contrast to McCain, who actually does support that humans are a significant part of global warming.

She also wants to drill in Alaska, again which McCain does not support.

She also thinks that ‘abstinence-only’ programs are the way to combat teenage pregnancy. Both John and Cindy McCain have gone on record as saying that they do not agree.

Now, I am sure that there are issues that McCain and Palin do agree on, but clearly there is a lot of division in the Republican camp! So I doubt that her stance on issues were the reason that she was picked by McCain.

So that leaves her gender. Yep, that is easily the greatest asset she brings to the table as far as being the Vice Presidential nominee. Which is sort of sad really. Of course I don’t blame Palin. Just about any politician who is presented with this opportunity would accept it, even if they think they are unqualified. It’s just too good to pass up! The one to blame is McCain! He is the one who picked a ‘Hockey Mom’ instead of someone who is qualified to do the job, and for the express purpose of using her to get votes then hiding her!

Shame on you, John McCain!

  • http://www.crowgyrls.com/ Meg

    Thank you for posting this… excellent research. I find the educational backgrounds of all of them particularly interesting. I differ with you on the reasoning for choosing Palin.

    Partly, it is history-making. Palin is a woman (I think…lol). Obama was receiving a lot of attention for making history. Conversely, McCain was not able to keep the media’s interest. When Obama chose Biden, not Hillary, it was thought that there would be thousands of disaffected “women” voters. And I am certain the McCain camp hoped to absorb some of them. However, it turns out this was not the case. Probably because most of us “disaffected” Hillary voters were supporting her for her stance on issues and all she accomplished as a Senator and as the First Lady, not for her vagina. They underestimated women, yet again. Imagine…

    I think the bulk of the reasoning for McCain choosing the inexperienced Palin, despite not even really knowing her himself, is to rally support from the evangelicals who were not enthusiastically getting behind him. Certainly, they would have voted for him as an anti-vote against Obama but they were not feeling him. And to most of them, “feeling” is all they understand. Unprocessed emotional reaction trumps logic with them, with most everyone, really. Thus, rhetoric and the slippery slope are born.

    Some of the strongest, loudest (albeit the most obnoxious and biased) spokes persons for that demographic couldn’t stand McCain from the beginning and said as much often. However, they could not let Obama win. So, Palin was the perfect ploy. As you mentioned, McCain disagrees with many of Palin’s views but she was the ultimate attention-getter for many reasons but mostly she reinforced the support of the evangelicals.

    And the result: a very energized group of overly-emotional, illogical one-issue voters running their mouths, frightening others who are too busy or too lazy to do their own research, into voting the way they think all should.

    Scary!

  • http://www.crowgyrls.com Meg

    Thank you for posting this… excellent research. I find the educational backgrounds of all of them particularly interesting. I differ with you on the reasoning for choosing Palin.

    Partly, it is history-making. Palin is a woman (I think…lol). Obama was receiving a lot of attention for making history. Conversely, McCain was not able to keep the media’s interest. When Obama chose Biden, not Hillary, it was thought that there would be thousands of disaffected “women” voters. And I am certain the McCain camp hoped to absorb some of them. However, it turns out this was not the case. Probably because most of us “disaffected” Hillary voters were supporting her for her stance on issues and all she accomplished as a Senator and as the First Lady, not for her vagina. They underestimated women, yet again. Imagine…

    I think the bulk of the reasoning for McCain choosing the inexperienced Palin, despite not even really knowing her himself, is to rally support from the evangelicals who were not enthusiastically getting behind him. Certainly, they would have voted for him as an anti-vote against Obama but they were not feeling him. And to most of them, “feeling” is all they understand. Unprocessed emotional reaction trumps logic with them, with most everyone, really. Thus, rhetoric and the slippery slope are born.

    Some of the strongest, loudest (albeit the most obnoxious and biased) spokes persons for that demographic couldn’t stand McCain from the beginning and said as much often. However, they could not let Obama win. So, Palin was the perfect ploy. As you mentioned, McCain disagrees with many of Palin’s views but she was the ultimate attention-getter for many reasons but mostly she reinforced the support of the evangelicals.

    And the result: a very energized group of overly-emotional, illogical one-issue voters running their mouths, frightening others who are too busy or too lazy to do their own research, into voting the way they think all should.

    Scary!

  • Alpha Wolf

    Yes! A comment!

    Very well thought out response. I had not considered that she would be a lightning rod for the religious right. You also explained why, I figured that they would vote for the ‘non-Obama’ candidate also.

    I still stand by my original statement, and much of what you wrote is in line with it. It explains how her being a woman has become the greatest strength she brings to the table. The fact that it is history making in a limited way, attetion grabbing and a pathetic ploy to grab the dissafected Hillary voters all falls under her gender.

    I will say that her religious connections are a very close second.

  • Alpha Wolf

    Yes! A comment!

    Very well thought out response. I had not considered that she would be a lightning rod for the religious right. You also explained why, I figured that they would vote for the ‘non-Obama’ candidate also.

    I still stand by my original statement, and much of what you wrote is in line with it. It explains how her being a woman has become the greatest strength she brings to the table. The fact that it is history making in a limited way, attetion grabbing and a pathetic ploy to grab the dissafected Hillary voters all falls under her gender.

    I will say that her religious connections are a very close second.

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