John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as Vice President has certainly caused a stir. After her speech at the Republican National Convention, she solidified the base of the Republican Party and came out swinging against Obama.

She gave a very direct and powerful speech outlining her characteristics:

Pork-barrel spending reform: This was a major point for her and McCain. They both are dedicated to fight corruption and reduce wasteful spending. Their record proved it. In her speech, she definitely pointed out that fact, when she said that she sold the governor’s plane on EBay. It highlighted her determination to end wasteful spending.

Special needs: This represents a powerful point for her. People see that she is determined to keep the issues of special needs children close to her heart. With her dedication to family, this rings true to the core of America: that all are created equal in God’s sight.

Women/Family: Issues such as this are a very big controversy. Palin is the second woman to be nominated for such a high executive office, and the first for the GOP. What the Democrats argue is that she should be at home taking care of kids, and lambast her daughter for having a child out of wedlock. However, these are the things they themselves promote! It is ludicrous to assume that liberals suddenly become this way. It is because they do not agree with Palin. However, in regards to her daughter, I have heard few who actually say that the father of the baby is actually marrying the daughter. That is unprecedented and unheard of. Yet, it is good for the baby and for the family in general.

Experience/Foreign Policy: Out of the 4 candidates for President/Vice-president, only Sarah Palin has some sort of executive experience. In comparison, neither John McCain, Barack Obama, and Joseph Biden have that sort of experience. Also, it is interesting to note that none of the candidates have foreign policy experience. They may claim that, but they are observing foreign policy. Only a past Vice President or a Secretary of State has the experience of foreign policy. Others…they have only read and listened about it.

The choice of Sarah Palin is quite interesting, and her pick critical for the GOP base. Now that people know about her, she begins to undergo the scrutiny of a candidate. Yet, given these points, there is no doubt why John McCain chose her to be his running mate.

Josh’s Comments: As you can see, Sam and I tend to have quite different editorial philosophies -Sam focuses more on the individual details of Palin, while I took a more cynical view of her overall impact on the election. Sam also takes a more editorial position than I do -while I tend to have strong positions on issues, I prefer to maintain a semblance of neutrality. You’ll be seeing more differences in our styles as time goes on…