A Friend Stopped By | 08/29/2008 2:11 pm

Monica Crowley: Somewhere, Hillary Is Smiling

By Monica Crowley

Editor’s Note: Monica Crowley, Ph.D., is a panelist on The McLaughlin Group, the host of the nationally syndicated radio program "The Monica Crowley Show" and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Somewhere, Hillary Clinton is smiling.

She’s smiling because John McCain had the cojones to do what Barack Obama did not: put a woman on his ticket.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is now running with McCain as his choice to be vice president. She is a tax-cutting, pro-drilling, environmentalist, gun-defending, pro-life mom of five, with a son in the Army about to be deployed to Iraq.

You want "change?" Here it is. Obama said last night that change doesn’t come "from Washington, it comes TO Washington." How odd, then, that both Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, are quintessentially Washington creatures.

Governor Palin, from Alaska, is about as far removed from Washington as you can be without living in Russia, just a hop away from her state.

She hunts, shoots, has a lifetime membership in the NRA, ice fishes, is Christian and pro-life.

A few months ago, Obama put down people like her, saying they "cling to their guns and their religion."

Something tells me Governor Palin is going to be a rock star in the states that really matter — Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan. They like their guns and religion, too.

In high school, Palin played basketball so fiercely that she earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda." She also played in the championship game with a stress fracture in her ankle, nailing a free throw in the critical final seconds.

She’s a cool chick and a tough cookie. I say again: somewhere Hillary smiles.

Read more about: Barack Obama, Election, John McCain, Politics, Sarah Palin

131 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Palin has 13 years as an elected official. She took on the incumbent governor of her own party and won. She went toe to toe against the Attorney General of Alaska - and got him to step down - and that was before she was governor. She had been in negotiations with Canada and Canadian companies to bid on the Alaskan gas pipeline. After 10 years of no progress, she was successful in getting the process moving and the pipeline is going to be built. Palin pointed out that Biden was AGAINST the original 0il pipeline built 30 years ago through which we have received 15 billion barrels of oil. He was wrong then, Biden is wrong now. She will pull the run out from under corrupt entrenched Washington. I worked as an activist in BIG local government (1 million pop.) and was named Citizen of the Year, so I can tell you that Palin’s skills are exactly what government needs to be reformed. Palin has been described as the Joan of Arc of politics. As head of the National Guard of Alaska, she had more military credentials than Obama - and she visited wounded troops overseas - which mean a huge amounts to Vets and their families.

By Bella Mia on 08/31/2008 8:54 am

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Bella Mia, ( I don’t know if that is your name or avatar, but I love it :-) Couple of points: First, more oil is not the answer, we need to get off oil. Spewing more oil into the atmosphere is not the answer. And her being a defender of oil, Alaska Oil and Natural gas, does not give me confidence that we will make huge investments in clean renewable , green, job producing energy. Second, Her activism would be better served in Alaska, as VP she has very little to do. She will not be in charge of any department. She is no Dick Cheney. Head of Alaska National Guard ? Are you kidding ? That’s just a title the Governor gets. She may have visited troups but Obama has received more donations from the troups than McCain. I will say again, A 72 year old man with a history of cancer picking this woman who has practically never been out of a back woods hamlet is an insult to Americans One last thing, with the sorry state of American Education, especially in science, with the Chinese barking at our heels, someone who has stated that creationism should be taught in schools is an absolute joke. I know they are trying to put a spin on this, but we have to be smarter than that.

By EKA - on 08/31/2008 9:45 am

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Thank you for your comments, Bella, but I will choose to stick to my guns on this one. With nuclear powers such as Pakistan and India living next door to each other, I don’t think we have a whole lot of wiggle room. I also have a citizen of the year, and I also know a thing or two, and I will tell you that on the international stage, Palin is a lightweight, but thank you for the info about her.

