Sarah Palin's Stands on "Issues"

I read your earlier comment..and yhou raise some good points. First off, if you have concerns about the people who are supporting this draft movement, please to not transpose their specific values onto Palin herself...the best thing about her is that she is a rugged individualist who takes orders from no one...not the establishment and certainly not a bunch of bloggers who happen to be trying to make her Vice President. Furthermore, we don't turn any Republican down who wants to join, so if a supporter of Ron Paul (who I personally abhor) joins,then we will welcome them - that does not meant that the Palin movement is pro-Paul.

Secondly, let me assure you that I am what you would call a "true conservative", and the precise reason that I started this movement was to ensure that there was a true conservative on the ticket regardless of who the nominee is.

You will note that I am a Giuliani supporter, but I would make a point to let you know that I differ harshly with the Mayor on the life issue (abortion=genocide)and am a firm second ammendment advocate...which is why I want an NRA member as VP...If you have questions about my "true conservative" credentials, please email me at palinforvp@gmail.com. FUrth

As for Sarah, Steve did a pretty good job of lining out her positions (the one disclaimer I would add is that, while Sarah is a firm advocate of traditional marriage, she does favor benefits for same-sex partners of state employees).

I will admit that Sarah is a bit of an unknown on Foreign Affiars/National Secutity issues. However, most of the people now running for President are very strong on those issues, but potentially lacking in Sarah Palin's areas of expertise. Palin is very strong on energy policy, rural issues, and gun policy. As with any governor of a Northern state, she is naturally not going to have many opportunities to define her views on immigration, and as a governor she does not have any real opportunity to get her foreign affairs positions aired. That said, she has impressed me as a strong supporter of our troops, and I would assume she would come down conservatively on national security if asked, based on her conservatism in other areas.

The other thing you need to remember is that we are not drafting her for President specifically becasue we need to give her some time (preferrably 8 years) to get some solid experience in areas she wouldn't deal with in Alaska.

the word "FUrth" in the last paragraph was an aborted "Furthermore"...Just figured I'd clear that up in case somebody got the wrong idea about my acidental capitalizaition of "FU"

(Beginning note: I realize that simply because a person supports a non-conservative like McCain or Ron Paul does not mean Ms. Palin has similar political beliefs. However, people tend to support politicians with similar leanings, and since I did not know much about Ms. Palin, I was concerned. Your exposition of her beliefs has lightened much of my hesitancy, because I am getting more of a feel for her. Now, onto the blog post itself.)

I understand that immigration is a non-issue in Alaska, but it is quickly becoming an issue of importance in the Presidential campaign, particularly with the rollercoaster life, death, and resurrection of the Senate's immigration "reform" bill. Americans have responded in droves about this issue, as it affects not only certain states, but the security and economy of the entire nation. Yes, states along the southern border probably have more of a vested interest in immigration, but everyone in the country has an opinion on the problem and what we should do about it. I am not saying I need Ms. Palin's detailed immigration plan, however it would be nice to know how she stands on the issue--especially, on the immigration bill. That would tell me quite a bit about her.

I don't expect you to present the answer I'm looking for; again, I understand that if it is not a big problem, that a person might not consider it too often. As a voter, though, I want to know if the VP I'm electing will support immigration amnesty or not. As I am a Californian, and *do* think of immigration a lot, it is a big factor in my determining whether I want to support a candidate.

Nevertheless, I do recognize that Ms. Palin isn't even in the race, and, like you said, has not had the opportunity to broadcast her views. I will give her the benefit of the doubt; typically, if a person is conservative on every other issue, he or she is likely conservative on immigration.

You will likely make an official supporter out of me. As for now, Sarah Palin remains in my "I like her" category, at least until I get as much information as I can.

--JAG

People who support Sarah Palin take various views on the Immigration Reform legislation. I support the legislation; others oppose it. I do not believe it fits the definition of amnesty that appears in the dictionary. Amnesty speaks to absolution for an offense, and the legislation as proposed does not provide that.
I don't believe anyone (other than Mr. Tancredo advocates the deportation of 12 million people). Thus, the question becomes what do you so with them?

I'm not explaining Sarah's position on immigration, which I don't know. I'm describing my own. If I were advising her, I would suggest that she take no position at this time. There's no reason for her to do so.

It takes a lot of careful study to see what the American people really want on this issue -- if they know. It seems that a majority do want a path to citizenship for illegals not guilty of crimes. Gallup says that's 52%.

However, the Republican base -- about 25% of the vote -- is strongly against "amnesty." I don't feel that at this early stage it's necessary for Sarah to pontificate on an issue of little concern to her state.

Late this summer, if all goes well, Sarah will become a much more visible candidate, and it will be time then to focus on national issues, if immigration is still an issue. I'm not saying this with any degree of naivete.

In the union-intensive areas of PA (basically, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and to a degree Harrisburg), there is a lot of anti-immigrant feeling. In the rest of the state -- 90% of the land mass -- there is considerable support for the current bill. Many farms and farm-related businesses in PA rely on immigrant labor, and agriculture is still a big deal in this state.

What I'm saying here is that the whole thing is a lot more complicated than you'll find out by reading the columnists on TH. On the liberal Democratic web sites, there is very little debate about the proposal,and that is rather ominous. They want to win in 2008, and they are going to do what it takes to accomplish that.

On the same sex benefits, I believe Sarah was adhering to a decision by the Alaska Supreme Court on that issue, but I'll defer to PalinforVP, who's the expert on issues.

I support Sarah largely because I believe she's a thoughful conservative, one not given to slogans, and I believe she can win. I believe that one day she will be President of the U.S. The "principle" here is that I don't want Hillary Clinton, who is the favorite right now, appointing the next four Supreme Court justices and conducting the WOT. Rush Limbaugh says there's an 80% chance Mrs. C. will be the next President. That would render moot all of the much-discussed issues on Right.

As far as we know, the WOT focuses on a few cities: New York, DC, Los Angeles, and (perhaps Chicago's Sears Tower) being the most important ones. There's been some discussion also of Miami and Las Vegas being possibilities. It's important to keep these realities in mind.

Al Qaeda's terrorist campaign is directed against cities, particularly those of great economic importance to the country. The leaders of that murderous band are obsessive about certain targets. That doesn't mean it couldn't occur somewhere else, only that al Qaeda tends to concentrate on a relative few places.

I'm not explicitly backing anyone for President because I want to focus on Sarah. I agree with palinforvp that Giuliani would be the strongest candidate against Mrs. Clinton.

Right now, we have Palin 4 vp supporters who are backing or leaning toward almost all the Republican candidates, including Ron Paul and Tommy Thompson. We don't have a Jim Gilmore backer yet.