On Friday of last week John McCain shocked the political world by naming Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. This bold choice has energized the conservative base as nothing else could and might even gain McCain the White House.
But Governor Palin has already seen, in a few short days, an onslaught from the Left. And the slanted coverage has been downright sickening! Every descent woman in America, who care anything about women’s rights, should be deeply offended by the vicious nature of these attacks! Yet where are the self-proclaimed protectors of women – Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and N.O.W.? Their silence is deafening!
The media is now obsessed with Palin’s 17 year old daughter Bristol after it was revealed she is pregnant. In fact, the New York Times ran three front page stories about Bristol Palin in Tuesday’s edition!
Isn’t it also funny that the Times refused to run any lead stories about the John Edwards affair because he was not an elected official and was not then seeking an office?
But children should always be off-limits! And remember the media stayed away from the Clinton and Gore children, even when Al Gore’s son was caught with marijuana during the 2000 presidential campaign!
Oh the hypocrisy and hate of the Left!
Yet it’s Governor Palin’s experience that has the Obama-Biden team really jumping. Obama has taken such a beating from Republicans for his lack of experience, now they have turned the tables on Palin. But her experience is where it counts, as an executive. As a governor she makes multiple decisions on a daily basis, more in a year than either Obama or Biden, as U.S. Senators, in a full term.
One of the biggest criticisms against Palin is that she has no foreign policy experience. But as Alaska’s governor, she is commander-in-chief of the state’s national guard. Not significant you say, well how many military forces have Obama or Biden commanded? Zero!
Bill Clinton had none in 1992 yet Democrats still praise him as a “great” president. In his convention speech last week, Clinton made a mocking reference to the criticisms leveled against him: “Together, we prevailed in a campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be Commander-in-Chief. Sound familiar?” It sure does! Now Democrats are leveling that same criticism against Sarah Palin, just two days after Clinton said it!
“With Joe Biden’s experience and wisdom, supporting Barack Obama’s proven understanding, insight, and good instincts, America will have the national security leadership we need,” Bill Clinton said. But why is this not good enough for the McCain-Palin ticket?
Judging the experience question by today’s standards, only a former president could fully qualify as experienced enough to be president, a ridiculous threshold.
Palin’s rise to the vice presidential nomination from relative obscurity should not disqualify her either. Her career and selection for national office reminds me of a great leader and conservative president whose important legacy has been forgotten by a great many Americans.
Grover Cleveland, a Democrat when that was the conservative party, made a similar leap in the 1880s, only straight to the presidency. In 1882, Cleveland was serving as mayor of Buffalo, New York, a small town in those days. He was elected governor of New York later that year and was just one and a half years into his governorship (it was just a two year term) when he was nominated and elected president of the United States in 1884.
Though he might have suffered from a “lack of experience” according to leftwing pundits today, Cleveland was a very successful president for two terms and managed the major crises he faced extremely well, troubles that included an economic panic and a major labor strike that resulted in violence and crippled the nation’s rail network.
Sarah Palin has almost exactly the same amount of experience as Cleveland, so leftwing attacks against her smack of extreme sexism as I see it.
Cleveland, like Palin, also entered office on a similar mantle of reform, hoping to clean up a Washington corrupted by a quarter century of Republican rule. He stood up to one of the most corrupt organizations in the history of American politics, Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine in New York City. This was not seen as a wise move politically but made him a champion reformer in the eyes of the public.
Likewise Governor Palin took on her own party in Alaska and the major power broker, the oil and gas industry. Serving as chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission in 2004, which controls and regulates that industry, she resigned in protest over the corruption of one of the leading Republican members, who also happened to be the state party chairman.
She also took on the whole party establishment. After serving on the city council and as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin challenged and defeated Governor Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary in 2006 with 51 percent of the vote. Murkowski, who angered Alaskans for his nepotism, gained just 19 percent. In the fall she defeated former governor Tony Knowles 48 to 40.
While leading Alaska, Palin has been a leader in ethics reform, fighting against corruption, and causing high-ranking officials to resign. She is also unabashedly in favor of traditional values; she is pro-gun, as lifetime member of the NRA; pro-drilling and favors energy independence; pro-life; and a huge tax and budget-cutter.
For her conservative stances, which the Left hates, her approval ratings are sky high, many times over 80 percent, making her the most popular governor in the nation. To hear Senators Obama, Biden, and other members of Congress attack Palin, while they themselves enjoy a 9 percent approval rating, borders on the ridiculous.
For these reasons, the Left is terrified of Sarah Palin, which is why they are coming after her with all their might, to discredit her in the hopes McCain will dump her, thereby destroying the Republican ticket. With her in the mix, the Washington establishment is at risk!
The Obama-Biden campaign should tread lightly in its criticism of Governor Palin. After angering millions of Hillary supporters, they now run the risk of alienating millions of women across the country, who might take offense over the attacks of one of their own. Let’s hope, for our sakes, they continue!
Ryan S. Walters 
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