The peasants are revolting

I am seeing more and more examples lately of why you should not let your political adversaries define you.

The latest meme circulating around the press and liberal circles (including President Obama) is this idea that the Tea Party patriots, Sarah Palin partisans, Republicans, and mid-America in general are stupid and/or evil. They learn everything they need to know about conservatives by watching Saturday Night Live, reading the newspaper, and from political scientists at leading liberal universities.

A perfect example of this is the BBC article "Why do people vote against their own interests," in which two "exasperated Democrats" tell the BBC that "the politician with the best stories is going to win," and "many of America's poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest." I urge you to read the excellent rebuttals by Ed Morrissey and Charles Krauthammer on this subject.

Another example of the media defining conservatives Kevin Diaz's Star Tribune article, "Michele Bachmann does delicate political dance."

Diaz characterizes Palin as "the former Alaska governor who electrified down-home conservatives as the GOP's nominee for vice president in 2008," and Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN-6) as "the envoy of a populist movement born in church basements, at race tracks and gun shows across the country." If this story had a soundtrack, it would be "The Ballad of Jed Clampett!" I don't know about you, but even though I support Bachmann, I have never been to a political rally at a race track, a gun show, or a church basement. I have been to several at the Minnesota State Capitol, however.

A third variation of how the left defines the right is when they helpfully point out how Republicans are hurting themselves politically. Almost without exception, it's actually just the opposite.

Example: the Tea Party movement. In Diaz's article, sources say "the Republican Party has been hijacked by the Tea Party movement," and "This is a grass-tops [as opposed to grass roots] movement." Diaz blames the Tea Party for causing the Republican party to fret "whether to tack to the right or the political center." He reports that "Divisions over ideological purity already cost the GOP a congressional seat in New York last year, after Tea Party activists rallied around a Conservative Party candidate who ended up splitting the Republican vote," while neglecting to mention stunning Tea Party supported, Democrat-to-Republican flips by Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts, Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey, and Gov. Bob McDonnell in Virginia.

Diaz also neglects to point out that it was big-spending Republicans who "hijacked" the Reagan Revolution, broke the Contract with America, and cost the party majorities in Congress and the White House, not to mention elections in the various states.

How should one respond to these inaccurate portrayals of the ascendant conservative movement in the United States? By following Sarah Palin's example of positive leadership and grace, an unwavering dedication to our country's founding principles of limited government, low taxation, free markets, and liberty, and by avoiding an Obama-like cult of personality or allegiance to party over country.

John Kerry: Palin, Tea Party are threats

"If you think this movement is more circus sideshow than actual threat, you'd be mistaken. Republican candidates are falling all over each other to get [Sarah] Palin's endorsement, and the tea party movement is responding. Money is pouring in.

"Either we match the passion and activism of these new forces in the Republican Party, or they'll be choosing who's sitting in the Senate, steering our country's course...And the loss of even one or two would flip crucial votes in their favor and doom President Obama's agenda [author's emphasis]...The best chance we've had in generations to make positive change will have ended." —Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), in a recent Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraising letter

Because she is not currently holding or running for elected office (while having not ruled out the possibility), Gov. Palin is free to speak her mind and help conservatives get elected across the country. From now and into 2010 is the perfect time to leverage Palin's rising popularity and influence. Help "doom President Obama's agenda." Donate to SarahPAC.

Sarah Palin comes "home" to Minnesota

Going Rogue by the numbers (source: Mall of America):

2500: Number of copies of Going Rogue signed by Sarah Palin at her Barnes & Noble Mall of America appearance on December 7. The previous mall record for books signed was held by Twilight author Stephanie Meyer (850 books).

