Sarah Palin & Victory in 2008

Note: There will be mirror posts on this blog. One will be: http://camp2008victoryA.townhall.com
& the other will be this one: http://camp2008victoryA.blogspot.com




In a column over the weekend, Sanity102 (http://outsideofthebox.townhall.com) , one of the best bloggers around, outlined why she strongly supports Gov. Sarah Palin being on the Republican national ticket in 2008. She said:

“. . . Let me explain something about me...the way I work. I AM extremely jealous of my time because it is so frequently limited. I do not push Palin just because "I like her". I do so because I think she can win...and help the GOP in 2008 and in the future. I like doing something positive after weeks, months of watching the GOP being hurt by the absolutes.”

I do like Sarah Palin – a lot, but I support her for basically the same reasons as Sanity. Sarah has the character, charisma, and communication skills necessary to appeal to the American people. She doesn’t come with the political history – and the high “unfavorability ratings” – associated with most national figures.

Sanity mentions how much she values her time. Although I now work for homes, after decades spent among the corporate “suits,” I also recognize the importance of the time, “the fire in which we burn,” as one poet called it. I’m prepared to burn a great deal of time in the effort to get Sarah on the ticket.

I’ve invested at least 200 hours so far, and I’m ready to spend at least 2,000 more. Why? Because I believe it’s essential to the country that there be a new dynamic – specifically, a dramatically different personality – in American politics. As I’ve said before, if our ticket is the usual one – two aging white males in gray suits, both carrying more baggage than an army of red caps – then we deserve to lose, and we will lose.

My friend Jack Kelly, the superb national security columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, disagrees with me. He’s looking at candidates like Rudy Giuliani (whom I like a lot frankly) and Fred Thompson, about whom I have some pressing questions.

Admittedly, I may be wrong, but I don’t think Fred can defeat Rudy in the Republican primary. And I don’t believe Giuliani alone can defeat Mrs. Clinton in the general election. Recent polls suggest my gloomy assessment is correct.

Could Rudy running with Sarah defeat Hillary Clinton? Maybe. Could Fred Thompson running with Sarah defeat Mrs. Clinton? Possibly. I like some of the other Republican presidential candidates, but I see no evidence they could emerge as winners in November, 2008.

As Sanity said, this isn’t a question of which candidates we “like.” At its best, politics is NOT a popularity candidate. We aren’t going to elect Mr. (or Ms.) Congeniality, but rather a President.

We’ve never anyone remotely similar in high office. For one thing, Sarah is the mother of four children.

We’ve never had a high official from Alaska, a state blessedly free of many of our political obsessions in the “lower-48.” We’ve never a President or a Vice-President whose spouse has actually held what most of American regards as “real jobs” – in Todd Palin’s case as a commercial fisherman and oil field production foreman.

In Alaska, some of the state officials have been experimenting with designating Todd as the “First Gentleman.” Somehow, I don’t think commercial fisherman would be comfortable with the effete term “gentleman.” In any case, Sarah calls him the “First Dude.”

The idea of Sarah going to D.C. as the nation’s first female vice-president makes me smile. It has a little of the quality of Jimmy Stewart’s old “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Imagine that: sending a real person – someone with whom a hundred million American can immediately identify.

Recently, a blogger asked me on these pages what Sarah’s position was on Immigration Reform. I said, speaking partly tongue-in-cheek, that I hoped she didn’t have a “position” on that issue, one of no real relevance to Alaska, which wants more people – not fewer – to come there.

On critical issues like energy, faith, and family, Sarah might be the best-informed person we’ve ever sent to Washington, DC. She won’t have learned about those matters by reading books; she has lived them first-hand.

Sarah is good at running things. That traces back to her childhood, and especially to her role at a point guard on a state championship basketball team. The point guard brings the ball up the court and decides exactly how the offense will attack the defense.

In both life and politics, Sarah has almost always been a winner. The “almost” qualification comes from the fact that she lost her race for Lieutenant Governor.

She obviously learned a lot from that. She came back to defeat former Senator and then-Republican Governor Frank Murkowski in the primary. Then, she defeated Democrat and former Governor Tony Knowles in the general election.

How’s she doing at Governor? She’s managed critical energy legislation, fought the rampant corruption in Alaska politics, and shown herself willing to fire officials who aren’t doing the job. That’s why her approval rating among Alaskans has surged to nearly 90%.

So Sarah, you may barely know I exist – at this point. But I’m going to devote every hour I can to making sure you have to relocate sooner rather than later from Wasilla, Alaska to Washington, DC.

Why Sarah? “Because she's fresh, and everyone else is tired.” So, when her country calls, she will answer.

Bloggers (and non-bloggers), join us. . .