But when I think of Sarah Palin's achievements, I keep
recalling a woman friend of mine, the mother of a large family,
who was proposed for the board of a prominent New York charity.
Several men on the board looked at her resume as "thin" -- it
included more than a few years where she did nothing but care for
her children, as well as many other years of prominent community
service. My friend gained her seat partly as a result of the
intervention of a divorced woman, who said, "I can't imagine
being the mother of so many children and accomplishing all that
she has."
That's my honest reaction to Sarah Palin. I can't imagine
being the mother of five and accomplishing all that she has.
If the worst happens and Gov. Palin comes to assume the
highest office in the land, I have confidence she will rise to
the occasion. I believe this because of her past record -- Sarah
Palin always has risen to the occasion in an extraordinary way.
An 80 percent approval rating 18 months into office as governor
of Alaska is, in fact, extraordinary.
Who would you trust to be president of the U.S. and leader of
the Free World: Sarah Palin or Joe Biden? It's not a close
question for me.
May I gently suggest the public intellectuals' discontent with
Gov. Palin has less to do with who she is than with the
contemporary crisis in conservatism brought about by allegiance
to George Bush?
It is time -- more than past -- for a deep rethinking of the
conservative movement in America. But attacks by conservative
pundits on Sarah Palin represent more of a symptom than a step
forward.