Sarah is Solid

 by Steven D. Laib  

| View comments |  Print This Post

Three to four weeks were wasted during which Sarah Palin could have connected with the conservative voting base and boosted the McCain campaign. Now, it appears that McCain will finally turn her loose and “let Sarah be Sarah.”    

Early returns mentioned by Hugh Hewitt in his post debate coverage last night indicated that many members of, even the mainstream media, have given the vice presidential debate to Sarah Palin.  I tend to agree, but perhaps I was a victim of my own expectations with the result that I didn’t see her turning in an “all-pro” performance.  Still, I think she did exactly what she needed to do, and that was enough.  She showed that she knew what she was doing and could hold her own against that consummate politician, Joe Biden, who will say anything to get what he wants.  He hangs out at the Home Depot?  Puleeze; you expect me to take that seriously?  Or, were you speaking to the lowest common denominator in American intelligence?  

When I suggested that in the absence of Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin was the best choice for VP, I expected that the McCain Campaign was thinking on all cylinders.  I was wrong.  After a good introduction and an excellent convention speech the Alaska governor has been buried in attempts to court such media figures as Katie Couric.  McCain may have been responsible for this, as he has never been enamored of the greatest weapon he possesses; talk radio.  Thus, three to four weeks were wasted during which Sarah Palin could have connected with the conservative voting base and other audience members, and boosted his campaign.  Now, after her appearances with Hugh Hewitt and Sean Hannity, it appears that McCain will finally turn her loose and “let Sarah be Sarah.” 

What last night’s Vice Presidential debate showed, more than anything else, is that Sarah Palin is very capable of holding her own, if she is allowed to use her native intelligence and take on the issues in her own way.   Her formal political rival, Eric Croft, has said, "The political landscape here (in Alaska) is littered with people who have underestimated Sarah Palin."  What she needed was to connect on the basis of her personality and common sense understanding of what middle class America is all about.  It’s a simple thing for her to do because at heart she is middle class America.  She made that very clear, and also made the case that she is not a Beltway insider.  Biden cannot make that claim after over thirty years in the Senate, and Senator Obama has, in record time, placed himself squarely in the same position. 

What I found most disturbing about the debate content, aside from Senator Biden’s continual whoppers, (See Here and Here ) was his harping on how he and his running mate stand up for the middle class.  Throughout his career Senator Biden has progressively shown himself to be anything but a middle class champion.  His approach has become essentially the same as that of most of the legislative liberal/left; punish success, foster dependency and work to increase government power at all costs.  It rings as hollow as his recent attempt to portray himself as a Second Amendment advocate after years of taking the exact opposite position.

I have long been an advocate of the idea that the modern Democrat Party has effectively taken the position that their ideal road to power was through creating dependency on government programs.  These programs range from various “welfare” type transfer payments to nationalized health care.  Once such programs are in place they are practically impossible to remove, and people who are dependent on them can generally counted on to vote for their continuation.  To do this the middle class must be transformed from an engine of productivity to a dependent class.  Extreme regulation of small business, restoration of high levels of taxation, and the classification of ordinary working men and women as “rich” would do exactly this.  With average people being thrown into a politically incorrect classification for daring to be successful, and the engine of their productivity being choked off, a serious recession or even depression is not only likely, it is certain.

What has made this difficult to oppose is that the Left has framed political debate as a “heads I win, tails you lose” proposition.  If Senator Obama is elected and the economy tanks, it is the result of “failed policies of the last eight years.”  If by some unworldly luck he beats the odds, and it doesn’t tank, it is because of his enlightened leadership.  It is the Republican’s unwillingness to clean house and place the blame squarely where it belongs that has contributed to the mess.  They have perpetuated business as usual, instead of following the example Ronald Reagan set, to its logical conclusion. 

There is hope.  As Edd Hendee of KSEV radio, Houston, put it the morning after the debate, perhaps people are beginning to realize that government isn’t an endless fountain of money and that what is given to one person must be taken from others.  This was the essence of one of Governor Palin’s comments during the debate.  She pointed out that so much of what Obama – Biden are promoting is simply transfer payments.  This should find some resonance with the public, but she missed one major chance when asked what McCain would have to give up in order to pay for the financial bailout.  She could and should have stated that the central point of the McCain platform is reducing government and government expenses.  At worst, a President McCain may not be able to cut expenses as fast as he would like, but he would not have to give up new, expensive programs, such as Obama’s plan to double foreign aid. 

The one thing Biden was correct about is that next four weeks are critical to the future of the United States.  Electing Senator Obama could be the trigger for the death of this nation before 2020.  Events happen so much faster today than 2000 years ago when it took centuries for Rome to die off.  We don’t have the luxury of time any more.  McCain has to go on the offensive and right now Sarahcuda is his best weapon.  He needs to use her, for his own sake and for the sake of the nation. 
 
 

Politics: General, Elections & Political Parties

Read more articles by Steven D. Laib