socio-politics

The election is in two months, yet somehow, the political world has become obsessed with Palin.

What about McCain vs. Obama?

Yes, McCain’s campaign choosing Palin displays McCain’s values and political strategy, though the conversation regarding Palin has shifted away from her relation to McCain, and towards her as a human.

There is so much talk about how much people either relate or can never relate to Palin, along with plenty of questions about her parenting skills and if she can be a parent and vice president at the same time.

The most irrational thing about this is the desire for people to elect somebody that they can “relate to”. It is very human to have this be high on your list of requirements for a politician, though the politician has to have much more to show for themselves.

The problem is that Sarah Palin has little to publicize about herself that does not involve her relation to the average conservative. While she does have a record of trying to save tax payers money and putting more money into the community, she also has a lot of suspicious activity on her record - there were several controversial firings of people that simply disagreed with her, and an instance of eminent domain being invoked when a plan for increasing the sales tax to build a sports complex did not go nearly as well as she had hoped. This makes it difficult for her to truly cite the specific actions that she has taken because it is too easy for her to be made out to be somebody that is not trustworthy.

She is therefore left to appeal to voters by speaking about her “strong beliefs”. However, her strong beliefs are the same stereotypical beliefs that the overwhelming majority of conservatives follow, and she has little more to show for herself. She did not start her political career until 1992, and she has since ran on a very simple platform. She does have very high approval ratings in Alaska, but Ted Stevens, who was recently indicted for falsely reporting gifts, had won every election since 1972 by an overwhelming majority.Any of the people the people that are drawn to Palin simply because they can relate to her need to consider what is truly important for a politician running for Vice President. She may share most conservatives’ values, but if that warranted support of a candidate, then that would mean that any strongly opinionated American with conservative values could run for office and draw support.

What makes a conservative truly appealing and worthy of support is a strong record of fighting for conservative values and the ability to overpower the liberal agenda, as those are the only facets separating a strong candidate from the common conservative. Palin has had little or no political adversity to overcome, and the multiple firings bring into question her tactics for gaining what she wants.

Her lack of experience naturally warrants the retort concerning Obama’s lack of experience, and that it is far worse since he is running for president. This argument does not hold because Obama has a strong and consistent record that displays his honest core beliefs and his ability to succeed in a variety of political settings. Several times over, he has established his self as a leader that has a genuine interest in fighting for a better nation on a regular basis, and he has succeeded in the face of adversity. Palin has not proven her stances to be anything other than for political purposes, and her daily life has never been fully devoted to politics.I try to avoid taking such strong stances, but it is insane for her to honestly be considered a person that adds to McCain’s chances of getting elected. She adds absolutely nothing that any attractive woman conservative would not add, and she can not be seriously considered to have the ability to fulfill the role of vice president.

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