Good Post, Good Comment

Reclusive Leftist posts about the brilliance of McCain's choic of Palin. Bill Whittle of Eject!Eject!Eject! fame left the following comment to the post:

Violet,

Let me start by saying that I am a conservative Republican, and very likely we disagree on most everything. (And believe it or not, I got here before the Instalanche)

I’ve been everywhere on the web these last few days, keeping my ear to the ground — left and right and everything in between — but this is the first post I have been moved to comment on, because you seem very reasonable in your analysis.

All I wanted to add was this: My strong feeling is that you and many of your commenters have been lied to over the years. Republicans — at least the ones that I know, and I know a LOT of Republicans — are neither misogynists or racists. The essence of our philosophy is individualism, and ideally we support or oppose positions and candidates based on their character, rather than their identity.

I say this because I think it is a big mistake to assume that McCain picked Palin because she is a women. No doubt that is a part of it, but it is Palin’s character that has us just smitten with her. She had a problem at school one day so she went to a PTA meeting. She didn’t like the way things were going so she ran for the PTA and won. Then she ran for mayor of her hometown — where she played basketball and met her husband — and won. Then she got disgusted by Alaska politics and GOP corruption, and as a Republican ran against the corruption in her own party — and won. And she never whined or complained. She’s happily married, she’s a tough lady married to a tougher man, and she got there through hard work and sheer determination.

She’s the conservative success story, and that is why men and women on the right just LOVE this pick. Not because she’s a woman, but because she’s Joe, uh, make that JANE Citizen, and she played by the rules and beat corruption.

For Conservatives, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and his Bridge to Nowhere pork project are the absolute DEATH of conservative principles. These guys have ruined the Republican party. Sarah Palin went right at them and beat them senseless.

So it is a mistake to think of her as a token choice designed to woo Hillary voters. (I’ll think she’ll do some of that too, mind you.) But McCain is serious about corruption and reform. He has paid a heavy price in his own party for it — I was there, and I saw the resentment leveled against him. And I think he chose Palin because he plans to not only run against Obama, but against the 9% approval-rating Congress. She is the Real Deal in that regard.

So as someone who you undoubtedly disagree with on just about everything, let me close with something from the heart. I don’t like Hillary, because I don’t like her policies. But just about every conservative I know thinks she was robbed by the DNC, and that Obama’s nomination was gamed by the Democratic leadership. So since Hillary is off the ticket in ‘08, I would ask you to consider this…

There are two nuclear issues in American politics, and they are The Right to Bear Arms and Abortion rights. They are the only two issues that cause one side, or the other, to actually go out and riot in the streets. You can twiddle with them a little (partial birth bans, assault rifle bans) but there is no way that Conservatives will EVER be able to make abortion illegal, and no way for the Liberals to EVER confiscate a private citizen’s guns.

With that said, I would encourage you to look at Sarah Palin as what we all hope for: a self-made person who seems to want to do the right thing. She’s not a Woman VP — she’s an anti-corruption VP. That’s how we see her. That’s how she deserves to be seen. She has the enthiastic — actually, incandescant support of every conservative I know — not because she is a politcal missile aimed at Hillary voters, but because she embodies the American dream of the citizen who decided to make a difference.

One of the earlier posters wondered who would be more misogynistic: McCain or Obama. Is that a joke? McCain picked her because she is the best person for the job he has in mind: go clean out Washington from the inside. The democrats passed on Hillary Clinton — who had been part of the White House team for eight years and was married to the President of the United States. The Republicans chose a woman who is married to a commercial fisherman, because she has shown character, and did what she set out to do. We’re going to back this woman all the way to the wall. She’s earned it.

I would hope that would make any woman proud. It certainly made me proud, and I’m a knuckle-dragging, war-mongering Neanderthal.

Good luck in November, and may the best side win.