By Diana T on 08/31/2008 11:01 am

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I’m going to do what white folks do, you speak as an authority on black people and urban issues, now I’m going to do the same about whites. Most of you have never driven through a black neighborhood with your windows up and your doors fastened. It seems to me that you who post here, as well as the media have barely stopped short of calling Sarah poor white trash! You act as if you are appalled by her real American family, blue collar dude, more than 2.5 family with a pregnant teen-age daughter. I’m still trying to decipher the intraracial code words for it…as you have a way of talking about race and black folks indirectly,too. I happen to like Palin…when I see her, there is the reflection of most women in this country, black, white, spanish and Native Americans. We really try hard to be good mothers and workers only to have our abilities questioned. If you’re not a member of the good ole White Women Club, you don’t get to climb up the corporate ladder or aspire to higher office unless you are a club member. I know you better than you know yourselves with your fake sisterhood… Nevertheless, I will not be voting for her…not because she’s a small town mayor or a first time governor or that her family is too much like mines. I will not be voting for a McCain/Palin ticket because the stakes are too high this time with two associate justices on the brink of retirement. That is important to me…I’m not worried about the economy because it’s cyclical; yes, money is tight but I’ve rode it out before. But, we need a supreme court that is balanced. I want to make history but grapple with the decision to vote for Obama…he is no more qualified to be president than the republican VP. I listened as a black woman last night on the bus convey to another rider that she feel bamboozled by Obama but need to vote for him to keep McCain out. I’m heavily leaning toward a protest vote toward Cynthia McKinney…Cynthia stood up to the mad men, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfield but did not garner support from women groups because she wasn’t your kind of Negro! You dig on Michelle Obama because she’s ivy educated and do a great rendition of the type of blacks you can get behind because she’s non-threatening…she may misspeak but she won’t rock the boat…she’ll pretend to accept your liberalism than get behind doors with Barack and her close black friends and say those white witches are crazy!

By lois mackey on 09/04/2008 6:12 pm

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Well, Lois, you are being very judgemental. And, I am certainly not a member of any club, much less a White Woman Club. You have no idea of the pain some of us have endured for many years. I hope I’m right when assume you are much younger than me, because I see such resentment and anger in your words. I will not begin to refute you because I know with your obvious pain and anger you will not consider the things I say. All I can think is that I wish the best for you, whatever your journey is.

By Diana T on 09/04/2008 7:43 pm

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Joan I believe you are right that women will recognize the political play or McCain tapping Palin. I also believe that women are smart enough to know why Obama tapped Biden. It was a smart move. Obama doesn’t have any Foreign Policy experience - so…

By Frannie Em on 08/29/2008 4:09 pm

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Frannie Em — I have been in or around politics for a long time. A leader — an outstanding, forward-thinking, and wise leader — no matter how “experienced” cannot be expected to be the oracle of the world. None of us could — we have our fields, our strengths, and hopefully, we acknowledge our weaknesses. We cannot afford not to be seen as on top of everything - of it all - but a leader, a great leader, delegates responsibilities to others, carefully choosing the “others” - and if they can’t perform, quickly getting rid of them. He has to because it is he who is seen in the mirror of the world. If what I read is correct, Biden is a good choice — years of experience in foreign policy. And my God, we have to have experience by the hands full, expertise beyond, in this world we live in. Or soon our world is going to be something I would rather not think of. IF - and it is a big IF - the McCain team decided that he could hit one out of the park with a woman, he could have been right. But then we come to the very very unfortunate link. IF Palin was the best that McCain could come up with — as unless this woman was the best PERSON he could find to possibly sometime LEAD the country, then he should have gone with a sure thing in a man. We women don’t want to see “a woman” in charge. We want an experienced woman who knows Washington who can pinch hit and then possibly lead. Doesn’t McCain he is up against a country of many vocal women who will rise up and say just that? And I said my piece.

By joan larsen on 08/29/2008 4:48 pm

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There were several other women he could have chosen, ones with more experience. I heard some speculation that some of these were rejected as McCain doesn’t get along with them, and didn’t like others as they had too many of their own ideas. This choice came out of left field—have to wonder when the choice was made—Romney was all over the DNC acting as a McCain surrogate, and Pawlenty cancelled all his appointments for today and seemed to be getting more security last night. Did he decide after Biden was picked? Or perhaps as late as after Obama’s masterful speech? I wish Palin good luck, think she’s going to need it.

