(Not)Mocking Sarah Palin

Ok, I admit it. I am tempted to mock Sarah Palin and her family’s

situation. But its not because I actually think she deserves it.

Ok, I admit it. I am tempted to mock Sarah Palin and her family’s
situation. But its not because I actually think she deserves it. 

Here is a woman who was NOT born with a silver spoon, but attended public schools, went to a state school for college, got married, had kids, served on the City Council in her small hometown, ran for mayor (and also ran a few marathons), and then took on corruption in her own party and defeated an incumbent in order to become governor.  Moreover, she has a son in the US Army, another son with Down Syndrome, and three daughters in between.  She is one of only 29 women in our country’s history to serve as a governor.  Whatever else we may say about her, she’s lived an amazing life. 

And from this miniature biography, I would say that young women have good reason to look up to her as a role model.  She’s been able to do what society often tells us is impossible – to raise a family while pursuing hefty career ambitions and backing down to no one.

So why am I so tempted to mock her?  The answer, plain and simple, is that she’s the competition.  I desperately believe that our country would be better off with Barack Obama as president than with John McCain as president.  And, although not fully informed yet on Palin’s skill set or policy positions, I believe that Joe Biden will make a better vice-president than she would.  

Yet political campaigns have taught me that mocking the competition is not only effective, but downright expected. Moreover, campaign tradition says that a candidate should always be mocked for that very thing which is considered the biggest strength of their candidacy.  Turn their greatest strength into their greatest weakness, and you will have defeated them.

We’ve seen it done with Obama.  His greatest strength is his ability to inspire people, so he has been mocked and called a celebrity.  We’ve seen it done with Hillary.  Her greatest strength was her personal fortitude in the face of sexism, so she was mocked and called a man-eater.  We Democrats are sorely tempted to do the same thing to Gov. Palin.  Her greatest strength is that she’s a conservative pro-life Christian woman with five kids, so we are tempted to mock her and call her…

Well, the point is, I’m not going to call her anything.  As a Democrat, I am tempted to mock her for politically expedient reasons.  But as a Christian, I recognize that attacking a person’s family, particularly her children, is never appropriate. I can love my neighbor while adamantly disagreeing with her, but I cannot love my neighbor while mocking her family’s trials and tribulations.

Sometimes I forget that being a “faithful democrat” does not mean that I am faithful to the Democratic party; it means that I am both a person of faith and a democrat … and my faith comes first.

Besides, bigger questions loom for our country than whether or not Palin’s teenage daughter should marry the father of her unborn child. Let’s focus on the issues that we really believe in.