This is not a political blog, but what happened yesterday was noteworthy. Republican Presidential Nominee and Senator John McCain announced his choice for a Vice Presidential Candidate: Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. Not only is she the first VP nominee from the Republican party, she also is the first mother of five, including a child with Down’s Syndrome, the first hockey mom, the first beauty pageant contestant, the first, well, just about the first in every category she fits.
That makes her interesting, yes, but what I really noticed was how my wife took note. Tara generally has little interest in political races because she rarely, if ever, identifies with any of the candidates who are running. The candidates seem distant, elitist, old, and seem to lack genuineness to her. In stark contrast, Tara (and I) immediately warmed to Governor Sarah Palin. She was someone you could call a friend, immediately.
She’s from a small town, hunts, fishes, coaches, takes her kids to their sporting events, cooks, cleans, goes to church, and has lived a very “normal” American life. She looks very comfortable in her skin. She is a wife and a mom. She has a special needs child and will be an advocate for those who are often left behind.
Her choice also speaks well of John McCain. I’ve read countless times that McCain is someone who doesn’t allow people close to him that he doesn’t know very well – the quintessential good ol’ boy politician. He defies that stereotype with his pick of Sarah Palin. He demonstrates his faith in his ability to serve as President for four years and his faith in the every day American by tabbing Palin as his running mate. She is the every day American. I find comfort in seeing someone like her on the ticket for the Presidency. She is everything that I don’t see in Senators Obama and Biden, two men who have enjoyed a lot of privilege and who give the impression that some of it has gone to their heads.
I’m very impressed with a McCain-Palin ticket. Seeing (and feeling) Tara’s (and my) heart reaction to her, I believe Americans from the “heart land” will warm up to – and find comfort in – a McCain-Palin candidacy. We can also believe again that the every day American truly can be President of this great country.
It is overused in political speeches, but here I write it as a prayer: God bless America.