The Sarah Surprise

Wow - who knew? One thing we can say about John McCain and his staff...they are good at keeping things under wraps. While all the recent veep buzz centered around Tim Pawlenty (yawn...) and Mr. Slick Mitt Romney (yuck...), all the while it was about to be Sarah Barracuda to the rescue!

I must admit that I knew nothing about this woman who may very well be the first female Vice President of the United States...but in the last two hours I've gazed at and googled her...and well, I'm pretty impressed!

This is "girl power" at its finest...Sarah Palin - the Governor of the Alaska, is a mother of five children. Her oldest son is serving in the U.S. Army - her youngest only born about four months ago. There are three young girls in the midst of them and I love their names - Bristol, Willow and Piper. Sarah married her high school sweetheart 20 years ago today. In fact, she said she had promised her husband a surprise anniversary gift...little did he know it would be the announcement of her being chosen as John McCain's running mate - the very FIRST woman ever put on a GOP ticket! Sarah has only been Governor for about 2 years and she says it all began with the PTA, which led to the city council, which led to Mayor, and it all snowballed from there. She has tremendous approval ratings in her home state and is known to be a reformer, not unlike McCain. Her high school nickname of "Barracuda" was earned as a result of her intensity on the basketball court. She not only hunts and fishes, but is also a former beauty queen and, in fact, posed for Vogue magazine late last year.

There will be those that say that she does not have enough experience to be put in such a position...one that could land her as the first woman President if something should happen to McCain. Something tells me not to worry. Anyway, the way I look at it, both the Democratic tickets and the Republican tickets now have one young and relatively green person on them...it's Barack vs. the Barracuda. (McCain and Biden add the elements of maturity, experience and crustiness.)

Palin said today in her speech that Hillary Clinton had left 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling hovering over our heads. Sarah Palin might just be the one who shatters it!

All I Want for Christmas...

Guitar Hero III is probably on a good percentage of children's Christmas wish lists this year. If they're lucky it will also be under the tree...I must confess that I, too, have become somewhat enamored with this musical video game and kind of fancy myself a bit of a "rocker mom". (I'm not quite sure if this embarasses or secretly delights my two sons.)

I also have a Guitar Hero on my personal Christmas wish list...but THIS Guitar Hero - although nicely packaged - doesn't come in a box. MY guitar hero is none other than Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and my wish is that he will be elected in 2008!

Huckabee has been enjoying quite a surge in popularity in recent weeks - no doubt because people are getting to see and hear him more. People are starting to pay attention and, in my opinion, it's hard NOT to "like Mike" after taking the time to look and listen. You get the sense that he's "for real" and speaks from his heart. You get the sense that his heart is a good heart - one that doesn't lack compassion. Listening to Mike Huckabee speak is a pleasure if you are one that enjoys hearing ideas communicated with eloquence, sensibility, intelligence

and charm. His ideas are like a breath of fresh air in some cases - especially his support of the Fair Tax. Mike Huckabee would like to completely do away with the IRS (do I hear any cheers from the crowd?)...he would like April 15th to be "just another pretty spring day". I encourage you, if you haven't already, to do a bit of research on the Fair Tax and what it would mean for our economy...in a nutshell, however, it would replace income, dividend, capital gains and death taxes with a simple 23% consumption tax...just THINK about the revenue this country would gain from the "undergrounders" alone!

"I Like Mike" for other reasons too (including, I must say, his incredibly cute dimples). He seems to understand the urgency and necessity of the United States becoming energy independent and has promised to be aggressive in this area. He has also drafted a nine-point Secure America Plan which makes a lot of sense to me (check it out on his website http://www.mikehuckabee.com/ ).

Mike Huckabee is not only number one in my mind as he is currently leading the Republican candidates in the Iowa Caucus...39% compared to Romney at 23% and Giuliani in the single digits.

This next Presidential election is CRITICAL, especially considering who the Democratic front-runners are. Those who know me well know that I've never been particularly "political" - but there is something about THIS race...something about THIS candidate that has motivated me to do things I never thought I would - including putting bumperstickers on my Mercedes! Seriously though - do you want to know the REAL reason I care so much about who our next President will be? Actually I have TWO REASONS...TWO SONS. What loving and good mother wouldn't want to have a part in shaping her children's future world. I pray that my boys will be able to live a full and wonderful life in this blessed country - one nation under God with liberty and justice for all - free from the fears of terrorism and nuclear war, poverty and enviromental disasters. I pray that our country will get back on track. At times it seems we are on a one-way path to utter destruction. In 2008 we need to elect a new kind of leader - a man of character, a man of strength, a man of God - we need Mike Huckabee!

Please visit http://www.mikehuckabee.com/ and get to know this man...I hope you'll join me in supporting his campaign and in a quest to shape our future!