Monday, 22 September 2008
John and Sarah
The political powers of our country have spun almost out of control in the past century. Our founding fathers didn’t have a democracy quite like the one we have today in mind. Today politicians are trying to grow their careers rather than grow our economy. We have a rare case this year, with the election revolving around the possibility of a minority becoming the President or Vice President. The focus on this presidential election is that of diversity. John McCain and Sarah Palin are one of the possible combinations that could represent our country. There has been so much focus around the fact that Palin’s seventeen year old is pregnant that we as a nation are missing the big picture. Who is Sarah Palin?
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To fully understand who Sarah Palin is one must look at her past in order to understand the present and future. Sarah first started out in local government in 1992 serving as a council woman for Wasilla, Alaska. After serving two terms she became mayor of Wasilla. While in office she reduced the property tax and improved Wasilla's business environment. She also gave time to serve as the chair of Alaska's Conservation Commission where she dealt with gas and oil issues. She was the president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors which helped improve Alaska's community. Her main goals in office were to stop excessive spending and focus on the people. All this work was accomplished in 12 years, according to Alaska's official government website. In 2006 she became Alaska's first woman governor...
source: http://gov.state.ak.us/bio.html
While the McCain/Palin ticket appears rare in circumstance, Palin's political beliefs correspond to those of a Christian's beliefs in multiple areas. Her stand against abortion is probably her most well known policy because of the controversial situation with her pregnant teenage daughter. Since July of 2006 to August of 2008, Palin has set eleven standards of how she feels about abortion. When asked directly what her stand on abortion is, she replied, "I'm pro-life. I'll do all I can to see every baby is created with a future and potential. The legislature should do all it can to protect human life." (On the Issues) This is only one of Palin's many controversial, yet highly interesting political viewpoints.
According to an article from MSNBC.com, in an article by Mark Murray, Palin supports abstinence only teaching for sexual education in schools. Her daughter attended one of the many high schools that agree with this teaching. The media, of course will not let go of this, therefore ignoring the above mentioned important parts of Palin's career. The fact that she only has a short record in politics scares a lot of skeptics, although her and McCain's opponent, Barak Obama, is also somewhat of a new man on the political spectrum. McCain has the political background that our country expects from a president.
A lot of the hype around Sarah Palin has to do with the fact that she came out of nowhere and could now be the next Vice President. In a public opinion poll I conducted, I asked people: Do you think Palin is a good choice? Do you feel she has enough experience? Are you apprehensive to have a woman in office? The results showed 56% of people think she has enough experience and that she was a good choice. 94% responded that they are not apprehensive to having a woman in office. However, the biggest complaint from those polled was that Palin does not answer questions. This fact alone concerns people. They want to know more about her but are not getting the answers.
When interviewing a republican from my home church, I asked what her thoughts on Palin were. She responded saying, "She answers questions very well in my opinion. I appreciate her ability to stand in front of people while not caving in to what they want." Although Palin may not give the answers people want to hear she is answering questions. The main news articles published on Palin are primarily focused on her husband, her daughter, and the fact that she is a woman. If America wants to get to know her stands on the issues of this country, they should pay less attention to her personal issues, and place more attention on her campaign.
Americans are trying to get to know Palin, but many people are trying to do so only through what the media is telling them. I spoke with a group of young voters, among them was a first time voter who knew nothing about Palin or McCain's politics, and also a few experienced voters. One, Mike Teague, a junior here at Biola, was the only student that I spoke to that was slightly informed about Palin's past and where she comes from. He knew she was the Alaskan governor and an avid member of the PTA. Even Teague, this "informed" voter didn't feel he had enough knowledge to cast his vote in any direction.
The New York Times reported on Sarah Palin today as she was amidst meetings with foreign leaders discussing world issues. Kate Zernike, the author of the article, again brought up the fact that Palin has not given a lot of interviews. She has been traveling everywhere to make up for lost time. The only interview Palin has give so far is to Katie Couric for CBS. During the interview Couric only asked her questions on her thoughts toward the economic crisis and not the up coming election. There was a chance to know more about her but it was sidelined by the weak economy. If people want answers they must begin to seek them out.
sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/us/politics/25palin.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
While Palin's popularity is increasing, voters are beginning to want to know more. According to the Hill newspaper, voters want to know about Palin to determine if she is prepared to be president if necessary. One person has no doubt about her ability and that is Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Dias. He says, "Gov. Palin has the kind of real-world and executive experience that resonates with voters demanding change and reform. Her record of getting things done at an executive level in the state of Alaska demonstrates she has superiors experience and judgment over Barack Obama.” However, the question still remains: Can she answer the tough questions and release her views to America so they truly can know who she is?
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