ENERGIZING AMERICA!
10/23/2008 10:32:03 AM by Bob Rodriguez
Just as she's braved the great outdoors for the majority of her life, Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin has turned the political landscape of the most historic presidential election in our lifetime on its head while blazing a trail that will inspire generations to come.
She came from nowhere, or at least from somewhere very far away. She has sparked more energy into the Republican Party than anyone since Ronald Reagan told Jimmy Carter, “There you go again” in a famous debate exchange in 1980. Who is this former beauty queen sitting next to John McCain threatening to change the way Washington does business? Her friends in high school called her Barracuda and it was with razor-like teeth, slicing through the good-old-boys network in Alaska that she entered into the national political landscape of America and captured the hearts of millions along the way.
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Senator McCain several times throughout the last couple of years and in every instance, I witnessed the tough-talking Senator promise significant change in Washington if he is elected to be our next president. So it was no surprise to me when he chose Sarah Palin to become his running mate just before the Republican National Convention in early September. In fact, I had been telling my friends for a long time I believed a female would be on the ticket, I just thought that female was going to be Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard or Elizabeth Dole, the current U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
As the world now knows, Sarah Palin did a prior stint as a city council member and is the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and now governor of that great state. She is a bonafide outdoorswoman and a lifetime member of the National Riffle Association who enjoys hunting, boating, kayaking and fishing. She, along with her husband, Todd, aka, “First Dude,” has five children and is soon to be a grandmother. There’s no question the outdoor lifestyle is very important to the Palin family. In a recent interview, the 44-year-old Palin extolled the virtues of outdoor living when commenting on her husband’s near-fanatical obsession with snowmobile racing. “He’s a world record holder in snowmobile racing,” Palin said proudly. “He can beat anybody.”
Beyond the good looks and happy family lifestyle, Governor Palin is a hard-knuckled, get-it-done executive. She not only heads a state that is the largest geographical one in the nation, but she also presides over the largest energy reserves in the entire continent. She has the executive responsibilities that come with the Governor’s duties, including her direct command of Alaska’s National Guard.
There has been mounting criticism of Palin lately, most of it coming from far-left fringe groups that don’t want to – or don’t care to – give her an opportunity to fully explain her vision and needs for America. Some critics say she wasn’t properly vetted and that being a heartbeat away from the presidency requires additional gravitas, not seen in her. What most critics fail to understand or simply wish to ignore is that Governor Palin presides over an $11 billion budget as governor of Alaska, which includes no income or state sales tax to its residents and that she has vetoed more spending pork than all her predecessors in the governor’s mansion combined. In other words, she’s one tough (but pretty) lady. Call her a match between Margaret Thatcher and Angelina Jolie. She may not have been fully “vetted” by the establishment, but she certainly is well liked in Alaska where her approval ratings have solidly hovered in the 60s.
It seems that the folks who were surprised by her nomination have also underestimated her abilities. Palin rose from obscurity and has taken this nation by storm. With her message of hope, change, accountability, goodness and opportunity for America, delivered in simple terms that resonate with her fellow countrymen, she continues to draw crowds in the tens of thousands to rallies across the nation, comprised of folks eager to hear from a new face in the political landscape, offering a fresh and optimistic perspective. Her delivery skills, honed by a stint as a sports broadcaster, are sharper than most expected. Never was this more apparent than at the vice presidential debate held on Oct. 2. Her appeal to the base was significantly boosted by her one-liners and come-offs to Senator Joe Biden, who appeared to be amused, confused and dazzled by the former beauty queen next to him when she said, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” That one-liner, on debate night, along with her grasp of the critical issues facing America, established Governor Palin as an equal among the three men seeking a new residency in January.
Palin certainly has added an infusion of vigor and youthful optimism to the GOP, rallying the crowds and appealing to women and independents across the nation. “I think many women can get behind and praise this working mom for her extraordinary achievements,” said Alexis Cardenas, a 24-year-old executive administrator for Newspronet in Miami. Cardenas says: “She’s raising a family of five, an accomplishment on its own, and has become a serious contender as a future leader of our great nation – all by the age of 44, and wearing lipstick and a smile.” To quote her now-famous sound bite from the Republican National Convention, “The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull lipstick.”
We will continue to follow her for the next few weeks (and probably years) to ensure she can deliver on the many promises of change, including her promise to help our nation with energy independence.
As America closes out this political season, many things have happened in this election cycle few could have ever predicted. There's certainty that history will be made on Nov. 4 and that change is coming to the U.S. It also appears that one way or another, win or lose, the woman at the center of the storm, Sarah Heath Palin may have changed politics in this country forever.