Some Closing Thoughts
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I dispute Michael Gerson's Oct. 31 op-ed interpretation of Sen. John McCain's impending -- perhaps -- loss as it relates to Gov. Sarah Palin.
I and many people I know were ready to vote for Mr. McCain until the moment Ms. Palin was announced as his vice presidential pick. Ms. Palin, to be blunt, represents every aspect of conservatism that I and many other center-right moderates find repulsive and exclusionary, and the celebration of her by the conservative base has reminded moderates about what the GOP truly values.
Not only is her emergence as a major player in the Republican Party likely to cost Mr. McCain this election, it will cost the GOP my vote indefinitely.
JAMIE TKACIK
Alexandria
ยท
While I agree with George F. Will about 90 percent of the time, I could not disagree more with his Oct. 30 column.
Mr. Will's first sentence denouncing Sen. John McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate as "careless" was completely off the mark. The media have been indisputably ruthless and relentless in their attacks on Ms. Palin, and I am sure that goes a long way in explaining any low marks she might have received in the polls to which Mr. Will alluded.
It cannot be denied that she has engaged an entire segment of the population that has never been engaged in a national political campaign, as well as some independents and Hillary Clinton Democrats.
One only has to attend one of her rallies to see the thousands of women who have at last found a female politician to whom they can relate. She speaks to these women in a way that matters, as no candidate has before. Her selection as Mr. McCain's running mate was no fumble.
Mr. McCain's only miscalculation was failing to foresee the level of venom and bias that the media would level against Ms. Palin.
RHONDA MAGEE
