Sarah Palin: Are We Witnessing The Rise of The Most Brilliant Politician of The Past 40 Years?

Since her insertion into the national and international political scene as Senator McCain’s VP choice last year, Sarah Palin has shaken the foundations of American politics. Her youth, her gender, her life story, her physical attractiveness and her folksy talk has attracted millions of supporters and critics. But, Palin seems to be bigger than anything we have witnessed so far in American politics. A member of the Generation X and first person of her generation to climb to the very top in politics, Sarah Palin might be what some pundits call “the female version of Ronald Reagan”.

 Reagan made his way to the top from the lens of cameras and from microphones, thru the governorship of California and the staunch conservatism and American interventionism. Palin  made her way to the top by being picked as VP choice at a very young age with just a year at the helms of the state of Alaska, as its first female and youngest governor; and with previous experience as small town mayor.  In one sense, Palin resembles Reagan in charisma and humorous way of political attacks.  But Palin goes for the throat. As an avid hunter, a mother of a down syndrome son, who she chose to keep,   Palin brings to American politics a very rare kind of politician. A person that “walks the walk” and “does what she preaches”.

Not even Reagan, with all his conservatism and aggressive foreign policy is a match for someone who hunts, knows to fire big guns,  have her own son fighting a difficult war as enlisted soldier, and chose to have her down syndrome child. Palin is a different kind of female politician. She did not come along some famous male political relative. Her last name was not famous before she was the mayor of her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. She comes from the middle class. She did not even have enough money to pay for college like most sons and daughters of the middle working class. Yet, after many struggles,  she managed to graduate from the University of Idaho. 

What a compelling story! The middle class, normal next door girl who participated in sports in high school, competed in  beauty pageants, whose parents are not PhDs or doctors, is now the most popular female politician in America!  This life story is perhaps what made of this woman what she is today: a strong, take-no-prisoners politician who goes for the throat of her opponents with a sarcastic smile and humorous lines. She makes headlines every time she speaks about issues. Her folksy way of getting her points across makes impact on the common people like no other politician can. Her strong and common people’s talk is getting her more and more fans as time passes by.