Much has been made of Sarah Palin’s selection as John McCain’s runningmate. The big complaint about the Alaska Governor from the left is her seeming lack of experience. I’d like to investigate this charge more thoroughly.
Leaving aside the fact that Governor Palin manifestly has more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket, and the left’s gleeful and hopeful (and ultimately tacky) insinuations that John McCain will die in office, Governor Palin is a great choice. I trust her to make the right decisions for America should she need to assume the Presidency.
As Governor, Sarah Palin has dealt with natural disasters on a large scale. Alaska, being as remote as it is, relies on the Alaska National Guard to assist with natural disaster relief, such as the flooding that took place last year and in August of this year. The people of Alaska have come to rely on disaster management organizations and the Alaska National Guard, but most of all upon Governor Palin’s effective disaster management, to overcome these challenges. Meanwhile, the only experience Senator Obama has with dealing with deadly natural disasters is appearing on the political talk shows to play the blame game. That’s not leadership experience.
Even before becoming governor, Sarah Palin has stood strong against corruption, even when that corruption was found in her own party. While chairing the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and serving as the ethics commissioner, she found corruption among several other members of the commission. After resigning in protest of the corruption, she went after them in the courts, resulting in a cleaning up of the commission. On the other hand, Barack Obama has been implicated in accepting illegal campaign contributions from non-American-citizens (despite, in one case, the check being enclosed with a note that said “I am not an American citizen”). Furthermore, Obama’s association with Tony Rezko raises questions as to his anti-corruption credentials, especially given that Obama bought property at a heavily discounted rate from Rezko before his indictment. Obama only backtracked on these matters when the media caught wise. That’s not leadership experience.
While Americans are plagued by high energy costs, Congressional Republicans and Democrats can’t seem to find a way to relieve the pressure. Governor Palin, in her capacity as Governor of Alaska, has repeatedly stated that ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve) is ready for exploration. Senators Obama and Biden (who, like 99% of environmentalists and unlike Governor Palin, have never set foot in ANWR) oppose exploration. Governor Palin, recognizing the need to get America off foreign oil and stop depending so heavily on unfriendly regimes in an unstable region for energy, advocates an “all of the above” energy plan. That means she wants to explore domestically for oil, but also believes that other forms of energy (i.e. wind, solar, hydrodgen, etc.) should be developed. The Obama/Biden plan to secure America’s energy future is to keep our tires properly inflated. That’s not leadership experience.
Instead of engaging Governor Palin on the issues, the leftist blogosphere and the media (with a wink and a nod from the Democratic establishment) have chosen to attempt to smear the Governor and her family with cheap innuendo and scurrilous lies. This just reinforces my opinion that Governor Palin is the right choice: if the left holds such an incoherent, sputtering hatred of her that they have to attack her and her family personally, it indicates that they know they can’t win a substantive argument on the issues.
So when it comes to who to trust to take over on day one, who is America going to look to? Politics-as-usual or a proven reformer? A complainer or a leader? An energy plan so idealistic that it seems childish, or a realistic plan to get the United States off foreign oil?
There’s no contest, the choice is clear. Sarah Palin: Right from the start.
