Obligatory Sarah Palin Post

Photo courtesy of Maryokie / ADN reader submission

Well… It has been a week since I learned via Twitter that the Governor of my home state of Alaska would the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate.

For Alaskan perspectives on her choice, please check out, MudFlats, An Alaskan Abroad, My Fairbanks Life, and the Anchorage Daily News Politics Blog.

In short, as a person who is still trying to figure out who he wants to vote for in November, the pick of Palin has in no way locked in my vote. I think she is doing a fine job at the state level. She could easily have been re-elected in 2010 and then focused on moving onto the national stage. The attention being lavished upon my home state is both good and bad. I can’t express how proud I am to come from Alaska. I think that is a type of pride that most states don’t have. I’m not seeing to many people running around with Idaho tattoos? I’m still trying to figure out which AK tattoo would work best for me. Alaska is such a mystery to the general public. When people find out I’m from there, they usually look at me and say, “I have always wanted to go there.” I hope some of my rant below will help dispell some of the rumors about the state in relation to our newest VP candidate.

Here is where Bristol comes in. Unfortunately her pregnancy at 17 is nothing new… She isn’t all that much younger than myself and I know plenty of people who had kids at my high school. 17 and 18 year old mothers who by now are probably going on their second children. This is not to be seen as a slam against these families, I’m just trying to prove a point. In Alaskan high schools there is a lot of sex going on (I’m slightly bitter because I wasn’t involved in this activity at all, I was playing Risk with my buddies in the band hallway.) From this, young girls get pregnant, it happens. My health class freshmen year was simple, always use a condom or you will have a kid. The positive aspect of Palin’s rise to stardom is very simple, she is a very strong woman.

She fishes, she cooks, she was a hockey mom, she raised several children. Who am I talking about? My own mother. Palin has shown that Alaska women are tough. In short, they don’t fuck around. I had a co-worker ask me if women hunt with the men up there, and my simple response was “DUH, of course they do.” I used to go moose hunting every year, and sometimes my father’s co-workers wives would come along and I never once thought that they couldn’t shoot and dress a moose any differently than my own father could. There was no line that they couldn’t cross.

Before there was a sense of mystery about the state, and that is definately being reflected in the news coverage of her hometown. Either way, I’m still one of the only people working at a major news network who has actually eaten at the Arby’s along the Parks Highway. So I’ve got that going for me.

I don’t believe the fact that Sarah hails from Alaska will actually convince the entire state to vote for her. Not to say that it wasn’t going to go Republican in November anyways. (It has NEVER voted Democrat since becoming a state… go figure.) Edit:I was corrected by a comment, Alaska voted for LBJ in 64. Yes, I am not perfect… go figure. But the whole political structure up there is insane. Everybody loves their guns and their personal freedom, but don’t mind receiving government programs to help them out. Like I have said many many times, Alaska is the Last Frontier or the wild wild west. It was the second to last state admitted into the union. Palin is only 6 years younger than the state. It is a wide open place where the normal rules don’t apply. And I couldn’t be prouder of that fact.

Πολύ ζήστε η μεγάλη κατάσταση της Αλάσκας, δεν μπορεί αυτή να υποχωρήσει ποτέ ή να αποτύχει.

Nick

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