"Who?" "Who is she?" Those were a few of the questions that went through my head when I heard of John McCain's "Hail Mary" shot of a pick in Sarah Palin. To say I was confounded was an understatement.I remember telling a family relative over a week ago that Joe Biden's pick as VP for Barack Obama would necessitate a check-mate move from the Republican party. But I was still shocked because this pick left me with a slew of questions:
Is this pick to get Hillary Clinton's supporters, especially women? By Palin acknowledging the said Clinton and the "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling" made me think she was straight up pandering. Isn't this the same Palin who said Clinton was "whining" during the Primaries? Hmmm. And how stupid does John McCain think women are to think one woman replaces another? Does he know that Palin is the anthesis of Clinton when it comes to this unique word we throw around during election season: ISSUES.
Let's talk about those issues for a moment. She's an absolute pro-lifer, even in the case of incest or rape. She wants to teach creationism in schools, she supports home schooling, and wants to take sex-education out of schools in support for abstinence only. Huh! How did that work out with her 17-year old five months pregnant daughter? So that is a private matter but let's talk about her freaking policies.
Alaska leads the nation in sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers and even though teenage pregnancies is down in her state (save for her daughter), something is to be said of how kids are getting STDs while avoiding pregnancies. I have an image in my head of what they are doing but I like to keep a mantra of decency on my blog.
What foreign policy experience does she have? According to reports, Palin just got a passport a couple of years ago for her first trip out of the country. OMG! If that is the case, then I have a better foreign policy experience than she does since I'm on my fourth passport which all have been used to a decent capacity.
Then you have folks saying she has the experience of Barack Obama. Are you kidding me? This lady was a mayor of a city in Alaska with a $12 million annual budget with 50 employees. Obama's campaign spends three times that in a month and runs a campaign with 2,500 employees. Hint to the Republican pundits, Clinton used that same argument and who was left standing with a better and more efficient campaign?
Also, for McCain to pick Palin with zero national scene experience, at 44 years old make his age of 72 more pronounced to people's perception. A VP is supposed to be a "heartbeat" away from being President. McCain at 72 with four bouts of cancer during his lifetime makes this pick a reckless choice to say the least.
But I have to give it to McCain: It was also a smart pick because everyone is talking about his selection than if he picked the same ole boring white dudes. And word on the street is, after seeing Obama's speech on Thursday night, he had to do something that signified change. If not, how do you explain a pick of someone he just met once in February and the second time overnight before the VP announcement? So it was a gutsy move; time will tell if it was a brilliant one.
Tags: Sarah Palin
