The Times They Are A-Changin

This week has brought many significant events both published and unpublished. The Republican V.P. pick of Sarah Palin was met with mostly disbelief on both sides of the aisle, but has brought a new found charge of excitement and energy into the Republican party and the race itself.

This election has shown that America is ready for new leadership and is clearly not excited about the same old "Washington Elite" - as Palin puts it - running the show. We can't be too sure about the effectiveness of this new strategy by both parties but obviously now, with both parties selections sealed, we will either have a President whose only political experience is a state legislator for eight years and a U.S. senator for another three, albeit mostly spent on the campaign trail, or we will have a woman in the seat of vice-president having only been a mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of roughly 7,000, for two terms and Alaska's governor since 2006.

It seems to me both parties have flip-flopped on their previously stated opinions for this election. When Bill Clinton ran against George H. W. Bush in 1992, he was openly criticized for claiming his command of the Arkansas National Guard as command experience, yet the Republicans are supportive of Palin using the argument of her command of the Alaska National Guard as command experience. On the flip-side, the political left, has somehow overnight became the moral authority on the family and family values and think they have the right to criticize Palin over her daughter's unwed pregnancy. If I were told two months ago the Republicans would be defending unwed mothers and the Democrats would be criticizing the same mother, I really wouldn't believe it. It's also totally ridiculous that the Democrats are taking this opportunity to bash abstinence-only sex education. They have absolutely no idea what is said inside the Palin home and regardless of Governor Palin's political stance on federally funded sex education programs, they still don't know what has been said to Sarah's daughter. Long story short, this in no way shows that abstinence-only sex education doesn't work. I fault both parties with the way Governor Palin has been introduced and treated. On one hand, I don't want her name to be splashed across a magazine with misleading titles and articles that might lead weak minded voters down a path of half truths and outright lies, however I don't want to vote in a vice-president and therefore potential president that I don't know very much about.

Palin gave a speech last night that gave the Republican party the boost they needed, and have stopped the Democrats in their tracks for the time being, and there's plenty more to look forward to. Obama will be on Bill O'Reilly's program tonight and we'll also hear from John McCain addressing the Republican National Convention. I hope you'll be tuning in.