Who I Won't Support For President and Why Series: Sarah Palin
As I had written in the Ron Paul piece in this series, this is a series of pretty much 90% of the Republican contenders for President. These pieces don't mean that I would never support any of these candidates. If the candidates mentioned in this series brush up on what I would like them to and change their messages where I would like them to, I would be happy to wear a pin on my shirt for any of these candidates (just a disclaimer for those of you out there that think it's "unconservative" to be honest about ones views on Republican candidates).
Regardless, my problems with Sarah Palin actually reside from the same keyword that was mentioned in the Ron Paul entry of this series: reality.
On the issues, I haven't heard anything from her that I disagree with or am willing to be up in arms about. She wants to drill for more oil in Alaska, she wants to cut taxes, cut spending, yadda yadda yadda, everything you can look for when it comes to Republican rhetoric. Sarah Palin has a pretty good track record that backs up that rhetoric as well. She was a very popular governor in Alaska (until it became "hip" to hate her). She knows how to give a good speech that gets the base riled up. She was a breathe of fresh air to the McCain campaign.
So, why won't I support her? As I had written above, while I share her ideology and like her freshness and passion for conservatism; I also have to analyze whether or not she could realistically win. And that means not just energizing the base that pulls straight R's at the booths, that means bringing in independents as well.
Throughout her time on the campaign trail, I made all of the same excuses that everybody else does for her. "Oh, she's just nervous. She'll get better. What? The winking? I kind of like it...sort of..." and on and on and on. After I found out that she had written a book, I told myself "Ok! This is where she'll prove that she can talk to the media!" and then was, once again, disappointed.
Don't get me wrong here. I don't think that she's necessarily stupid. You don't get as far in politics as she has by being stupid. However, she does convey that image by tripping over sentences, not being sure of herself when answering questions, or simply not knowing the answers to questions. The quality that riles up the base (the image of a regular Joe, who doesn't use 5 dollar words to get her points across) also works against her with independents who already associate that same quality with a hatred for President George W. Bush. If Bush hadn't also been a bit, well, dopey, that may have flown this time around. But it's too soon, and people too quickly associate that "dopiness" with "stupidity"; which may not be fair but is the cold hard truth. As far as her media image is concerned, she needs to polish it up for interviews (if she's able to) if she wants to make a serious run.
Another thing that really bothered me was her early departure from her term as governor. I heard all of the excuses on this one as well, with some saying that if she hadn't of quit she'd be wasting taxpayer money, blah blah blah, but to me? It looks like she couldn't handle the job. Perhaps I'm wrong and it was just a serious mistaken political move, but to me and a good portion of voters out there it looked as though she threw in the towel. Couldn't take the heat. Lost her cool. Which ever euphemism works best for you.
Last but not least: her book. In this instance, again, I have not had time to read Going Rogue, but from my understanding a good portion of the book was basically her whining about the McCain staff and the way that the staff acted on the campaign trail. Perhaps a good book, I do plan on reading it, but if I were Palin I wouldn't be writing about stuff like that if I'm looking for support to have a serious chance at a presidential run. Why would anyone want to be on the trail with her, knowing in the back of their mind that afterward, if you say or do anything that Palin might not agree with, she's going to gossip about you to millions of Americans trough a tell-all book. I hate tell-all books, anyways. I hated the ones that said Bush supposedly snorted cocaine in the oval office, and I'll probably not like the parts of Palin's book that are "tell-all" chapters.
Perhaps Palin will be able to sharpen up her media image, win over independents, and find the people she needs to do the first two of the list. I sincerely hope that she does, I would love to vote for her. Realistically, I don't think it'll happen, however, and for these reasons I can't support her right now as a viable presidential contender.
