Joyce’s Weblog

John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his choice for his vice-presidential candidate. It was a total shock and surprise to everyone except for the very savvy in politics. She burst onto the scene like a breath of fresh air and brought with her the feeling that maybe there is hope for a change in politics as usual. I believe most Americans are looking for that. Both parties have let down the American people, given into corruption and become so stalemated they accomplish nothing except constant fighting while the country continues to suffer under its weight.

A couple moths ago I heard a host on a television show say she was voting for Obama because he looked like her and he looked like her son and gave him someone to look up to. She indicated that was her main reason for voting for him. I have given that a lot of thought and I could understand it. They are of the same skin color but that is where the resemblance ends. While she is working everyday and raising a family, he is running for office and has many questionable associations that I doubt she would want for her son to be a part of.

But her words rang in my ears when McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate. I began to realize that Sarah Palin looks like me. She’s prettier and a better public speaker, but here is a woman who has balanced a budget at home before she ever held office. She has had to leave her family to go to work even before her political career and has met many of the same challenges every woman does in her lifetime. In this way, she looks like me.

Like most women, she is a problem solver. She just has the ability to do it on a local, state and national level. But we as women have decisions to make every day to keep our family governments running as smooth as possible. We wear many hats of responsibility and many do it alone without the help of a husband or significant other. Sarah Palin was able to take that skill beyond our imaginations with determination and a sense of fair play. Like most women she has a clear sense of what has to be done and she has done it. In this way, she looks like me.

Will she always be right? Probably not. Will she ever say something unfortunate or misguided? At some point I’m sure she will. Will every decision she makes always be the right one? I highly doubt it because she is human. But that’s okay, because in that way she will also look like me.