Topic category:  Other/General

Ten days ago practically no one outside of the State of Alaska had ever heard of Sarah Palin. Today America is on a first-name basis with this gutsy Governor who is destined to be the first woman to serve as Vice-President of these United States.  

Everywhere I go people ask me, "What do you think of Sarah?" Not "Sarah Palin." Just "Sarah." They assume I will understand, because she is without doubt the most talked-about woman in the United States.

The people who know her best, her fellow Alaskans, are almost all very complimentary about Sarah. Or, to be more accurate, they love her! She is the only Governor in the nation with an 86%+ approval rating, and with good reason. She cares deeply about her constituents, and she works night and day for them. Small wonder that they adore her.

Alaskans aren't the only ones talking about Sarah. Barack Obama, who is terrified by this bright young woman, has talked of almost nothing but Sarah for the last ten days. He acts like he is running against her instead of John McCain. Do you think "terrified" is too strong a word? If Barack Obama is not in a state of panic over Sarah joining McCain's ticket, he does a great imitation. Within 15 minutes of learning that Sarah would be named, Obama issued a vicious -- and false -- attack on her.

Obama insisted that McCain had chosen "the mayor of a town of 9,000, with zero foreign policy experience" as his running mate. If he or his handlers had taken just a few minutes to do some research, they would have discovered that, while she had been a mayor, she is now the Governor of the largest state in the union. Or perhaps he knew the facts, but chose to ignore them in an attempt to belittle her.

He should also have considered his words more carefully with regard to her foreign policy experience. He simply drew attention once more to the fact that HE has zero foreign policy experience. HE is the one who would be calling the shots on America's foreign policy if (heaven forbid!) he is elected. Sarah would be assisting John McCain (who is on a first-name basis with most foreign leaders) in implementing his policies.

However, in a head-to-head in the foreign policy (or any other) arena, I would trust Sarah Palin far more than I would trust Barack Obama. Obama has been wrong every time he has ventured an opinion on foreign policy. He was dead wrong on the nation of Georgia, at first blaming Georgia for Russia's aggression against her. (He changed his tune after he realized that even his adoring media friends were not with him.) He has vowed to meet face-to-face with the leaders of terrorist nations, something our most liberal presidents have had the good sense not to do. He has promised to surrender to terrorists by pulling our troops out of Iraq, regardless of the consequences for Israel or for the Iraqis who have supported the ouster of Saddam. If Obama fulfills his promises, Iraq will be overrun in short order by Iran, and would then attack Israel. The Iraqis who helped the Coalition forces would be killed. And the blood of those Israelis and Iraqis would be on Obama's hands.

Sarah, on the other hand, is a level-headed patriot. John McCain is a strong, healthy 72-year-old man who will probably serve every day of his term. But if, heaven forbid, something should happen to President McCain, Sarah Palin's good sense would trump Obama's extreme-liberal, terrorist-appeasing, blame-America-first mentality. Good sense is really what it takes. It doesn't take a lot of foreign policy experience to know that you don't negotiate with terrorists; every school child knows that has always been America's policy. It doesn't take experience to know that you support America's friends, and don't support her enemies.

A few days after Sarah's acceptance speech, a Rassmussen poll showed her with a 58% approval rate. That's higher than any of the other three candidates, including Obama who has been the darling of the media for the last eighteen months. The same poll, which was undoubtedly influenced by the joy with which America has embraced Sarah, showed that 51% of Americans feel John Sidney McCain is the right choice for president, while 47% feel that way about Barack Hussein Obama. A subsequent Gallup poll put McCain 10 points ahead of Obama, reversing a months-long run in which Obama polled higher than McCain. These polls are probably a big part of the reason Obama and his party are in a panic over Sarah. They show that Sarah is a star who has captured the imagination of the American people, and has eclipsed Obama's star.

After many millions of people watched the Obama worship service done in his styrofoam Greek-style temple in Denver, most of the TV talking heads felt that the Republican convention would be lucky to get half as many viewers. But that was before McCain's master stroke of announcing his choice of Sarah the day after Obama's convention. Largely because of her, more people watched the Republican convention than watched the Democrat party.

