Widely popular and pretty face

Nestor Mata

ALASKA Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s candidate for Vice-President, is proof positive that America’s women have indeed come a long way in the history of US politics. For all of them this is indeed a historic moment that one of them has been picked to run for the second highest post of the land.

Mrs. Palin, the surprise choice of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is 44, a conservative Christian, who has been dubbed as “America’s Hottest Governor: Widely Popular, She’s More than Just a Pretty Face” in a recent cover of an Alaska magazine before her nomination.

In her first moments on the national stage, after she was introduced by McCain to a crowd of heering Republicans, Palin quickly paid homage to Senator Hillary Clinton, the first woman would-be candidate for the presidency but who withdrew in favor of Barack Obama, the first African-American would-be president of the Democratic Party. Palin lauded Hillary, who remains a central part of the presidential election drama, for the “grace in her presidential campaign.”

Hillary in turn acknowledged the historic moment with these words: “We should all be proud of Gov. Sarah Palin’s historic nomination . She’ll add an important new voice to Senator McCain’s race to the White House against Democratic candidate Barack Obama.”

That gesture of Palin, in the perception of pundits and other political observers, was really an overt grab for women voters, especially the 18 million supporters of Hillary who were disaffected by her unsuccessful nomination bid for the presidency. They left 18 million cracks, as rightfully noted by Hillary when she later voiced her support for Obama’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention last week. But, Palin said in her first words, “the women of America aren’t finished yet
and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all!”

Soon after this, the first major question raised against Palin was whether she can draw women away from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party’s fold. Also, whether her biography will appeal to
women, both as a mother and a woman who has operated in a man’s world.

This is the first time that a woman like Palin can bring considerable strength to the Republican ticket. Her choice clearly indicates that McCain sees the power of women voters in the November polls.

Just 12 hours after Obama delivered his acceptance speech during the Democratic convention, and found he was no longer the story in America media after Palin’s nomination, he said that her choice was “yet another sign that old banners are falling in our politic,” a subtle allusion to his nomination as the first black American presidential candidate of the Democratic Party.

Still, the usual suspects in the media establishment were predictably skeptical about Palin, pointing to her lack of experience to be vice president and, just in case, to be commander-in-chief, the same charge leveled against Obama during the primary campaign early this year.

Palin will be pitted against Senator Joe Biden, elderly like McCain, who was picked by Obama as his running mate. A six-term senator, Biden is expected to help Obama with voting blocks like the Catholics and white-collar swing votes. Like Ted Kennedy, Biden is one of the best-known and longest-serving Catholics in the US Senate.

However, the history of Biden’s shoot-from-the lip and innumerable gaffes may show the risks of taking him on board Obama’s ticket, especially in a race like this one that appears to be growing tighter, risks that could make a real difference in the presidential campaign up to November 4, 2008.

Oh yes, there are complaints against Obama too. He has been depicted as some kind of “illennial cult leader.” Conservatives in both GOP and media establishment have sternly lectured Obama’s fans that he’s not capable of delivering “paradise” if elected president, mocking his “messianic figure.”

And now that Sarah Palin has become the central figure in the electoral drama, as a very good campaigner and a fighter, can she face down the Democrats, Joe Biden and the national media over the next couple of months?

John McCain has no doubt gambled boldly on Palin to boost his chances. He’s betting she can. If she flops, McCain could lose, but if she exceeds expectations, McCain could win and beat Barack Obama in an unprecedented race between an elderly statesman and a young Kenyan-American for the most powerful office in the world.

This brings to mind what Margaret Thatcher, who in her time was called “The Iron Lady” of England, once said: “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man, but if you want anything done, ask a woman!”

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