More on Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Seen as GOP Rising Star by FOXNews.com Friday, August 29, 2008 FacebookStumble UponDigg Email Buzz up! (AP) Sarah Palin Sarah Palin, John McCain’s vice presidential pick and the first female governor of Alaska, is seen as a rising star within the Republican Party. She became the youngest person to assume the top office of the 49th State in 2006. Her anti-abortion stance is certain to appeal to evangelicals, while her views on the threats of climate change mirror those of Senator McCain. “Palin is becoming a star in the conservative movement, a fiscal conservative in a state that is looking like a boondoggle for pork barrel spending,” Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway has said. “She’s young, vibrant, fresh and now, and a new mother of five. She should be in the top tier. If the Republican Party wants to wrestle itself free from the perception that it is royalist and not open to putting new talent on the bench, this would be the real opportunity.” Palin’s presence adds youth to a McCain ticket, but it is her gender that could help sway women, especially the “security moms” who helped President Bush win re-election in 2004, to vote GOP. Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, on Feb. 11, 1964, Palin moved with her family at the age of three months to Wasilla, Alaska, though she returned to her birth state to attend the University of Idaho, where she studied journalism and graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree. Palin is the mother of five children — Bristol, Willow, Piper, Track and Trig, who was born in April with Down syndrome. She grew up in Wasilla, just outside of Anchorage, played on Wasilla’s state champion girls’ basketball team in 1982, wore the crown of Miss Wasilla in 1984 and competed in the Miss Alaska contest. She began her professional career as a television sports reporter, but after she married her husband, Todd, she helped run his family’s commercial fishing business. Other professional endeavors included the ownership of a snow machine, watercraft and all-terrain-vehicle business. She ran for Wasilla City Council in 1992, winning her seat by opposing tax increases. Four years later, she was elected mayor of Wasilla at age 32 by knocking off a three-term incumbent. At the end of her second term, party leaders encouraged her to enter the 2002 race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Against veteran legislators with far more experience, Palin finished second by fewer than 2,000 votes, making a name for herself in statewide politics. Palin had exceptionally high approval ratings through mid-2007 and received high marks for her accessibility, a change from Frank Murkowski’s administration. Source: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/08/29/sarah-palin-seen-as-gop-rising-star/ reporterSAGE
I would equate being in office in Washington and part of the machine as having more experience than being governer of a tiny populace with isolated issues in Alaska, yes. And, in the situation I was talking about....the President dying.....Biden would be more experienced than Palin. Again, I think this is either a: 1. Masterful stroke or 2. One that puts him further away from the majority of American voters. It will be fun to watch, but my initial reaction about her being picked is..."Who?" And I do worry about McCain's running mate, because the guy is older than dirt. DD
Add that she resigned from the commission in protest over the ethical failings of her fellow republicans, and then worked to out them, forcing the resignation of two prominent republicans.
I think it is a smart political move by McCain. She's very attractive and very conservative, as best I can tell from a quick look. Any women who were supporters of Hillary Clinton, however, are going to see her positions on the issues and run for the Democratic ticket. I think it will help add some excitement that McCain is sorely lacking and help some with conservatives who don't like McCain, as well as superficial 30-somethings. If it's her, a good pick for McCain, based on pretty superficial knowledge of her on my part. He needed to do something to draw attention to his ticket. Palin does that, I think, but will she hold up to closer scrutiny? And I don't think this will help sway Clinton supporters. Not after that great convention. It'll help in other ways, however.
Especially this heart... Doesn't McCain have a history of trashing Alaska in comments he's made in the past? Deriding the whole Highway to no-where fiasco?
1) Are you saying Obama is part of the machine? 2) I agree he is more experienced than her, but it isn't some drastic difference. That's my point. Neither of them is very experienced, one more so. One however is running for president. But that doesn't make sense. You only care about experience in the event of the president dying? Why do you care about that when you don't care about experience in the president? I sort of agree. I think it's either a good pick that will help him get excitement in his campaign, or it's going to be a dud pick that does absolutely nothing for him. Same here. Ok. But again...nevermind.
Yep. And she was instrumental in defeating the Highway to Nowhere. She's been very critical of Republicans in Alaska as well.
Allow me to echo DD after reading this. If McCain dies, this is who'll be president? HOLY CRAP. This pick is basically superficial. McCain has to hope that few voters actually take the time to evaluate Palin closely.
Yes he has, which is why they are very similar. From Wikipedia: Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans Palin successfully killed the Bridge to Nowhere project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending After reviewing her record it becomes more clear that she and McCain have some similarities
Agreed. She is a reformist. She has fought for ethics reform and transparency in government as well as ending wasteful spending. I could see myself liking her better as the presidential pick than McCain to be honest. Her lack of experience in big government concerns me a little and so does my unfamiliarity with her belief on certain issues. Anyway, the fact that she seems to be pretty strongly pro-life tells me she won't help pull many women voters that were going to Hillary.
