Sarah Palin

One of my sons sent me the following this morning, commenting on McCain's VP nominee:

Yesterday, John McCain chose Sarah Palin . . . a Feminist-for-Life mother of five (one Downes Syndrome, whom she refused to abort); she's a 2-term mayor of Wasilia, AK and ran on a campaign of reform for governor, where she went head to head with corrupt Alaskan Republicans and "Big Oil" and has an 80-90% approval rating. She sold her predecessor's private jet (which he purchased using a state credit card) on E-Bay because it was "government waste." Her husband is part Eskimo; one of their sons joined the army on 9/11 and is currently serving in Iraq. She hunts and fishes and is a lifelong member of the NRA, and knows how to handle a machine gun.

Barack Obama picked Joe Biden.

[See our ealier post, "A governor whose pro-life witness is more than words" (Musings, April 27, 2008).]

Update

• “We may be seeing the first woman president. As a Democrat, I am reeling,” said Camille Paglia, the cultural critic. “That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.” (TimesOnline, August 31, 2008).
  
  
• "... even though the Clinton aides could barely conceal their satisfaction when she was chosen, the woman who Palin upstages most of all is Hillary. If Obama wins the election, Hillary will have to wait until 2016 to stand again. And if he loses, Palin will be first in line to become America’s first woman president." (Sarah Baxter, TimesOnline, August 31, 2008).