When I first saw governor Sarah Palin I could not believe what I was seeing. For most of my life I have seen republicans as standing for everything that I would spend my life fighting against. The idea that these people think they should decide if I have a baby sends blood rushing to my fists. The fact that there are women in this party astounds me constantly since the republicans, so far, have shown no inkling of care or respect for children, health, the poor, the suffering, or keeping families together. This disgusts me to no end. The fact that their version of Christianity is the only correct faith and we in the US should all be forced to follow its teachings seems to be the most un-American scenario that I can imagine. The fact that the whole reason Europeans came here was to practice how they pleased or be financially secure are the tenants that this country were founded on. Freedom for different races and women came later and the fact that these Republicans are still fighting against that makes me want to run around screaming. Their goal is to keep minorities down through poverty and keep women down by keeping them pregnant. I have seen girls in the eighth grade boast about how they are having a baby and this is what the republican party seems to want the most.
As time goes on I have begun to realize that the whole Palin pick could subvert that whole notion. Here is a woman who was a beauty queen. Who became mayor of her town because she was cute, had a lot friends, and called herself a Christian. The other guy claimed to be a Christian too but you see he wasn’t the right kind. He kept his practice out of his mayoral duties. Palin claimed that this meant that he was pro-choice (which, by the way, is the law still in Alaska) and somehow she won the title. When the big boys at the top of state’s leadership got into trouble Palin saw her opportunity and she took it. Even though she had left her town having a financial deficit for the first time in its history she ran as a fiscal conservative. Even though her town is now known as the meth capital of Alaska she ran on a record of “family values”. Even though she spent millions on a hockey complex in her town and had the same contractors build her house she claimed to be the ethical choice. She got elected, fired most of the people who worked for the state and hired a bunch of her friends even if they had no qualifications whatsoever. She soon came under an ethics investigation. She gave Alaskans a tax rebate that was sometimes a thousand dollars and those same Alaskans just loved her.
Meanwhile, the Republicans trying to put their old white man into office were wondering what to do about the presidential election. Suddenly, the democrats had a candidate that appeared to be everything the Republicans were not and the people were loving it. Here was a smart guy, a professor of constitutional law, a community organizer, a man claiming both black and white heritage, and a senator. Instead of attacking the social issues that divide us he talked about bringing people together. He talked about a new direction for the country in a way that people actually believed. The cynical American culture suddenly was filled with something many young people had never experienced – Hope. It sounds silly and the republicans try to make fun of this fact all the time but the truth is, for the first time, many people suddenly felt like they had a political figure to believe in. For those in my generation where the only presidents we have known are Reagan, the Bushes, and Clinton this was something entirely new. Though many us didn’t agree with different policy positions of Barrack Obama we finally felt like this was a man who could bring us together and lead the country as opposed to selling out the common American and the constitution. The Republicans didn’t know what to do, they spent the last two elections attacking the people in the democrat party and their beliefs but Obama was unwilling to go that route. They cynically thought that the reason people were behind Obama was because he was young and black and it was becoming a “historical” election. They wanted to be part of history too so they, apparently, did a Wikipedia search on female republican governors. They stumbled across Sarah Palin, pretty, well-liked, Christian Fundamentalist, antiabortion – perfect they thought!
Unfortunately for them they didn’t look into the fact that Palin had only been governor of one of the smallest states for 20 months. She was well liked (who doesn’t like a fat check from the governor) but completely untested. Additionally, she just wasn’t very knowledgeable about national politics (besides divisive social issues) or world affairs and therefore just wasn’t prepared to be on the national stage. Sure, she listened to am radio and knew the distorted neocon view of the world but the problem is that all that stuff is completely made up by the real elites with the soul purpose of keeping the people divided and ignorant of the world’s actual problems. She then went on the national stage and was completely unable to defend, or even intelligently talk about, her republican beliefs. The reason isn’t that she is inherently stupid, it is because those beliefs don’t follow any logic, you can’t be pro-life and pro-death penalty and pro-war. You cannot be a Christian and hate people on welfare. You cannot be pro-jobs when you are against unions. You can’t be for minorities and want to put up all wall and shoot poor people trying to cross our southern border. You can’t be a humanitarian but for torture. You can’t claim to be a patriot and try to take the country apart. You can’t be pro-democracy but then try to stop minorities, city dwellers, and poor people from voting. It just doesn’t add up to any scrutiny whatsoever. Now Sarah Palin might be a major factor in the Republicans losing the election (unless they steal it). She could even tear the party apart. Maybe then the democrats could fall apart too and we could finally have a true democracy where their all multiple parties and people must form coalitions to pass laws rather than just pitting US against THEM.
But that isn’t the reason I think that Sarah Palin will save democracy in the United States. I think there are many little girls out there, Lisa Simpson types, who are watching this campaign and thinking to themselves, wow she isn’t from the political establishment, didn’t go to a top school, didn’t even know elementary facts about the government, isn’t from a rich family, and can’t even speak intelligently. If she can almost become vice president than I definitely have a shot because I am smarter than her. I think many little girls will realize this and see that democracy doesn’t have to be only for rich white men. Anyone can do it.
