As a bonefide southern liberal, my opinion of Palin did not change one bit. I think she's AWESOME! Whoa, hold on, my fellow liberals! Let me explain before you hurl me into the Sean Hannity camp and accuse me of being a closet conservative...
I like Sarah Palin. Always have. I dislike what she stands for - specifically, her social conservative policies. If we were to sit around a table over dinner talking politics, it'd probably get pretty heated. But see, that's the thing. Out of all of the candidates that I can think of (Barack Obama and the Dems included), she's the only one i'd consider having dinner with. Not because she's hot - yes, that's a bonus - but because she's my kind of person.
She's the most unusual candidate to come along in years. She does things because she believes in them, not because she's simply being politically savvy, calculating, or looking for a boost in the polls. One needs to look no further than the Katie Couric interview to see this. Other politicians could spin hard interviews like this to make themselves look better among their constituents, or at least come across as someone who can handle tough questions with grace. Not her. She blew that interview, and why? Because she's an "average joe" who wanted to show America she could handle the Vice Presidency if elected, so she answered in the way that she felt would show folks that she could. She got flustered, and her voice betrayed her nervousness at times.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nokTjEdaUGg&feature=related"]YouTube - Palin On Foreign Policy[/ame]
When I watched that interview, I wanted her to answer that differently. Screw what McCain and the conservatives advised her to do! She was inexperienced at national politics, and she should have used that to her advantage. "Katie," she should have said, "You wanna know my foreign policy experience? Zero. The exact same as former President Clinton when he took office, and President Bush when he took office. All three of us have that in common. The only difference is that they held the office of President, whereas i'm running for VeePee. Now, are you asking if you think I can handle the job? Does a wild bear poop in the Alaskan wilderness?"
Coulda, shoulda, woulda...and we fast-forward to her resignation. Anyone who realizes politicians are nothing more than liars for the most part should be applauding this decision. It doesn't matter if you're conservative, liberal, independent, or a frakkin' Scientologist. She watched as millions of taxpayer's dollars were being spent in an investigation against her (an investigation, I might add, that presumably got in the way of her doing her job), and she disliked that cash being wasted for such a frivolous endeavor. She watched the attacks against her family, and knew they wouldn't end as long as she held office. I mean, seriously, so what if she preaches abstinence and her teenage daughter got knocked up? It aint like she ditched her family values and drug her kid down to the free clinic. Besides, it's our right as Americans to preach one thing, and do another. Hell, i've been known to drive my SUV down to the local Starbucks and bitch about global warming on occasion.
No, she hasn't lost her base, nor has she lost respect. Those that hate her will continue to do so, then turn around and complain when politicians act like politicians. But i'm hoping most folks see Sarah for what she truly is - someone who puts her family first, and is pretty darned capable of handling political office. All she needs is a little more experience without sacrificing her core values or who she is as a person.
You say Sarah Palin's resignation showed us what kind of person she is? I agree. And I say that I wish we had a lot more Sarah Palins on OUR side!