Sarah Is Capable

Wife. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Aunt.

Council member. Mayor. Oil & Gas Commission Chair. Governor.

As a wife, Sarah has supported Todd in every endeavor. She's been there to cheer him on in the 2000-mile snow machine race. She's held down the fort when he's been gone a week at a time to the North Slope. And, she's worked alongside him in the family commercial fishing venture. Not glamorous work. Hard, physical labor.

As a mother, Sarah has unconditionally loved and supported her children. She's been the PTA mom, the hockey mom, the youth group mom. She's also been the mom who has, by word and example, continued to love her children no matter their limitations or mistakes. What a rich heritage for them. We should honor her as a mother.

As a politician, Sarah always has entered the race as the underdog. Maybe that's one of the many reasons she has so much appeal to ordinary Americans. We love the scrappy fighter who consistently advocates for what she believes is important in her community.

She is the only vice presidential candidate with both executive and regulatory experience. She knows what it means to balance not only the family checkbook, but the State of Alaska's budget. She understands the decisions mothers across the country make every day (whether to buy her child's new shoes this month or wait until next month). And, she's made those kinds of fiscal decisions on a much larger scale (pay $382 million for a bridge for 50 citizens or find another way to meet their needs). We need that kind of common sense approach and we need it now.

Sarah has been willing to blow the whistle on the unethical tactics of her colleagues -- even to her own political peril. She has not blinked.

Regardless of the rhetoric and pithy sound-bites from the other side, I believe Sarah is capable. She is smart. She is a quick study. She has insight and wisdom. And, I would say, she has the gift of discernment. She is precisely the kind of leader we need in the 21st century.