Remember Obama's much anticipated acceptance speech that was supposed to rock the world? The number of people who watched Sarah's acceptance speech was smaller by only a slight margin than the number who watched Obama's. Obama prepared for his speech for months. Sarah had a week. Obama is running for president. Sarah is running for vice-president. He should have had five times as many people watching him. But Sarah is a star.

Ten days ago most people felt Obama had a clear path to the Oval Office. The "Sarah Factor" has made it much more likely that McCain and Sarah will not just defeat him, but will smoke him by a large margin. So Obama and the Dems have mounted a huge smear campaign against Sarah because of the threat she poses to Obama's chances.

Within days after she was chosen, Democrats had put out a number of lies about Sarah and her family. All were proven false, some within hours. But since the media wants Obama to win, they either fail to report that the rumors were lies, or they put the retractions way in the back of the newspaper or magazine.

One claimed that Sarah's four month old Downs Syndrome baby was actually the child of her daughter. This is of course impossible, since her daughter is five months pregnant. The Democrats knew this was a lie, but they circulated it widely with glee, because they hoped people would think Sarah was a liar. This was particularly foul because of Obama's claims that he would leave the candidates' families out of his attacks.

Other lies put out by the Obama camp: Sarah was part of an Alaskan Independence Party that called for Alaska's secession from the Union. Documents prove that Sarah has always been a Republican.

A particularly cruel rumor was that Sarah's oldest son, Track joined the army to avoid a jail sentence on drug charges. It said that Wasilla, Alaska is the crystal meth capital of the state. Court records prove that Track has never been charged with anything. I don't mind so much that they lied about the small, law-abiding town of Wasilla. But I think Obama and the Dems have sunk to a new, slimy, low when they attacked this patriotic young American who is willing to give his life to ensure their freedom to lie.

The National Enquirer is a low-life, disgusting tabloid published in South Florida. They feature stories about celebrities bearing the children of aliens and have often printed other smears on behalf of the Democrats. They claimed divorce documents would reveal that Sarah had an affair with one of her husband's business partners. After the documents showed nothing at all related to Sarah, the Enquirer refused to apologize.

US Magazine has a well-deserved reputation for supporting liberal candidates regardless of their sins, and attacking conservatives, even if they cannot find anything legitimate for which to attack them. Such was the case with their cover story on Sarah Palin just days after the announcement that she would be McCain's running mate.

Challenged by some of the few fair reporters out there, they were forced to admit that "Babies" referred to her new baby Trig; "Lies" referred to all the lies being told about Palin; and "Scandal" was a reference to a DUI her husband had 22 years ago! They claimed it was a legitimate, factual story. Perhaps it was; I would never read a trashy magazine like that, so I cannot say. But one thing is clear: Since they couldn't find any real dirt on Sarah, their obvious intention was to use their cover to smear Sarah. Far more people see the covers of scandal sheets like the National Enquirer and US than actually read them. They counted on the cover to do their dirty work for them.

Some of you who have been fooled by brilliant Obama's smile and his smooth talk may be thinking, "Obama didn't start those rumors. He said he doesn't approve of them." Really? Remember that Obama learned his dirty politics in Chicago when he was part of the most corrupt political machine ever known in this country. The Chicago Democrat machine is famous for the thousands of dead people who vote there. (The old newspaper headline joke is funny because it is true: "Democrats Get 95% of Dead Vote in Recent Election.") Obama's cronies have made the smear campaign an art form. He can claim that he has no part in the lies, but his history and his character say otherwise.

Is the Democrat smear campaign working? Yes, but it's working in favor of McCain-Palin. Polls show that 24% of Americans are more likely to vote for McCain because of the cruel and unfounded attacks on Sarah. Americans don't like liars and bullies, and the Democrats have proven themselves to be both with this vicious attack on Sarah Plain and her children.  

Obama has had almost two years to make the case that he is qualified to be president. Sarah has been in the public eye for just ten days. A poll taken just a week after the announcement that Sarah would be on the Republican ticket asked Americans whether they thought Obama or Sarah was more qualified to be president. Sarah was only four points behind Obama in the poll! Imagine what those results will be when America has had time to really get to know this remarkable woman.

