Sarah Palin

So much is being said about Sarah Palin right now, and if I had all the time in the world I'd be right there adding to it. Since I don't, let me just say that I am totally, utterly intrigued. And I'd like to point you to some interesting commentary.

Peggy Noonan is always worth reading, and has written some very pithy thoughts on the convention and the VP choice. My favorite quote:

I'll tell you how powerful Mrs. Palin already is: she reignited the culture wars just by showing up. She scrambled the battle lines, too. The crustiest old Republican men are shouting "Sexism!" when she's slammed. Pro-woman Democrats are saying she must be a bad mother to be all ambitious with kids in the house.

BeldarBlog is new to me, but I am impressed by the (very early!) insight into Palin as a possible candidate with McCain.

Elizabeth (In the Heart of My Home) makes some interesting points about Sarah Palin's dual roles as Mom and politician.

She's a complex, full woman, who is clearly confident in her varied roles. She's a nursing mom in her forties who wears her baby to public speaking engagements. Her family looks very much like the big families I know. It was obvious just in the short time we saw them how they are all interconnected to meet each others' needs. My daughters recognized themselves in the teenaged daughter cradling the baby. And though I have no aspirations to ever be in politics, I could identify with this woman and her abundant life.

Then she defends her first post with strength and grace:

We need to come to our senses. Christian women who are threatening to stay at home instead of voting for a woman who has a baby and growing family are really missing a valuable point.

And all that was before her defy-everyone-who-said-she-wasn't-ready speech last night!

Commentary on that from Jonathan Martin was interesting reading (does anyone else read any of his political commentary? I find it fun and informative.)

Already falling for Palin, the delegates were ready to elope by the end of a speech that was rollicking, feisty, fun and impeccably delivered.

Danielle Bean (a Catholic writer whose thoughts I enjoy) has pulled together a variety of responses from around the Catholic blogosphere. The comments that follow are also interesting.

The observations about the Sarah Palin nomination that I found most interesting were those that had nothing at all to do with abortion, the environment, gun control, the war, or typical politics of any kind. They were the ones that had to do with motherhood. More specifically, whether a mother of five children, one of whom is still an infant, has any business seeking the vice presidency.

And I'll leave it there for now, except to say that I'm spending an awful lot more time caring (and reading) about the election now than I was before Sarah Palin entered the mix. Before, I was going to vote for John McCain because it was a vote against Obama. That is no longer the case. And if I, as the busy and tired mother of two-almost-three, can get interested in the election, I'm betting that there are a lot of others like me who will get excited, too. Will it be enough to get McCain into office? I don't know, but you can be sure I'll be paying attention and enjoying the ride!