More On Palin

[billroper]

At some point when I have the time, I'll address some of your specific criticisms of Palin. But in the meantime, here's what she had to say when McCain introduced her as his pick for the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination. And this is what I considered the best part of her speech:

Well, it's always, though, safer in politics to avoid risk, to just kind of go along with the status quo. But I didn't get into government to do the safe and easy things. A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built. Politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties. The people of America expect us to seek public office and to serve for the right reasons. And the right reason is to challenge the status quo and to serve the common good.

This is what I've been waiting to hear -- and to hear from a person who has actually done it. I've said on occasion that the proper approach to conservatism is not to try to prevent change. We will get change, whether we want it or not.

The goal of conservatism needs to be to manage change so that -- when we look back at it from some point in the future -- we're able to look at it and say we handled it well, that we got to the right place, perhaps not as quickly as we might have, but with more certainty than other approaches might have produced.

So, yeah, I like her.

Comments

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

It's sounding like she might not be around for long. Apparently there are more problems up in Alaska that didn't make the online newspapers.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Frankly, should McCain win, I very much doubt that she'll be in a position to do anything, positive or negative, after the election. McCain hadn't even met her 6 weeks ago, so she's hardly a trusted old friend, and nobody else had heard of her before Friday, so the rest of the party isn't really going to be looking to her for much. Should McCain win, I think you can look to Hubert Humphrey or Dan Quayle for models of how involved she'll be in the administration, not to Al Gore or Dick Cheney.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Actually, McCain met her about six months ago. He didn't meet her again until a couple of weeks ago, and only spoke to her relatively recently.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with the idea that conservativism = managed change as its highest direction. And I certainly can't disagree that that part of her speech is indeed inspiring.

[katyhh.livejournal.com]

My issue with her is the creationism topic. For me, that pretty much kills all the good qualities she might have cuz I think religious views should NOT EVER be mixed with "power".

[(Anonymous)]

The people of America expect us to seek public office and to serve for the right reasons. And the right reason is to challenge the status quo and to serve the common good.

Think reformer. Gov. Palin is busy cleaning out the stables of Alaskan state government, a big reason she's so popular there. Think shiv between the ribs of the current Repub corruption in the Federal government. That part is pure McCain.

(katyhh) I think religious views should NOT EVER be mixed with "power".

Then Katy will be disappointed with Jefferson, both Roosevelts, Carter, of course, and many other Presidents. Unless, of course, there's some narrower concern that makes Palin different.

Watch out. Sarah Palin did not get on the ticket just by being cute, even though McCain claims the PTA as part of her "executive experience." Better yet, watch C-SPAN, since the networks are uniformly clueless this year. Maybe people will get to see some of that "naughty librarian" vibe (the Craig Freguson clip is hilarious). Maybe they'll get to see someone with a backbone stronger than McCain's talk about reforming government with more credibility than him.

Not that I'd want the government to impose some of her values on me, though.

[madfilkentist]

Jefferson mixed religious views with power? This must be some Jefferson I'm not familiar with.