McSame/Palin - Putting Country First

Imagine that you are a young woman; married, with five children. You are a staunch conservative with strong family values. One of your children has Down syndrome and another is 17, unmarried, and pregnant. Imagine also that you are the governor of a sparsely populated northern state which already requires a certain level of family disruption. Add to your plate the fact that you are being investigated for ethics violations and possible abuse of power (which could lead to your impeachment from office). Now imagine that your party’s candidate for POTUS asks you to be his running mate and, if elected, serve just one heartbeat away from the most stress filled and demanding job in the world. What do you say? Hmmmm.

Now a lot of folks in the pundit and political world seem to want to focus on Sarah Palin’s answer to the question. They want to speculate on her parental priorities or even her parenting skills. But is Sarah Palin really the issue here? I mean what kind of man would ask someone with so much on their plate – a disabled infant and a teen aged daughter who will need the love and support of a caring mother as she prepares to become a mother herself – what kind of man would ask this family to add the responsibilities of the Oval Office to their life? It would take a special man. It would take John McSame.

It is often said that the first “presidential decision” a candidate makes is their vice-presidential pick. For the entire campaign season thus far, McSame has been babbling about putting country (and presumably family) first, ahead of politics. And so you can imagine the conversation that had to have taken place between Palin and McSame. After hearing about all of the challenges facing the Palin family, McSame’s final words must have been something like this:

’Sarah, I understand that you have so many struggles ahead of you in the coming months and years as you devote yourself to caring for your infant son, and try to prepare your daughter for the daunting challenges of parenthood at such an early age. And yes, I understand that you will have some distractions ahead with any possible legal challenges which may arise from that unfortunate ethics investigation. But as I have traveled around the country and the world; meeting with other officials in our party – members of Congress, other governors, business leaders – I cannot imagine anyone who would do more to attract young professional women who may be simmering over the exclusion of Hillary Clinton from the Democratic ticket, while reaching out to the evangelical and rural conservative base of the Republican Party being as qualified on national security and national economic issues and as capable of guiding a legislative agenda through a legislative body run by the opposition party as you. Sarah Palin, will you turn your back on your family lay your burdens down and stand just one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States?’

Sarah Palin’s answer may say many things about her but the fact that John McSame would not think twice about placing this burden on her and her family for the sake of an election says volumes about him.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue