It's now been two weeks since John McCain's announcement of Sarah Palin joining the Republican ticket as Vice President, and they have been arguably the two best weeks for the McCain campaign thus far. There have been numerous attacks regarding her radical views, her experience, her past actions, her pregnant daughter, and even her femininity, but nothing seems to be sticking and she has emerged unscathed where many politicians would have crumbled. So, we must acknowledge that there is just something about Palin, but what? Let's take a look at all of these attacks.
First, many liberals are terrified by what they view as her radical views, from her views on gun control to her strong stance against abortion. Many point to these views and expect that all listeners will be shocked and terrified - but when it comes down to it, Palin was never selected to attract the independent or liberal vote. She is here to excite the Republican base, who have up to this point had limited excitement and borderline distrust of McCain - and it's working. Palin has managed to rally together and rouse Republicans in a way that no Republican candidate has in a long time. (Don't believe us? Go watch the footage of the Republican Nation Convention and tell us the last time you saw that many Republicans standing and screaming just at them mention of a name.) Liberals often seem to forget that a huge portion of the country, mostly found in rural areas, agree with most of Palin's views and are happy to see these viewpoints are important to the McCain campaign. Leave attracting the independents to McCain, who has a strong bi-partisan record (and is oft heard claiming so.) At the end of the day, she would just be vice president, and would have even less influence on policies made by Congress than the President - so any question if she is too radical is a moot point.
Palin's biggest weakness in the eyes of her critics is her lack of experience, and she is constantly being questioned on how she would be prepared to be President should something happen to McCain. Frankly, this criticism is ridiculous given she has about the same amount of experience as the TOP of the ticket of the other side, so what option do we have but to risk having a President with little experience. At least for Palin it's a chance for it, rather than a guarantee on the Obama side. Further, her experience is as a Governor, an actual executive position and the most closely parallel position to President as one can find in the US government, versus both McCain and Obama, who have all legislative experience. The Obama campaign just can't push this point to much as it brings light to the lack of Obama's own experience.
A more vague series of attacks has focused on some of Palin's past decisions. Most recently is the question of whether or not she crossed the line when she fired the police commissioner, arguably because he refused to fire a police officer whom also happened to be divorcing Palin's sister. Turns out the fellow isn't fired after all though, so this story is already on its way to a silent grave. Others have focused on her past actions that seem to encourage pork, as opposed to her proclaimed stance against reform. But in a campaign that has become all about character, and nothing about anything else, no one seems to be paying attention to any of it - and nothing has been solid enough to truly gain ground. So once again, she has come out unscathed.
One of the possibly most ridiculous criticisms of Palin has been that her 17 year old daughter is unwed and pregnant. Many democrats seemed to clap in glee when this news surfaced, assuming this would alienate her from her conservative Republican base, particularly the Evangelicals. However the Democrats seem to have underestimated the Republican's sense of family, and that many people against sex outside of marriage still have compassion for those who flounder, as many of their own sons and daughters have fought through the same issues, and admire Palin for not abandoning her daughter and sacrificing her for her own political gains. Further, since news came out that Palin's daughter is going to marry the father of the baby, many Republican's consider this extreme circumstance as well handled, and think it shows Palin as a compassionate and good mother.
One of the first questions on every minds since the selection of Governor Palin is "Will she take the female Clinton supporters away from the Democrats?" The resounding response from Democrats is that no, she will not since she is on th opposite side of many of the issues from Hilary. Yet polls seem to suggest that she is drawing women to a party that traditionally struggles with the women vote. (More evidence that this race is less about issues and more about the character of those running.) It is true, Palin has the established feminists in an outrage. At least one feminist has been heard to say that "If Palin wins, this will be a step backwards for women everywhere." But why is there such a difference between what the establishments are saying and the polls? The truth is in many rural areas the feminist movement has lost favor, and being called a feminist is more of an insult than compliment. Many women are tired of being made to feel bad for having any traditionally feminine attributes. Many women feel looked down upon for not having a career and staying home. They feel true equality is having a choice, not being forced to stay home or to have to have a career. Women who sacrifice for their family encounter much of the same attitude. Palin has been criticized for talking about her family so much, to the point of being defined as "The Hockey Mom", and feel this is a tragedy for the view or women today. But this is in itself not fair. Michelle Obama spent an entire hour at the DNC talking about how family was central to the Obamas, and Obama himself came on and had a heartwarming conversation with his two daughters on stage, and has said over and over that his family means the world to him. So why is it ok for the male candidate to talk about his family, but not the woman candidate? Is this equality? Women are GLAD to see a woman succeed without having to give up who she is. Women want to be able to be women, and still succeed, rather than having to conform to a certain view of a woman. How is having to conform to what one group of women say a women should be any more free than having to be what a man says? Both remove the choice from the women to control their own lives. To them Palin is a champion that they haven't seen in many years, if at all. She is a good mom, beautiful, has a successful career, and is making a real difference out there. To them this is a women they want their daughters to look up to, not someone who has conformed. This entire concept seems to be missing in the understanding of critics everywhere.
Yet none of this seems to amount to the revitalization she has brought to the McCain campaign. What has caused such a drastic change to a race that seemed hardly a race at all just a few short weeks ago. Perhaps it comes down to one thing pointed our by Sean Sutton, an American Politics professor at Rochester Institute of Technology: "Sarah Palin has the unique ability to look straight into the camera, wrinkle her nose just so, and kick Obama right in the groin." And she gets away with it.
