HOW would Putin fare against Palin? I only ask because there is a possibility that pretty soon they could go head to head, if, that is, John McCain is elected and then, in all the excitement, his dicky-ticker gives out. I'd back Palin. Sure, Putin demonstrated this week that he could shoot a tiger with a tranquilliser. (I think it was supposed to be a metaphor for his "triumph" over Georgia, in which case it might have been more accurate if he trampled on a rabbit.) But Sarah
It has been fascinating to see all the sexism on display over the past week. As a connoisseur of American Vogue, who profiled Mrs Palin a few months ago, I was already familiar with her impressive track record and thought her appointment a stroke of
genius.
Many Americans today lionise Ronald Reagan. Personally I could never quite work out why he wasn't, technically, a traitor on account of his decision to authorise the secret sale of weapons to Iran, a sworn enemy of America. Many consider him a giant in the Republican movement, but he wasn't a smart man. Memos, on even the most complicated subject, had to be restricted to no more than two pages of A4, double-line spaced. In 1983 when James Baker III explained that sadly, Mr President, it would be necessary for him to read a larger document in preparation for the next day's G7, Reagan dutifully agreed. However, when the pair met the next morning and Mr Baker asked what the president made of the preparatory documents, Reagan's unflustered reply was: "Well, Jim, The Sound of Music was on last night."
Now, I'm not suggesting Mrs Palin isn't smart, or would avoid her homework in favour of The Passion of the Christ, but I am suggesting that sometimes the unconventional can work for the good of a nation. And let's be clear, Mrs Palin has more executive experience running government than either Barack Obama or Mr McCain. She has run Alaska, a state twice the size of George W Bush's Texas, and the nation's sixth most affluent state, for two years. Voters prefer governors as their president to mere senators or congressmen. They trust people who have actually run for office, been elected, then made decisions that affect people. Two years in, Mrs Palin has an approval rating of 80 per cent. She is clearly doing something right. And another thing: as far as I'm aware, she's achieved this on her own. She's not like JFK or Mr Bush, propped up by a wealthy, politically driven father intent on creating a dynasty.
Sure, Mrs Palin has now been elevated on the political whim of a man and simply because of her sex. Yet, unfortunately, that is how glass ceilings are shattered and race barriers broken down. Clarence Thomas remains the only black person on the current supreme court. He was chosen not because he was the finest legal mind available, but because he was capable, politically attuned to the positions of the then president … and because of the colour of his skin.
If Mrs Palin attains the position and handles herself well, it will be to the inherent benefit of all women, and will dismantle the idea that they must choose between children and high office, if, that is, they have a "First Dude", a man whose masculinity equips him with shoulders broad enough for the previously ignoble title of "house husband".
Now, I do have problems with her children's names: are Track and Trig to be followed by little Tarpaulin?
The full article contains 607 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
