Presidential Candidate? You Betcha!

I like Sarah Palin. She brings a fresh and honest approach to national politics that appeals to many people who do not live within 100 miles of blue water. However her decision to resign as Governor of Alaska is truly mystifying.

One ought to run for president based upon what they have done. We have seen very clearly what happens when the people elect a celebrity rather than a person of substance. Substance comes from accumulating years of experience in a position of trust and responsibility. Experience and accomplishment transforms one from a political preacher to the choir to someone that can reach a broader audience who might not generally agree with you.

Few occupations prepare one for the presidency more than two terms as governor of a state. Sarah Palin as state governor had the ability to speak to the burdens that Obama's failed policies place upon her state, its people, and its industry. She could also complain that the empty policy towards North Korea placed her state in the line of fire of that country's nuclear arsenal. Alaska was purchased by Secretary of State William Seward (Republican of course) as a strategic asset. Did she not understand the politically strategic position she used to enjoy? The media didn't like her, but as a state governor they had to pay attention to her. Unfortunately by shedding her position of responsibility, she will be pushed farther into the realm of celebrity and farther away from serious politics. That is not my wish, but it is the way of the media world.

I can understand that she felt that she was trying to sit on two stools balancing her ambition to be president with her job as Alaska governor. In spending too much time in the lower forty-eight, she was losing the allegiance of the people in her own state. It was an honest decision made by an honest person and that in itself is respectable, even if I see it as unwise and missing a huge opportunity.

In such a situation, the aspiring president should cut back on the campaigning and continue proving in their work that they ought to be trusted at the next level. Sarah Palin has only given more ammunition to her critics and that is unfortunate. Winning the GOP nomination means convincing Republicans. We have a different standard than Democrats in expecting a candidate to bring a resume to the table. They nominated a man for president strictly based upon the fact that he could read in a pretty voice.

Like I said, I like Sarah Palin. I just do not see how quitting her job to be a full time candidate will help her ambitions.

No News Is Good News in the Sunday Gazette Mail

Last Sunday I was near Charleston, so I got to read that wonderful old piece of objective, just the facts ma'am journalism, the Sunday Gazette Mail. After all, the selection of Governor Palin made a huge splash in the cable news media and elsewhere. I was fascinated with their take on her selection.

Their take was . . . nothing. No mention of her whatsoever. It was as if a journalistic black hole opened up, she fell in, and news of her was replaced by the Cheshire cat grin on the face of Barack Obama's destiny. Instead of commentary on the latest news, the Gazette served up the same old tripe.

Sometimes a paper says quite a bit when it chooses to say nothing at all. Multiple columns commented on Obama's destiny and place in history. Phil Kabler took a pause from his lifelong pursuit of Vic Sprouse to wistfully wonder what might have been if Gore had spent more time in West Virginia in 2000, his theory being that more exposure to the anti-gun, anti-coal, pro-abortion Gore might have somehow convinced West Virginians to vote for him.

Yup, cover those ears, close those eyes, ignore the obvious. Barack Obama is about to fall into the dustbin of history.

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I hate to see the daughter of Governor Palin going through this crap. I am speaking as a father right now. Many Democrats think they have some kind of gotcha issue against the Governor and her family. Like they did with Vice President Cheney's daughter in 2004, they are willing to smear the families of candidates to score a point. A seventeen year old ought to remain out of bounds. Many Democrats see a pregnant teenage girl as the antithesis of family values ideals. Family values does not mean you have a perfect family that never encounters challenges. It means that families stick together and help each other out, just like Governor Palin and millions of others. Americans can understand that, even if the liberal media and Democratic strategists cannot.