The Significance of Sarah

 by Steven D. Laib  

| View comments |  Print This Post

Sarah Palin is one of a what I hope becomes a class of new political leaders. People who are not primarily professional politicians and whose loyalty is to the nation and to its people rather than to power seeking.

When Sarah Palin was named as John McCain's running mate for the 2008 presidential election it set off a storm of activity.  On the Republican side it was a storm of positive activity.  Donations soared along with voter enthusiasm.  Conservatives who still had reservations about McCain's credentials joined in backing Ms. Palin, as a candidate who reflected their own values. 

On the Democrat side the reaction was totally the opposite.  Media figures found reasons to criticize the Alaska Governor on personal or professional grounds.  Rumors began to circulate about her family, many of which hadn't a shred of truth.  Because of her background as a beauty pageant contestant people went looking for risqué photos of Sarah Palin, and when they couldn't find any, they created them with Photoshop.  All around, the signs were that the Republicans were likely in control of the election and the Democrats were losing it.  Signs of panic began to set in on the political left. 

Meanwhile, the McCain – Palin Express has proceeded down the tracks toward its presumed goal, propelled in large part by the enthusiasm generated when Governor Palin was selected for the Vice-Presidential slot.  I had suggested in an earlier column that Palin was the best choice for McCain.  It appears that I was right, although the enthusiasm she immediately generated was much greater than I expected.  Some lag time for her to settle in and connect with the voters seemed more likely. 

While I found the immediacy of the support surprising, I could not be as amazed by the amount as many media people seem to be.  Hugh Hewitt, for example, has been reserving all calls on his afternoon show for first time woman callers.  And many of them mirror what I expected; they see Governor Palin as on of them.  She wasn’t one of the people who got an Ivy League education and then turned to politics as a career move.  She graduated from a small college, and then became a wife, mother and business person.  Politics came looking for her, rather than the other way around.  And when it found her it also found someone who still had the small town, middle class values that endear her to many voters.  When she sold the governor’s private jet, and fired the chef, she showed that the trappings of the office were not important.  Her stand on ethical issues showed that she was on the side of the public, and not the good ol’ boys who had been running things.  In short, she wasn’t all talk as many other politicians are.  She even took on her own political party, as many others are loath to do.  She showed herself to be on the side of the people, which is the reason for her immense popularity in the state. 

When the left wing of the media finds her support from middle class women impossible to fathom, there is a very good reason.  It is because the left has lost touch with the middle class in America today.    They still believe that abortion is the defining issue for American women in 2008.  It may have been true in 1970, but it isn’t any longer.  The glass ceilings have pretty much disappeared, and because they can do pretty much whatever they want, women have moved on to bigger and better things.  Betty Friedan is no longer their role model.

In the long run, for the Republican Party, hitching their wagon to Governor  Palin might be the best thing they could ever do in today’s political climate.  Putting her in the White House in a few years would do something that the Democrats could not; electing of a woman on her own merits, rather than on her husband’s coattails.  At the same time it would likely put into effect, a party policy direction that the Republicans have needed but have avoided for some time.  A policy based on the idea that Caesar as well as Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.  I have long derided the direction that Republicans have taken of late.  It is a far cry from when senior party officials  told Richard Nixon to resign for improper behavior in office.  When Tom DeLay became involved with Jack Abramoff it was a critical mistake for him and for the party.  Even if he did nothing wrong, the appearance of impropriety was damaging.  As I began writing this piece the news arrived in my mail box that Abramoff had been sentenced to four years in prison for his guilty plea to three criminal felony counts.  To me Abramoff and those who consort with people like him, is symbolic of business as usual.  Sarah Palin had a choice when she became involved in Alaska politics; she could go along and get along, or she could take on the establishment and the corruption.  She could ignore the power brokers and corrupt officials or do her best to return control to the people.  She decided to take a stand, and by doing so she won.  Taking on the corruption in her own party showed that she had principles, and that she took ethics in government seriously.  In a time when prominent members of both parties seem unwilling to do this, she is an anomaly, and one that the public appreciates all the more for that fact. 

