I love Alaska and its vast expanses of wilderness that make the American West seem a junior partner. But the Alaskan experience also distills an American paradox: fierce individualism that the Founding Fathers respected in those who challenged the Allegany and the Ohio River frontier, side-by-side large, untouchable corporations that they could never have imagined-- corporations that have already picked up their jobs and moved from states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
John McCain has chosen to keep a heart-beat from the presidency, should he be elected in November, a woman whose main experience is as a legislator for a small Alaskan town of 9,000.
The symbolism of his choice of Sarah Palin is less about the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling than assuring conservatism shaped by proximity to wilderness where large corporations channel profits to extract oil and other natural resources.
So far, what we know of Sarah Palin is that she is a conservative NRA-loving, pro-life woman. Here is what we don't know: in the case that John McCain was unable to serve out a full term, to whom would she turn since she is clearly without experience beyond small town politics and two years governing a state disconnected from the Lower 48?
Would she turn for help and expertise in a second-in-command, a corporate executive whose base is also in the West, in a state like Wyoming, a wealthy executive who traded government experience for a top corporate job; a Dick Cheney? Or maybe Sandy Palin would choose an Andy Mayberry.
Sarah Palin's experience in small town politics at the edge of the Alaskan wilderness has no bearing to the skills necessary for running a federal bureaucracy or governance of 300 million Americans or the federal role in helping our diverse cities filled with millions of citizens. Alaskan Republicans may be fortunate to have a break in Sarah Palin from its old guard like Senator Ted Stevens and Representative Don Young. But Americans need a president with history and context in the Lower 48, and not a state where you can hear conservative values echo across thousands of miles of wilderness that exist nowhere else in our uncertain experience.
25 comments:
Putting the populatiion of the Alaskan Town in perspective:
The population of Key Biscayne, is about 10,000. Even Sunny Isles Beach has more people 15,315.
Gimleteye: Don't buy into their vocabulary:
Prolife is not the right word. It is: anti-abortion
Population of Alaska in 2006 (estimate): 670,053, 70% of which are white.
Population of Miami Dade County in 2006 (estimate): 2,402,208.
So Alaska has about 1/3 of the population of our County or 3 times as many people as Hialeah.
Freaks me out.
People are not going to think this through.
Where did she grow up?
Did she ever study anywhere there was diversity? Besides Canada.
I understand her staff were pushing her speaking to the Canadian government officials over a pipeline as International Experience. Condy Rice must find that laughable, horrifying or both.
After watching the end of the Democratic convention, I have concluded that Obama is the reencarnation of Julius Caesar or Jesus Christ. How easy is it to dupe some people!
So guys, let the Republicans have some fun with their inexperienced, bad hair, no foreign affairs knowledge, former beauty queen VP candidate. At least she's better looking than Joe Biden and more experienced than Obama Mama!
More experienced? LOL
Yes, more experienced. Did you forget Obama has been campaigning the past 19 months leaving him little time to attend to his senatorial duties? Sarah hasn't been goofing off in the meantime.
WHAT BULLSHIT...And what experience does the messiah Obama bring to the table? He has been a Senator 3 years and just about 2 of those he has been traveling our Country and parts of the world, to campaign. You're telling us he has experience. Ha! What a joke. Please spare us with this bs rhetoric.
Obama also served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He probably Governed more people there in Illinois, than the Alaskan Governor does in Alaska.
You know I am very disappointed in the Republicans writing on this blog...They call Obama all kinds of things that the pundits on Fox News call him. I am not hearing this kind of rhetoric from the Democrats towards McCain. If you don't like one candidate or the other that is fine. But make an argument: calling someone a Messiah or a rock star, or (the one I think is most funny) calling him elitist, is not saying anything. It is rehashing what you hear on TV. Be creative and write something real. Maybe you can turn a Democrat around...
P.S. That goes for the Muslim stuff as well.
Last anon---when you are part of Congress you don't govern, you legislate. Get real!!! Governor duties prepare you better than Congressional duties for Executive offices.
In politics size does not matter...
As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on
Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I
know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that
he picked her.
The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in
the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life
time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow
indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and
bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial
hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars
that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school
system.We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the
country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad,
but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are
many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is
appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial
hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links to
informative web sites.
She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet
the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies. The
only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has
consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power
plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home
town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will
unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy
its environment.
Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla,
a small red neck town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education
level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and
other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put
Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about.
These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the
serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as
they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears
and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through20every corner of the
wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.
Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal.
She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't
like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's
performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal
firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't
close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin
isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there ay be more issues
that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.
When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable
if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics
(admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs,
knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment,
health care systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads
of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.
In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in
the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John
McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that
the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and
possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate
as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try
to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her
today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and
Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.
To those of you who, like me, supported Hilary and were upset that she
=0 A
did not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a
worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you
think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine
her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To
those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of
Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified
McCain is to be president. To those of you who are con servative, I
guess you have no choice for president. But please try to see how the
poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment.
While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is
obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally,
a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and
unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president.
I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high.
I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political
affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to
live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.
Jackie S.
size always matters, you must be a man.
Thank you for writing Jackie. I have to assume you are actually from Alaska. No matter, at least you didn't feed us lines from the campaign or TV.
I am a man and and a big one at that.
I wonder who this Jackie S is that wrote this loooooooong essay against Palin. For some reason I dont believe she is from Alaska...and she reads this blog...
She does not think Palin is ready to ve VP. I don't think Obama is ready to be P. Whats worse. Its pretty obvious, BO is not ready!
An Palin hometown native reading a Miami liberal blog. I guess they worry about the Everglades and Key Biscayne all the way up there too. Sounds like an Obama hit job to me!
I hate politics.
It is going to get bad for the lady and the family. Obmama has been through it for 18 months.
She is going to realize that she isn't in Alaska anymore after the first 4 weeks.
Why, a hit job? With Internet tubes it is possible for even Alaskans to know what people are talking about in Miami.
Of course its an Obama/Biden hit job. Dumbos want the White house so badly they will do and say anything.
You would be very surprised to know that Democrats and Republicans know how to use google. They all find posts they are looking for. I wouldn't be surprised if this woman who identified herself from Alaska and also identified herself as a liberal is both...or neither.
To the ones who are puzzled by people outside of your little neck of the woods posting here. Well, I am from Boston and I am reading this blog. By the way, before you start dissing the "lady from Alaska" why don't you check into what she had to say - I did and surprise, surprise these are not uncommon comments to be heard from Alaskans. Also, regarding her qualifications and McCains judgement - Think about G.E. - if you were on the Board, would you let the CEO choose a division manager with less than two years of experience to be President of G.E.
This is primarily a political blog about Miami Dade County Politics and the Real Estate mess the politicians got us into. That is why we thought you would not be interested in our blog...however, we welcome readers from Boston or anywhere else. Read about our Opa Locka airport, our Lovely Natacha Seijas and our hero Joe Martinez. You will find it all here on this blog!
We dissed the lady because she is to the right of President Bush. What could be worse?
What could be worse is an Obama presidency.
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