Palin the perfect pick

September 2 , 2008

 

You’ve heard the exclamations since John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.  “Brilliant!”  “Perfect!”  “Stunning!”  It is all that, but it’s more.

Here was McCain’s dilemma.  He relishes his reputation as a maverick.  He’s thumbed his nose at the Republican establishment on more than one occasion.  He’s buddies with Ted Kennedy.  Joe Lieberman, a great guy but one of the most liberal members of the Senate, has thrown his support behind McCain.  Liberal news outlets were frothing at the mouth over the prospect that Lieberman would be his choice for VP.  With McCain’s liberal stands on global warming and illegal immigration they were sure to be pleased in November, no matter who won. 

Most candidates choose a VP candidate to either shore up their experiential shortcomings or for a geographical grab of a delegate-rich state.  McCain did neither.  Lieberman joked the day before the selection that John McCain had “better judgment” than to choose him.  Apparently, he did.  He used the selection to shore up his conservative base.  Instead of embracing the liberal intelligentsia that had begun to embrace him, he socked them right in the jaw.

Sarah Palin is, by almost all counts, a hard-core conservative.  Rising from the PTA to become a small-town mayor then on to the governor’s office, Palin has done it with a common sense approach.  She took on her own entrenched and corrupted state Republican establishment.  She has distanced herself from arguably one of the biggest money-grabbing senators in the history of the United States Senate, Ted Stevens, backing his opponent in the Republican primary this year.  Despite Stevens’ push for the infamous “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska, Governor Palin told Congress, “thanks, but no thanks.”

When oil-rich Alaska found itself floating in extra money, instead of spending that money, Governor Palin gave it back to Alaskans in the form of $100 debit cards.  She understands Alaska’s important role in providing energy for the United States.  She’s for drilling in ANWR and helped facilitate the building of a huge natural gas pipeline.  She threatened to sue the federal government over their silly designation of the polar bear as threatened because she knew, first, polar bears are more plentiful than ever and, second, the move was intended expressly to prevent us from accessing more oil.

You’ve heard the expression “he’s a man’s man.”  Palin is a “man’s woman.”  She’s a card-carrying, lifetime member of the NRA, she’s pro-life, pro-family, pro-drilling for domestic oil and doesn’t believe all this hooey about global warming.  She’s a devoted mother and a big proponent of public education.  And, yes, somebody has to say it; she’s just sexy enough to draw your attention yet still commands your respect.  And, despite the stereotype that women are notoriously liberal, women love her, too.  As an added bonus, she has executive office experience which is more than can be said for either man on the “JoeBama” ticket, especially the man at the top of it.

But, what is so brilliant about McCain’s move is he has instantly set up the Republicans to govern for 12 straight years, if he wins in November.  McCain has already stated that he’s a one-term president.  Whether he’ll abide by that in four years remains to be seen.  Whether he does or not, Palin will be standing by to take the Republican Party in the direction it needs to go.

This is why conservatives are so jazzed.  We feared a dangerous lurch to the left from which the party may never have recovered.

Go ahead and start printing the bumper stickers: Palin/Jindal in 2012.