1700: Approximate number of persons who came to Mall of America to see Sarah Palin

4: Number of hours that Palin signed books on December 7

2: Number of international press covering the event (Der Spiegel and Al Jazeera)

1: Palin event ranking for the number of media organizations covering a Mall of America event in the mall's seventeen-year history

1: Current rank of Going Rogue on the New York Times Best Sellers list for hardcover nonfiction

0: Number of tomatoes thrown at Sarah Palin that actually hit her

It was Fred Barnes from the Weekly Standard who first introduced me to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin back in July 2007, in his column "The Most Popular Governor:"

The wipeout in the 2006 election left Republicans in such a state of dejection that they've overlooked the one shining victory in which a Republican star was born. The triumph came in Alaska where Sarah Palin, a politician of eye-popping integrity, was elected governor. She is now the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating in the 90s, and probably the most popular public official in any state.

Her rise is a great (and rare) story of how adherence to principle--especially to transparency and accountability in government--can produce political success.

I became an immediate fan of Palin, read occasional articles about her, and enjoyed passing through her Mat-Su Valley hometown of Wasilla on vacation in July 2008. Imagine my thrill after attending a local Republican fundraiser, the night Barack Obama accepted the Democrat nomination for President — as we heard through the grapevine that network news helicopters, broadcast satellite trucks, and other media had encircled the home of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty — that John McCain had chosen Governor Palin as his running mate.

The rest is history, including Palin's dazzling acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul in September of 2008 (in Palin's book, a photo of the convention floor at Saint Paul's Xcel Energy Center is misidentified as being in Minneapolis), and the disappointing defeat of the McCain-Palin ticket in November.

It is fitting that Governor Palin returns to the Twin Cities, to a place called Mall of America. A shopping mall is, after all, a shrine to free enterprise and consumerism, a reflection of the highest standard of living in the history of the world. MOA is really big, like Alaska. And "An American Story" is what Palin is all about.

The gov we love alluded to her Minnesota connections in these Twitter posts sent from her Blackberry on December 7:

In Minnesota,event @ Mall of America,look frwrd 2 seeing Alaska friends' relatives here (a lot of MN transplants in AK!);lot in common w MN

Privileged 2 now meet w MN folks w families n Alaska;1 realizes how intimate r nation is as we travel&hear of connections all Americans have

Palin's book and national tour are laying a strong and wide foundation of trust, loyalty, and affection for the governor and her family, amongst the hoi polloi in the small towns of America she claimed as her own in that acceptance speech last year:

A writer observed: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity." I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.

I grew up with those people.

They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America, who grow our food, run our factories and fight our wars.

They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America.

Sarah Palin at Mall of America

Sarah Palin arrived at the Mall of America in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington on a cold, brilliantly sunny (once the sun rose) December 7. According to Tweets from Mall of America spokesperson Erica Dao, Going Rogue readers began lining up outside the East Entrance to MOA by 4:30 a.m., for the distribution of the autograph-entitling wrist bands at 5:00 a.m. By 1:14 p.m., Dao reported about 1400 at the event.

The event enjoyed considerable local media coverage, from television reporters Pat Kessler, Tom Hauser, Eric Eskola, John Croman, to a dapperly-dressed James Lileks and Star Trib gossip columnist C.J., complete with camcorder.

Palin, with son Trig and "her guy," husband Todd, suddenly appeared out of nowhere about twenty minutes before noon, causing the crowd to cheer and those of us in the media to scramble for a spot on the too-small photography platform for a few seconds of precious "b-roll" and still photos.

Gov. Palin seemed energized by each individual person who shook her hand. She signed each book with gusto and a smile. Many passersby not in the autograph line stopped to gawk and take a few cell phone photos.

Ad hominem, ad nauseam

"It's not about me." —Sarah Palin

The current issue of the liberal news and entertainment rag City Pages, from its parody cover image (right) to the cover story (well-fisked by Gary Gross), epitomizes the left's familiar ad hominem strategy against popular conservative politicians like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN6) and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

As they camp out overnight in cold weather to greet the former vice-presidential candidate on her book tour, Palin supporters should take care to not let their support deteriorate into an Obama-like cult of personality. Palin herself has said it in recent interviews: "It's not about me." It's about the Constitution, limited government, lower taxes, and free markets.

