It is a well known fact that Sarah Palin is against abortion even in the case of rape. However, I believe that requiring women to pay for rape examinations is something that many people did not think would occur in any town, let alone a town where a woman was the mayor. It seems unreal that anyone, especially a woman, would have a policy like that in place. Well, apparently, while Palin was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska women were charged for rape examinations.

It seems that during the time that Palin was mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002, the chief of police charged for rape kits, until the practice was banned. In 2000, after former state representative Eric Croft, a Democrat, sponsored a state law requiring cities to provide free rape examination kits, the Alaska Legislature banned the practice of charging women for rape kits. The kits, experts say, could cost up to $1,000 dollars.

Palin’s record as the mayor is being scrutinized very closely. Wasilla has a population of about 7,000 and her record as the mayor is something that many voters are looking at as they determine what type of vice president she will be. There are some people that believe that Palin did not know anything about the practice. However, it seems like if your town is the only town that has this practice in place, you would have knowledge of it.

Another interesting fact about Alaska is that it has the worst rape record of any state in the union. Alaska’s rape rate is 2.5 times that of the national average. There is some chance that Palin did not know about charging for rape examinations. However, Croft says that he finds it very hard to accept the fact that Palin did not know that this was going. When a police chief is fighting for a piece of legislation and getting unanimous support, the mayor would most likely know about it.

The other part that is very scary, is that there were other towns in Alaska that charged for women to have rape kits. A forensic nurse who has been treating rape victims across Alaska says that Wasilla’s Police Chief Charlie Fannon opposition to Croft’s bill was legendary. There was, the forensic nurse said, some issues about towns generating money for rape kits.

The bill took six months to pass through legislature. Victims testified that the practice was much like dusting a burglary victim for fingerprints. Having a rape victim charged for an examination is like victimizing her again. This practice seems unthinkable, even if there were issues about finding ways to pay for it.

The Frontiersman, Wasilla’s newspaper printed how the police chief said that it would cost $5,000 to $14,000. This was going to be a burden on the taxpayers the police chief said. While this may cost the taxpayers a little bit more, it seems that will all of the taxes that people pay, this addition so that rape victims don’t have to pay for rape examinations, seems reasonable.

Sarah Palin was a surprise. No one expected John McCain to pick Palin as his vice presidential candidate. The appeal of Sarah Palin is starting to wane. As the country gets more and more used to that fact that she is the Republican vice presidential nominee, the excitement is fading. Of course, the fall in approval rates may have something to do with the fact that she has alleged that there is a witch hunt going on.

Initially Sarah Palin was able to switch the momentum from the Democrats to the Republicans. However, in a poll conducted September 12-16 that had a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points, showed her favorable rating at 40 percent which is down four points from last week. It also should that her unfavorable rate is rising. It was 22 percent last week and has risen to 30 percent.

Palin was a shock to McCain’s campaign. She helped to generate interest in the Republicans that was not there prior to her coming aboard. However, the extent of her readiness is in question. She does not appear to have the experience that is needed in the vice president role. She also has some baggage from Alaska that she is not handling accurately. Accusing Obama operatives of trying to bring her down in a probe that was launched before she was in the election ace, is just plain silly. Making stupid comments when she is asked about her foreign policy is not that smart either. Being able to see Russia from your house is not really the way to reassure people that you know something about foreign policy.

This year’s election is going to be a toss up. It is anybodies game at this point. McCain and Obama both have the chance to be the president of the United States. The thing that might make the difference is the person that is running with them. Who will make a better vice president? Which team will work better together? Who can give the Untied States a chance to comeback and be a strong country? These are just a few of the questions that people will be asking as they head to the polls.

Just as with Obama, the initial shock of seeing a different kind of face on the campaign trial gets everyone excited. However, after the excitement wears off, there is the fact that they need to prove themselves. Palin, unlike Obama, has thrown herself into obscurity with the accusations about the probe that is going on in Alaska. She has also made herself look not so smart after a few not so intelligent statements and some of the polices she supported as the governor of Alaska. She has been solely responsible for pushing up her un-approval ratings. Now she has to do some major damage control to recover the people that she has lost.

Palin will need to show the country that she is ready for a job as huge as the vice presidency. Not to mention, with McCain’s age, she will need to prove that she is ready to be president.

