Saturday, August 30, 2008

Five Things You Should Know About Sarah Palin

As the mainstream news media picks up the Obama-Biden mantra that Gov. Sarah Palin is lacking in experience to become vice president, here are five things you should know about her before making any conclusions about her:

  • Palin has held elective office longer than Barack Obama. She was first elected to the city council in Wasilia, Alaska in 1992. After four years on the council, she was elected the city's mayor, a position she held for 10 years, including serving as President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In 2006, she was elected Alaska's first woman governor. She also chaired the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission for two years.
  • As governor of Alaska, she serves as Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard. It's also worth noting that Alaska borders two international boundaries, including Canada and Russia. She has visited national guard troops deployed in Iraq and wounded soldiers in Germany. Admittedly, it's not much in the way of foreign or military experience, but it's more than Obama's zero experience. Note that he has chaired a subcommittee for the past two years dealing with Europe and the Middle East and has failed to hold a single meeting.
  • She resigned in protest as Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders. Her whistle blowing efforts help bring down the governor, attorney general and state party chairman of her own party.
  • She bucked the party establishment and took on and defeated an incumbent governor of her own party, promising to clean up Alaska politics.
  • As governor, she has passed landmark ethics reform legislation and used her veto power to eliminate wasteful spending. In her first acts as governor, she fired the governor's chef and sold the state's jet on E-Bay. Remember that famous "Bridge To Nowhere" Sen. Stephens obtained $400 million in a federal earmark to build? She told the federal government to keep the money. She also campaigned against U.S. Rep. Don Young in the Republican primary because of his big-spending ways.

It is striking to note how comparisons of Palin's experience are being made to Obama's, the number one guy on the ticket and not the number two guy, Joe Biden. Is Sarah Palin's depth of experience as good as it could be? No. Is it deeper than Obama's experience? You bet it is. You can deride her experience all you want, but at the end of the day, she has executive experience which Obama, and for that matter, McCain and Biden, are lacking. Unfortunately, too many reporters immediately bought into the Obama spin on Palin and are misrepresenting her experience relative to Obama's and Biden's.

The Star's Matt Tully fell right into Obama's lap. "How does Sen. John McCain ever again question Sen. Barack Obama's experience, or argue that Obama isn't ready to lead?", he writes in his column today. "It's hard to imagine McCain could do either after choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, seeking to put a woman who until recently was mayor of a tiny city one breath away from the presidency." Before running down the Democratic talking points, Tully should have taken the time a good reporter would have done to learn who Sarah Palin is. If he had bothered to do that, he would know that the young 44-year-old governor brings experience none of the other three men on the ballot have to offer. And on the issue of change, there can be no question that Sarah Palin is the candidate who has demonstrated the strongest will through her actions to buck the status quo and fight for change.

7 comments:

mackenzie197 said...

I'm thrilled by the choice. If she does lose though, do you think she'd be available to come to Indianapolis to clean up the city's problems with conflcts of interest and people lining their pockets at taxpayer expense? It sounds like she dealt with problems in Alaska that are similiar to problems Mayor Ballard is ignoring in his own adminstration.

Jon E. Easter said...

Come on...you are comparing her time as a city councillor/mayor to Obama's time as a state legislator? Obama was in the Illinois state legislature. Palin was in city government of a town of 7,000 people. Hardly apples to apples here.

McCain made a bad choice. Obama made a good one. McCain again has shown that his judgment is impaired, and he should not be given the opportunity to lead our country. Presidential scholars are laughing at Palin's choice.

I suppose the Mayor of Beech Grove, Joe Wright will be his Secretary of State? Let's make the President of the Butte Montana City Council his Chief of Staff.

Bill Hudnut was more qualified to be a Vice Presidential nominee than Sarah Palin.

Nick said...

I read the Tully column. I found it strange he interviewed Democrat delegates. Uh, what did you expect the opposition to say, Matt? That's what passes for journalism at today's Star.

His history of awful reporting is evidence the Star only keeps him on board to write columns because they've got to fill the page somehow. Lord knows their ad revenue is declining. Sadly Matt is becoming obsolete and doesn't even know it.

And where was the media scrutinizing Gov. Kaine, also in his first term and a former mayor himself?

Gary R. Welsh said...

jon said, "Obama was in the Illinois state legislature. Palin was in city government of a town of 7,000 people. Hardly apples to apples here."