When the left condescendingly dismisses Palin, Bachmann, or other popular conservative as crazy, they shift the focus away from first principles and the controversies of important issues like the economy, national security, health care, transporation, education. From there, it's not much of a leap to conclude that anyone who follows these crazies must be crazy too, or at least a dupe (e.g., the Tea Party patriots). When Republicans keep at arm's length from these outspoken conservatives without speaking out for the values they are trying to protect, they are not doing anyone any favors — except for the Democrats.

Sound and fury

"If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard." —Deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina in a town hall strategy briefing on August 6, with senior White House adviser David Axelrod, to Democrat Senators

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." —Sarah Palin on Facebook

What good are town hall meetings, anyway? They seem to bring out the most extreme elements on both sides, heighten emotions, and sometimes end in fistcuffs and trips to jail or the emergency room. They are routinely scripted by organizers and disrupted by protesters. In this age of Internet communication, aren't town hall meetings antiquated?

I know from attending my share of school board, city council, and legislative hearings over the years that there is a public comment continuum. Legislative hearings are strictly controlled by the committee chair, time limits on testimony are enforced, and questions from committee members can resemble cross-examination at trial (indeed, many legislators have law degrees). School board and city council meetings are usually less formal to encourage citizen participation, but there are still time and parliamentary limits. These meetings all generally occur in capitols, school district offices, and city halls.

The public comment portion of legislative or Congressional town hall meetings out in the community tend to be the loosest type of exchanges, and most often attract members of the general public who are inexperienced at the niceties of addressing the chair or even speaking in public at all. When there are hot-button issues on the table, as with Minnesota's academic standards a few years ago, public funding for the Twins stadium, smoking bans, and the current health reform debate, these meetings attract the media, organized testimony and demonstrators, and often more heat than light.

Although certainly not effective as a workshop for crafting good public policy, public hearings and town hall meetings are a traditional and necessary component of our American experiment in self-government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. There is something quintessentially American about an elected official, whether from the local school board or the United States Senate, standing up in front of a school gymnasium full of his constituents to receive both praise and brickbats.

As someone observed during one of yesterday's Sunday interview shows, some politicians may love President Obama's vision for health care, but they love getting reelected even more. Town hall meetings, e-mail, social networking, and talk radio are all ways that the hoi polloi are participating in the political process like never before. Witness Sarah Palin's use of Facebook:

One can hardly deny that Palin's reference to "death panels" was inflammatory. But another way of putting that is that it was vivid and attention-getting. Level-headed liberal commentators who favor more government in health care, including Slate's Mickey Kaus and the Washington Post's Charles Lane, have argued that the end-of-life provision in the bill is problematic--acknowledging in effect (and, in Kaus's case, in so many words) that Palin had a point.

—"Palin Wins," Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2009

Although anyone can send an e-mail or write a letter, professional lobbyists and interest groups tend to drown out the voices of John and Jane Q. Public. Elected officials can become isolated in their Greek-columned worlds, especially in Washington, D.C. They have numerous procedural and security methods for preserving order at town hall meetings without stifling public comment. This face-to-face conduit between constituents and representatives is still needed in our republic, if we are to keep it.

Palin takes the ball into her court

I learned of Sarah Palin's resignation from the Alaska governor's office while walking around Times Square, on vacation last Friday (see my grainy tourist video, above).

The left (and many on the right) are bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by Palin's resignation, as they were last summer when John McCain announced his pick for Vice President. Is Sarah Barracuda taking the basketball and going home? On the contrary, the ball is in her court, and she intends to use it. Even as the left gleefully pronounces the death of Palin's political career and the GOP, conservative grassroots activists continue to network, train, plan, and build for campaigns from the school board to the White House. Now Palin is in the game, ready to lead a new full-court press in 2010 and beyond.

What to do with Sarah Palin?

"My concentration is on bettering our country. I've never been known as an obsessive partisan. In fact, I've taken on my own party. I've run against members of my own party in order to reform at a local level and a state level. And on a national level I'd do the same thing...

