Sarah Palin Reality Check

There has been a lot of buzz about Sarah Palin. Many view her as a "rising star" in the Republican Party. A "natural politician." The Democrats are running scared because she made such an excellent speech. And on and on.

She is on the national stage because of a sheer convergence of factors: divisions within the base of the Republican Party, widespread lack of enthusiasm for McCain, Hillary Clinton's historic run for the Democratic nomination, infighting within the leadership of the Republican Party, and the desperate need for a "game-changer" that prompted rash action instead of a deliberate and balanced running mate selection following a thorough vetting process. Essentially, she was handed a winning lottery ticket that someone else had paid for.

If Palin wants to stay on the national stage, other than as an RNC speaker to fire up the base every four years or the "go to gal" to rehash GOP talking points on abortion or drilling in ANWR, she has to deepen her knowledge on both domestic and international affairs. This will require some effort on her part, which will probably entail simply memorizing the GOP talking talks.

Palin's educational career (five colleges in six years) is less than inspiring. She has a marked disinterest in foreign policy. Her domestic policies as Governor of Alaska are regionally based, and cater to the oil companies and economic development at the expense of the environment. Her signature issue throughout her political career has been abortion--and it is an extreme stance--in no way a nuanced position that reflects the inherent divisiveness of the issue or has any room for tolerance of opposing viewpoints.

The Obama campaign has rightly picked up on all of this, and they, so far, have not been drawn into the train wreck that is her candidacy for the nation's second highest office. Aside from challenging the factual inaccuracies in her 3 speeches, to date, they have been courteous and polite, and will most likely continue to do so.

The right wing would most likely have you believe that this is because they are afraid of her. Hardly. They see her for the insecure blowhard that she is. Let her blather on and on with her negativity and cater to the right wing extremists. The more she talks, the less the center will listen, because, in the end, she has nothing to say about how she can positively impact our lives.

Ignore her. Bullies take such delight in taunting and mocking others because they feel the need to control and cause an emotional reaction in their victim. The Obama camp has so far been on point--ignore her, don't become the victim. Let her go farther and farther over the line in an attempt to get them to push back and engage her in a partisan shouting match. She will be exposed for the lightweight, hate-filled blowhard that she is. Her acceptance speech can indeed become a transcendent moment in American politics, but not in the way so passionately desired by the right. It can become a time to choose to ignore solutionless partisan hate speech and sarcasm and move the political dialog back to the issues. Ignore her.