I'll be honest with you. I've been giving consideration to third party candidates. As a conservative with the renewed passion to bear the legacy of our Founding Fathers, I wasn't going to tritely concede to the McCain ticket, unless he made a credible (and possibly what might be viewed by many as a radical) choice for vice president.
McCain is a good man, solid in character and capable to lead our country into the future. But America also needs a fresh, reputable outsider on the ticket who wasn't afraid to confront Washington corruption, government gridlock and partisan paralysis. When I heard Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin was McCain's choice, I thought, here is a vice president whom Americans can back and trust. Sarah is tough, smart, competent, credible and confident enough to tackle even those in her own party. I believe she will even help to keep McCain accountable and in check.
Palin comes from a small town with small town values. She is definitely a Washington outsider, who was sworn in as Alaska's youngest and first woman governor in 2006. This mother of five was tired of seeing government running amuck and awry, and stepped into public service to reform it. And she has a clear and long record of doing just that: bucking the status quo, cutting taxes and government waste, reducing big government, pursuing alternative energies, establishing ethics committees and being pro-family and pro-life (witnessed by her choice to cherish her Down syndrome baby and support her 17-year-old daughter to keep her baby and marry the father).
And all of the recent liberal trudging in the Palin pedigree has not surfaced any warranted wrongdoing in Sarah's private or public life. As Dick Morris noted this past week: "None of the criticisms of Sarah Palin amounts to any misconduct on her part. Her daughter got pregnant. Her husband had a DWI 20 years ago. Her sister married … a state trooper – who admits he shot a Taser gun at his 11-year-old son to instill discipline, and a lot of her friends and family badgered his boss to discharge him. Palin, acting without explanation, but with ample justification and within her authority, fired the trooper's boss. All this amounts to a massive, 'so what?'"
The fact is the far-left liberals don't know how to respond to strong, conservative female political leaders. They hail Hillary, but try to impale Palin. But Sarah has sparred with these cultural combatants before and left the ring without a scratch. In fact, Sarah is so tough that a new tongue-in-cheek website, has been built exclusively for her that parallels the Chuck Norris Fact folklore website and Internet proliferation. It gives some mythical yet complimentary "facts" about Sarah Palin's life, potential, character and career. Here are three of my favorites:
Fact: Sarah Palin once carved a perfect likeness of the Mona Lisa in a block of ice using only her teeth.
Fact: Sarah Palin doesn't need a gun to hunt, because she can throw a bullet through an adult bull elk.
And my favorite … Fact: Sarah Palin is courageous and tough enough to shave Chuck Norris' beard – and face off against his third fist disguised as a chin.
All joking aside, one real fact about Palin is that both Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are shaking in their boots over her prospective candidacy and appointment as vice president. Obama talks about change, but McCain lived out reform with his choice of vice president. Obama chose government-as-usual with Biden. McCain chose Washington outsider and corruption confronter with Palin.
Obama and Biden know Palin supersedes Biden's finesse and potential, and (if called to the task) she's even more qualified and tenured in life and government to assume the presidency than Obama himself. As Pat Buchanan elaborated, "… the lady has more executive experience than McCain, Joe Biden and Obama put together. None of them has ever started or run a business as Palin did. None of them has run a giant state like Alaska, which is larger than California and Texas put together." And I might add none is better suited to serve as president of the Senate than "Vice President Palin," who will keep it more accountable to we the people.
Forget the cheap talk about change – Palin is a proven reformer who can help us restore our country and rectify constitutional revisionism and apostasy throughout governing bodies. Sarah is a non-politically correct politician who's not afraid to go head-to-head against any establishment – and we need many more of those types of brazen characters to run corruption out of Washington. Sarah is small-town civil and Texas tough, with a southern elegance and an urban savvy. If McCain is a maverick, then there's no doubt that Sarah is (if you will) the maverette! Even Oprah seems to be acknowledging the power in Sarah's prowess by refusing to have this hockey-mom-turned-VP-nominee on her talk show until "after the campaign is over" – though she's had Barack (and Michelle) Obama on twice.
Palin comes to Washington in the spirit of our Founding Mothers. I truly believe she represents an early-American patriotic spirit that lies sleeping among millions of Americans today and needs to be reawakened and replicated with the goal of winning back our country. Sarah is the type of politician who others need to mimic in committed civic service, character and integrity. She is the type of revolutionary who will help to wake up and revitalize America, and about whom I write in my new book released yesterday, Sept. 7, "Black Belt Patriotism" (Regnery publishing), "Today, we see women incredibly active in every arena of society. They are often wearing multiple hats, as mother, homemaker, professional, spiritual leader, and community leader. Many serve God, family and country with the same fervor as those valiant female patriots of yesteryear. Women like Abigail Adams, Margaret Corbin, 'Molly Pitcher,' Catherine Ferguson, Dolly Madison, Mercy Warren, Martha Washington, and Betsy Ross."
Well done, Sen. McCain. You have rallied the conservative base and others who were still on the fence. You have thrown a political Hail Mary into the end zone of the District of Columbia and scored a touchdown.
So move over Mr. Smith, because Mrs. Sarah is going to Washington. Give 'em hell, Sarah! Give 'em hell!