Tag Archives: Future of GOP

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the direction I want to take my work, with SGP, this blog, and in my volunteer time. And originally, Palin was a large part of the reason I was excited about politics. However, her novelty has worn off for me. I do still like her and I will still support her when I can. That said, I do see some issues with her as a national candidate.

The biggest one is not a political one, in my eyes – it’s a cultural one. Our country is still a center right country. What that means is that, despite what the lefties and the media would  have you believe, the majority of Americans, at their core, hold on to their traditional values. Nothing spelled this out more clearly than deep blue California passing Prop 8.

Now – Palin. Yes, her politics are the most conservative we’ve seen in a candidate in a long time (minus the gray area of her amnesty position). I think she’s smart, and I think she’s capable. NO one has stirred people up like she has, and that is not a power that should be overlooked. She is definitely an asset to the GOP, if they ever figure out how to use her gifts.

However, Palin herself ends up contradicting her own conservative values, solely because of who she is as a Christian wife, mother, and woman. I think the fact that she was the superior to her husband in pretty much every (education, status, provider, etc…) way didn’t sit well with a lot of people. As unfair and horrible as the media was to her, I don’t believe that they were completely out of line in wondering how she would juggle raising five children, including an infant, (which any mother will tell you is a full time job in and of itself) with, say, possibly being the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in the world during war time. Something has to give – and her children would be the ones to suffer for it.

Let me clear something up for you. I’m pretty much the opposite of a feminist in a lot of ways.

Palin won conservatives over because of her stance on government reform, tax cuts, gun control, THEN the social con issues. A large portion of the country won’t listen to the first three, and that’s where the divide happens. I recently talked to some girls about the abortion issue, and how that’s where we end up losing a lot of the women voters. We can’t bank on her winning the indie and moderate vote based on their inner social conservative.

Now, I am in no way denying the Palin effect, or contesting her capability or intelligence. Obviously, I voted for her, and I think that her support system (IE Todd) was great, and that her family was solid. I am just pointing out the things I see as faults, and saying that the scope of the conservative movement is so much bigger than Palin. There are so many other things for us to focus on. If we focus all of our energy on Palin, we’re setting ourselves up for failure in both 2010 and 2012.