Who is Sarah Palin? Here goes the Cliff Notes version: a forceful and energetic, mother of 5 (\'hockey mom\'), wife of an achieving husband, a former beauty queen with anti-abortion, pro-gun and pro-energy views ....who may one day become the most beautiful President of the most powerful country in the world.
The Sarah Palin Lowdown:
Here are the 10 most remarkable things about Sarah Palin:
- As soon as her candidature was announced, a website came up - http://vpilf.com Go figure.
- Till Sunday, $7m in donations had flowed into the McCain campaign fund within 48 hours Palin\'s name was announced.
- The Guardian says that \'the Republicans have managed to find someone with an even more extraordinary story than Obama\'s\'.
- She is the second woman to run for the post of Vice President after Geraldine Ferraro (Democrat) in 1984.
- John Mccain has a soft spot for beauty queens: His second wife, Cindy, was the Junior Rodeo Queen of Arizona and Sarah Palin came second in a Miss Alaska pageant.
- When she was running for the post of Governor in Alaska, Sarah Palin put forward her views on abortion most emphatically and stated that even if her teenage daughter was impregnated by a rapist, she would \'choose life\'.
- Sarah Palin is a mother of five, the last one suffers from down syndrome. There is a Facebook group: "What\'s your favourite Palin child name?"
- Jon Stewart, the talk show host says Sarah Palin looks like Tina Fey, the comedienne, of 30 Rock and SNL fame.
- Political views: she is pro- arctic drilling for oil and gas, pro-life, pro-capital punishment, pro - gun safety education for youth, pro - aerial shooting of bears and wolvespro-teaching of creationism and evolution in public schools (not manadatory, though); she is anti-abortion, anti re-legalizing of marijuana
- Her 19 year old son is deployed in Iraq.
- As a Governor, she enjoys over 90% public approval ratings in Alaska (680,000 people spread across 572,000 square miles; bought by the United States from Russia in 1867 for $7.2m)
- Abuse of power? Sarah Palin is currently under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power after she fired the Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Palin reportedly pressured Monegan to fire her sister\'s ex husband who is a state trooper, and involved in a custody battle with Palin\'s sister. When Commissioner Monegan refused, Palin fired him.
What Sarah Palin says
On being a Vice President
"As for that VP talk all the time, I still can\'t answer that question until someone answers for me \'What is it exactly that the VP does every day?\' I\'m used to being very productive and working real hard in the administration. We want to make sure that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position."
On Big Oil
"When I look every day, the big oil company\'s building is right out there next to me, and it\'s quite a reminder that we should have mutually beneficial relationships with the oil industry,"
On Being Ambitous
I realized to be really able to make a difference — not just being one of six of a body but to make a difference — I would have to run for the top dog position, and so I ran for mayor and was elected mayor for two terms.
On Walking the Walk (Michael Moore, take note)
"My son being in a striker brigade in the army has really opened my eyes to international events, and how war impacts everyday Americans like us."
On Gender (what gender?)
" (I grew up) in a family where gender wasn\'t going to be an issue ... You\'re out there hunting and fishing ... I knew that as a woman I could do whatever the men were doing."
On shooting animals
"Yeah, I have furs on my wall, but I don\'t wear furs."
What others say about Sarah Palin
"Palin = Guns, Babies, Jesus,"
- Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk show host
McCain couldn\'t mobilize the Republican base, but Palin can. Indeed, she already has. By 10 P.M. Friday, the day her selection was announced, the McCain campaign had raised $4 million online--more than six times its previous daily record."
- Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard
"She brings some appeal to women voters who feel that Obama has treated Hillary Clinton badly."
- Matthew Wilson, political scientist
Related Links
Project Vote Smart: Governor Palin vote history
YouTube: 2006 Sarah Palin ad
Wikipedia entry on Sarah Palin
Guardian Profile
