Todd Palin and Gun Rights

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“I know John and Sarah will work to get the government back into the people’s hands,” Todd Palin said when he visited Scheel's Sporting Goods in Morehead, Minnesota Friday. The crowd of about 200, packed into the store, cheered and waved McCain signs as well as bumper stickers with the words, "Read My Lipstick McCain-Palin ’08.”

He went on to tell us that Alaskans share a lot of common interests with Minnesotans. “hunting and fishing and, of course, our Second Amendment rights.”

"I know Sen. McCain and my wife will continue to fight for those Second Amendment rights with your support,” he said.

He reminded us that not only is Senator McCain the only candidate that fully supports gun rights, but he’s also the only one with a plan to encourage both big and small business, which is what the economy needs. The other thing that he wanted us to remember is that should Democrats control the Senate and House as well as the Executive Branch, not only will Obama’s foreign Policy be implemented without opposition, but his domestic policies as well, including his economic and health care plans.

Finally, he told us not to mind the critics that claim that Sarah, as a woman and mother, can't do the job. "She’s been told that in every job that she’s had, running for Mayor, they told her you can’t do it because you’ve got Bristol, Track and Willow. So, any female that puts herself into politics is always going to have that criticism and so, she’s faced challenges before and at the end of the day, she always proves them wrong."

He was humble, kind, and to the point. On the drive home, one of my adult daughters commented that while listening to Senator Obama speak in a stadium earlier this year, she found it very hard to pay attention. She said Obama had good inflection when he is speaking, but his content was just too smooth. As she put it, too “politician.” On the other hand, she really enjoyed listening to Mr. Palin. He wasn’t a polished speaker, but she said that’s what she liked. He was real, and you knew that what he was saying was really coming from his heart.

Why is Sarah Palin our Princess Di?

Every time a Hollywood celebrity says something derogatory about Sarah, they are also saying it to me, a 40-something Christian, former homeschooling, politically active, rural, not-always-perfect mother and grandmother. When they mock her for being down-to-earth, pro-life, evangelical - and hey, even being the mom of a pregnant teenager - their words cut into our family as well.

Don't celebrities understand that in mocking Sarah, they are alienating many of people that - up until this last month - used to watch their movies?

Liberal women's organizations have never spoken for me. Even when I was a teenager, those organizations never understood or spoke for me. Hillary Clinton has never understood evangelical mom's like me. Even further, I have never cared for any of the so-called top named Christian women's leaders, either. When I have seen video's of "inspirational" Christian women speaking, I've never felt any closer to them with their poofy hair, religious dogma and perfect lives than I have Hillary.

But Sarah is different. She isn't perfect.And not only is she like me in that respect, but finally, here is a woman that knows how I feel about the issues - and feels the same way.

• Abortion is wrong. Even during the most difficult times of my very turbulent life, aborting my children has never been a consideration. Sarah understands this. The woman's movement has never understood women like me.
• Open up ANWR to drilling. If a few acres of American tundra can make a difference, we should be doing that rather than buying oil from overseas.
• None of us like the war. But I do believe, as Sarah does, that McCain is the only candidate that understands what to do with Iraq.
• Corrupt government employees - including corrupt Senators, State Commissioners, or even Troopers - need a swift boot out of office.
• Although we have been low income, my husband vowed in 1992 not to take anymore welfare or entitlements. He made that vow and from that time until his death, he kept it - doing everything he could with his own two hands to feed us. We came to understand and agree with fiscal conservatives like Sarah. We do believe the Democratic push on the banks laid the foundation for this current crisis.
• My husband, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, fed our family through hunting. He taught our children to hunt and cut up the meat on our kitchen table. There have been times when this was our only meat. We believe in hunting and gun rights for all US citizens.
• Yes, Creationism is something that many Americans believe in. We aren't nuts; it's part of our religion - (Remember? That thing that the first amendment allows us to have...) So when my kids come home from school, I need to re-teach them and explain that evolution is just a theory - there is no proof for it. Then I explain to them why. (Yes, as a former RN, I have an Associate in Science and can explain.) This is why many of us choose to homeschool. Something else we have a right to do.
• And yes, I and other parents like me are glad to have a homeschool mom in high office. You see, when so many from the left mock us and try to take away our right to teach our children our faith, that's a very scary thing.
• And Sarah believes in prayer. When I have listened to her pastors on the internet, I have appreciated them. They are no different than any of the pastors I have grown to love here in the lower forty. I am so glad that Sarah, a prayerful woman, is in the position she is in.

I have said that with the amount of mocking she has recieved from the elite, she is like our Princess Di. But she is also like our Esther. God Bless you, Sarah. We are praying for you.