Posted on 08/17/2008 5:40:22 PM PDT by Josh Painter
I'm not talking about the mere physical attractiveness of Alaska's governor, though she has been blessed with an abundance of that gift. Palin was a competitor in the 1984 Miss Alaska beauty pageant after being named Miss Wasilla earlier that year, where she also won Miss Congeniality honors.
No, what I'm dicussing here is beauty in the political sense - as in the beauty of what John McCain, if he's smart and willing to make a really bold move, could accomplish by naming Governor Palin as his running mate for the presidential election.
Those making the case for Palin as GOP VP nominee include Jack Kelly on Real Clear Politics, American Spectator's Thomas Cheplick, Bill Krtistol and Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard and Anchorage Daily News columnist William Ruger.
A number of bloggers have added their voices to the chorus in praise of Alaska's governor. Just a few examples can be found here, here and here.
There are websites devoted to promoting Palin for the Republican vice presidential nomination - Sarah Palin for America, Palin For VP, and Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President. There are even web ads made independently on her behalf. You can view them here, here and here.
There no need for me to echo all of the arguments made by those cited here for Sarah Palin. But I would like to add some perspective.
With energy and oil prices at the top of the nation's current domestic concerns, and with energy independence tied closely to national security at a time when Russia, America's old nemisis, is again on the rise, it is critical for McCain to have someone on his ticket who can speak with authority about energy. Palin demonstrates her command of the subject in this video clip from Glenn Beck's TV show.
Also, in one of the most under-reported news stories in recent weeks, Gov. Palin has accomplished a feat which has eluded the U.S. Congress for many years. She has pushed through the Alaska legislature a natural gas pipeline project which will bring new supply and price relief to the lower 48:
On Aug. 1, the same day the call for a vote on drilling began on the House floor, the Alaska state Senate approved a package of measures to license a new natural gas pipeline. House Bill 3001 lets Palin award the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act license to TransCanada Alaska, a pipeline builder that cast a winning bid of five.With the voters seeing nothing being done but congressional bickering on the energy front, Sarah Palin can point to this accomplishment to show that she's a "can do" leader on energy, something no other potential GOP vice presidential nominee can boast of right now. That's what the electorate is looking for, and this would make Palin a valuable asset to McCain's campaign.The legislature had been trying for 30 years to authorize something like this and, up until now, had blown it. Palin got it through. Getting it off the ground, the state says, will be the biggest construction project in U.S. history.
Palin considers the $26 billion project her biggest accomplishment as governor. "It was not easy," she told IBD. "Alaska has been hoping and dreaming for a natural gas pipeline for decades. What it took was getting off the dime and creating a competitive market in Alaska."
The 1,715-mile gas line would stretch from Alaska's North Slope to Fairbanks and down to Alberta, Canada. Then it would take existing gas lines to Idaho. In 10 years, Palin says, the lower 48 states would receive 4.5 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. By 2030, according to Energy Department estimates, Alaska's annual natgas production would quintuple to 2 trillion cubic feet.
But I've saved the best for last. The Democrats can hardly criticize Gov. Palin's resume as being too thin without calling attention to Obama's own limited experience. And that perhaps, is the real beauty of Sarah Palin.
- JP
Sounds good to me
However, will voters feel she's up to the task should Johnny Mac not finish out his term OR will voters support her in 2012 - which looks like it would be a Hillary! vs. Sarah match up?
She’s my #2 pick.
Thread.
Useless.
Pics.
Aug. 11, 2008
To the editor:
She caught the 11 a.m. Anchorage-to-Fairbanks flight last Friday. Striding onto the nearly filled plane with one companion, dressed in a simple black pantsuit, she stopped once or twice to say “Hi,” or to wish a high school football player good luck in their game. One of the kids shyly whispered “Thanks for the $1,200.”
The governor traveled coach with the rest of us working stiffs. She didn’t seem to need a state-owned jet to get around. There was no crew of assistants or security guys surrounding her. She just seemed to be a lady with a friendly smile on her way to do something in rain-soaked Fairbanks.
Later, in the airport lobby, she walked over to a couple of GIs to offer a few quiet words. Then, she was on her way. No muss, no fuss, no fanfare.
We could use a few more like in government, couldn’t we?
Classy governor
Pat Cariati, North Pole
Published Sunday, August 17, 2008
Palin - Smart, conservative woman
Smart Choice
A lot of the Hillary supporters would find it easier to not vote the Dem ticket with her as VP choice.
Not a fem dem would vote for her; she’s too pretty-makes them furious.
This woman should be the presidential candidate not McCain.
however, better mc cain than any democrat even though that is a close call.
Rules, rules! You know the rules ;)
And after a term as McCain’s VP, she runs for president with Bobby Jindal. That works for me!
That early photo, sort of reminds me of Dawn Wells - Mary Ann of Gilligans Island.
I think she would make a better cabinet member then VP. Interior, or Energy.
John
Bearing repeating:
A reading of the article tells us that Sarah Palin was a Miss Congeniality, as if that’s a wonderful credential for someone a heartbeat away from the presidency John McCain proposes.
We are told she was a “fiercely competitive” basketball player.
Happily married. Gorgeous. Smart.
We are given no essential facts about her political achievements. Commentaries about Palin always go begging for substance; one almost suspects there isn’t any.
So I went googling. She was mayor of a town of about 6000 people.
From 2003-2004 she served in an appointed position as Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, from which post she resigned in protest in some controversy. (Her days as the fiercely competitive high school basketball player were not reflected there.)
No facts yet as to what she was doing between 2004 and 2006 before running for election.
She’s been governor for a year and a half. She vetoed a bill against granting benefits to gay partners, although she said she was against it; rather than show leadership by acting on her beliefs and signing a bill passed by the legislature, she bowed to the black robes of the state Supreme Court; she went against her own judgment AND the will of the people and vetoed the bill.
She cut some fat from the budget, leaving it “the largest operating budget in Alaska’s history,” which she signed.
She’s rather inexperienced, to put it kindly. I’ve heard her speak and she doesn’t impress me.
One more thing. Not to belabor my point, but her B.A. degree was in journalism.
So...what’s going on here? Why on earth would anyone seriously endorse her as a likely or appropriate vice-presidential running mate?
And:
If, God forbid, President Bush could not complete his second term, one could argue powerfully that the nation would be in even better hands with Dick Cheney in the Oval Office.
Would anyone feel confident having Sarah Palin taking office if John McCain suddenly (or worse, gradually and perhaps reluctantly) had to hand over?
I’m looking over her history and seeing her quitting a post in protest, being talked out of running for office by her son, and caving to the state Supreme Court by vetoing a popular bill. This isn’t a leader. It’s a cream puff.
We deplore the cultists of personality advancing Barack Obama, yet many here are seeing in Sarah Palin...whatever they wish to see.
...if he picks Sarah Palin and she ever has to step into his position, Heaven help us all. I’m seeing that disaster flick where the person who has to fly the suddenly-pilotless jumbo jet...is the stewardess.
The only reason I see this as unlikely is because I haven’t seen her do any surrogate work on McCain’s behalf. It would be kind of out of the blue.
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