Note:  On July 21 I'm going to be on Internet radio's "Political Pistachio" to discuss Sarah Palin's candidacy and the Internet-based campaign.  There will be more about this after July 4.  I hope everyone will tune in (which you can do on your computer by going to Douglas Gibbs's site on TH or on Blogspot.   I'm looking forward to it.  http://politicalpistacho.com
 



I'll have another post up Sunday around noon.  I want to emphasize that my support for Sarah is based on character, charisma, and communication skills.  I see her as a healer, not a divider.   Some Americans on the Left and on the Right don't want a healer.  Well, they'll just have to get used to it.
 

As you'll notice in the "Comments," blogger "JAG" asked me about Sarah Palin's stands on the issues, specifically immigration and terrorism.   Tip O'Neill, former Democratic Speaker of the House, once said, "All politics is local."  He might have added that "Issues are local -- or regional."  A partial exception would be terrorism, which is a national concern (but mainly an issue to certain cities).

As far as anyone can determine, immigration is NOT an issue in Alaska.   It is too far from our Southern borders (and too cold a climate) to attract immigrants from South of the Rio Grande.  In fact, for a long time Alaska has been trying to attract new residents because its economy -- particularly the energy sector -- has been strong. 

As my blogging friend Sanity102 (http://outsideofthebox.townhall.com), a strong supporter of Sarah, has pointed out, immigration is a significant concern in about five states, including CA, AZ, NM, TX, and CO.  In some other states, such as FL and perhaps GA, it's a minor issue.  

 In Pennsylvania (the city of Hazelton aside), it's not really an issue at all.  In the last senatorial election in PA, Rick Santorum tried to make it an issue -- and he ended up getting stomped on by his Democratic opponent, who won easily.  I doubt it's a matter that keeps people awake in the Dakotas, or Maine, or Rhode Island, or Massachusetts, or Ohio, or Michigan -- or, of course, Alaska. 

On terrorism, where does Sarah stand?  It reminds me of the old story about President Calvin Coolidge, famously a man of very few words.  One time he emerged from a church in Plymouth, Vermont and someone asked him what the sermon had been about.

"Sin," replied Coolidge.

The man asked, "Well, what did he say about it?"

Coolidge responded, "He was agin it."

On terrorism, I believe we can safely say that Sarah Palin is "agin it."  This is a very strong willed woman who doesn't put up with a lot of nonsense, and there's no evidence she would dissent from what the Top Tier (and most of the bottom tier) Republican presidential candidates are saying about terrorism. 

Terrorism IS a threat in Alaska.  It's a major source of energy for America -- and will be more so when the big natural gas pipeline is built to bring fuel to the "lower 48."  There are a number of important military installations in the state, but they're mainly safeguarded by various units of the Armed Forces.

(There's another major issue that will come up in the future: Alaska and Canada as sources of water for the Southwest.)

How does Sarah stand on abortion?  She's always been strongly pro-life. 

How does she stand on the Second Amendment?  She's a Life Member of the NRA.

How does she stand on gay rights?  She has said she's opposed to gay marriage but noted she has some gay friends.  (Note:  I'm against gay marriage but also have gay friends, most of them Republican political activists.)

How does she stand on family values?  She's been married to Todd Palin for many years, and she has four children.  While she's serving as Governor, Todd has assumed primary responsibility in caring for the children, all of them teenagers except for the youngest daughter. 

The big issues in Alaska are: energy, preservation of natural resources, recreation and tourism, and commercial fishing.  She's obviously expert on all of these -- in part because her husband has worked in energy and the fishing industry. 

Sarah's job now is as a major elected official -- a role she may have for a long time.  Prior to being elected Mayor of Wasilla, she was a journalist, with a degree from the University of Idaho.   Politically, she is tough as nails, as illustrated by her defeating two of Alaska's strongest male politicians (Murkowski and Knowles) on her road to the governorship. 

In fact, one thing many of us like about this woman is that she's hard to pigeonhole.  Alaskans tend to be recognizably American, but they're generally broadminded and independent.  They tend to "live and let live."  They want to preserve the beauty of their state, but they're very willing to share their resources with the rest of us.  They're our country's "last frontier," the people there delight in their rugged individualism.

Many people look to Sarah as a future leader of the Republican Party because we haven't known the woman long enough to become overly familiar with her (a problem for Hillary Clinton and others).  She represents the "new faces from new places" that the Party so sorely needs.   She's attractive, articulate, and aggressive.

What's more, this isn't a woman who's going to pander to anyone.  She's an Alaskan, and that means she's not subject to the usual social and political pressures that turn so many "lower-48" elected officials into robots. 

She's ambitious.  However, I don't get a sense from anything in her career that she's willing to sell-out to any particular interest group.   She's still young, but she's taken on "Big Politics" (Republican and Democrat) and "Big Oil" when necessary, and that's why the people of her state have rewarded her with a 90% approval rating.

Currently, I'm devoting a big chunk of my life to her campaign, and I don't regret a minute spent on this effort. 
I hope you'll join me in this remarkable undertaking.  

Stephen R. Maloney 

For a site that focuses on Sarah and issues, go to http://palinforvp.blogspot.com

Also, look at the article on Sarah in http://wikipedia.org

Note also the link to the Governor's office on my blogroll