I don't know if Sarah Palin walks on water, but I'm pretty sure she can fly.
I mean, how often in the course of human events is one put in mind of the word "spunky". Until Sarah Palins' RNC speech, I hadn't thought of anyone as being spunky since Sally Field as Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun.
But by the time Palin said that "a small town mayor is like a community organizer just with actual responsibilities", it had dawned on me that she was actually more like Sally Field in Punchline, a housewife who'd rather be doing stand-up.
And you know what: I really really like her.
But seriously folks. My willingness to identify with her made me realize quite how much my own self-image and identity have changed over the years. I quite justifiably always thought of myself as a rootless cosmopolitan. My parents were born on one continent, I was born in another, my kids in a third. I grew up in the heart of the world's most cosmopolitan city. Alienation is my stock in trade and cynicism is my middle name. I certainly know more people who edited the Harvard Law Review than shot moose in Alaska.
And yet. As Palin spoke, I realized that I now identify with those Americans who live in small towns, who love their country and feel deeply rooted in it, who carry guns for defense, who have large families, whose children fight its wars. That's my life now.
Obama is a decent person who seems like a really great guy to shoot the breeze with on the bench during a basketball game or in a dorm room. But, especially when contrasted with Palin, he and his wife and his hard-core supporters just seem like over-privileged whiners, self-obsessed careerists, for whom the poor serve as props in the tedious drama that is their quest for self-definition.
Obama is so yesterday. Bring on the spunky flying moose lady.
I agree with your analysis. I am sure McCain/Palin will win. I saw their acceptance speeches. I do agree that Sarah Palin came across as a stand-upist and is not necessarily the best choice, but McCain was pretty forthright in his speech...he never mentioned President Bush by name and he was quite critical of Republican policies and corruption. He also spoke about a comprehensive energy policy, something the US has sorely lacked for years, especially since 9/11, and in my opinion is one of Bush's biggest failures. I also saw kippah-wearers in the audience of convention delegates.
ReplyDeleteI find it really frightening to see the absolutely blind, fanatical hero-worship the "progressives", particularly the Jews among them, for B. Hussein Obama (I really caught flack on a "progressive" blog for calling him that!). None can explain what he is going to do to bring "change".
I do give Obama credit for telling parents to discourage their children from watching television, but his association with "Yermiyahu" Wright is damning and I hope the Republicans keep hammering away at that.
The fact that both McCain and Palin have children in combat zones also shows that they are willing to put their money where their mouths are (unlike the neo-cons who advised Bush who all avoided military service in the Vietnam era).
Ben Chorin,
ReplyDeleteThe reasons that Sarah Palin is an appealing candidate is that she is everything that Barack Obama isn't:
a. she comes across as a very genuine person;
b. she has a record of real achievements which were not "puffed up" for the purpose of self-promoting any personal aspirations for higher office; and
c. as you astutely stated, she has "spunk" (i.e. she has never allowed anybody to push her around; she fights for her principles, and she has bucked her own party's positions).
In other words, Sarah Palin has stolen Barack Obama's thunder -- she, and not Obama, is the refreshing new face in the 2008 election (many of us have grown sick of Obama's self-promotion gig during the past 2 years).
It's obvious that Obama and Biden were taken by surprise when McCain selected Palin to be his running-mate, and Obama suddenly does not know how to react. In fact, today's poll in USA Today reflects that McCain is ahead of Obama, by 50% to 46%.
If Obama isn't prepared to handle simple competition from political opponents, then how the hell can we expect him to protect the United States from foreign threats such as Iran, Russia, Islamo-fascist terrorists, etc.?
Well put. Though still a registered Dem, I can't believe how the party has been taken over by the radical left. (And unfortunately this is a familiar story in Eretz HaKodesh).
ReplyDeleteI've always been a southern conservative who couldn't stand Carter yet helped the Young Dems send Mondale to victory over President Reagan in a 1984 mock election at a major southern university.
Now seeking the quiet life in the land of my forefathers, I really admire McCain for thinking out of the box and Sarah Palin for taking such a walloping from the media.
McCain has put the dems on the defensive and it's not pretty. Obama has proven himself to be more of the same and only pedals "change we can deceive in." Most of all, he should not be comparing any women to animals when he's got a wife like Michelle (and I'm not thinking of a pitbull).