On October 20 students and professors from both sides of the political spectrum came together to share their ideas on the election and make their case to students about the presidential candidates they support. What started out as a policy debate soon deteriorated into a boxing match over Governor Sarah Palin.
With the hostile room and the opposing panelists not giving us the courtesy to explain our view, I got a little hotheaded and frustrated at the lack of objectivity and had to assert myself. I took it too far (politics does that to people). Even then, I still did not have my reasoning heard. Whether or not they agreed with me, it was the answer to the question they posed and I will answer it here.
Shawn Conway
Senior Staff Writer
On October 20 students and professors from both sides of the political spectrum came together to share their ideas on the election and make their case to students about the presidential candidates they support. What started out as a policy debate soon deteriorated into a boxing match over Governor Sarah Palin.
With the hostile room and the opposing panelists not giving us the courtesy to explain our view, I got a little hotheaded and frustrated at the lack of objectivity and had to assert myself. I took it too far (politics does that to people). Even then, I still did not have my reasoning heard. Whether or not they agreed with me, it was the answer to the question they posed and I will answer it here.
It’s not surprising to me however, that my comments were met with laughs and snide comments. Palin has become a pop culture icon, appearing most prominently as a recurring character and now a guest of Saturday Night Live. Imitations by Tina Fey and jokes about Palin are all well and good for a little buzz, but it has seemed to infringe on the seriousness of the campaign and her legitimacy as a vice presidential candidate.
Most critics of Palin say she is grossly unqualified for the job of vice president. If we look back to why she generated buzz in the first place, we will see that Senator John McCain made a good decision. At the time she was lauded as having “good sense” and “fierce devotion.” It was her ability to reach across the aisle, her strong principles, and her crusade against corruption that set her apart from the rest of the Republican hopefuls to seize the vice presidential spot.
When McCain’s campaign staff vetted Palin, they didn’t need to look hard for things that she would bring to the campaign. Palin is a young, energetic and engaging mother of five who certainly has a way with the Republican base. Since joining the campaign in August, Palin has brought a vigor and drive to the McCain campaign that was failing to energize the critical Republican base. It is that base that came out in droves to re-elect President George W. Bush, and is going to be equally important to McCain.
But clever campaigning and thrilling rallies aren’t the reason you pick a vice president. You pick a vice president to bring something to the administration after the election. Normally, vice president picks highlight where the top of the ticket is lacking: Cheney’s experience to Bush’s inexperience in foreign policy, Gore’s relationships on the hill to Clinton’s outsider identity, or Nelson Rockefeller’s business experience to Gerald Ford’s relative inexperience.
For McCain, Palin compensates for his old age. That’s just the reality of the situation, and McCain picked someone who he was sure would be around if he couldn’t fulfill his duties.
Despite the insistence of many Palin detractors, the first female governor of Alaska brings something to the table that none of the men in the race have: executive experience.
She was governor of Alaska for two years, with an additional six years as mayor, during which time, according to her website, she pushed for “ethics reform to end the culture of self dealing”. And where she also “overhauled education funding” to fight sky-high energy prices she “sent… that revenue directly back to the people of Alaska”, giving them money to provide for heating of homes in the winter.
So it’s the corruption fighting Palin that we in the Republican party look forward to as a breath of fresh air to the same stale political system of overtaxing, overspending, and overreaching power. While she hasn’t spent much time in public office, the time she has spent has produced more quality reform than most of the people we look to as leaders in Washington.
Although most of America sees Palin as the punch line for Tina Fey, I think she’s going to continue to do the same thing she’s always done: confound expectations and be an effective leader. If given the chance to be in the White House, she will exceed expectations and live up to the learning curve that the vice presidency requires.
There is no amount of experience that can prepare someone for the Oval Office. It is a job that requires you to think fast, learn quickly, and do the job that the American people have chosen you for to the best of your abilities. That is something Palin has been doing her whole life, and given the opportunity, will do as our nation’s first female vice president.