"I think those who would criticize what I believe I represent — and that is, everyday, hardworking American families who desire and deserve reform of government — I think they are out of touch with what the rest of the nation is talking about today. It's a reflection of some elitism that assumes that the best and the brightest of this country are all assembled in Washington, D.C., and I beg to differ. You can walk out in the rally that we are going to attend in a minute, and you talk to anyone there, and I believe you will hear the same thing. Enough of that arrogance. Enough of that assumption that unless you are a part of that Washington elite that you aren't worthy of serving this great country."

—Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, "I Haven't Always Just Toed the Line," by Kimberley A. Strassel, The Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2008

"...many in the [Republican] party establishment...would prefer [Sarah Palin] remain in Alaska and leave the party rebuilding to others who may appeal to the broad middle of the country." —"Sarah Palin in, then out, back in -and now again out of fundraising dinner," by Jonathan Martin, Politico, June 7, 2009

How's that workin' out for ya, guys??

The Washington establishment of the GOP knows that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is a solid conservative rock star who can't be counted on to follow the focus group-tested story line and stick to the teleprompter, and neither will her "fans." But Palin is no loose cannon: on the contrary, she is just one of those rare politicians who puts her traditional American values and conservative principles over, well, politics. Palin's remarkable record of cleaning house in Alaskan government speaks for itself, which could be why the Beltway boys are so befuddled about Sarah Palin — and why America needs her now more than ever.

Asset or liability?

Last week, the Candie's Foundation announced at a media event that Bristol Palin is their new "ambassador." The organization was founded to raise awareness and discuss ways to combat teen pregnancy after the fashion company, as the New York Times put it, came "under fire from critics who accused [Candie's] of dressing high schoolers like tarts." Meanwhile, Candie's product spokesmodel Britney Spears is promoting, well, you probably already know what Britney Spears is promoting.

All well and good — unless maybe your mom may want to run for President of the United States someday.

As any politico as experienced as Sarah Palin surely knows, either your children are off limits to the press and public, like the youngster Obama girls, or they step into the spotlight and takes their chances, like the adult Meghan McCain.

Politically, the pertinent question about the 18-year-old Bristol's new spokesperson status is: would it be an asset or a liability to a future Palin for President campaign? Would Bristol perhaps had as much or greater effect on teens had she mounted a lower-profile statewide campaign to her fellow Alaskans, under the national media radar? What were the identified political risks of Bristol's signing on with Candie's? Strictly from a brand management standpoint, what would George W. Bush or Barack Obama have done under similar circumstances?

Like it or not, every move by every Palin family member, from her guy Todd to little Trig and into the outer branches of the family tree, is being and will be examined by the opposition (outside and inside the Republican Party) for possible political advantage. If she hasn't already, Gov. Palin may face a Carrie Prejean moment, in which she must decide which is more important: making a statement or winning the crown (and then making the statement).

As the New York Times demonstrates, all the media has to do is cast doubt: "But when a teenager goes out on this kind of mission, you have to wonder where her parents’ heads were. What does this say about Sarah Palin’s judgment? Although we’ve sort of answered that question before."

Cross-posted at Sarah's Web Brigade.

Fresh air from the Hollywood center-right [sic]

The Pop Tarts section of FoxNews.com captured some refreshingly strong and articulate political views from TV's Law and Order star Angie Harmon this week. Harmon's wide-ranging comments went from racial political correctness to Sarah and Bristol Palin to bigotry in the Democrat party and tolerance in the GOP:

If I have anything to say against Obama it's not because I'm a racist, it's because I don't like what he's doing as President and anybody should be able to feel that way, but what I find now is that if you say anything against him you're called a racist...If I'm going to disagree with my President, that doesn't make me a racist. If I was to disagree with W, that doesn't make me racist. It has nothing to do with it, it is ridiculous.

The fact that this woman [Sarah Palin] has made the decisions she's made and literally lived her life according to that and takes heat for it is absolutely disgusting to me.

I don’t care what anybody says, this person [Bristol Palin] is still a young person and okay she's got a big situation on her hands but for anyone to sit there and make fun of her or judge her is just cruel and wrong...So if everyone could just get off her and let her live her life and do it in a way that she thinks is best, I'm all for it. I really am. She has my support 100 percent, she's a sweetheart. I've got three daughters and I'm going to stand up for them and support them in whatever they want to do.

