No wonder the trash machines were in the streets within minutes to dump on Governor Palin and declare she was not experienced enough to be Vice President, but they still can’t explain why Barack is experienced enough to be President when his resume total ly pales in comparison to hers. Even though she is not running against him, they seem more concerned about=2 0her than they are about McCain and for good reason. She is young, dynamic, effective, principled and tough. Several in that group of leaders likened her to Maggie Thatcher, which of course means the liberals, the feminists, the good ol’ boys, will do everything they can to destroy her, but the harder they try, the more entrenched her base will become because we will all see this as a unified attack on us. We will take those attacks personally and fight back in a phalanx of solidarity with a woman who could be destroyed by a hypocritical machine that pretends to want women and blacks to rise to levels of leadership . . . but only if they can be manipulated and exploited by that machine.

But, let’s look at other groups that have been sitting on the sidelines trying to decide if they should vote for Barack or McCain. There are millions and millions of people in rural America who share the same values with McCain but who are slowly being seduced b y the empty idea of change. The seduction is possible because there is nothin g substantive to hold them to the concept of status quo. What the Governor Palin nomination said in words louder than empty slogans was, “If change is what you want . . . change is who we are.”

Here is a young, hockey mom, turned PTA leader, local elected official turned mayor, turned Governor who has challenged the Democrat AND Republican status quo and brought ethics back into the equation. She is a card carrying member of the NRA and member of a union, both of which will appeal to the blue collar worker who always feels dissed by the liberal elite as they cling to their guns and Bibles. Now they can vote for someone just like them.

There are more guns in America than people and more gun owners than the total number of people who usually vote in presidential elections. They own guns for many reasons and are tired of being classified as right wing nuts by the liberal elite, when ironically, many gun owners are liberals. Protecting the Second Amendment is a key issue for many Americans and it could be the deciding factor in this election.

Millions of women who are upset with the way Hillary was treated, whether or not they would vote for her, are encouraged to see a young, articulate, attractive woman be selected by a man who could have chosen anyone to be his running mate, but chose a fellow maverick, who does what is right, not was is expedient, and pays the price for such principled decisions.

With over 55% of the population strongly in the pro-life camp, and over 90% agreeing that partial birth abortion should be illegal, it is going to be much easier for McCain to rally the troops and bring it over the finish line. But he has to keep moving forward, keeping his newly reconciled base around him at all times, and not back down or be intimida ted by the tiresome tactics of the left. It is like running a race . . . don’t look back, don’t look down . . . keep looking forward, looking ahead and moving closer to the finish line and to ultimate victory.