On her wedding anniversary, and on McCain’s birthday, and the week we celebrate the anniversary of woman winning the right to vote, a woman, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is declared the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.  The speech she gave clearly showed her strength.

We have a lot to get to know about this woman, but we also know quite a bit. She has a son headed for Iraq who joined the military on September 11th…is it too much to ask that the hurricane headed for the gulf coast might push the Republican Convention up a week so it’s on the 9/11 anniversary? Maybe…I’d rather our friends in the south be safe! But I digress, Sarah gave birth to a child with Down’s Syndrome, as a sister to a brother who is disabled, this means something to me in a way it wouldn’t unless you’ve “been there”. In between these two children she has 3 other wonderful children and a husband who is a wonderful “regular” guy. How American can you get? No fireworks, no celebrities, just down home America in Ohio today, and quite a crowd, too!  Way to go, McCain!  I am finally excited about voting for my party again…not that I wasn’t going to, this has just added a whole new energy to the ticket. I hope nothing happens to upset that.

I was looking for a video of her speech, and will add it when I find it, but in the meantime, I found a few others that I’ll post for now.

Sarah Palin on Glen Beck:

Why Sarah Palin should be McCain’s VP:

All indications seem to point to Gov. Sarah Palin of of Anchorage, Alaska…and as I type, FOX news reports it’s official!  More to come on this, but this is exciting…so outside the box…a woman, a conservative, a maverick like McCain, 44 years of age, single (oops, editing this, she’s not single) Mom of 5, child with Down’s Syndrome, pro-life, pro-family, from almost as far away from Washington DC as you can get in the US.

I’ll have more to share, but for now, this is the official word! Go McCain, another sign of what a maverick you are!

I received an email this morning with a side-by-side comparison of the candidates’ answers to questions at the Saddleback Church Civil Forum.

I was hoping to paste the info into this post, instead, click right here for the web page, view the responses of the candidates, get involved in the discussion, but be civil…read the terms before posting comments.

Now it’s the Roublican’s turn.  Who will McCain pick?  Great job of keeping a secret, McCain.  They are already saying “no” to my picks, unless you have a surprise up your sleeve.  So far they say no to Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Pawlenty…so who is left?

Tom Ridge…Leiberman…Sarah Palin…Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay? These are names being tossed around this morning, as for the woman, I have to admit I don’t know much about them…in fact, so little I’m not even sure I spelled “Meg Whitman” right, I sell on eBay, but don’t know a thing about the CEO…I’ll have to do my homework. Waiting…..

As I’ve said before, you don’t have to be a Democrat to be moved by the significance of this evening.  As I type, Barack speaks as the first African American to be nominated as a candidate for the presidency 45 years to the day after the great Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. This is a big night, a wonderful moment, a huge crowd in Invesco Field/Mile High Stadium listening to the man they hope will be the next President of the United States.

Tonight Barack is speaking out against the present administration, McCain as our future President, and the usual litany of things that he believes is wrong with “the present administration” we’ve come to expect, so it is time for me to say yes, this is a wonderful, historic night, but this is not my party and unless something changes between now and November, will not be the man I will be voting for.

Now, for the record, here are most of the promises Obama is making, typed quickly as he speaks:

• Eliminate Capital Gains taxes for small biz.
• Cut taxes for 95% of all working families
• Clear goal, 10 years end dependance on oil from the middle east.
• Tap Natural Gas Reserves
• Invest in clean coal tech
• Fuel efficient cars built here in America
• Easier to afford these cars
• Will invest 150billion in affordable renewable sources of energy, leading to new industries, new jobs that can’t be outsourced.
• Provide children a world-class education
• Higher salaries for teachers, new teachers, more accountability
• If you commit to serving your community or our Country, will make sure you can afford a college education
• Affordable, accessable health care…lower premiums if have insurance, if none, same kind as members of Congress, care for those who need care the most.
• Change bankruptcy laws
• Protect Social Security
• Equal Pay for Equal days work, woman as men
• Many of plans will cost money so will close corporate loopholes and…
• Line by line through federal budget and eliminate those things that don’t work
• We must all do our part in caring for our children,

War: and here is where I just have to stop, because I don’t agree at all with Obama’s ideas on the war.  So much is left out of what he is saying.  As for the things in the list above, many are the same as Republicans have been saying.  And on he goes with a list of the things we don’t necessarily agree on…abortion, gun control, immigration, gay & lesbian couples…complicated issues with a lot more behind them than a sentence or phrase can cover.

But it is a good and motivating speech.  The crowd is phenomenal.

It will interesting to see the Republican convention….come on my Democratic friends, I spent a week watching your Convention, take some time to watch ours, and lets compare notes.  My husband watches with his mind made up, I watch with an open mind, and we, for the most part, come away feeling pretty much the same.

September 11th is right around the corner, the big turning point in our Country, a big part of what has brought us to where we are today, I almost wish the Republican Convention was going to take place on that week.

Good night.

Each time I listen to the speeches made at the Democratic Convention, especially the past couple of nights when speakers list the economic and other problems we face in our Nation, I never, ever to my memory have heard mention of the attack on our Nation on 9/11/2001.  We’re only weeks away from the 7th anniversary of this assault on the USA and nothing has been said about it, unless I’ve missed it.

No one seems to consider the fact that economy and EVERYTHING is affected by war. Some are even foolish enough to think that it is an “un-necessary war”. It seems that some want to forget about what has happened, and just get our nation back to the “comfy” years of the ’80’s…comfy for some, that is.  It was during those comfy and complacent years that our enemies were planning their attack, it is while we sit in our homes and wish for days gone by that they continue to plan and prepare to attack.  I don’t mean to post “gloom and doom”, it’s just a reality, and we need a leader that is willing to face this fact and face it head on.

Which one of the candidates to you feel is most ready to take this on?

Who Is Ready to Be a Post-9/11 President?
	John McCain
	Barack Obama

It’s official, it’s historic, Barack Obama has just been officially declared the democratic nominee for the President of the United States.  In years to come, “This Day in History” will have Barack Obama’s name as the first African American to be nominated as Presidential candidate for the Democratic party, or any party for that matter.  What a moving moment for our black American brothers and sisters, whether or not they support Obama.  I am not sure what word to use, congratulations seems so small, but what a day, only in America, God bless America.

Am I voting for Obama? Probably not, but that doesn’t take away from the significance of this day.  In fact, I’m not going to go into what will be happening for the rest of the evening, or the things that lead up to it, lets just savor this, and be thankful that we live in America where anything is possible and attainable.