I'm Bailin' on Palin

I was one of the few people who had actually heard of Sarah Palin before her jump into the spotlight last year (though I admit I didn't know is the "a" in her name was pronouced long or short). I remember rooting for her when she sued the EPA for listing the polar bear as an endangered species and reading about her when she stood up to corruption in the Alaskan GOP. Her appeal was her genuiness and non-elitism.

Unfortunately, however, I think the McCain campaign ruined her image and to her discredit she let them. They fed her lines the entire time and bought her a bunch of fancy clothes to make her look like a yougner, hipper version of Hillary Clinton. They held her back from reporters and made her trademark accent and funny language sound contrived. In short, they made all of her strenghts into weaknesses.

Since then I have been up in the air about Sarah Palin, not knowing what to think about her. On the one hand, I like her stance on the issues and I appreciate having a real person in the political spotlight. My knee-jerk reaction has always been, and still is, to defend her against so many unfair attacks. On the other hand, the left-wing media has always seemed to have the upper hand on her and she always seems to be on the defensive instead of pushing forward the way she did in Alaska before her huge celebrity breakthough. She never seems to effectively communicate her ideas, instead leaning on her girl-next-door image.

Never has this been more the case since last week's announcement that she would be stepping down from her post as governor. For me that was the straw that broke the camel's back. It is still completely foggy as to why she stepped down. She keeps exaplining it in metaphores rather than "straight talk" (as her former running mate coined). Everyone has an opinion, but no one knows exactly why she did it. To me, that is unacceptable. Any ways you cut it, she comes off soft and disingenuous. If she did it because of the many unfair attacks against her, then she is soft. If she left because of all the time and money that has been waisted on ethics charges, etc., then she is going to be sorely disappointed when she looks for a higher calling in national politics. Again, soft. If she's doing it soley to prepare for the 2012 election, then she has just slapped Alaskans in the face. The Alaskan people voted her in and expect her to do her job. If she really was as tough as she acts, she would push through the term.

In any case, I'm bailin' on Palin.

P.S. Sorry about the title. I couldn't resist the cheesy rhyme.