The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
Alaska governor will shake up Washington



Okay, we get it. The Monitor, as shown in its editorial of Oct. 5, and the liberal media in lots of articles over the last month, don't like Gov. Sarah Palin. She is too folksy or country or something. As soon as she was selected as Sen. John McCain's running mate, the left wing began tossing everything imaginable at her.

First we heard that she never even went to college, then that was amended to the opinion that she went to a "bad" college (the message apparently being that Harvard and Yale have done such a good job). We also got the rumors that "it wasn't her baby" or "her children were immoral" (as we saw with President Bush, it's okay to trash Republican children). Finally we were told that she was just plain stupid and would resign within a couple of weeks, when the truth came out.

Our own Katy Burns, in a piece that was uncharacteristic for her and can only be described as a rant, called her "manifestly unqualified."

None of these people bothered to point out that this vice-presidential nominee has vastly more hands-on management experience than the Democrats' nominee for president.

I think, however, that reasonable people will take a breath and step back and analyze the realities of the selection. Palin, as with almost any sitting governor, does not spend most of her time analyzing foreign affairs. Governors are chosen for national office because they bring operating experience to the table and an understanding of the world outside of Washington - just as senators can often bring lots of insider understanding of foreign policy and congressional procedures.

In McCain's case, he is an expert on foreign policy (which he clearly displayed in the first debate). The last thing he probably needs to strengthen his team is more foreign policy focus. He chose Palin because she has been out in the world, dealing with real operating problems and in close touch with many aspects of Main Street America. This is a weakness for many career politicians, who have little understanding of what it is like to have to make payrolls or fund a college education.

True to his reputation as a maverick, McCain wanted someone on his ticket who is not a Washington insider or policy wonk. Palin has dealt head-on with reform in her own state and is intelligent, a good speaker and hugely popular in Alaska. She brings a good track record to the table and also something else. She shows the Democrats and the general public what they missed when Sen. Barack Obama decided he would rather have the prototypical insider wonk on his ticket, than an intelligent woman who actually appealed to his party's base. If the rest of his management decisions are as bad as that one, the "foggy bottom" may aptly describe his possible presidency.

The vice-presidential debate was interesting in that it clearly displayed the difference between the two tickets. Sen. Joe Biden came across as a smart bureaucrat, filled with lots of analysis on a whole slew of failed policies, many of which he helped create. Palin claimed she didn't care who did what, that there was plenty of blame to go around, and that she would prefer to take a fresh look at the issues from outside the Washington lobbyists' carefully crafted prisms. She didn't appear eager to pick up anyone's mantle after they had all been dragged through the mud for the last 16 years.

For a lot of us, this makes sense. McCain has been fighting Congress and various administrations for his whole career. He knows the problems from the inside. Palin has been living and working outside the Beltway and can provide a different perspective on the issues and problems as seen by states and cities.

Palin spoke to the public in the debate; Biden spoke to the insiders. The choices are pretty clear in this election. If you want more of the same, vote for the two Democrats who have helped drop Congress's approval rating to 10 percent, even worse than the 30 percent approval rating of the current administration.

If you want to change things, vote for McCain, who has been a consistent thorn in the sides of Congress and various administrations, and Palin, who has proven that she actually "gets it" in her ability to speak for and to the American people.

(Glenn K. Currie lives in Concord.)





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Comments
Please....
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 13:52
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
don't try to qualify her. You're wasting your time. Fine she's a governor, that in no way mean she's qualified to be VP. I think you have to judge the intelligence of the person. From what we've seen of Palin in interviews she's really not the brightest light on the christmas tree...

Palin vs Quayle
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 10:46
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
I never thought I'd see a VP nominee that would make Dan Quayle look good, but Sarah Palin has done it without effort.

Currie's analysis is as bad as his poetry
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 08:34
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
Much as Currie would like to co-opt the "change" mantle for Republicans in a Swift Boat-esque black-is-white analysis, forgive me if it doesn't quite pass the smell test. McCain has recently abandoned and violated many of his own political principles, shamelessly pandering to the Right in a desperate bid to win at any cost. The maverick straight-talk express is long dead. His campaign is pure politics as usual.

Don't quit your day job, Glenn.

Interesting perspective
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 08:08
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
Interesting perspective. Glad there are folks who can look, calmly, at the situation. Now if we could only have across the board balance in the media.

