There has been no more favorite punching bag for many folks on the political left than Sarah Palin. I certainly am not a fan of many of her political opinions, but so much of the criticism has occasionally struck me as unnecessarily personal, and plain nasty. I would like to remind people that this woman got elected a mayor, a Governor, and received a major party Vice Presidential nomination. She fills venues with excited, cheering crowds like few others. In fact, the last politician to show that kind of huge, adoring public support is now our President. That is no small political achievement, and making fun of her manner, dress, education or family cannot erase these facts. That being said, I could never support Sarah Palin for any office, because she is acting like a political coward, and none of us can afford to be led by people who refuse to be questioned by their ideological opponents.
Palin has never held a press conference. Not one. She has run for the second highest office in the land, and by all accounts seems to want to have the top job, yet she hasn’t got the courage of her convictions and a grasp of all the issues at stake―huge, monumental, lifegiving, or lifetaking issues---to answer questions from real, neutral journalists, and, by extension, the American people. She speaks thru Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, prepared speeches and FOX News appearances. Even her Q & A’s with FOX have involved providing the questions to her in advance. It offends my sense of personal honor and integrity that she refuses any dialogue with critics, or even just folks in the middle. To me, that is the absolute least we all should demand from anyone that asks us to let them wield political power at any level.
This is distressingly widespread now. The GOP candidate for Nevada’s Senate seat, Sharron Angle, held currently by Harry Reid, has only appeared for interviews on rightwing radio and Hannity. Local media in Nevada get the cold shoulder. Former VP Dick Cheney is another prominent politician who wants to be part of the national dialogue, but gives only tightly controlled interviews with friendly media. My opponent, Rep. Richard “Doc” Hastings, (R, WA-04), has not given an interview to a neutral media outlet in Central Washington in years. He still refuses to answer any questions from anyone about his lack of action as the House Ethics Committee Chairman in 2005, which amounted to protecting criminals like Duke Cunningham and sexual predators like Mark Foley, solely because they were fellow Republicans.
He refuses to make any public statements or take questions about the Arizona law controversy, the BP/Gulf of Mexico disaster and the lack of regulatory focus, Texas Rep. Joe Barton’s apology to BP, the fact that he sits on only one committee---all to avoid any potential embarrassing questions. You can say what you will about President Obama, from Savior to Socialist, but he has shown the courage to answer questions and defend his position even on FOX News. One of my favorite parts of running for political office is talking to Republicans in my district. I believe we can only achieve consensus when each side gets to make their case, but then has to defend their case from legitimate concerns raised by opponents. That’s how you arrive at sensible solutions to tough issues.
In the Marine Corps, we were taught to believe in quaint notions like Honor and Integrity, and personal courage. I think the least we should demand from our political leaders is asking them to demonstrate some courage in defending their positions. Its one of many reasons I am running to retire Mr. Hastings. He has run from his record and actions for too long. There is just too much cowardice in our politics, and we are suffering as a nation because of it. Sarah Palin has run from defending her views for a year and a half now, and unless that changes radically, I cannot respect her opinions enough to take them seriously, and neither should you.
For more about my campaign, and the things I talk about and defend in any and all venues, go to my website, www.cloughforcongress.com.