McCain's VP pick

So, I've been letting this one marinate for a little while before making up my mind on what I think about John McCain's choice for vice-president.  Turns out, I like her a lot more than I like McCain.  Let me talk about Governor Palin for a moment, and we'll swing back around to Senator McCain another time.  Here are the three main reasons that I like her:

• Motivation
  I get the real sense that Palin truly is a public servant who feels compelled (or called, if you will) to the offices that she has held.  In a way, she strikes me as being the inverse of Barack Obama, who has carefully calculated the fastest course to the presidency.  I may be completely misreading her on this, but I get the feeling that she doesn't really give a flying crap about her "political career," but simply wants to help make things better, which brings me to my next point...
  
  
• Principles
  She operates out of her principles, rather than the circumstances of the day.  Sarah Palin says that she is pro-life and the decision to have her son was not even a decision in her mind because her principles guide her actions.  SHE REALLY BELIEVES WHAT SHE SAYS!  Her principles include ideas like, "tax dollars belong to the people", "Americans have the right to bear arms", and "environmentalists should not be allowed to compromise our national security."  These principles have resulted in the following actions:  She sold the private governor's jet on Ebay and chose instead to drive, in order to save taxpayer's hard earned money.  Sarah Palin is a member of the NRA and a pretty good hunter too.  She also supports drilling in ANWR and has fought for a pipeline that will help America gain energy independence.
  
  
• Experience
  My favorite thing about Palin is that she is not a typical career politician.  She happily served her small local community for a decade before appearing on the state scene.  The fact is, that every person on the planet has life experiences.  Mine are different than yours and hers are different than 95% of the politicians in Washington.  I don't understand how congress has a 9% approval rating. ...NINE PERCENT!!!  And yet, the widely accepted profile for a presidential candidate is that they have experience in Washington.  Seems to me that voters need to elect more local people, who have common sense and share their values, to run our country.  If we keep doing what we've always done, we're going to keep getting what we've always gotten!  I love the fact that she has no experience in Washington.

The biggest issue that I have with Sarah Palin is unions.  Every time I here her say, "my husband is a proud member of the American Steel Worker's Union," I just cringe, close my eyes, and wish that she hadn't just said that.  She seems to be a dead on conservative on so many issues, but this one is just completely out of left field.  It's like getting a new pastor who's doctrine is completely on target and every single thing is wonderful except for the fact that he smokes 2 packs a day.  Is that a deal breaker?   Well........  Maybe?........  I don't know.

I feel that unions are a big reason why several industries are being driven overseas.  They are self-serving and short-sighted in their demands on businesses.  I'm afraid that I can't get on board the union train with her, however this wouldn't likely be a deal breaker for me.  In fact, if she were on the ticket for president, I'd vote for her in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, Palin is not running for president, and I don't know if I can vote for McCain.  I know most of you probably think I'm nuts for that, but I'll explain my case next time.

By the way, I have no idea if anyone is reading this, so please leave a comment so I'll know if the past hour of writing this post was a waste of time.  Thanks!