Newsweek has a great piece of Palin that does well to highlight her as the very ordinary, middle-American that she is. The beginning stuff is especially good and, as Allahpundit at HotAir notes, is exactly what the McCain camp should be pushing about her. Here’s a clip:
Arriving home, she ran into the house, kicking off her shoes, grabbing her red sandals and yelling for her children. The reporter had to break it to her that she had just locked them out of the state car, and that the reporter’s notebook and tape recorder were still inside. She called a state trooper from her cell phone to come unlock the car, but since she was running late (a not uncommon occurrence), they would have to borrow her son’s car to head back to the next stop, the Alaska State Fair. She asked her son Track (a high-school hockey player then, now an Army private headed for Iraq) for his keys. Like any normal teenager, he dangled the keys over his head, just out of reach, and extorted a promise of a full gas tank when she returned. She took it all good-naturedly and was soon barreling off to the fair in her son’s jalopy (a Toyota Camry with a cracked windshield), electronic gadgets buzzing in her pockets, still spouting her conservative theories on social policy to the reporter.
If that isn’t just the picture-perfect of an American mom, I don’t know what is. The article also mentions the drastic steps she took to cut spending, such as selling the governor’s private jet on eBay as soon as she took office.
If the pundits out there are wondering what is so appealing about Sarah Palin, they don’t need to look much farther than Newsweek’s article. When she talks about helping Americans, she isn’t like John Edwards or even Mitt Romney – people with more money than they know what to do with – she is a middle of the road American. She knows what it’s like to raise a family (of 5) while balancing a career. When she talks about kitchen table issues, you can bet she has been at that kitchen table.
Her honesty in politics is what will drive people to her. She’s rock-solid on practicing what she preaches, and she knows exactly what middle Americans are going through on a day-to-day basis. But she’s also passionate and determined – ready to take the fight where it needs to go.
Should we be excited as Palin takes to the campaign trail over the next 2 months? You bet.
