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Strength, honesty, and leadership.That's why we love her here in Alaska!!

I never watched a minute of a convention till last night. I got one word WOW. I would have never voted for McCain, I voting for Sarah.

She reminds me of Ronald Reagan. She's conservative. She knows how to deliver a speech. She's self-deprecating. She puts herself out there as being homey and personable. Then she goes for the jugular with humor...and people laugh.

After the speech some of the guest Democrats on CNN, MSNBC and FOX were sputtering with indignation. They tried to refute her assertions but
the newscasters had a hard time maintaining focus in the wake of Palin's speech. Even the newscasters who are philosophically opposed to her views liked her.

I haven't seen anything like her since Reagan.
This is going to be interesting. The Democrats have their work cut out for them.

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I
know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her.

While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be Vice President, let alone President.

She is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system.We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country.

She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies.
The only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning
power plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.

Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.

Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who
put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about. These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.

Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't
like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal
firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin
isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.

When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me. In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in
the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be Vice President. John McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such
that the Vice President had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and
inappropriate as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain
introduced her, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.
To those of you who, like me, supported Hillary and were upset that she did not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin
is a worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah
Palin. To those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows
how unqualified McCain is to be President. To those of you who are conservative, please
try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment.

I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.

Jackie S.

Interesting points. But I have to ask, Jackie S., are you for real? And how did you find this thread?

Allen,

I am the first one to write a comment. I am an Alaskan and was born and raised in High Point and read the News and Record to keep up with the hometown. That is how I found the thread.

I don't just live in Alaska. I am a personal friend of Sarah's. She is a wonderful wife, mother, mayor, governor and friend. She is a a strong Christian. She is extemely intelligent and has a gift of being able to discern what is right and the decisivenss to make change when it is needed. She is not perfect. None of us are. But I can give first-hand testimony that her character is beyond reproach and she is very capable as a leader.

It is obvious that Jackie S. does not agree with the way that Sarah has governed Alaska but 83% of Alaskans do!

Obama and Biden have one vision for the nation and McCain and Sarah have another. With the troubled times in which we live, we would be much better off as a nation if we maintained civil discourse about the issues, discussed the differences in vision, and stayed away from gossip, slander, and malicious language. It says a lot about the credibility of a candidate or their supporters when they try to exhalt them by assassinating the character of their opponents.

I promise you that America will be in good hands if she is sent to Washington.

Karen Rhoades