During the Republican National Convention, I watched her confidently take the podium and introduce herself to the American public. She appeared poised, intellectual, charismatic and sincere. Being relatively young, she had the potential to be a tremendous inspiration to girls and women all over the planet and across racial, socio-economic, and class lines. It was her moment to impact. It was her time to make history as the first female Vice-President of the United States. It was her time to remove all stereotypes and blast that glass ceiling to smithereens. Yes, the potential was definitely there.
Her family sat proudly as she walked into the national spotlight and presence of adoring fans. For many, conservative Republicans in particular, she was the long-awaited answer to the stagnancy of the conservative movement. Her husband Todd and 5 children along with Levi Johnston, fiancée to the oldest daughter Bristol, appeared loving and tight-knit. When youngest daughter Piper licked her hand and smoothed the tousled hair of baby Trig, Todd and Sarah's youngest son born with Down's Syndrome, the audience went wild. They loved this family. They loved this woman. They loved their chances of winning the election. They loved America.
Now that the gushy, nice, opening statements are out-of-the-way, let me get to the meat and potatoes of this thing. When the hard-fought contest between then Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton finally reached a climax and Mr. Obama was named the winner, America was thrown into a tailspin. This was totally unexpected. How could Americans allow a black man to win the democratic nomination over...well...any white American male or female? The initial shock was tremendous. How would white America ever recover?
Senator John McCain found the answer. He successfully capitalized on the anger and resentment resulting from Senator Obama's win. Female supporters of the former First Lady were determined not to vote for the man who defeated their candidate. However, some of them waited to see if Barack Obama would be gracious enough to select Senator Clinton as his running mate. When Joe Biden became the choice instead, the fury could not be contained. Democrat women were threatening to vote for McCain. Many did. Don't kid yourself, being elderly does not equate to being stupid. Senator McCain knew what he had to do. He devised a rock-solid plan to destroy the political aspirations of the Junior Senator from Chicago. He needed a woman. Not just any woman. But a woman who would energize, divide and conquer. So to the Pacific Northwest he went and returned with one Sarah Palin, Governor of the great state of Alaska.
From the moment she began her address at the RNC, I was rapt with attention. She was interesting, well-dressed, and attractive. After about 5 minutes of listening to her, I became lost in a world of run-on sentences, fragmented sentences and dangling participles. I needed an interpreter immediately. Trying to find my way out of her maze of grammatical assassination, I soon became disinterested and started working on my computer. My ears perked up and attention returned when she began to belittle the work of community organizing. That was super offensive to me not just because of Barack Obama, but because of the desperate need for community organizers today. Maybe in her world there are no community issues requiring attention (illiteracy, poverty, crime, lack of education, hopelessness, disease, housing, etc.). But in the lower 48, the need is critical. I wasn't liking her very much at that point.
The more she talked, the less I liked her. When the cameras panned the audience, there stood mostly middle-aged, white Americans dancing to the beat of her drums. Some wore buttons and hats with the slogan, "Coldest State, Hottest Governor." Wow, is this the deciding factor for Decision 08? The next few days was a political and media circus. Every newscast became, "All things Palin." Questions of her competence, qualifications, and ethics surfaced but was not much of a factor. She became the darling of the Conservative movement.
The Charlie Gibson interview first exposed the frailties and unpreparedness of Mrs. Palin. She was clearly uncomfortable and lacking in knowledge of world affairs. Prior to that interview, the McCain camp tried like heck to keep her away from interviews. It got to the point where major news organizations began to question the campaign's reluctance to "free" the VP candidate.
That interview said it all. She then went around the country speaking at rallies using the same tired, stale talking points from the convention. Her followers could not have cared less. She was their great white hope, powerfully packaged in a small, feminine body. She was an evangelical Christian standing firmly against abortion and gay marriage. She was the international symbol of purity and perfection. Never mind the fact that her inflammatory statements regarding Senator Obama "palling" around with terrorists incited the mentally unstable to shouts of "kill him! Off with his head! Terrorist!" No, this perfect little bonehead never gave a second thought to the dangerous terrain that she led her blind followers onto.
This self-made diva, refused to follow protocol and became a thorn in the sides of McCain's staff. Granted, she was able to draw thousands to her rallies. It was never about policy, position or ideology with these people, it was about not having Barack Obama in the White House. The Katie Couric interview was sheer poetic justice. I didn't like this woman at all. Her ineptness was really highlighted in that particular interview. She wasn't fit to be president of a women's club, certainly not a nation. She continued on a path of self-destructive behavior until it spilled over into the campaign. Yet, conservatives love her and Democrats are accused of being "afraid" and "jealous" if they disagree with her. Newsflash: This Democrat is neither afraid or jealous of Silly Sarah Palin. Neither are Democrats in general. You see, what you're seeing as fear and jealousy is really our being able to see the irreversible damage, rioting, and racial war that will be inflicted if this brain-dead woman wins the presidency. Sarah Palin is on a mission to divide the country into pockets of real Americans residing in small towns. The rest of us don't count. With all of the qualified, competent women in politics today, why are we giving this charlatan and fraud so much exposure?
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