SJ REIDHEAD'S MAJOR SALUTE TO SARAH PALIN

Today, Sunday, my blog recorded its first visitor from Wasilla, Alaska, home of Gov. Sarah Heath Palin.

Note to print, radio, and TV journalists: Several national coordinators in the Draft Sarah Palin effort are available for interviews. If you're interested, either leave a comment or e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com. Thanks.

Could Alaska's "Hottie" Governor Be the GOP's VP Nominee in 2008?

Written by SJ Reidhead
Published August 17, 2007

Alaska’s “hottie” Republican governor, Sarah Palin is a character straight out of the now defunct television classic Northern Exposure. This former beauty queen is ethical to the point where it almost cost her a political career, filing accusations of ethics violations against some of the most important Alaskan Republican officials. She has become an antidote to tales of woe and Republican corruption that seem to find their way out of Alaska in an almost weekly basis. Refreshingly honest, Palin even admits that when marijuana was legal in Alaska, she tried it, inhaled, but did not like it!

Maverick Reputation

Currently, after a year in office, Palin has an 84% approval rating. This is in keeping with her ‘humiliating’ defeat of seated governor Frank Murkowski in a bitter 2006 primary where the almost ‘unknown’ Palin received 51% of the vote while Governor Murkowski received only 19%. Political commentator Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center of Politics remarked that Murkowski’s defeat was “literally almost unprecedented for someone is not indicted.” While Murkowski was not indicted, his administration and his personal life were plagued with allegations of corruption, gifts, and dirty tricks.

Palin’s first months in office have not been easy. Presiding over a Republican Party rife with accusations of corruption, many of them focusing on the state’s senior US Senator, Ted Stevens, Palin has served with grace and poise. In May, three former state legislators were indicted on corruption charges that stem from the repealing of the state’s oil tax and the creation of one which was more favorable to the oil industry. Palin has now called for a special session of the state legislature to meet in October. During that time she will ask for a new tax to compensate for the $150 million shortfall the ‘new’ tax has created.

Sarah Palin’s new tax hike is in keeping with her ‘maverick’ reputation. She is now being promoted as a possible GOP candidate for Vice President in 2008. Will this proposed tax hike hurt her within conservative circles? She is a life-time member of the National Rifle Association, and strongly pro-life. A devout Christian, she completes the “maverick” image by maintaining openly gay friendships and implementing same-sex benefits for the state. According to Fred Barnes, there are those in Alaska who are not comfortable with her strong faith.

In a recent Fred Barnes profile in The Weekly Standard, Barnes quotes Dan Fagan, an Anchorage radio talk show host, “"She's as Alaskan as you can get. She's a hockey mom, she lives on a lake, she ice fishes, she snowmobiles, she hunts, she's an NRA member, she has a float plane, and her husband works for BP on the North Slope," Fagan says. Todd Palin, her high school sweetheart, is a three-time winner of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race from Wasilla to Nome to Fairbanks. It's the world's longest snowmobile race.

Too Good to be True?

Family is very important to Sarah Palin. The mother of four children, Bristol, Piper, Track, and Willow is also a former high school basketball champ. A journalist by training, and graduate of the University of Idaho, Palin worked in the media before entering politics. Her bio reads like the typical “mom” with service organizations that include PTA, sports coach, and youth hockey team manager. She has worked with husband Todd, an Alaska native, as a commercial fisherman. When not single-handedly trying to end corruption in Alaska, raise her family, and govern the largest state in the US, Palin runs marathons!

Her favorite meal includes either mooseburgers or moose stew because, according to one interview, "they taste better than beef with no chemicals, steroids or hormones.” She is a Pittsburgh Steelers' fan and was the second runner up in the Miss Alaska pageant.

Just What the Doctor Ordered?

There is no argument that the GOP, nationally, has many problems. Aside from the ongoing claims of corruption, greatly exaggerated by Democrat opponents for political gain and headlines, there is almost a malaise within the conservative ranks. Factions of the party have begun to think only inside the box, closing their minds to new ideas and new ways of seeing things.

According to Dimitri Vassilaros' recent Tribune-Review profile of Palin, she could be the answer tom any of the problems facing the Republican Party, nationally.

1. She vetoed nearly a third of the earmarks GOP legislators put in the stage budget.
2. While against same-sex unions, she vetoed a bill prohibiting such unions because the state Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional.
3. Palin feels the private sector can do better than government.
4. She is a crusading ‘corruption’ buster.
5. She has signed a bill on ethics and disclosures
6. Unlike many conservatives, she is interested in preserving the environment
7. She is interested in the Native peoples of Alaska.

Palin’s interest in Alaska’s Native Heritage may be the perfect antidote for a Republican Party wracked by perceived conservative bigotry against Hispanics via their failure to approve workable immigration reform. The GOP is in serious danger of losing a large amount of the Hispanic vote. Palin’s almost fanatical interest in Alaska’s Native Heritage may help to heal the gaping wound within the Hispanic community.

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Nominee in 2008, and every indication points to that fact, the GOP is going to need to counter her nomination with creativity and realize that the era of the ever-present “white male” has come to a merciful end. The Republican Party must, in order to make up for the immigration debacle and perceived racism and bigotry do something to raise the profile of women and minorities on the national ticket.

Hillary Clinton’s greatest challenge is the fact that, while her husband was a four term governor of Arkansas, she has not been the chief executive of a state. She has served within her husband’s Administration as one of his primary advisors and has served in the United States Senate. No United States Senator has been elected President since John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960.

Having a seated governor on the ticket would be a major plus for the GOP which will be fighting an admittedly up-hill battle. Having someone like Sarah Palin on the ticket might be “just the ticket”. Not only is she a seated governor, but she is very pretty, has the ‘perfect’ family, a very handsome husband, and is a walking photo-op.

FYI – if Sarah Palin is not on the ticket in 2008, watch for her to be running for POTUS in one of the next few elections. She is relatively young, has national ambitions and is, in all likelihood, the new face of the GOP.



SJ Reidhead is a writer and political junkie who lives in Lincoln County, New Mexico and is the author of two western novels, and has several non- fiction books about Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. She is currently counting hits on her Pink Flamingo blog and is working on an expose of the anti-immigration movement as well as forming her own publishing company.

Steve says: A devoted Christian activist, SJ Reidhead blogs at the “PinkFlamingo” on Blogharbor.com. She’s one of a handful of extremely powerful figures on the blogosphere. Her superb piece on Sarah appeared on BlogCritics. You can find the link to PinkFlamingo, as well as to this piece on my blogroll. I urge you to make her blog and BlogCritics parts of your regular reading. This piece is a major boost to Sarah's campaign. SJ Reidhead's outstanding Internet track record may just make her "the most important political figure in the US that you've never heard of."