Dear Sarah Palin,

Wait, who are you again? Oh, that's right, you're the Alaska governor who sued the federal government to have polar bears removed from the endangered list. I remember now. You're also pro-life, pro-capital punishment, against gay marriage, and a life-long NRA member. It sounds like you'll fit in nicely with Mr. McCain.

Still, for only the second time in US history we have a female vice-presidential candidate sitting one election away from the white house. It's quite a feat, really.

But I do wonder, how did you do it? How did you go from being relatively unknown to being the talk of the country overnight?

I can see some of the draw. You're young, charismatic, intelligent, and kind of hot in that "librarian" sort of way. And with all the fuss made about Clinton and Obama, it only seems natural that the republican party would jump at the chance to pad its ticket with a little "diversity."

Maybe I'm being too cynical there.

Still, I can't help but wonder how much of your selection as VP had to do with the need to offset McCain's "McCain-ness." At what point are we putting together presidential tickets not to enact balance and effective policy, but instead to bolster general likability and cultural variety? And of course the democrats aren't immune to this tactic by any means. I just can't help but feel that your nomination is on all accounts a "reaction" to the success of Hillary and Obama. I'm not denying it is smart, I'm simply commenting on its odd underhandedness.

You bring to the table a number of the very traits the McCain camp have, for the last several months, sited as negatives for Obama. Inexperience comes to mind, as does your more "rock-star" persona (2007 Vogue photo spread?!). Thankfully, those things have never been issues for me. It's your policies (see above), not your lack of experience, that will keep me from voting for you.

In spite of all this, it is nice to see a woman with an opportunity to hold a position of real power. No matter what the political motivation, the advancement of women and minorities in American government equals advancement for women and minorities in American society. That's something to be proud of.


Sincerely,
Brad T Doug