Perspectives

From blogs.babble.com

First things first: GO VOTE!

Politico has an interesting article today on the prospects and possibilities of Sarah Palin possibly picking up the GOP nomination for 2012. It is assumed that Palin, who is releasing her second book, America by Heart this month (on the 23rd), will run for president. I’ve heard numerous arguments that she won’t, but surely this non-stop campaign via her book tour for Going Rogue, her presumed book tour for America by Heart, daughter Bristol’s appearance on Dancing With the Stars, and her many speeches around the country, including Iowa, where caucuses will be held and the campaigns jumpstarted, means a run will soon be announced. I personally will be shocked if she doesn’t. Call me an old-fashioned spotlight-hater, but why would you spend that much time touring the country, enduring endless crowds and awkward questions and having to worry about every single thing you say, do, and wear because it’ll all be scrutinized by the press… if you’re NOT trying to gain something politically?

Politco’s article presents an interesting predicament though: GOPers love Sarah… but she won’t beat Obama. (Interestingly enough though, the consensus seems to be that Obama’s chances of winning reelection are pretty slim… that’s taken independently from the GOP nomination though.) Could her affiliation with the extremist tea partiers hurt her chances of getting the moderate GOP vote? Does she have any chance at all of getting general moderates (moderates between GOP and democrat, I mean) and independents to vote for her over Mr. President or any other democrat candidate? I don’t know what the conclusion is here, but there’s certainly a stir forming over Politico’s recent articles, and Palin has apparently denounced Politico as a source of “yellow journalism” in response to them. What do you guys think? I suspect presidential campaigns are going to go into full swing here after the midterm elections end this week. Yay for exciting campaign times in US history again! The beginning is always the best… at least in my opinion. This is when everything’s still up for grabs.

Arizona Immigration Law

Please read at least one of these. Inform yourself if you haven’t already:

San Francisco Chronicle: Senator Sylvia Allen (R-AZ) explains the law and its implications in her own terms

CNN: CNN Correspondent Tom Foreman writes a letter to Obama asking for alternative suggestions on how to handle the immigrant situation in border states

New York Times: lawmakers look to Federal government to respond to Arizona situation

What do you guys think? Arizona has passed new legislation that basically makes it against state law to be an illegal citizen. State officials can stop someone they suspect of being an illegal citizen (though supposedly they’re prohibited from doing so solely based on race or ethnicity). Both parties have a number of members against the legislation, though it was enacted by Arizona’s republican legislative body. I’m pretty staunchly liberal, but, as much as I hate to say it, I’m not sure I’m completely on one side or the other, though my party seems to be heavily against it. I worry about racial profiling. That’s my biggest concern here, and it seems to be the big concern for many people that are against it. I’m very against racial profiling. However, I’m also against lawbreaking and receiving benefits you don’t pay taxes for. I’m very sympathetic to the woes of immigrants–I understand that they come to America for a reason, and I am fully for making the citizenship process easier. But as it stands right now, the fact of the matter is, there’s a large population of people that doesn’t pay taxes yet is using our roads, our schools, our hospitals, our social services, etc, without paying for them. I’m so torn here on this law. I think these people deserve a chance at life the way I’ve lived it. I’ve been so lucky to live the life I’ve lived, and that’s what it’s been–pure luck and chance that I was born in this country. Some people don’t have that privilege… why should they suffer? But they are still here illegally. I have been wracking my brain for an easier solution than what Arizona has decided upon to solve the immigration problem but I can’t think of anything. What would you guys do?

 

Palin for 2012?

I apologize if I talk about Sarah Palin more than anybody else in my blog, but what can I say, she’s a fascinating woman. She said in an interview with Fox News yesterday that she will run for president in 2012 if it is the “right thing” to do for her family and her country. While I applaud Sarah for leaving some sort of vagueness in her answer to protect her reputation as a family woman (in my opinion it is ridiculous to decide for sure 2 years in advance to uproot your entire family for the DC life), I am a little suspicious and honest-to-goodness annoyed that she’s being vague when it sounds like her mind is completely made up–she criticizes Obama endlessly (which I again applaud her for doing–politicians should hold each other accountable and she does a decent job of providing solid reasons rather than just mud-slinging), and claims to know better ways to solve the problems he’s currently dealing with… so wouldn’t that mean that she feels that she would be the “right thing” for our country? I’m not a mind-reader by any means, but Sarah is the only solid candidate from the last election, besides Obama, that we can almost guarantee to see on the campaign trail in a year or so. She’s one to keep an eye on. The Republican party as well, which has dug its heels into the ground (and will continue to do so especially in the upcoming month as Obama calls for a health care summit) and latched on tightly to Scott Brown when he was elected last month, is one to watch–will it accept Sarah Palin again or is it looking for a fresh face? As sad as it is in today’s society, I think the fact that she’s a woman will affect her chances at getting the GOP nomination, especially as it didn’t help John McCain as much as it was expected to in 2008.