Sarah Palin impressed me with her speech tonight at the RNC. Yes, as the news “reporters” have mentioned so many times, I am sure it was written for her, but then aren’t all speeches written for politicians? The point is she delivered it with force and it touched on some important parts. I was especially impressed with the number of Obama votes of “present”.

I have had several discussions about which position is more important in the sense of decision-making and I come down strongly on the side of governors, and even mayors. As executives they have to make decisions and their decisions can be attributed only to themselves. They cannot hide behind other senators or representatives. They cannot get a feel of how the vote will go and then go with the flow. They cannot say they did not cast the deciding vote. When an executive make a decision it is a personal one. Governor Palin has certainly made decisions. She has not voted “present”.

Palin also hit a home run on the family issue. She is from a small town and she has a family with problems—like the rest of us. She is from the part of American that most of us grew up in, not San Francisco and LA or New York and Boston. It will also be interesting to see how the blue collar vote comes in now. While the dems talk a good game, it is laughable to think of Obama or Bidden ever actually have worked in a factory. Palin’s husband, on the other hand, is not s supporter of unions, he is a member of one—and a commercial fisherman to boot.

The talk about McCain was also good I think. It seems the maverick is back which appeals to people like me but puts off some other republicans. I will also admit that McCain’s character is not flawless but I do think it is good. He has made mistakes as we all have but his time in Vietnam has proven his character. Most dems I talk to float out the standard line that being a POW does not mean you will be a good president, and they are correct. However, it is character that counts in a president. Neither Bush nor Gore ran on a 9/11 platform yet that has defined the Bush presidency as it would have a Gore presidency.

Further, it is not the fact that McCain was a POW that matters; it is the whole Vietnam experience. When the USS Forrestal had the missile incident and McCain was injured, he did not ask to be sent home or to take a few days off. He asked to be transferred to an undamaged ship so that he could continue to fly sorties. When he was shot down and tortured, he did not crack. When offered the chance to go home early, he said he would only go home after everyone captured before him had gone home. It is times of adversity that a person’s true character comes out and that is why I prefer who has been tested and proven himself over someone who has only talked.

Obama’s mantra of change also bothers me. Change can be good or change can be bad. As a friend said once, “The bank is raising their interest rate. Yea! Oh, it is on loans and not savings.” I have also observed time and time again that people resist change. So why are so many people on board with change? I have no idea. I also doubt there will be significant change, regardless of who gets elected. Remember the promises made if only the democrats could control Congress? This has been a very ineffective Congress and I think Pelosi will be recorded in history as one of the least effective speakers. So much for promises of change.