Not all of us are supposed to believe the same things and think the same way. I think the difference between the parties is, with the Democrats you can sit down with them and have a 15 minute conversation and if you’re not believing everything they say and buying into what they’re selling you, it is like you’re some dumb hick who doesn't deserve to live here anymore. But with the Republicans, it is like okay I want to know what you know, you want to know what I know, okay great let’s go have a beer after work, we're still friends. I’m just confused as to where we lost that in America because it is everyone’s God-given right to think the way they think and that's fine. That's why our ancestors came here to America, to believe what they want, pray how they want and follow a religion with whoever they want.

Maybe there really is a political center-right in Hollywood.

Top political stories of 2008

2008 was a big year in politics in the North Star State. Please log your reactions to my list in the comments section or via Twitter (@mattabe).

• John McCain Picks Sarah Palin For Vice President - What were McCain's real motives? Did the pick hurt McCain more than it helped? Who knows, but judging by the huge rally crowds and the cast of characters who are still attacking Palin with slander, hammer, and tong, Palin is a conservative who can make it morning in America again.
• Minnesota U.S. Senate Election Recount - R.I.P. Clean Elections In Minnesota.
• Minnesota's Congressional Republicans Keep All Three Of Their Seats As Ramstad Retires - The bright side in 2008 for Republicans was that Republican Erik Paulsen was elected to succeed Jim Ramstad in the Third, and conservatives Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN6) and Rep. John Kline (R-MN2) kept their seats on the Republican side of the aisle.
• Third District DFL Endorses Ashwin Madia For Congress - Third CD Dems boldly showed the courage of their convictions by bypassing (in a hotly contested endorsing convention) the well-funded, seasoned pol, and Minnesota State Senator Terri Bonoff for political newcomer Ashwin Madia. Madia's youthful campaign workers in the general election made extensive use of Internet technologies to spread the word. Madia raised more money outside Minnesota than in-state.
• Republican National Convention Held In Twin Cities - the hotels, bars, and restaurants were booked; the anarkids wreaked havoc; and Sarah Palin made her national debut as the eyes of the world gazed upon the Twin Cities for an unforgettable week in August.
• "Override Six" Targeted By Conservatives - conservatives flexed their political muscle in the most visible way since the No New Taxes Pledge. Here's to another encore in 2009.
• Precinct Caucuses Attract Record Turnout - the MNGOP got an infusion of new blood in 2008. Will the party keep them engaged for the run-up to 2010?
• Conservatives Find Selves Out-Tweeted by Democrats - it goes beyond social networking, it's a generational shift (see: Millenial Makeover). Conservatives, led in part by Hugh Hewitt, spent much of December signing up for Twitter accounts and creating Facebook pages, at least to see what all the fuss is about. Time will tell if they are able to exploit this new paradigm in political communications to win elections.
• An American Carol - now available on DVD, it was not the funniest political satire ever (see: Team America), but it was welcome comic relief in a year that needed it.

Another Democrat for McCain-Palin

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee has joined the long and growing roster of Democrats and independents supporting John McCain for President.

"In an election as important as this, we must choose the candidate who has a proven record of bipartisanship and reforming government, and that's John McCain," Rothschild said in a press release coinciding with the Wednesday announcement from Arlington, Virginia.

"We can't afford a president who lacks experience and judgment and has never crossed party lines to work for meaningful reform," continued Rothschild. "Amid tough economic times and foreign policy concerns, we need someone who is ready to lead. Although I am a Democrat, I recognize that it's more important to put country ahead of party and that's why I support John McCain."

