Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sarah Support Growing Rapidly

To regular visitors, I'll have a new column up about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The number of bloggers supporting Sarah Palin for V-P is mushrooming. Here are some:

Sarah Choice for VPBy Stephen R. Maloney(SJ Reidhead) My VP week on Moms for McCain would not be complete without mention of fellow Mom and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, another "rising star" in the GOP, who has a unique ability to appeal to several key constituencies.


...New Jersey for John McCain - http://newjerseyforjohnmccain.blogspot.com/
Matt's Plan for Victory for McCainBy Matty N(Matty N) ... could be beneficial…but because Obama has made the experience card moot, McCain could seriously consider pulling an untapped resource, one of the two major young, attractive, reform minded Governors, Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal. ...Matty N's Blog - http://t0llenz.blogspot.com/


The Veep StakesBy seniledelinquent Other female candidates who would be more attractive to the ticket are Kay Bailey Hutchison, or Sarah Palin, the very young and popular governor of Alaska. As for adding color, Bobby Jindal, the newly elected Indian-American governor of ...Senile Delinquent's Blog - http://seniledelinquent.wordpress.com


AK/DC clippings for FridayBy Dillon More blogs agitating for Sarah Palin to be presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain's second in command. And another one here. The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports on NOAA cutting Southeast Alaska charters halibut ...An Alaskan Abroad - http://alaskanabroad.typepad.com/an_alaskan_abroad/


For (Counter-) Strategy Purposes, Here Is Hasslington's Top Half ...By Hasslington(Hasslington) Reasons: If I could (and, since this is my blog-site, I suppose I could...) I would put Senator Thune in a tie with Governor Palin for #1, but that would make me feel as though I were cheating. So he slides down one notch to #2, ...Hasslington - http://hasslington.blogspot.com/


If you're interested in another candidate who might one day end up in the White House, check out my piece on PA's Melissa Hart: http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com/. I hope all Pennsylvania visitors will check out that site, one where I'm currently writing about key congressional races.


Gov. Sarah Palin -- beautiful, yes, but also extremely talented and a true patriot.



Jean Avery of Seattle, Washington, is one of those people whose name may be unfamiliar to you, but she plays a significant -- and growing -- role in American politics. She's a first-rate thinker and writer who is strongly backing John McCain


Jean, a Princeton grad and originator of the very popular Moms4McCain site on blogspot.com, wrote the following piece. In my view, Jean is in many ways just as much a star as Sarah Palin. This column appeared on http://mccainnow.com (which I urge everyone to join) and on Jean's own site. Hillary Supporters (and others) who are "moms" should consider getting behind Sarah as a vice-presidential choice. The DailyKos and Moveon.org crowds fear Sarah, which speaks volumes about her strengths. (There are growing rumors that Sarah is on John McCain's short-list for the VP nod, and I discuss that situation on: http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com.



Here's what Jean said:



My VP week on Moms for McCain would not be complete without mention of fellow Mom and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, another "rising star" in the GOP, who has a unique ability to appeal to several key constituencies.This election has been about breaking barriers, shattering glass ceilings, and overcoming stereotypes - and that's a good thing.



I have discussed before why I don't think merely being a woman or minority candidate is sufficient, in principle or in practice, to earn the votes of Americans and win an election.However, as my friends on McCain Now pointed out, the strategic reality before John McCain is that millions of would-be Hillary voters are about to come "up for grabs", a significant number have shown consistently they are willing to vote McCain.

Choosing a female VP would be a strategic move to show disenfranchised Hillary supporters that women have a prominent place in a McCain White House.That issue aside, Palin would be an outstanding pick even if she were equipped with different body parts. Palin complements McCain's strengths and would, I believe, strengthen the Republican party's national image.

With unheard-of approval ratings near 85-90%, former beauty queen Palin was not an obvious choice to lead a state that many of us associate with igloos and parkas. Like Jindal, she ran for office to fight the notorious corruption in her state (remember the "bridge to nowhere"?) and like McCain, fighting for responsible spending and accountable government has been a hallmark of her leadership.

Palin walks the walk on conservative values, as a cautious spender, avid sportswoman, 2nd-amendment defender, and true example of pro-life values in action. Already a mother of four, Palin became pregnant at age 44 and learned early in her pregnancy that her child would, most likely, have Down's syndrome.

Palin showed courage and character, leading throughout her pregnancy and even posing for Vogue. She went into labor early (been there, done that!) during a Governors' conference -- at which she had the opportunity to informally 'remove herself' from VP consideration, and didn't take it.

To be clear, I don't think we should hand this woman the vice-presidency because she gave birth a lot and in brave ways (although I have to admit, as a Mom, this appeals to my head and my heart). I also don't think we should take lightly the responsibilities of raising a special-needs child - but other women in Washington have done it, and it would be sexist and presumptuous to make that decision for her.

As long as she keeps her hat in the ring, I think McCain should try it on for size. For LOTS more on Gov. Palin, see http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/

Steve Adds: Even if you're not a mom or even a female -- to both of which I plead guilty -- I urge you to visit Jean's Mom4McCain site. Mothers are a critical constituency in this year's election, as they are in most. As for Jean, she's as good as it gets on the blogosphere.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There’s been noted buzz of late on rising GOP star Louisiana Gov Bobby Jindal as a McCain prospective Veep. Certainly Jindal is more than very good, However, I believe there’s some “strategerie” going on here. The “real” beneficiary of the Jindal talk is the other rising GOP star, Alaska Gov Sarah Palin. Palin’s got everything that Jindal has (new/exciting, wildly popular, ethics and spending reformer, core conservative etc.) and more — mother of 5 w/remarkable bio, she’s 8 yrs older than Jindal, Alaska energy issue, and set to garner the disenfranchised female Hillary voter (I don’t believe Dem leaders can dump Obama).

Getting Jindal’s name out first — at Team McCain’s BBQ for instance — sets the stage for the obvious choice, Palin. For example, albeit Rush Limbaugh introduced Palin’s name, and later Jindal’s as good Veep choices, of late Rush has been praising the name of Jindal while on his very same shows discussing at great length the frustrated female Hillary voter and the global warming hysteria/need for energy development, without mentioning Palin’s name as the obvious beneficiary of those two issues. Rush walks a fine line, introducing Palin, yet can’t, at least yet, reiterate much, knowing that his praises may be counter-productive to many a swing, moderate and/or formerly Dem voter (who’s against Obama and switching to McCain). Moreover, while I feel that Palin has more real accomplishment, experience and qualification than Obama (and Hillary combined, albeit w/Obama the bar is pretty low), the only potential argument against Palin is she’s a newbie to the national scene. By having Jindal out there first as a VP prospect “passing” the “experience” and “new to the national scene” test, implicitly passes Palin as well. (For that matter Palin’s got as much if not more experience and accomplishment than Florida Gov Crist who’s only been Gov for 2 yrs — and the media has been touting Crist as a VP prospect.)

That’s my thinking at least.

Stephen R. Maloney said...

I have some problems with Jindal, although if McCain chooses him, I have a "hunch" my problems would disappear. I hope bloggers and others in the media (Weekly Standard, American Spectators, and others) keep coming out for Sarah. The momentum is good now, and it should keep building. If Sarah gets the nod, I may run down the street cheering. Keep up the good work Ted!

steve

Average American said...

Jindal or Palin would be good choices. Both are Governors, which I think may carry quite a bit of weight with a lot of voters. No question that Palin would look much better to the ex-Hillary voters that can't stand the thought of voting for BHO. That may not sound correct, but I think a lot of women would overlook her being conservative just to keep their vote away from him.