Politics / BePolitics.com / 24 October 2008 / Leave a comment

What would happen if the Republicans win the election on November 4th? What would happen if Sarah Palin got her wish and became Vice President? S T Shepherd at BePolitics tells all...

Gordon Brown's leadership ability. Scottish National Independence. David Cameron's leadership ability. Sarah Palin as Vice President. Four subjects sparking instantaneous debate. Debates that have no doubt taken place at dinner tables and water coolers across the land already. Each idea as serious as the previous. One already in existence (Brown's leadership) two that could be a few years away yet (Cameron's leadership - 2010? Scottish National Independence - 2011?) and one that could be a mere three weeks from becoming a reality.

If the events of the looming November 4th Presidential Election result in a win for the Republican Party, then the Governor of America's largest state (in area, not population) will become Vice President of the USA. Sarah Palin is a self-styled 'hockey mom' who draws comparisons with a bulldog in lipstick. Ever since the announcement from John McCain that Palin would be his Vice Presidential running mate, the world has become captivated with the Alaskan Governor.

In a mere two months Palin has become one of the most talked about women in the world. Those opposed to another Republican Administration consider McCain's VP selection as a mere casting net to reel in the Democratic supporters bitter over Hillary Clinton's loss to Barack Obama. Would a voter really change political ideologies from the left to the right simply because their preferred candidate was dismissed? Several women interviewed on local news stations across America seemed to confirm this idea. Perturbed by the notion of a Hillary free White House, a McCain administration seemed to be offering a female replacement, one who appeals perhaps to more everyday Americans than even Hillary ever did.

If the female Democratic voter have lost the woman's voice on the hill they so desired - then give them one in the White House anyway, albeit in the number two spot. There are a lot of figures that show why opinion like this has mustered. Support for McCain went up ten-fold after the introduction of Palin to his Presidency ticket, with the majority of new support coming from white women voters. In the week after the world met Sarah Palin, US polls showed that McCain had either drew level with Obama (the first such results since both campaigns began) and in some cases crept that little bit ahead. As happens with the majority polls in such a campaign they are likely to fluctuate right up until election day.

What exactly would a Sarah Palin Vice-Presidential Office mean? It is too easy to underestimate the position of Vice President. Shake off the all too common conception that vice or deputy is by no means second in command and instead look at exactly what power Palin will have. In the United Kingdom the position of Deputy Prime Minister is far from considered side by side with the PM (it is commonly thought that both the role of Foreign Secretary and/or Chancellor of the Exchequer are more powerful than that of the Deputy PM; all we have to do is look at how our current PM's own previous position was considered to confirm that idea).

The role of Vice President is, however, on a much grander scale. During the recent and only scheduled debate between Governor Palin and the Democrat nominee for Vice President, Senator Joe Biden, the question was raised by Chairperson Gwen Ifill: "What exactly does the Vice President do?" This question was indeed answered by both candidates, but apart from the prepared responses of 'oversees and contributes to government legislation being passed through Congress' and 'represents America in international relations', what it most definitely does is places the occupier of that role a skip and a heartbeat from the most powerful position in the world.

This thought that has proven a tad alarming for some Americans (mainly the opposing Democrats, of course) when faced with the possibility that the role could soon be occupied by a former town Mayor come state Governor with no international or Washington experience at all. Many media outlets have continually focused on the fact that Sarah Palin did not own a passport until early last year.

Is her lack of international political experience - or even her lack of international travel - an issue when taking the office of Vice President? The McCain camp does not seem to think so. They ask voters to instead focus on her record as Governor of Alaska where she passed major pieces of legislation regarding energy supply, took on the major oil companies over revenue shares and eliminated wasteful spending so that she was then able to send funds directly back to the people of her state. The McCain campaign claims this record places her ahead of Barack Obama when it comes to executive experience. These facts alongside her ability to connect to the everyday working class American (the Joe six-packs or hockey moms as Palin usually refers to them) is what McCain considers her strengths.

Whether you lean towards the left or the right in regards to politics, it is hard to deny there is something intriguing about Sarah Palin. I find myself drawn to her in a manner that is hard to detail. She is, of course, an attractive woman who appears bright, family orientated and committed to bringing a better life to the average American. Yet she is also extremely vocal on controversial issues such as gay marriage and abortion (Palin is apparently against abortion no matter what the circumstances). With these extremely conservative views Palin has found herself constantly targeted by the more liberal media and by almost every satirical/stand-up/late night chat show in America. They worry that she is too matter-of-fact when dealing with sensitive issues and topics and far too inexperienced in the Senate to take office alongside McCain. However, Palin is still a firm favourite with the Republican Party. She is said to have brought a new spark of life to the stuffy image of the GOP. Whether her trademark wink and smile will lay the path all the way up Pennsylvania Avenue to that white house on the hill remains to be seen - until November 4th anyway.

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