During the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, several other prominent McCain Democrats held a press conference to discuss their reasons for supporting the McCain-Palin ticket, including:

• John Coale, former fundraiser for President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
• Jennifer Lee, member of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in California
• Silver Salazar, Hispanic community leader and former supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton for president
• Cynthia Ruccia, former Congressional candidate from Ohio and women's rights activist
• Brian Golden, former state representative fro Boston and lifelong Democrat
• Ambassador Mark Erwin, appointed ambassador to OPIC by President Clinton

Biden bypasses McCain to insult Republicans

The Democrat/liberal/leftist weapon of choice is the ad hominem attack. When they don't have a better idea, they attack the candidate personally. Tina Fey's relatively gentle parody of Sarah Palin on last week's Saturday Night Live ("I can see Russia from my house") is only the beginning.

Democrat vice presidential candidate Joe Biden took this to a whole new level, bypassing John McCain and instead insulting Republicans in general during his speech in Flat Rock, Michigan on Monday:

The Republican party and some of the blogs and others on the far right, are trying very hard to paint a picture of this man [Sen. Barack Obama], they're trying the best as they can to mischaracterize who he is and what he stands for.

All this stuff about how different Barack Obama is, they're not just used to somebody really smart. They're just not used to somebody who’s really well educated. They just don't know quite how to handle it. Cause if he's as smart as Barack is he must not be from my neighborhood.

If I voted for an elite Washington insider who actually thinks like this, I would surely get the government I deserved.

Reuters: 37 million watched Palin

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 37 million U.S. TV viewers tuned in to watch Sarah Palin accept the Republican nomination for vice president Wednesday, just shy of the record set last week by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, Nielsen Media Research reported.

UPDATE: The AP reported on Friday that over 40 million watched Palin's speech: "An audience of 37.2 million people watched Palin on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, Nielsen Media Research said Thursday. PBS estimated its audience at 3.9 million, based on a less reliable sample of several big cities. Nielsen does not count the audience for C-SPAN, which also showed the speech."

The Speech

"Palin made it clear to the condescending media and her Democratic critics that she is no pushover, no cream puff. Her nickname, "Sarah Barracuda," seems a lot more fitting after tonight...Republicans should feel cheered and elated by this event tonight. No matter what happens in this race, we have seen the future of the party, and it looks bright indeed." —Ed Morrissey, "Palin Delivers a Knockout," HotAir.com

"She hit it out of the park! Clearly a star has been born in the United States." —Wolf Blitzer, CNN

"After Sarah Palin's remarkably effective speech, I don't think any pundits or politicians will be able to count on a decisive Democratic enthusiasm edge. Sarah Palin electrified the hall, and from what I can tell from my e-mail inbox that excitement is being replicated in living rooms across the country." —John Fund, "She shoots, she scores," Wall Street Journal Online

"She proved herself in the great arena; that's what counts politically. Nobody could watch that speech and still consider her a joke, no matter how flimsy her credentials and qualifications may seem on paper. The joke, it seems, is on those who'd been laughing at her. Last night the laughing ended -- and the cheering began." —Tom Shales, "She Shoots! She Scores! A Hockey Mom's Moment," Washington Post

"Palin quickly established her credibility as a genuine representative of small-town America in a way few politicians can - and then used it to wheel on Barack Obama as a gasbag and a fraud in a witheringly sarcastic assault." —Rich Lowry, "Barack, Meet Your Nightmare," New York Post

"This speech has turned the election upside down. It was simply stunning...Barack's sidekick Joe Biden looks a dull old dog compared with the ball of fire that is Palin. But most fascinating of all, consider this: If Obama loses, Hillary Clinton will run in 2012. Opposing her is sure to be Sarah Palin. That would guarantee America its first woman president. And my fistful of dollars, having seen both in action here, would be on Palin." —Fergus Shanahan, "Palin Strikes Back at Critics," The Sun (UK)

"Sarah Palin delivered what may have been the most important speech ever by a vice presidential candidate and made it look like she'd been performing on the national political stage for years. And she made John McCain look good for having picked her as his running mate." —Fred Barnes, "The Natural," WeeklyStandard.com

"Palin established herself as a major-league performer, a very effective messenger for the perennial Republican themes of low taxes and strong defense." —Joe Klien, "The Republicans Tonight," Time Magazine

