Views of Sarah Palin from the British, Australians and New Zealand press have been generally, but not universally, skeptical. Here we have the views of O Globo of Brazil’s chief international columnist William Waack – which is far less skeptical and far more impressed by McCain’s role of the dice.
“John McCain’s choice for a young (by political standards) female governor as his running mate was an extraordinary political occurrence for Republicans. It genuinely relegated to the history books the speech given the night before by Barack Obama – of which much of the press instantly stopped talking about just twelve hours after it had been called ‘historic.'”
“At 72 years of age, John McCain isn’t exactly a triathlete. To answer this, the Republican candidate himself has always said that it’s just as important to know the Republican Vice Presidential candidate as it was to know him. And what a Vice! … It was a brilliant political play. The name that most people had been talking about for the vice presidential slot was entrepreneur-governor Mitt Romney – competent, successful, monotonous. Even McCain had a half-smile when he announced Sarah Palin – the smile of an old man when he receives praise from a much younger woman.”
And how does Waack think it should end?:
“These U.S. elections are the most fascinating for at least three generations. The American electorate – and the world, we could say, given the consequences of the decisions that are taken by the United States, like them or not – is confronted with a real choice. And it’s not easy to decide between one and the other.”
By William Waack
Translated By Brandi Miller
August 29, 2008
Brazil – O Globo – Original Article (Portuguese)
John McCain’s choice for a young (by political standards) female governor as his running mate was an extraordinary political occurrence for Republicans. It genuinely relegated to the history books the speech given the night before by Barack Obama – of which much of the press instantly stopped talking about just twelve hours after it had been called “historic.”
At 72 years of age, John McCain isn’t exactly a triathlete. To answer this, the Republican candidate himself has always said that it’s just as important to know the Republican Vice Presidential candidate as it was to know him. And what a Vice! A “hockey mom,” as Governor Sarah Palin describes herself: one of those suburban mothers (there, the word suburban has a different connotation), who takes her children to hockey practice in the afternoon. And she goes and cheers for them on Sundays – after church, of course.
If there were a typical, middle-class American face and way of speaking as well, it would be of Sarah Palin. It’s obvious that this is an electoral appeal to female Democrats who are still unhappy about the fact that Hillary Clinton wasn’t even chosen to be Obama’s vice. Palin is an arch-conservative on moral and social issues, which also speaks to a large number of American voters.
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