First I have to credit Queerty for bringing this subject up.
Palin is an extremist and just how extreme is now starting to become apparent.
From reproductive choice, to LGBT rights, to gun control, to science we have to get out information to independents about how extreme her positions are.
Queerty dug this information up from a Time article posted yesterday.
"We like to call this the Bible Belt of Alaska," says Cheryl Metiva, head of the local chamber of commerce. Churches proliferate in Wasilla today, and among the largest and most influential is the Wasilla Bible Church, where the Palins worship.
At the 11:15 a.m. Sunday service, hundreds sit in folding chairs, listening to a 20-minute sermon about the Book of Malachi and singing along to alt-rock praise songs. The only sign of culture warring in the whole production is an insert in the day's program advertising an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on homosexuality in Anchorage called Love Won Out. The group promises to teach attendees how to "respond to misinformation in our culture" and help them "overcome" homosexuality.
Queerty commented:
We've just put a call into the McCain campaign asking two questions: One, does Governor Palin believe homosexuality can be "overcome" through religion? And, two, does Palin believe homosexuality's innate, as in you're born gay, or a choice?
We'll keep you posted if they actually get back to us. You know how moody McCain can be with the press!
So why is this so important?
Because poll after poll has shown that independents do not realize where McCain/Palin are on these issues. Most assume McCain is a closet moderate on social issues.
For independents things start to add up. They may not vote only on abortion, but if they learn that they are rabidly anti-gay and anti-science and anti-gun control independents and moderates are going to be driven further away from McCain/Palin.
We need to educate and frame in the same way Obama did during his convention speech. To me this is the best way to take the power out of right wing culture warriors.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
Republicans must make this election about small things and personalities. And, we have to find a way of exposing them and educating independents and moderates.