Palin Column

For those of you who missed it, here's my column that appeared in the SDSU Collegian last week:

Who would have thought that a former mayor of a town smaller than Brookings could be on a presidential ticket? John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin of Alaska surprised everyone, including Palin's family. She fishes, snowmobiles, has a pilot's license and hunts. As Sen. Fred Thompson put it at the GOP convention, "She is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose . . ." Palin was mayor of Wasilla for six years and governor of Alaska for two, so why do I think she's actually qualified to be on this presidential ticket? I'm not saying that she has tons of experience, but neither does Barack Obama. His experience amounts to maneuvering his way to success in the very corrupt Chicago political system, being a state legislator and Illinois senator for two years and announcing his candidacy for president after 143 days in the Senate. And remember: he's running for the top dog position.

Sarah Palin, on the other hand, has more executive experience than all of the rest of the tickets combined. It's easy for Obama, McCain and Biden to sit and debate legislation and cast their vote, passing laws and resolutions. Well, someone has to make those things happen, and that person is Sarah Palin. That's what executive experience is: execution of laws and orders. Talking big is easy, but actually making things happen is a great deal more difficult.

Not only does Palin have more executive experience, but the McCain/Palin ticket truly represents the ticket of change and Washington shakeup. Look at Obama/Biden. Sure, Obama would be the first African American, which is definitely change, but he proposes a return to '70s style nanny-state government that no amount of rich people can be taxed to pay for. Obama never breaks party line in his votes, which doesn't show me that he's "tired of same-old partisan politics." Not to mention he became top dog in a very corrupt Chicago political arena, rampant with back door deals and bribes. Obama went on to pick a conventional running mate: Biden, a career politician who also rarely breaks party lines. The Obamas are quite rich, whereas Palin had to elope with her husband because they couldn't afford a wedding.

The McCain/Palin ticket offers much more reform. It's led by an experienced political maverick who does what he feels is right, regardless of party lines. And backup president to the most experienced person in the campaign is Sarah Palin, a woman who isn't afraid to give the finger to her own party when they act stupid and corrupt. Just ask Ted Stevens (R-AK), whose $350 million bridge-to-nowhere earmark was vetoed in Alaska by none other than Palin, which is just one example of Palin's corruption purging. She's gone up against corruption in both parties and won. Some may criticize the fact that she was a former sportscaster, but let's not forget the last Republican sportscaster/actor that ran for President: Ronald Reagan.

Final Convention Note

Well, the 2008 Republican National Convention was a great success, as we can see how the McCain ticket has leaped in the polls. Although they are still essentially tied, McCain is now on the top of some of those polls. Stay tuned for the debates, people. The debate schedule is as follows:

1st Presidential - September 26
Vice Presidential Debate - October 2 (don't miss this one!)
2nd Presidential - October 7
3rd Presidential - October 16

Back to the convention, here's some pictures I took with my good camera:

Pictures, starting at the top left.

1) Me at the convention
2) John McCain speaking the last night of the convention
3) All the balloons falling
4) CNN converted a pub I ate at when I went to the Excel for volunteer training; they literally took the whole place over and remodeled it entirely
5) Armed guards to fend off the protesters. There is a huge anarchist group in Minneapolis/St. Paul that slashed delegate bus tires and news van tires.
6) A huge, HUGE TV screen outside of the Fox News tent, and it was playing news and commentary outside during the convention. I checked it over, and I don't think it was made at Daktronics.
7) View of the Excel from the outside. You can see the security checkpoints right there in the middle of the picture.
8) Me and Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. I was volunteering help out at the Alaska/Tennesee delegate hotel, and in walks Bill Frist was there with the Tennessee delegation. So I took a picture with him!

GOP Convention Day 2

Well, the convention today was a much more eventful and exciting day, for the country and me, as the convention was back on after hurricane Gustav and I was able to score guest passes to the convention for today and the rest of the nights.
First off, I was working at the Alaska/Tennessee hotel assisting delegates which is where this picture comes from: (bear with me, I'll have better pictures when I can use good camera pictures and not phone pictures)














There were some local T.V. stations advertising "Minnesota Nice" and going around to various convention locations showing off Minnesota products and traditions. These Tennessee ladies were introduced to lutafisk, and it was pretty hilarious to watch their reactions.

The Alaska delegation (clearly big fans of drilling for oil in ANWR) had on hard hats sporting the "Drill here Drill Now" slogan, as well as full oil worker gear and were wearing them to the convention to make a point on energy solutions. I know new oil drilling won't increase actual supply for a few years, but oil is traded on a futures market, and the prospect of future supply will cause a drop in oil prices now, just like farm crops.















Once I finished helping delegates, I hopped on one of the convention buses and headed to the Excel Energy Center. Here's my view from the nosebleed guest section...but it was awesome! You really can't tell how huge that screen is from this picture, but it was massive and had top-quality picture...Daktronics maybe?














Yea, those are all the thousands of balloons that will be raining down on the delegates Thursday night...I'll have a video of that to post up. All in all, it was a pretty amazing experience. I ran into a few big people. I walked by Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota, talked a bit with state legislator and delegate Al Novstrup of South Dakota, and helped out the son of Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, when he and his dad forgot their credentials at a different hotel.

Probably the most moving moment was when the RNC honored the family of deceased Medal of Honor recipient Michael Monsoor, the 4th in the war on terror. This man saved his friends and comrads by diving on top of a grenade, thus protecting them. He died 30 min later. This is a picture that was a picture of President Bush that was taken during the Medal of Honor presentation ceremony, where he had tears streaming down his face:


















Regardless about what you think of the man, don't think for one second the president doesn't realize what consequences his actions have.

More to come tomorrow!

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