Sarah Palin: Next Vice President of United States

“Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all”. These lines created waves in the political world and in mainstream America. Sarah Palin, a new face of GOP has redefined the rules of this neck and neck race. Sarah has been serving as the first female Governor of Alaska since December 2006 and before that she was the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for about 6 years. Nobody had inkling that John McCain would pick an average hockey mom, mother of five children, former beauty queen, life member of national rifle association and a moose hunter to be his running mate! Sarah, also known as “Xena” or “Sarah Barracuda” injects fresh blood in this Obama skewed presidential race. Her strength and determination to fight the odds stems from her strong sense of leadership qualities ingrained in her. Her career in politics kicked in 1996 with the race for the Mayor of small town Wasilla fought by her was not issues of welfare, safety or reform but on the plank of hot button social issues like abortion, gun rights and faith which usually don’t form the basis and significance of local politics. This style was a paradigm shift where old libertarian values were diminishing and Christian conservatism was rising. She struck a chord with evangelists of the Bible belt of Alaska. This mantra worked well and she grabbed the Mayoral race with enormous margins for two terms. She connected well with residents of Wasilla by bringing reforms and improving local economy. Sarah reduced property taxes, terminated personal property and business inventory taxes and by increasing sales taxes she was able to build infrastructure for public. Her major success in her 2^nd term as Mayor was to tap in federal funds for her city. After her Mayor terms ended, she stood up against red tape and cronyism in Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission. Later in 2006, ethics reform and cleansing the system became her calling card which helped her to win the gubernatorial election for the state of Alaska by defeating Tony Knowles. Rising to prominence as a whistle-blower unmasking ethical misconduct in functioning of state affairs, she continues to ace popularity ratings in her home state even today. A banner-waving social conservative had transformed into a savvy reformer.

In her role as Governor of Alaska, she brought extensive development with use of federal and state funds. She has a track record and reputation for tackling corruption and keeping the oil companies under check and for taking on members of own her party for their ethical failures. Like John McCain she builds her career on severe opposition to federal "earmarks" - appropriations to state governments associated with particular state spending projects. However, some controversial issues such as ‘Bridge to nowhere’ and dismissal of a state public safety commissioner continue to resonate in leftist liberal media. History was made in August 2008 when John McCain announced her to be his running mate on the GOP presidential ticket over favorites Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney. She becomes the only 2^nd woman after Geraldine Ferraro, Walter Mondale's Democratic running mate in 1984 to have ever been on a presidential ticket. Even though she differs on Hillary’s positions on abortion rights, health care and climate change she makes an explicit appeal to her supporters and continues to scythe through Obama’s support among women by acknowledging his reluctance to choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Ms. Palin declared to the world that juggling work and family were ‘kind of irrelevant’ in the modern age. Ms. Palin undermines Obama’s doctrine of change with her refreshingly new ideas on reform on a national stage, with her non-Washington background and with her direct experience in dealing with issues of common people.

Her popularity among the orthodox Christian conservative base helps John McCain. She is pro-life, anti-abortion, supporter of gun rights and favors drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Her conservative credentials are unquestionable owing to the fact that Sarah opted for not having an abortion after learning that the child she was carrying, her youngest, had Down syndrome. Democrats were flabbergasted with her ability to attract ordinary Americans who see her as a threat to Obama since she could be instrumental in removing the perceived elitism and the assumption of McCain being 'out of touch' as claimed by Democrats. All attempts by Democrats to fool voters are futile since Ms. Palin is working-class, has a Wal-Mart-mom appeal and a moving life story. But Left-wing media continues to smear her and her family with attacks focused on her character. As the race assumes the last leg in this month, more acerbic attacks are bound to follow. The vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden defied critics with her star stunned performance. She charmed the world with her folksy and down-to-earth tone. Responding to a question by the moderator on whom to blame for Wall Street crisis, she replied with a folksy tone: "Darn right it was the predator lenders" - they had talked Americans into buying houses they could not afford.

John McCain is definitely an underdog in the given scenario mainly due to Obama campaign’s successful trick of associating him with President Bush who happens to be blamed for every negative swing on Dow Jones! But Ms. Palin has the charisma and appeal to assure voters that McCain-Palin ticket is best in America’s interests when it comes to taxes, immigration, outsourcing, economy, social welfare, health care, governmental spending and foreign policy. She should speak out for women’s issues at length and make use of her ‘white house outsider’ image to reaffirm faith in Americans about economy. Her phenomenal success in removing corruption and nepotism in her Alaskan career even after being a busy mother and devout wife makes her the right choice to be the Vice President of US. Determination and a desire to serve the people is where she derives her strength. Irrespective of the result of this Presidential election – Sarah Palin is a winner! It is Sarah’s moment to shine.