The Republican Resurgence

September 19th, 2008

BY JOSHUA M. SMITH
Lions’ Pride Online Editor

My, my, how the tables have turned.

Just a few weeks ago, Senator Barack Obama was considered unbeatable in this presidential election. Now, he, his running mate, Senator Joe Biden, and his campaign managers are scrambling to find a way to deal with Senator John McCain, who has surged ahead in the polls after a hugely successful Republican National Convention and his unconventional choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

In a brilliant political move, McCain announced Palin as his running mate the morning after Obama’s would-be triumphant coronation ceremony at Invesco Field in Denver. There were 80,000 people screaming for him in the stadium, 38 million people watching him at home, but, when day broke, Obama’s spectacle was literally yesterday’s news.

Palin has taken the nation by storm. Left-wing kooks at DailyKos.com did their very best to issue forth the absolute worst possible slander against her. The national media picked up on the rumors and did what they could to break Palin before she could properly introduce herself to the country. All of that negative attention only fueled national interest in Palin, which resulted in the highest number of viewers in history for a running mate’s speech at a national convention. Palin’s RNC speech was watched by even more people than had watched Obama one week before, and her flawlessly delivered speech was a grand slam home run.

Republicans, many of whom were disheartened and depressed by the drawn out and bruising primary season, had little reason to get excited about McCain or the individuals he had been rumored to be considering for the V.P. slot. Many feared McCain would pick a pro-choice Republican and send the entire party into revolt. McCain’s choice of Palin changed all of that.

Republicans are motivated by the Palin pick in a way they have not been since at least 2004 or perhaps, 1984. Palin is well-liked, strong, smart, and scrappy—exactly what Washington needs. She has reinforced McCain’s reputation as a reformer and helped remind the nation of the GOP’s long tradition as the party of freedom and progress.

The Angry Left, of course, is burning up. They can’t stand the possibility of a conservative, pro-life woman in the White House because it overturns the very idea of what a “feminist” is. Feminism was once about the advancement of women and their right to determine their own destinies. Later, the movement was hijacked by the pro-abortion movement in this country to such an extent that a successful, ambitious working mother like Palin is the ultimate threat. So, they will likely continue their attacks to the bitter end.

And that’s just fine for the McCain campaign. Every sexist attack leveled at Palin from the Left serves to energize the conservative base even further. Every new lie about Palin keeps the media talking about her (and McCain’s campaign) and not about Obama.

And every attack on Palin’s supposed lack of experience only reinforces the fact that Obama has less experience than she does. Every pundit who claims McCain did not properly vet Palin reinforces the fact that the Democrats and the media did not properly vet their own messianic candidate.

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