John McCain is a strange Republican candidate. First of all, he seems a little off kilter and a tad bit liberal, as he told us himself, by mistake a few months ago. His surprise choice of Sarah Palin has left many quiet, if not silent.

McCain has repeatedly been said to have an Evangelical problem. George W. Bush, the unrelenting, backwards thinking former Republican candidate was an evangelical favorite. McCain has not been able to live up to that billing for a number of reasons. Number one, Bush has become highly unfavorable amongst everyone in the United States that is not evangelical. That means that aligning himself with Bush would alienate him from the American public. Also, McCain has already stated liberal views on a number of topics during his political career. That means that he can not take them back now that he is running for president.

Palin is a good candidate for evangelicals because she is completely opposed to abortion unless the mother’s life is in danger. Abortion is the chief component of the evangelical movement it seems. Abortion is the key issue that this group of people seem to based their entire political belief system on. However, the more moderate Republicans and swing voters may not be as impressed with Palin. Speculation that she tried to ban a few books when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska is something that educated Republicans are probably going to frown upon. Or maybe, Palin’s decision to use her line-item veto as Governor cut funding for shelter in Alaska that services teenage mothers, an issue that her own daughter is dealing with right now, might be unattractive.

The problem with Palin, and a number of overzealous, extreme right wing Republicans is that everything is black and white until it comes to their own dirty laundry. So, if you are okay with cutting funding for a shelter that helps teenage moms and your daughter is pregnant, does that mean that it is okay to be a pregnant teenager if you have money? If you are a teenage mom and you are poor, fend for yourself? Some might argue that you need to have your own house in order before you start banning books.

Palin is going to miss the young evangelicals that are educated and know that global warming is not just the wrath of God. The vice presidential candidate does not think that global warming is man made. She instead ahs some far fetched religious crock as to why the earthy is imploding. Anyone with any common sense is going to be able to see right through that.

Let’s give McCain credit though. His foggy religious affiliations are a problem for him as a Republican. He knew that he needed a religious zealot on his side so he picked Sarah Palin. However, he should have tried to go with a religious zealot that was not a hypocrite. Palin is not properly walking the walk of a Republican. Or maybe she is. The hypocrisy of right wing Republicans is never ending.

The surprise choice of Sarah Palin by McCain as his running mate has some flaws. First of all, Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, is the mother of five children. As a Republican family values and taking care of home first must be a key component of her life. While it may seem unfair that people are taking a look at her children and asking questions, as a Republican female candidate, this is going to happen.

Palin’s 17 year old daughter is pregnant. This is an issue for a person that is part of a bible thumping, family values based political party. In addition to a pregnant teenage daughter, Palin also has a baby that has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many people wonder how a mother with a baby in such a condition can justify being on the campaign trial.

Now reports that Palin had aides look at her brother-in-law’s state police personnel files have come out. Information found in those files were allegedly used to raise complaints about her brother-in-law while he was the head of the state police in Alaska. There is also speculation that Palin fired her public safety commissioner in July because he did not fire Trooper Mike Wooden, Palin’s former brother-in-law. A spokesperson for McCain’s campaign said that the former brother-in-law signed a waiver that allowed his entire personnel file to be released during his divorce.

However, these types of allegations and questions about Palin could be the very ones that make her slightly undesirable as a candidate. When women as political candidates, there is a completely different set of rules that people judge them by. Just ask Hilary Clinton. She knows all too well how a woman faces a special kind of scrutiny when she runs for office.

Palin is still involved in the probe into the situation with her brother in law. Her daughter being pregnant is another issue that Republicans must deal with. Of course, Barack Obama has already said that the daughter needs to be left out of things, which is nice of him, but others will not likely see it that way. However, there is one major factor that Sarah Palin has in her corner. She is white.

In the United States of America the two most important things, in this order, are race and religion. Gender is a distant third. There will be people that will vote for Sarah Palin and John McCain, not because they have faith in them, but because they are not black. Racism is still strong and prominent in the world. No place is that more obvious than the United States. The long history of racial hatred continues but in a more overt manner. People still hate because of skin color and make decisions based on it. Barack Obama, no matter how good of a campaign will have a tough time getting into office. This election, one that should be focused on issue will instead be focused on race and gender.