Certainly McCain is a smart man and chose Palin for many reasons: an outsider's perspective, strength with domestic state issues and perspective, ability to connect with Main Street, and, yes, gender.

Every presidential hopeful has to play the game of balancing the ticket.

Obama has limited experience inside Washington, something on the order of 130 days pre-primaries, but has a good bit of state legislative and community based experience, strength with state issues and community perspective, ability to connect with people, and, yes, race. Biden compliments the ticket by having Washington experience and understanding of foriegn policy.

Remember, it is difficult to accomplish things in a system if you don't know how that system works. Look up a couple of one-term president's: did they have an insider on their ticket? did they know how to play the game?

So, when you step back and analyze your choices you have to decide which ticket combination is better. Both tickets have a Washington insider, they've both got a minority, and they both have this ability to connect with and energize people. The question remains: which ticket will do a better job running the country, or atleast, which ticket will do less damage?

Puh-leeeease!
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 07:57
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
Not gonna do it. This country does not need four more years of failed Bush policies, not to mention, having some obnoxious beauty queen bimbo waiting in the wings to 'run' this country further into the ground when McSame's ticker suddenly calls it quits. Nope, not gonna do it.

Palin Has Proven To Be The Albatross Around McCain's Neck
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 05:51
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
McCain chose Palin to be his running mate because she is just as corrupt and dishonorable as he is. Palin uses fear-mongering and violence-provoking tactics because she is incapable of thoughtful, intelligent dialogue. Palin might speak for crotch-scratching, beer-belching, Joe Six-Packs, but Palin DOES NOT speak for the respectable, responsible American people.

If you want to change things and make America worse than how the Bush/Cheney administration is leaving it--vote for McCain/Palin. Otherwise, do the world a favor a vote

I bit too slanted but I agree
By Anonymous on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 02:43
20081009/OPINION/810090321
810090321
article_title:
The real change agents in this election are Palin and McCain
article_pubdate:
20081009
I actually just got to watch the debate for the first time on youtube this evening. I enjoyed the candor of that debate much greater than that of the presidential ones thus far. I would would say that Palin won, but it was not an out of the park thing. Biden did an excellent job at coming across above and smarter than the problems. His incorrect statements about Lebannon Hezbollah and missile range to Pakistan while are forgivable yet very surprising. They are things he would have to go out of his way to reference and then to do so incorrectly. Palin got the afghan commanders name wrong and stumbled a bit in her speaking a few times.

My main confusion in this entire election is the laughable taglines that can be gotten away with. I am conservative and I do have to give the dems in charge credit for somehow managing to create a link between McCain and Bush that is weaker nearly between those 2 than any other 2 republicans in Washington. Biden argued also during the debate that McCain isnt nearly the Maverick he gets credit for on important issues. How can this be possible when the Democrats even attempted to get McCain to run with Kerry in 2004.

So after making the standard McCain=Bush statements, Biden broke with his own premace and stated that President Bush, Obama and himself are supportive of peace efforts and McCain is the only one on the outside of their view. It would seem to me that McCain is simply whatever the Dems want him to be at the opportune time during this campaign and somehow its working.

I love the part of the Debate where Biden rants about McCain being 'dead wrong' and a laundry list of things, yet leaves out his candidate being 'dead wrong' on the surge.

Either way as it seems to be shaping up, Dems got the right strategy, don't let people forget how low the presidential approval ratings are and tie them to the republican candidate. Don't stop spending dollars on it and right that puppy to the ballot box. I salute them.

As far as the 'change' slogan. Although hes trying to steak it, I guess I would say it is definitely more suitable to John McCain that Obama. Obama is a testiment to progress, but as for policy there is no change. Obama hails from the Congress of the last 2 years that has the lowest congressional approval ratings in American history, a fact largely forgotten. Obama has never once broken step with the party line, he is a true Democratic Elite, who votes the party line and checks the wind every minute before he steps out on that stage to speak. I only see 2 changes in the Obama ticket, #1 of course hes Black which is awesome finally for America. and #2 hes a Democrat instead of a Republican. There is no greater power, no mandate from the people. His win will only mean the same, the Republican were more hated than the Democrats this election. And if we base that off the Executive and Legislative branch approval ratings currently both parties are in terrible shape.





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