Politics-not-as-usual

It’s turning out to be an interesting election year in the U.S. To tell you the truth, we weren’t really impressed with either choice, and it doesn’t help that we can’t even vote for president. Obama has good stage presence and can rally up a crowd, but his “change” rhetoric and platitudes lack substance. Even though McCain has a lot of political experience, it doesn’t work to his favor since it makes him appear to be one of the politics-as-usual, good old boys who’s helped to get the country into the mess we’re experiencing.

Obama has effectively capitalized on that angle by regularly breathing McCain’s and Bush’s name in the same sentence, and warning that a vote for McCain is a continuation of the policies of a president with an all-time low approval rating. With Obama’s rock star popularity—the stage at his acceptance speech at Invesco field in Denver was reportedly constructed by the same people who built Britney Spears’ last concert set—and his cult-like following, John McCain decided to make a Hail Mary pass with his VP selection.

His pick of Alaska governor, Sarah Palin is both a risky and strategic choice that has the mainstream media buzzing about the self-described “hockey mom.” Her biography, Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment on Its Ear, describes how she became a long-shot candidate for governor demanding higher ethical standards in her state. The then 42-year-old small-town mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, beat a sitting governor in the Republican primary election by wide margins and a former governor in the general election to become Alaska’s youngest governor and first female chief executive.

The Democrat’s objections over her lack of foreign affairs and leadership experience is basically the Republican’s same criticism of Obama; except that Palin has owned a business, managed a small town as mayor, and been governor for two years, while Obama hasn’t even managed a Dairy Queen.

Palin has skyrocketed from national obscurity to international headlines with her acceptance as vice presidential candidate. Although not the first female to be chosen as a VP running mate (Geraldine Ferraro was Mondale’s VP choice in 1984), she breaks the mold in many ways of your typical politician. Both Obama and Biden are lawyers with their JD law degrees and impressive credentials. Sarah Palin graduated with a BS in journalism from Idaho State University, with a minor in political science. She has the distinction of being both a “jock” and a beauty queen, winning the Alaska small-school basketball championship while captain of the team, and winning the title of Miss Wasilla and finishing second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant. She even had a stint as a sports reporter for Anchorage television stations.

Some of the harshest criticism of Palin may actually become her greatest appeal to the average voter. Both McCain and Obama have been accused of being “elitists” and out of touch with the common person. Palin grew up in Wasilla, Alaska (population 6,500). She is the mother of five children, with her oldest joining the Army and getting ready to deploy to Iraq and her youngest born just five months ago while she was governor.

Palin is lauded by the pro-life community for her decision to have her baby, even though early testing revealed the fetus had Down’s syndrome. She has actively gone after corruption in Alaska, and she followed through on a campaign promise to auction former Governor Murkowski’s state-funded jet on eBay for $2.1 million. Palin hasn’t been afraid to make tough choices, and she has been rewarded with an 80 percent approval rating in her state.

Even though Palin and Hillary Clinton are polar opposites in many of their values and views, some of Hillary’s supporters feel she was dissed when Obama did not choose her as his VP running mate. It will be interesting to see how many feminists overlook their disdain for McCain to ensure that Sarah Palin makes history as the first female to become vice president, and possibly president. Given McCain’s age, 72, Palin could only be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. It will also be interesting to see the coverage that the liberal, mainstream media gives her, considering her conservative views on abortion and gay marriage.

So Obama chose a politics-as-usual sidekick, Biden, so he can take back the country with his mantra of “change,” while McCain is a politics-as-usual politico who decided to take the country forward with his unexpected choice for a running mate. This may have trumped Obama by shaking things up a bit with a potential VP who doesn’t just talk about change, but has a track record of real positive changes in Alaska. Like we say, it has at least spiced up the race to the White House. May the best man …er, woman win.