By Willow K on 08/29/2008 5:58 pm

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I think Palin was the only one who would take it.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/29/2008 9:21 pm

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How old is her newest baby? Four months? What was she thinking, accepting the VP spot. She wouldn’t be around for the first 4 years of that baby’s life! Isn’t her husband a commercial fisherman? He can’t have the bandwidth to take care of all five of them, either. So much for being hands-on in her children’s lives. But now she’ll have enough money to hire nannies to care for her brood while she’s campaigning and, if it comes to that, beyond. I had a 50 hour/week job with just one young child, and my husband and I were constantly juggling our time between our jobs and our little girl. I can’t imagine her situation. Perhaps she believes that this is what God wants her to do, just like W does.

By Susan B on 08/31/2008 11:50 am

It is also a special needs baby I think, Downe Syndrome if I’m not mistaken. This woman is a blatant attempt by the fundamentalists to take over this government. For them to get a woman who is an uber- anti-feminist (member of FFL and closely associated with the Dominionism Movement) into the position of being a heartbeat from the presidency of a 72 year old man with health concerns is not an accident. Write your local newspapers and let people know this woman’s history as well as her lack of experience. Because the mainstream media is just glossing over this because they love the story of the so-called “maverick” and his woman VP.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/31/2008 12:30 pm

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I’ll share a horrible thought of mine, knowing full well that many will think I’m a conspiracy theorist — which, until now, I have never come close to being … Could there already be a “plan” in the works for McCain that would prevent him from finishing his term? I just finished reading this link, and I have a very bad feeling. By all means, we should be writing letters to the editors, en masse. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213

By Susan B on 08/31/2008 3:40 pm

Joan, Well, Biden has been on the Foreign Relations committee, I am not sure of all of his decisions, but there are two recent decisions, that were very important, which I believe he totally blew. He voted against the surge, which has dropped violence in Baghdad alone by over 85%. He was totally against it. Didn’t he vote for the Iraq war? I think so. His solution, instead of the surge, would have been to annex Iraq into 3 sections: Sunni, Shia and Kurd. Unfortunately, one section held more water, another more oil, and the third - Sunni - not much of anything. If we did that, they would have had to bring in more troops. This would have reinvigorated the insurgents efforts to kill Americans, because they did not want to be dictated by the west. The majority of Iraqis today call themselves Iraqi first and Sunni, Shia, Kurd, second. They do not want their country split up because they believe if that happens they will be weaker if Iran or Saudi Arabia makes moves on them. If that happened we would have to escalate again. We would be in there much longer. NO THANK YOU. By the way, this past year the Saudis have invested heavily in military equipment for their country. Iran, and their influence in Lebanon, also worries them to a certain extent. Biden wanted to dictate an annexation. At this time, that would have been a MAJOR mistake. Also regarding those two decisions, he knew he was going to run for president, so they were politically motivated. How smart of a decision was that? I like Joe Biden, but he is not the same Senator he was 10 years ago when the partisanship was not as bad. I don’t know why so many people who are for Obama (and Joan, I don’t assume that I know who you are voting for, but in general) are investing so much time on this issue? Insulted by it? They are voting for Obama. It may help Obama win. What are they thinking? They really believe this has to do with them? It doesn’t. Do they think he believes that feminist liberals would vote for someone pro choice? I doubt that. He is not aiming for Obama or Hillary’s base, he is aiming for his base, and bring in more Christian young men and women to vote. I am amazed that some of the posters feel insulted? It doesn’t have anything to do with them. Isn’t that kind of self centered? Whatever. Joan, don’t you think that McCain, who has been around congress for years, kinda knows that there will be many democrat women against this? The more vocal democrat women get about it, the more it will invigorate McCain’s base to vote them in. To me, for the women on this site, this is a case of “Thou dost protest too much!”

By Frannie Em on 08/30/2008 9:25 pm

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The big difference here being Obama chose a person who helped with the ticket without sacrificing the qualifications to take over as president if necessary.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/29/2008 5:45 pm

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DeB Biden has run for president at least 3 times. The country didn’t want him then. He got like 9,000 votes or something. I agree that Gov Palin has a big difference in experience, but Sen Biden has some baggage. He is not that adaptable like Sen Obama.

By Frannie Em on 08/30/2008 9:30 pm