"But anyone who thought her selection marked certain doom for McCain, or a certain win for the Democrats, was proven wrong Wednesday night in Minneapolis." —Stephen Henderson, "Palin rises to her place in history with speech," Detroit Free Press

"...the scene had to be a little frightening for Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, who have ambitions to lead their party someday. They were no doubt watching Palin, and watching the crowd's reaction, and wondering whether their moment had come and gone, because here was its future." —Jay Bookman, "A great Night 3 for Sarah Palin," Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." —Keith Olbermann, MSNBC

Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani, and Palin hit it out of the park

I have always been proud to be an American, but I have never been more proud to be a Republican than I am tonight after hearing Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin deliver speeches full of conviction and emotion at the Republican National Convention.

McCain picks "Sarah Barracuda"

I have been a fan of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for months. This is a bold, game-changing move for John McCain. Americans will be charmed and galvanized by Governor Palin as her story is told over the next few weeks. Conservatives will be energized, and this will help Republicans down ticket.

While musing about 2008 Republican vice presidential candidates last fall, I become enamored with a certain young, charismatic, cold-weather state, winter sports loving Republican governor whose electoral victory was one of the few bright spots for the party in 2006.

Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin is a conservative before she's a Republican. As Fred Barnes reported in the July 16, 2007 Weekly Standard:

The wipeout in the 2006 election left Republicans in such a state of dejection that they've overlooked the one shining victory in which a Republican star was born. The triumph came in Alaska where Sarah Palin, a politician of eye-popping integrity, was elected governor. She is now the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating in the 90s, and probably the most popular public official in any state.

Her rise is a great (and rare) story of how adherence to principle — especially to transparency and accountability in government — can produce political success. And by the way, Palin is a conservative who only last month vetoed 13 percent of the state's proposed budget for capital projects. The cuts, the Anchorage Daily News said, "may be the biggest single-year line-item veto total in state history."

Gov. Palin's nickname on her high school basketball team was "Sarah Barracuda." This go-getter and great American is just what Republicans need to win the White House in 2008 — and quite possibly in 2012 with Palin at the top of the ticket.

The Great Land, Part II

Alaska's politics are a product of its nearly a century as a territory, during which it was exploited by a Congress in which it had no representation, and the rugged individuals who sparsely populate this "last frontier."

Although much of the economy is federally subsidized, "Bridge to Nowhere" notwithstanding, Alaska has a relatively flat governmental structure and a strong libertarian streak.

Most of Alaska has two levels of government: state and "borough," roughly equivalent to a county, but no township or city government, and as far as I know no regional transit boards or metropolitan councils. Much of the state falls into the "unorganized" borough and is administered by the state.

Firearms are licensed on a "shall issue" basis, and once licensed no additional license is needed to carry the weapon concealed. Carrying a firearm is illegal in Alaskan courthouses, schoolyards, bars and domestic violence shelters, but you don't see those ridiculous WEAPONS BANNED ON THESE PREMESES signs everywhere you turn as you do here in Minnesota. Alaska smoking laws resemble the pre-Indoor Clean Air Act era in Minnesota, with smoking and non-smoking sections in public places. Earlier this month, an Alaska Superior Court judge struck down a law that criminalizes the posession of up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use.

The state of Alaska does not have a state sales tax or state income tax. In some boroughs and cities there is a sales tax.

Alaskan politics has been known for its corrupt, good-old-boys ways, but its first female governor, the popular and photogenic Sarah Palin, has largely cleaned house since taking office in 2006. Palin, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, is the former mayor of Wasilla, 40 miles north of Anchorage (home of the Iditarod dog sled race). Her husband, Todd, works for BP at an oil field on the North Slope and is a commercial fisherman. Alaska's first family includes two sons and three daughters.

Sarah's choice

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) and her husband Todd are the proud parents of their fifth child, Trig, born April 18, 2008, one month before his due date. At birth he weighed six pounds, two ounces.

Although they discovered through prenatal testing that Trig has Down Syndrome, the Palins decided not to abort the pregnancy (80% of such pregnancies are aborted in the United States). The governor's official statement is a remarkable testimony of faith and courage:

Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed.