Politics...you've been warned

If you don't like political discussions, you have the opportunity to stop reading at this point. Otherwise, I cannot contain my thoughts any longer. I am not wishing to debate with anyone, nor ruffle feathers...I just wish to record my thoughts, right now.

In the past 3 days, I've been in some discussions with women from all walks of life concerning Sarah Palin; some of these discussions have resulted in hot tempers and hurt feelings and some even resorted to name calling...fortunately these discussions happened via the internet :)

So here's what I have to say, "I LOVE Sarah Palin!!!"

Is it too late to switch the ticket to Palin/McCain 2008? OK, I don't know that I would truly go that far but I've not been a McCain supporter in this election and struggled with who I might vote for in November. And then the pit bull, Sarah Palin, stepped out of nowhere and finally conservative women had someone they could proudly stand behind!

Now I'm not one of those women who feels a need to have a woman representing me in politics at an executive level. However, I do appreciate having a leader who can understand who I am as a mother and that is rare in women in politics. I am encouraged that Sarah Palin considers herself a hockey mom before mentioning that she's an accomplished woman in politics. I value, higher than any part of me, being a mother. I do not resent giving every moment of my day to my family, that is my role, that is my desire and I am proud to serve in this capacity. There will come a time when my days of motherhood are not so frenzied and I may have other factors defining my daily routine, but I hope I never lose the definition of being a mother...even when my children are grown.

I have mixed feelings about Sarah Palin having such young children and pursuing the VP position. However, our founding fathers had to leave their families for weeks and months at a time to attend planning sessions far from home without telephones, airplanes, internet and other conveniences of staying in touch with family. The founding fathers NEEDED to make those sacrifices to their families for the betterment and future of our country and I'm grateful for their sacrifices. So I can appreciate Sarah Palin's desire to make a difference and make those sacrifices to her family.

I am energized with hope for our country! I am grateful for McCain's acknowledgement of the success our troops in Iraq are having and how close we are to winning this war, rather than walking away from it and surrendering. I appreciate that he has fought for freedom himself and believes that our country comes first. 9/11 resulted in patriotism soaring like we have not seen in a couple of generations. We need ride that soaring patriotism, to get back to the basics of serving God and our country and understanding what this country was founded on. Note: This was composed before John McCain's acceptance speech on Thursday night, but I was excited to hear him also mention getting back to basics!

The Constitution has not been wholly taught in public schools since the 1950's! Let's get back to the Constitution, read it and understand it for ourselves so we can sufficiently defend ourselves from the government our founding fathers were hoping to defend us from.

I don't know all there is to know about Sarah Palin and I don't know how McCain nor Palin will do when (yes, I'm hoping for when, not if) leading this country. But when I think and pray about the state of our country and how I can help, I feel good about voting for Sarah Palin. I'm warming up to John McCain, but still not a staunch supporter of McCain. I think he made a brilliant move by choosing Palin as his running mate and I gained a lot of respect for him as a man who is out to win this election.