(no longer) The Northernmost Jew

Friday morning I was woken up with an "OH MY GAWD!" from my roommate. The news had just come out - McCain had chosen Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor, to be his running mate. My friend Julie and I had joked about the possibility, but didn't really expect it to happen. Since then, everyone has been asking me for my thoughts on the matter. So here are some random thoughts on the matter, in no particular order:

I think she is a gutsy person. I believe she will do what she feels is right, not what she thinks is popular at the moment. And she won't care whom it pisses-off. I also think she is extremely intelligent.

She is very anti-choice. This I'm against. I think she would not even accept exceptions for the life of the mother.

My biggest problem with her is that she has had no foreign policy experience. No one knows where she stands on any international issues. In today's world, I think that foreign policy is the most important issue. And she is the running mate of a 72 year old cancer survivor.

She is for drilling for oil in ANWR. This is good IMO. Why should we be so dependent on foreign oil, when there is so much here? And most of the countries we are buying oil from are countries to whom I would rather not give money.

One of the criticisms of her I've been seeing is that she is the governor of a state of only 650 thousand people. But numbers is not the only issue. I think that Alaska had a more diverse population with unique problems. It is probably more challenging than other states to govern.

Is this pandering to women? Or at least the women who were upset when Hillary did not get the nomination? Many people seem to think so. However, McCain chose a woman who will NOT appeal to many of Clinton's supporters.

Is it pandering to the Evangelicals?

I think she has more experience than O'Bama, not that that is saying much.

She is currently under investigation for "abuse of power". I don't think anything will come of it. though. Her sister was involved in a messy divorce, and then Palin fired her sister's ex-husband.

She ran against the incumbent governor and won. That isn't that much of an accomplishment, though. I think my schnauzer could have won against Murkowski. (see entry #252)

On the internet I've seen several critisism of her for sponsoring a bill supporting what one called "aerial slaughter of wolves". She did support a bill in favor of killing wolves from airplanes. So what? I voted for the bill, although it was voted down. The native population depends on the meat they get from moose, and the wolves were a threat. It's not like people who are bored rent planes and go shoot wolves for the hell of it.

Having been a beauty queen is not a something in her favor for political office, but it shouldn't be a negative either. I've seen comments putting her down for it. People seem to think that, at least for women, attractiveness and intelligence are inversely proportional. That just isn't true. (Look at Danica McKellar!)

Other criticisms have been that she describes herself as a "hocky mom", although hockey is not a popular sport. And she mentions eating moose stew. Guess what - many Alaskans eat moose! Isn't it supposed to be better for the world if you eat local food?

All things considered, I like her.