Sunday, April 26, 2009

TEN DOLLAR WORDS with Frank Chappell

*Posted August 28, 2008*

It seems that just as the Democrats breached the apex of their practical and symbolic power by Obama’s newfound rhetorical tenacity reiterating
his liberal platform during the Democratic Convention on the anniversary of Mr. Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the McCain campaign
has made a leap from their corner with a devastating uppercut with the Senator’s pick of Sarah Palin as his VP running mate on the anniversary
of Women’s Suffrage.

Before elaborating on my recent astonishment, I must reveal my own personal agenda in order to achieve some truthfulness to this analysis;
truth is of course, what we are striving for finally in Washington in this next election is it not? Admittedly, I am a liberal. I have voted
Democrat in the past and had hoped to continue in this next electionuntil McCain’s most recent flooring decision. Now don’t get me wrong,
I’m not a die-hard Pro-Choice socialist; I consider myself to be an“old-fashioned” Democrat, one who values traditional morality
balanced with a progressivism of modernity. I have for many year considered it an unfair dichotomy of our dual party system that so many
moral issues should be divided among the parties in such a fashion that tears one’s conscience asunder simply to place a vote. There should be
no good reason that I should be forced to vote Pro-Choice along with Pro-Union or Pro-Death Penalty with Tax cuts. I shouldn’t have to worry
about big business affecting the choices of one party on environmental issues and outrageous taxation and palm greasing of the other. Whatever
my choice in this upcoming election, I assure the reader that I am merely voting for the candidate whom I feel would do the most good for
the most amount of people be it Red or Blue, I do not allow a particular party loyalty to bias me.

Having said this, I now turn to McCain’s critical choice of a running mate, Sara Palin, and the significance this holds for the success of the
McCain campaign. When I watched her walk out onto the podium today with her husband and children, my initial thought was “What a hottie!
However, when I listened to her credentials, ideals, and past actions as governor of Alaska, it became clear as to why she is such a formidable
foe in this race. Palin was as much a symbolic representation of the politics McCain is convincing the American public he wishes to practice
as she is a functional, experienced component of a changing American government.

Firstly, just when you thought the Democrats had the choice of a female candidate for presidency define their liberalism, progressivism, and
sign of integrity, here’s Sarah strutting on the catwalk next to McCain!Secondly, McCain realized that to win this election, he needed to beat
the Democrats at their own game, choosing a liberal Republican candidate to battle with him will most definitely gain him the support from not
only the female population of the U.S., but also all of those liberals sitting on the fence whether because of moral issues, Obama’s
inexperience in politics, or his spotty plans for healthcare and tax breaks. Palin came from a middle class home, her husband belongs to the
Steel Workers Union, one of her sons is heading off to Iraq on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in the Army, she
has a child with Down Syndrome, she battled both corporate and government corruption in Alaska as governor, and she’s a complete
Greenhorn to Washington politics, something that Obama has been using to get an edge on every young naïve liberal he can speak to (but
ironically, this is the same thing the Republican party has been criticizing him for, so lets pick an angle and stick with it GOP!). Her
mere presence covers so many issues in the Republican party, she’s the new Golden Child of this race! The entire Republican spectrum can take
refuge in her Immaculate Mary-like arms from middle-class Republican seeking out a living through family challenges to gun wielding rednecks!
The bottom line is: Liberals can identify with her and find characteristics that suit their ideology in the institutions to which
she has belonged to in the past starting with the PTA! Her situation pulls on the heartstrings of America, something which will surely
promote her to a higher status in McCain’s campaign and leave Obama’s idealism in the dust. I don’t know why she didn’t just run for president
honestly!

It is historic times we are living in when the race for the presidency of the United, white, Protestant, male dominated States is between teams
comprised of a man and a woman and a black man and white man! There is no sitting on the fence in this election. Palin is “Green” enough to be
innocent of Washington’s corruption and practiced enough in her roles as Mayor and Governor of Alaska to prove noteworthy as a politician.

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