September 05, 2008
So Who is Sarah Palin?
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been chosen by Senator John McCain as his vice-presidential running mate. Palin carries very strong credentials for fighting corruption and cleaning up government, defense of gun ownership and she is pro-life and pro-family. She is a mother of five. Her eldest son volunteered for the military on September 11 last year and will be deployed to Iraq on September 11 of this year. Her most recent child was born four months before she was picked for the VP job by the Republican nominee. Palin is the second woman to run on the presidential ticket after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 who ran with Walter Mondale.
Palin’s background includes a strong love of sports, runner up to the Miss Alaska beauty queen and several elected posts in local government before running for governor of Alaska. Forty-four year old Palin is the first woman and was the youngest person to hold the office of governor (at 42 years of age). She has been governor since 2006.
Evangelicals are ecstatic over McCain’s pick. Conservative Catholics are supportive, but not as emotional and are more muted and philosophical about it. Palin’s last child was known to have Down syndrome early in her pregnancy. Birthing the child puts personal sacrifice behind her convictions and greatly enhances her credibility among pro-life voters. Sarah Palin was born and baptized a Roman Catholic but her parents left the church. She was re-baptized in a Pentecostal church but is now a non-denominational Evangelical Christian. Palin has strong moral convictions particularly on social issues. Non-denominational churches tend to be quite ecumenical, only emphasizing those things on which most Christians can agree. Often they center on social issues. With her religious background, she should not have much resistance to the influence and political power of Rome in the halls of power in the United States.
It is important to understand that it is the Catholic Church that now often shapes at least some aspects of U.S. presidential politics, especially as it relates to abortion, traditional marriage, and other moral issues that Rome champions. The evangelicals have the political savvy to take those doctrines into the political arena. The issue of abortion is clearly front and center of the 2008 presidential election campaign. Roman Catholic voters (particularly conservatives) are viewed by many as able to determine an election. They largely vote on the basis of issues and have frequently influenced election outcomes at various levels of government. The record of George W. Bush in assisting the Roman Catholic Church to increase its power and influence in the U.S. reveals how important the Roman Catholic vote has become.
Now that John McCain has visited the Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, the most important Catholic icon in the Americas, and received the papal blessing while there (see: John McCain Visits the Virgin of Guadalupe), it is apparent that he sees the importance of the Roman Catholic voice in politics. He has also indicated that he would appoint Roman Catholics to his key advisory panels (see: John McCain Courts the Catholic Vote). Even Senator Obama has chosen a Roman Catholic running mate in Joe Biden at least in part to garner support from Roman Catholics for the democratic ticket. One reason McCain picked Palin was because she would appeal to conservative religious voters because of her strong moral stands. Palin will certainly strengthen the support of the Roman Catholic Church for the republican ticket.
Here is what is being said about Sarah Palin by some of the leaders in Christian circles.
“’I am now more confident about a John McCain presidency than I am about a George Bush presidency,’ said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. ‘The campaign has courted conservatives aggressively, and it has turned around remarkably in just the last few weeks.’”
“For skeptical Christian conservatives, Mr. Perkins said, the selection of Ms. Palin was evidence that when it came to the Supreme Court, Mr. McCain would deliver on the principles he laid out at Saddleback Church.”
“Colin Hanna, a prominent conservative organizer in Pennsylvania and Ohio said, ‘The candidate and his brain trust have evidently concluded what we have always held as a given: that he cannot succeed without the enthusiastic support of the conservative base.’”
“Dr. [James] Dobson said the Palin selection had persuaded him to endorse Mr. McCain. Dr. Dobson said in a statement that the nomination ‘gives us confidence he will keep his pledges to voters regarding the kinds of justices he would nominate to the Supreme Court.’”
“In Minneapolis, ‘it was as if the whole Republican convention had started drinking Red Bull,’ said Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, who added that when the McCain campaign had sought his input weeks before he had suggested picking Ms. Palin.
John Allen, a Roman Catholic pundit said: “Palin’s nomination, therefore, does not simply mark a breakthrough for women, or for western states. She also puts a face on the fastest-growing and most dynamic segment of global Christianity these days – even if it’s proving difficult for journalists and political handicappers to get their minds around.”
One Catholic blogger wrote: “Actually the Dems and their women are ready to make hay about everything they can think of [concerning Palin], but with every issue they open a mirror reflecting back to themselves.”
Another blogger wrote: “McCain’s values and priorities overall are much more in line with the Catholic worldview, and it is vitally important to educate Catholics about this in key battleground states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc).”
It was widely speculated that McCain wanted to pick off Hilary Clinton’s supporters that don’t like Obama. If elected, Palin would be the first female vice president of the United States.
As Hurricane Gustov bore down on the Gulf coast, presidential candidate John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, turning the election “upside down” and changing the direction of the race. Palin is something of a hurricane to the political establishment. Watch out. When it comes to religious principles, she has them, and her convictions run deep. She may well be the most conservative person to ever be on a presidential ticket. That makes conservatives happy, but perhaps Sabbath keepers should be wary, not because they don’t agree with her moral principles (most of them probably do), but precisely because they are so very strong. When Sunday laws begin to be agitated, what would Sarah Palin do to defend religious liberty? Or would she advocate and even assist in the movement to enforce Sunday observance?
Sources:
Source: http://www.ktfministry.org/news/290/palin-chosen-as-vice-presidential-running-mate