Some Late Night Blogging on Palin

In my previous post, I discussed both my belief that voters should be informed and my own personal standing as an undecided voter. I have decided to combine these two aspects of my previous post into the basis for this post. More specifically, I have done a mini research project on Sarah Palin. The project demonstrates both easy manner in which voters can educate themselves and the changes in my own affiliation based on McCain’s choice for a running mate. The parameters for my research were as follows:

1. I could use only websites that appeared on the first page of a google search of “Sarah Palin”

2. I had to read every site that appeared on the first page.

3. I could not click on any links on the sites that I opened from the google search.

From the following articles, I learned:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/the_vp_case_for_gov_sarah_pali.html

• This article is out of date and predates even the DNC. The information was rather loose and not much factual information was given to support opinions.
• Palin has an approval rating near 90% as governor.
• Palin is a member of the NRA.
• Palin is strong fiscal conservative

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288722,00.html

• This article is rather straightforward in the way it presents its information. A majority of the information is factual rather than opinion based. However, it cannot be ignored that the article was published by Fox News, which is heavily pro-Republican. As a result, there is not negative information concerning Palin.
• She vetoed 13% percent of Alaska’s proposed capital budget (evidence of her as a strict fiscal conservative).
• She was active in bringing to light ethical corruptions within Alaska political offices. She leveled complaints against a state chairman as well as the governor. Both complaints were ultimately shown to be justified, and her actions won her support among Alaskan Republicans
• Palin was one of only a few Republicans to perform favorably in 2006 elections.
• She was the former head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

http://www.ontheissues.org/Sarah_Palin.htm

• This article had many more facts than are listed below. It presents only her viewpoints on issues and does not try to spin the information.
• Against abortion
• Reduced general fund spending by $124 million, which was short of her goal of $150 million (the page does not specify, but I am assuming that the general fund referred to is that of the state of Alaska).
• Strongly against gay marriage and privileges for gays.
• In favor of the death penalty.
• In favor of allowing creationism to be taught along with evolution.
• In favor of offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR

The Wikipedia page was omitted from my personal research because I do not trust Wikipedia as a reliable source. However, in skimming the page, I found information identical to what I have read in the other articles from Google. Therefore, a voter could conceivable use even Wikipedia alone to draw enough information to make at least a semi-informed decision.

http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/

• This site is nothing more than another person’s political blog. While I did skim it, the blog reflects a singular opinion, and therefore, it is not a reliable resource for gathering concrete information on Sarah Palin.

http://www.squidoo.com/sarah-palin

• This site has a lot of multimedia information on Sarah Palin. In addition, there are lists of bulleted information that allow the reader to quickly gather data regarding Palin. The only aspect of the site to be weary of is that there are comments everywhere that have been left by visitors. It is important not to interpret these opinions as facts.
• Palin currently has not put forth a stance on immigration.
• Palin opposed more federal funding for health care.
• Palin has only served two years as governor. Before he term, she spent several years in local government. By modern political standards, she is considered to be inexperienced.

By reading these articles, I was able to learn Palin’s stance on major issues such as offshore drilling, health care, abortion, gay rights, and the death penalty. I also became aware that Palin has yet to define her standing on other key issues such as the economy and immigration. However, based on her convictions and beliefs, it is possible to get at least a rough idea of her stance on these issues.

As an undecided voter who leans slightly right of center, I think that Palin is a good choice who could be a major factor in steering me toward McCain. While I do not agree with her harsh stance on gay rights, I do like the fact that she has a background in energy consumption and conservation. Combined with the fact that she favors offshore drilling, I think that she brings a solid base of knowledge to McCain’s ticket in the area of energy consumption. Also, I like that she is a fiscal conservative and has actively worked in the past to ensure that spending is kept in check. In this time of national debt, the future White House needs to be mindful of its spending in order to prevent further debts from growing.

In terms of the information that I found in my limited research, I think that I have shown that it is very easy to perform a quick Google search and find sufficient information about a candidate. It took me a combined time of 45 minutes to read the articles and types this blog. That means that the average person could read the information that I read in about 30 minutes. If Americans would just take 30 minutes to run a Google search and research candidates and the issues, the prevalence of educated voters would increase and Americans would make more informed choices when electing government officials.

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