Some thoughts on Sarah Palin

A few hours earlier, an ad appeared on YouTube that was produced by SarahPAC, Sarah Palin's political action committee:



The truth of the matter is that I am not too sure that Sarah Palin will run in 2012, but let me tell you all, I want her to!

Having not expressed my opinion on her yet on "The 'Right' Solutions," I will now take that opportunity. Let me first tell you where I came to know Sarah Palin. Back in June 2008, when I was looking for who I would want as John McCain's running mate, I came across a video of Sarah Palin that was emailed to me by a friend. In the video below, she was interviewed on Glenn Beck's old Headline News show:



In this interview, she shows her expertise in energy issues and her experience as an executive and it's at this point, I said she was the best person to be picked as McCain's running mate as she is consistently conservative (life, 2nd Amendment, fiscal, social, foreign policy), strong and knowledgeable on energy, and eventually was the only one in the campaign with executive experience. At that point, I believed her rise to the national stage would have a strong and positive impact on the Republican Party in not only the election, but in years to come. Friends and family told me I was crazy, I asked them if they cared to make it interesting, maybe a friendly wager...the person who was right buys the other a case of beer of their choice. (few took me on) On the day she was chosen, not only did I get calls from those who doubted me, but Sarah Palin temporarily took the wind out of the sails of Barack Obama and the Democrats, the day after his big DNC speech at Invesco Field. Those on the left looked at her and scared out of their mind, seeing her as a threat, readied their attack machine; some of the nastiest smear tactics ever seen in modern day elections.

We won't repeat what was said as there's no need for it because they are all nasty lies. Looking back, I believe she was not used to the McCain campaign's best advantage. I used the phrase "Let Sarah Be Sarah." We saw this not only in the Glenn Beck interview, but at the Dayton Announcement event. She also cleaned Joe Biden's clock in the debate. She faced her critics head-on, whether on the campaign trail or on Saturday Night Live! From Day 1, she should have been doing FNC, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, etc. The Katie Coric interview and Charles Gibson interview should have never taken place. Despite the campaign's misuse of her, Sarah Palin saved John McCain from getting numbers against Obama that Mondale received against Reagan and Goldwater received against LBJ. This was done by rallying conservatives, many of whom doubted McCain's candidacy and conservative credentials. For that, those in the campaign should be thanking her and not attacking her.

Some people, after facing the level of attacks she did, would run away, cower in a corner, change careers and basically leave the public eye. Not Sarah Palin! She has the will and character to fight on and stay in the public eye. Events in her private life (many discussed in her book,(which I highly recommend and note that she finished the manuscript ahead of its due date) others publicly known) have further helped to make her a strong person. Her opponents zing her, she zings them right back. She knows she is hated by the left and does not care what her opponents think. Tonight on Hannity, Bernard McGirk made the following statement:

"I'd rather be in a foxhole with Sarah Palin than the Republican leadership (not the reasons you think)"

Some conservative friends and I have disagreements about whether or not she is ready for a run for the presidency. They state the fact that she resigned her governorship before the term ends. Looking at the situation, I understand why she did it, so does Alaska and it showed observers that she cares more about the people of her state than the position or power, as attorneys and individuals led by Rahm Emanuel, who filed these frivolous ethics complaints, brought her state to a halt and had she stayed in power, the state's business would not have been completed and she would have lost friends in Alaska in thinking more of herself than her constituents. They criticize her for her support of John McCain and Carly Fiorina. While I'm not a fan of McCain and would like to see Hayworth win the primary, I understand why she supported him: he brought her to the dance! Had she gone against him, Palin would have been seen as disloyal and lacking in character. She went for Fiorina as she is a Republican woman running in a Democrat leaning state. I don't fault her for either.

Sarah Palin has shown herself to be a consistent conservative and for those who haven't yet seen her speak either on the trail (she does not use or need a teleprompter) or on Fox News, she is an articulate conservative. In these past few months, even though she does not hold a public office she has shown herself to be influential in forming the debate (as we had seen in the "Death Panels" debate), effectively uses Facebook and is responsible for the large number of Conservative women from Sharron Angle to Nikki Haley, who won primaries so as to represent the Republican Party in the fall general elections.

Conservatives know the Republican Party has misused them and/or mistreated them over the years, hence the reason for the rise of the Tea Party. Having Sarah Palin run would get the Conservatives and Republicans on the same side and unite the party.

As to the issue of whether or not she will run: prior to the release of this ad, I would have said an emphatic NO, but now, I've moved into the undecided column. We will see in the coming months as events continue to unfold, and if she does decide to run, she will be a front runner.