Palin: The American Awakening [dri]

When John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, my first reaction was one of ambivalence. I was pleased that he had chosen her because I felt that a woman on the ticket might discomfit Obama’s central attack on old, white, male leaders. I was dismayed in that McCain had apparently decided on style over substance. Her qualifications seemed to have been who she was rather than what she was. A perky, young female designed to counter Obama’s corner on the young, non traditional candidate market.

After watching Sarah Palin and carefully listening to her, I must say that I am genuinely impressed with her in both what she has said and how she has said it. During a recent CNBC interview on energy policy, she showed a keen grasp of the complex energy problems that face our nation and possessed detailed, well informed plans to solve them.

She does not advocate a feel good, pie in the sky solution involving the prevention of new oil drilling initiatives and the embrace of distant, yet to be proven advancements in green energy technology. No, Governor Palin unabashedly advocates aggressively accessing the trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and the billions of barrels of oil available beneath our nation today. She views Senator Obama’s energy plan as naïve and likely to solve nothing except placating Liberal special interests.

But still, even with her firm grasp of the issues and her ability to advocate or challenge positions on her feet, Ms. Palin possesses an additional quality, a certain unapologetic American charisma. She is truly proud to be an American and her Alaskan lifestyle underscores her embrace of those qualities which once pulsed through the veins of all Americans. The harsh Alaskan environment has instilled in her the necessity to become self reliant, to be confident to face all challenges, and to posses the skills to regularly overcome those challenges.

Maybe this is why Palin has suddenly resonated with the American people. She exudes a sense of what America used to be and what it can return to: confident, proud, able, and firmly unapologetic. Yes compared to perfection, America may be lacking but compared to every other country on Earth, America’s benevolence has no equal. Our bad acts have been no worse than those of every other country but our positive acts have saved the lives of 100’s of millions of people through out the world.

Palin seems to stir this sense of American exceptionalism that for too long has been squelched by the radical Liberal agenda. We have been constantly told by educators, by the media, by politicians that we are a bad country in need of much deserved rebuke. Palin on the other hand casts such dispersions aside and stirs feelings deep inside all of us that we Americans should be proud and confident. We have the unparalleled ability to solve any challenge placed before us. Palin has awaked this long slumbering American spirit.

posted by xgenghisx at 09:44 PM

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