On the Sarah Bandwagon

John McCain has accomplished something that I didn't thing anyone could do--especially John McCain. I am now interested in election '08. In fact, I rushed to the DMV after work today to make sure my address/name are legally changed so that I can vote--something I wasn't sure I would do before last Friday. I am on the Sarah bandwagon, and I've strapped myself in for what looks to be an exciting ride.

I've never been one with more than a passing interest in politics. This campaign, in particular, more than bored me; it disgusted me. It represented everything that is wrong with American politics. An inexperienced, liberal, seemingly charismatic personality to everyone but me rises to the fore, is lauded as America's messiah, and everyone loves him because . . . I'm not sure why. And that's what I dislike especially--the complete lack of substance represented by a candidate that offers "hope for change." It's become a phrase of mockery at our house. And that was the best thing to come out of the campaign of '08 to this point: the frequent "hope for change" jokes that brought laughter to many an evening meal.

And now . . . the campaign is alive with the sounds of Sarah! She's everything I like, this great combination of Old Testament Deborah, New Testament Lydia, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Annie Oakley, Sacajawea, Margaret Thatcher, and Jody Grosh (my favorite literature/writing professor of all time and the smartest woman I've ever known)--all rolled into one. I want to go out to lunch with her and nod sympathetically while she tells me about her woes with her daughter and smile encouragingly when she talks about little Trig. I want to go shoe shopping with her. I want to suggest that she do something different with her hair (if she asks what I think). I want to giggle with her over a glass of Toasted Head Chardonnay.

I love it that she's a smart, politically savvy woman who is good at what she does and is a wife and mom at the same time who dresses well. I love it that I know where she stands. Less than a week after her nomination, I know that she's pro-life, pro-gun rights, and hates goverment corruption and waste. And not only do I know this is true because she says so, but because she lives and works so. I'm not sure that I can say the same for any of the other candidates.

Very little shocks me anymore, (im)morally speaking, but these situations have shocked me: a president impeached for perjury and who carries on an affair with an intern in the Oval Office; a political candidate with a wife with terminal cancer who carries on an affair with a staff member and denies it, even when he is caught on videotape and a media who helps him cover up the situation for a long time (longer than Bristol has even been pregnant); a representative who hired a male prostitute who ran a prostitution service from the representative's residence; a senator who leaves the scene of an accident without reporting it early in his career and then testifies in defense of a nephew accused of rape, using his name and political clout to win over a jury later in his career. What's even more shocking to me than these things happening is that the perpetrators continue to hold political office in most cases (obviously voted in by the American people) and in all cases have the respect and adoration of their political party.

And I'm also shocked at the hypocrisy of a media that would not cry out for an end to these political figures' careers but would want us to discount a political candidate whose 17-year-old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock, but is doing the right thing--especially when our culture doesn't even blink at unmarried women having babies in most cases; at a twenty-year-old DUI conviction that apparently hasn't been repeated, especially when the abovementioned scandals seem to be forgotten; and at allegations of using political power to bring about a firing that have yet to be proven. If this is all that can be turned up, I'm going to pull that seatbelt even tighter.

I'm thankful that there are people in politics who respect God and His Word, people of principle. And that's what most excites me about Sarah. The possibility that in this dark, bleak time that God would still provide leaders like her, certainly with imperfections and flaws, but with a desire to trust in the Messiah rather than be one. Perhaps this is the most delightful shock of all.