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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

Playing Gender Card

Regarding "Palin Seen As Kindred Spirit" (front page, Aug. 30):

As a former supporter of Hillary Clinton, I am insulted by the blatant pandering of John McCain in choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Palin is ideologically farther to the right than George W. Bush. She is militantly anti-abortion. She wants to teach intelligent design in public schools. She doesn't believe global warming is real. She killed clean coal and wind power in her state in favor of big oil. She claims to have fought corruption, but took campaign contributions from VECO, Alaska's scandal-ridden oil company. Finally, she's under investigation by her own state legislature for abuse of power.

Hmm, let's see, a VP who's for big oil and abuses power in office. Sarah Palin isn't the next Hillary Clinton; she's the next Dick Cheney!

LINDA DAVIS

New Smyrna Beach

Insult To Women

So the Republicans thought they could get Hillary Clinton voters by drafting right-wing Barbie to run on their ticket. It's an insult to Clinton to think that women only supported her because she was female.

If you vote for a woman who is anti everything Clinton stands for, you are slapping her in the face.

N.E. MYERS

Plant City

Character And Fortitude

Kudos to McCain on the Sarah Palin pick. Her bio is a testament to her character and fortitude. Her response to machine politics was to play hardball even with fellow Republicans. Obama's response to the Democratic Chicago machine was to play ball. When he or his minions berate her experience, they invite unflattering comparisons to his.

The Democrat response to Palin - to wonder why the Republicans would put someone who had been the mayor of a town of only 9,000 people on a national ticket - is a major insult to woman everywhere as it disregards her accomplishment of becoming one of only 50 sitting governors. There are 100 senators. Incidentally, her state has nearly the same population and the same number of electoral votes as the state that her Democratic counterpart represents.

DWAYNE KEITH

Valrico

Not Voting On Gender

Nothing could make this woman vote for a war hawk! Who in their right mind would vote on the basis of gender or race?

And by the way, Libertarian Toni Nathan not only ran for vice president in 1972, she got an electoral vote.

I know. I've been a card carrying Libertarian since 1972, when the Libertarian Party first organized.

GRACE PAYTON

Sun City Center

Not A Small State

Currently, Governor Palin exercises executive authority over one-fifth to one-sixth of the United States. Alaska's land area is almost one-sixth the total U.S. area, but is almost one-fifth the total U.S. area if one includes its coastline miles.

Since Alaska is bigger than the total of the next three largest states - Texas, California and Montana - one could argue she holds more executive power than did past conservative governors Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. Yeah, she has enough experience for me. Go McCain-Palin!

CATHY STARNES

Plant City

Democrats Have Nerve

I find it amazing that the Democrats have the nerve to scoff at Governor Palin's experience. There are different kinds of "experience" - political and life. Obama's experience is that of a community organizer, Illinois Legislature and then the U.S. Senate.

Sarah Palin cleaned up Alaska, spearheaded a cleanup from corruption, including being a whistleblower against people in her own party. So right there is executive experience, strong morals and a working mother of five against somebody who has mastered the art of voting "present."

SHANNON WOODCOCK

Ruskin

Choice Is Embarrassing

Regarding "The Maverick Is Back" (Our Opinion, Aug. 31):

It's Dan Quayle in a skirt. How embarrassing. Senator McCain, don't insult us by saying that her "experience" rivals that of Obama. He has been on the national stage for years; her for a few days. While I personally admire her spunk and understand her appeal to social conservatives, it is ludicrous to think that she is the best-qualified Republican to assume the role of a person to be a "heartbeat away from the presidency."

In their first significant indicators of judgment, Obama selected Joe Biden, a seasoned, intelligent and qualified person to be our potential next president. McCain made a politically inspired choice of a neophyte to be his veep. Whose judgment should we question?

STEVE ALLISON

Temple Terrace

Palin Has Experience

The maverick is indeed back! Although I initially would have preferred Mitt Romney as the veep choice, the decision to go with Gov. Sarah Palin was nothing short of a clever and pleasantly unexpected move. Senator McCain is telling us to expect the unexpected, and I love it.

Naturally, the Democrats are critical because they have truly been one-upped. To state that Palin is inexperienced is like the donkey making fun of the elephant's big ears. Governors must deal with everything thrown at them; senators get to pick and choose their battles.

A warning to Joe Biden in the upcoming debates: The bite of a barracuda may be more than you can handle!

SIMON M. CANASI

Tampa

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