Is She Enough?

I think enough time has passed for me to comment on John McCain's V.P choice. When I have strong feelings about something I tend to allow a waiting period to send emotions packing while I call all thoughts back to the brain for a little meeting before I speak. But to my surprise I don't see it any differently now than I did when I first heard it. I'll reach up high on the shelves of over used and worn out transitive verbs for this one and go with flabbergasted.
Initially, I thought Sen. McCain must know a lot that I don't. But since all I knew was that she was the pretty Governor from Alaska who was attempting to clean up some wrongdoing by politicians in her state, I figured of course he would. Unfortunately, relative to qualifications for her new job, the answer was nope, that's about it.
Instead, what has rushed into the information void are things like she has completed less than half a term as Governor, an investigation into abuse of power, a for-before I was against, flip-flop about the bridge to nowhere touted in her V.P. acceptance speech, a mother-in-law who is undecided whether or not she will vote for a McCain/Palin ticket who adds, "I don't know what she brings to the ticket other than being a woman and a conservative." There are bruising appraisals of her V.P. potential from the Alaska press and among others, a line from the Alaska State Speaker of the House who, when asked about her qualification, replied, "She's old enough- she's a U.S citizen." To be fair this may be sour grapes resulting from her house cleaning efforts but it is surprisingly difficult to find positive appraisals at the local level.
Of course from the McCain camp there is no shortage of glowing commendations but listen to what McCain top adviser Charles Black said, "She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long." What can you say to that?
In fairness to Gov. Palin there is no disputing that she has accomplished a great deal in her life. She has much to be proud of. But she has now climbed onto an entirely different stage with an audience that's gone from 700,000 to over 300 million, and I happen to be one of the latter.
Call me cynical but I just don't get all that assured by looking at her early life, her education, her success in beauty pageantry or sports reporting. Her service in city government may be qualifying if the city was Los Angeles or even Anchorage but I've been to Wassila and like all rural politics, becoming the big fish in a small pond is not all that remarkable. In fact all politics in Alaska can be called small town and Gov. Palins service in Wassila may have prepared her adequately for the governorship but the real question is does she posses the skills necessary to be the Vice President of the United States?
I think it's worth mentioning here that Alaska, with a population of 700,000, is physically larger than the next three largest states of California, Texas and Montana which have a combined population of 62 million.
I have experienced the largeness of Alaska with trips out of Fairbanks in bush planes and on the Yukon traveling to distant remote villages. Why is this important? Because it is one way, without going into great detail, to help explain what defines Alaskans and it contributes to how they view the world. Alaska just feels limitless and unrestricted and I see a lot of this manifested in Gov. Palin. It is reflected in her confidence about her positions on the issues of our time. It has served her quite well but has she been shaped by a place that matches up well with the lower 48?
Take issues like immigration? Smart young people leaving state is a greater concern to Alaskans. Pollution? Too much land, not enough people. Taxes? They receive far more money from lower 48 tax payers than they pay. They even receive over 2000 dollars each per year (including children) from oil revenue. Energy? There is a lot of it and finding and selling as much as possible is a self-serving economic goal. Terrorism? About as safe as it gets. Crime and drugs? Alcohol and drug abuse is a scourge and per capita crime statistics rival the rest of the country. There is even gang violence in Anchorage but still a stretch to compare it with major cities of the lower 48. Gun control? not on your life. Ethics in government? She maybe the cleanest, but from a very dirty house. The Iraq war? It's God's will so more of the same. Foreign policy? Sen. Palin has absolutely None. The Economy? Apples and oranges. Alaska lives in a distorted reality, awash in oil profits.
So is this just a pro-Obama/Biden rant about anyone that McCain selected? I like to think it is more objective than that. In fact among the people mentioned on the "short list" I could have easily been silenced. They got the gender right but It should have been the one with gravitas like Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Finally, I do worry that Gov. Palin would be out of touch with what this country really needs at this time. An Anchorage Dailey News reporter called her career "sun-kissed," which doesn't seem to be the right credentials for dealing with the problems which will face the next administration.