Sarah Palin? Seriously?
On John McCain's 72nd birthday, he declared Gov. Sarah Palin (R - AK) to be his running mate. While some claim that this was expected, or a good move, many of us were shocked and a bit disturbed. If McCain is elected, he would be the oldest person to ever be inaugurated as president of the US. Couple that with his recent health problems, and you must realize that whoever he chooses as a running mate must be ready and able to take the highest seat of the nation. While Barack Obama chose a running mate that was a presedential candidate in the democratic primaries earlier this year, McCain has choosen someone with absolutely no national or international experience. In fact, two years ago, she was just the mayor of a small town in Alaska, population 9,000. This comes after McCain has repeatedly criticized Obama for not having enough experience to lead our country.
So who is this Sarah Palin?
- She is a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience.1
- She was became governor of Alaska a little over a year and ahalf ago.
- Before that, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a small town outside Anchorage.
- She is adamantly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
- She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.3
- She holds that creationism should be taught in public schools.4
- She still claims that humans are not the cause of climate change.5
- She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years.
- She sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species —- she was worried their endangered status would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
John McCain must have considered his choice very carefully. Right?
Apparently, McCain met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her to offer her the position of Vice President.7
What do folks from Alaska think about this news? According to MoveOn:
She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK
She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK
As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK
Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK
She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK
I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK
Sarah Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil and is woefully inexperienced. While this decision might have made religious right happy, McCain has made a dangerous choice for our country.
Sources:
Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the MoveOn team.
1 "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008.
2 "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008.
3 "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008.
4 "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006.
5 "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008.
6 "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008.
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008.
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008.
7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008.