Don't argue with a guy who worked for the Illinois legislature for 6 years. The collective wisdom of the people in the Illinois legislature could be held in a brown paper bag. The Chicago Democratic hacks were the worst. Obama spent the first 7 years in the legislature looking pretty, wining and dining with lobbyists and just trying to be seen. He didn't even get serious about legislating until his last year when he figured out he didn't have anything to run on in his U.S. Seante bid and he went to Senate President Emil Jones, his corrupt mentor, and said help me, Emil. Jones took away good bills from other more deserving legislators and let Barry put his name on them so he could look like he did something. If you don't believe that, just ask Emil. He'll tell you.

M Theory said...

Tully is still drunk on the DNC kool-aid. Wanna bet Shella is too?

Anonymous said...

Obviously, Jon Easter is also drinking the lefty 'need to steal power' kool-aid, as well.

Saying Obama made a great choice while McCain didn't is totally 'the blind wishing they could lead the blind'.

Governor Palin has more credentials in running the entire State of Alaska than all three other Candidates put together do in their tenures as Senators. Being a Senator is nowhere near being the CEO of a major Corporation or like being a Governor.

There's a reason that no Senators have made it to the Oval Office since JFK. All grassroots voters get it that Senators just use taxpayer money for a free ride while they keep looking for their next Toga. (Yes, that goes for McCain, too. Although, in a bar brawl I'd never want Obama watchin my back - no way)

Mr. Easter certainly needs to read the independent websites instead and avoid the myopic approach of re-peating MSM talking points. Go here: www.realclearpolitics.com

Blogger AdvanceIndiana has certainly provided plenty of historical credentials for Gov. Palin without forcing anyone to do their own homework. Try and leave the homework avoidance campaign off Your List of What You're Not Gonna Do.... okay?

The fact that Palin is the Commander for the National Guard in Alaska (alone) makes her well qualified to take measures for Civil AND National Defense - must I repeat Alaska borders two foreign Countries (Russia & Canada).??

With Chicago-style Al Capone-like political tactics being used by the Obama Campaign, one wonders if anyone would seriously feel safe in the company of such people, even Mr. Easter. I know I wouldn't.

Anonymous said...

THIS IS AN EMAIL FROM A CO-WORKER WHO IS IN LOVE WITH OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. POLITICS IS HER LIFE AND RELIGION. SHE IS ONE SIDED AND WILL NOT GIVE IN OR LISTEN TO ANYTHING BAD YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT DEMOCRATS OR OBAMA.
IF YOU DO SAY SOMETHING BAD YOU ARE CONSIDERED RACIST!

Everything is a prevarication.

First point. Obama held office in Illinois for eleven years as a State Senator representing eight million people
Palin is the governor of six hundred thousand. There is no comparison. In fact anything she headed
is small time, small town.

Second. a. The governor of any state is no longer C in C of his national guard since they’ve been called out by
the President. b. Being near a border conveys no kind of authority or knowledge. It has been proven
that while visiting Kuwait, she got close to the Iraq border but did not cross. c. Obama’s record—read
it and weep. He has done incredible things in a couple hundred days.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/21/164117/783/290/461422


Third,
Fourth. Good for her.

Fifth. a. She is now abandoning all ethical behavior in the matter of the investigation for the wrongful firing of
Alaska’s State Police Chief. Her husband has refused to testify after being subpoenaed. b. The chef remains
employed under another department and continues to serve as chef to both the new dept and the
Alaska Governor’s House. c. The jet never sold on E-Bay. It was sold for a loss to a private individual. Alaska
is geographically so vast, that business can’t be done without the use of airplanes. As governor, what has
she been flying? d. She backed down on building the bridge when public opinion went against it, but has
kept all the federal money, using it on other infrastructure projects. e. Great politics to be against big spending.



SHE IS A JOURNALISM MAJOR WHO COULD NOT NAME ONE NEWSPAPER SHE READS WHEN ASKED TO NAME THEM BY COURIC.


She is really the most intellectually incurious candidate we’ve seen besides Bush. I don’t want a president I can have a beer
with. I want a highly educated, gracious, intellectually curious, cool-under-pressure person like Obama. Of the four nominees,
he is by far the classiest, and the most intellectually rigorous candidate we have seen since FDR.

Jarred, stop shilling for Bill.

Yara