Who is Sarah Palin?

Ok, I usually do not write about politics on my blog, and I have been on the fence so far so there hasn't been much to say anyway, but I am pretty excited about McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate, so I wanted to share what I have learned about her.

[[Full disclosure note: I am not a member of either party, but my views tend to be conservative.]]

Regardless of your political views, Governor Palin is an admirable person. The more I learn about her, the more I like her - she’s a mother of 5, a special needs mom, has strong convictions and hasn’t been afraid to go up against both parties to put a stop to corruption. Her family is so much more like the average American family than any of the other candidates. She's the daughter of two teachers, married to her high school sweetheart, and a hockey mom who started her public life in the PTA.

The first time I heard of Sarah Palin was a few months ago. Glenn Beck was on, and he talked about the birth of her fifth child, who was born with Down syndrome. Here's the clip:



I love her quote:
"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."

So when I heard speculation yesterday morning that she was possibly McCain's pick for a running mate, I was intrigued. We watched the coverage and I've done some research online. Here are a few facts about Governor Palin:

- she's the youngest and first female governor in the state of Alaska
- she graduated from the University of Idaho in 1987 with a major in journalism and a minor in politics
- in addition to governor, her resume includes mayor, city council, sportscaster, and business owner
- her nickname was "Sarah Barracuda" for her competitiveness as a basketball player in high school (that just cracks me up, I love it!)
- as Chair of Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation, she helped expose ethical violations of the state chairman (who was a Republican); he resigned in November 2004
- she runs marathons
- as governor, she took a pay cut (how many politicians do that?!), dispensed with the gubernatorial jet, and killed the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” project
- her approval rating as governor has been in the 80-90% range (compare that with Bush's 30% and Congress' 17%)

I suppose it's possible that she may eventually turn out to be yet another "same old" politician. But for now at least, it's refreshing to see an "outsider" (because you can't get much further outside Washington than Alaska, lol) who brings actual executive experience, joining the mix with three "same old" senators and their combined eons of legislative experience. (ok, "eons" is an exaggeration, but both McCain and Biden have been there for a very long time and I don't feel like looking up the exact # of yrs). I guess only time will tell where things go from here...