Sarah Palin is one of a what I hope becomes a class of new political leaders.  People who are not primarily professional politicians and whose loyalty is to the nation and to its people rather than to power seeking.  We need elected officials who don’t believe that government is the answer to every problem and who prefer to let the people solve problems their own way whenever possible.  This need for this type of leader stems from one fundamental truth; that a powerful government is also a government where corruption can thrive, and where there is corruption government will never serve the interests of the people.  It is a simple application of Lord Acton’s maxim that Power Corrupts.  The people of Alaska were tired of the good ol’ boy system and turned to someone who could and did take it out.  The people of Louisiana took the same route in electing Governor Bobby Jindal who was equally intent on eliminating corruption and making the state government work for the people. 

The fact is that most of the people of America want change, but not the change Senator Obama is promoting.  They want change to a responsible  government that reflects the values and needs of the middle class; they want change to government that is honest and trustworthy, and certainly, they want change to a less intrusive and less interfering government that is not oriented on idealistic dreams but in practical realities. 

Where Governors Palin and Jindal come together is shown in their actions as leaders of their respective states.  They have cut budgets and eliminated excessive trappings of their offices.  They have worked to eliminate entrenched practices that benefited government officials and their private industry cronies.  They have done their best to make government more responsive to the real needs of the state.  Cutting expenses and returning money to the people was central to their philosophy of government.  At bottom line is the fact that the state is supposed to benefit the people, not the other way around.  The money that government takes really belongs to the people, and should be treated as such.  This is what the Republican Party is supposed to be about, but has not been of late.  It is the opposite of what Jack Abramoff stood for, and in many respects it is the opposite of what Senator Obama, a product of the Chicago school of corrupt politics, stands for 

For the Republican Party to be successful in the future they must undergo a significant internal change.  They must focus directly on the need to eliminate even hints of corruption. They need to take the same sort of action today as they did when President Nixon's misdeeds came to light.  This is where the Republican Party screwed up.  They assumed that past public support guaranteed the future and that they could get away with the same things as their opposition.  They were wrong.  The conservative base of the party understood that if Republicans officials did not maintain ethical principals they were just as bad as the Democrats who refused to take on Representative “Cold Cash” Jefferson for accepting a bribe, and who are now doing nothing about Charlie Rangel's improprieties.  Conservatives deserted the party for this reason as much as any other, for honesty and ethics are central to Conservatism as much as small government and a strong defense policy. 

What the Republican leadership needs to understand is that in many ways Sarah Palin is the middle class personified.  Of late, Hugh Hewitt has devoted his afternoon talk show to first time, women callers, and virtually all have credited their support of Governor Palin to the fact that she is so similar to them in her priorities, her world view, and her devotion to what is right.  She is the modern woman who is strong and capable as her own person, and who doesn't need NOW or Nancy Pelosi to set priorities for her.  This places her in a position similar to John McCain's self described  maverick status.  As outsiders, they (and Palin in particular) are are perceived better for mainstream America than any alternative.  This makes them most likely strong winners, and potentially the founders of a new, and
better trend in government philosophy. 

The next task for the Republican party and entities such as GoPac should be to groom more candidates  from the same mold as Palin and Jindal.  People whose orientation is nation first, and who understand that the number one qualification that can keep the nation on the right track is for them to demonstrate unusual ethics for today's world.  They must turn their backs on  lobbyist money, avoid political opportunism, and focus on the real world of middle class America.   They must present real change from the big, domineering government of the last 50 years instead of the phony change offered by the Big Left.  The choice is change for the better or change for the worse.  They have the chance to make change for the better of the party and for the nation.  Let us pray that they will recognize this and take it in hand. 
 

Politics: General, Elections & Political Parties

Read more articles by Steven D. Laib