Sarah has years of executive experience. Obama has none. So he has stated repeatedly that judgment, not experience, is what is needed in the White House. How's this for judgment? Obama had the chance to have Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Even top Republicans have admitted privately that this would have been an unbeatable ticket. But Obama is all about Obama, and Hillary had hurt his feelings during the primary. So his huge ego convinced him that he could win with a tired-out political hack chosen by the Kennedys as his running mate.

How's this for judgment? McCain, in a brilliant move that will be talked about in political science classes for years, chose a fresh, bright, articulate patriot as his running mate. This move electrified not only the Republican base but all Americans, and ensured that McCain would get most of the critical Independent vote. Because Sarah is a star who will deliver.

Obama, with his back against the wall, has stated that Democrat women would never vote for a Republican. But reporters who traveled with the Hillary campaign and are now following Palin say that they are seeing many of the same faces in the crowds. People who identify themselves as Democrats outnumber those who say they are Republicans. (Although there has been a huge increase in the number of folks calling themselves Republicans since Sarah made her national debut.) But after just a few days of getting to know Sarah, almost sixty per cent of female likely voters say they will vote for McCain-Palin. Clearly there are many, many Democrat women amongst those polled.

Would Democrat women vote Republican just to see a woman in the White House? Yes, for the same reason that black people who cannot stand Obama or his liberal policies plan to vote for him. Some black people want to see a black president so much that they are willing to hold their noses and vote for Obama because he is running as a black man (although he has far more white heritage than black).

Some women feel just the same way about finally having a woman in the White House. And yes, many Hillary supporters will vote for McCain-Palin, for two reasons: They can't stand Obama because of the sexist campaign he ran against Hillary; and they care more about a woman finally breaking the glass ceiling that Hillary almost broke than they care about their party. They may not agree with Sarah on everything, but they admire her. Sarah is a bright star in the usually dark world of politics.

I believe one of the reasons so many Democrat women are flocking to Sarah is that they are seeing through the hypocrisy of the so-called Feminist Movement. Feminists are supposed to be about equality for women, and they were happy to support Liberal Hillary. But now that a conservative is running, the feminists are attacking her unmercifully. In the same way that liberals attack black conservatives by saying they're not "black enough," the feminists are saying that Sarah is not "female enough." I don't know about you, but I think Sarah represents the majority of American women far more than the radical feminists, many of whom are hard to distinguish from men. Most American women are actually feminine, and most of them don't believe in killing innocent babies as the "FemiNazis" do.

Obama continues to demean himself by running against a vice-presidential candidate rather than the candidate for president. This has drawn the attention away from Obama's own ineffectual running mate. But either Biden or Palin will be first in line to be president if their ticket is elected, and the way things are, Obama is as likely to die in office as McCain. So I would like to close with this question. Would you rather see Biden or Palin in the Oval Office?

Biden is a Washington insider beholden to lobbyists (his own son lobbies him) and to the Kennedy political machine. The Kennedys own Biden just as they own Obama. Biden, like Obama, never has a thought that doesn't dovetail with the Democrat party line. He would follow Obama's policies of blaming America for everything, apologizing to our enemies for our greatness, and destroying our military's ability to defend us. And he has proven that, just like Obama, there is not a tax increase or spending bill that he would not vote for. Like the TV commercial says, "Obama-Biden. Ready to Tax. Ready to Spend. Not ready to Lead."

On the other hand, Sarah has been a leader since her high school days. She has been a reformer for most of her adult life, going up against entrenched politicians like Biden. She has not been corrupted by the swamp that is Washington, DC. Instead, she is a typical American, with the same hopes and dreams for her children as we have. She is "in touch" with America in a way that Obama and Biden could never be. (How can they claim to be "in touch" when they don't even realize that we can't handle the taxes we have, much less the new ones they want to impose on us.) McCain & Sarah: "We offer not only change you can believe in, but change you can verify."

Sarah understands us. More important, she cares about us. I believe she and McCain, a young reformer and a battle-hardened maverick, will indeed drain the DC swamp. I'm already planning a McCain-Palin Victory Celebration for the night of November 4th.

Dr. Tom Barrett
Conservative Truth (Publisher, Editor)