If anything has proven the importance of small town/small city newspapers, it is the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. The Anchorage Daily News has been indispensible in helping us figure out just who this woman is.
Still, in some ways, the Anchorage Daily News – as the paper of record for a state capital – is too prominent for our purposes. While the larger Anchorage paper can provide the narrative of her rise to prominence, it is the paper of Palin’s hometown that provides insight into who she really is. Because it reflects the pulse of the community where she lived, raised her family and worshipped.
Keeping that in mind, let’s look at two editorials on The Frontiersman website and try to see what they teach of us of Wasilla.
1. People in Wasilla don’t vote.
In Numbers not kind to Valley voters, we learn that voter turnout in Wasilla’s local elections is dismal – even in a year when the former mayor is running for Vice President.
Wasilla voters followed up a disappointing showing at the polls for the Oct. 7 municipal election of less than 22 percent turnout with a dismal 15 percent in Tuesday’s run-off election between Marty Metiva and Verne Rupright.
What’s worrisome is that that this week’s Wasilla run-off turnout is not an anomaly; rather, it’s a testament to a recent history of voter apathy in the Mat-Su Valley. With a general election fast approaching on Tuesday, many believe the overall turnout will be bolstered by Gov. Sarah Palin, a Wasilla resident, being on the Republican presidential ticket.
Maybe Palin will drive turnout on Tuesday. But apparently her presence did little to excite voters in Real America in 2006.
In the last general election in 2006, Palin was also on the ticket for governor. Yet, in her own backyard, the Mat-Su Borough, the highest turnout in any of the Borough’s four main districts (13, 14, 15 and 16), only District 16 topped 60 percent turnout.
So, my question is, what was the turnout when Palin became mayor? I know enough about local politics to know that if there is low turnout, one organized constituency can easily swing the results in their favor.
And who is better at GOTV efforts than right wing Christians – folks who apparently swing quite a hammer in Wasilla?
I know they do because…
2. Evangelicals can say anything they want on the editorial page in Wasilla.
Ron Hamman is the pastor of the Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. He wrote Mondays Religion column in The Frontiersman entitled What does it really mean if Obama wins? You can determine what makes this a Religion column instead of a Politics column on your own.
So, what does it mean if Obama wins? Nothing good apparently.
Never before has so much that is counted fundamental been on the line. After so many years of fighting against the Roe v. Wade decision, a second front has opened up along the marriage border and the homosexual hordes threaten to invade. Thus to many, a Democratic victory this election cycle spells the potential end to decades of work intended to restore our nation to its Christian moorings.
But have you ever contemplated what this really means? Just off the cuff, I can think of several things. First off, I am a firm believer that God is the one who sets up kings, and who brings them down. Thus, I believe that God will be giving America the president she deserves this Nov. 4.
Just as an aside, I love the imagery of homosexual hordes threatening to invade. It creates a mental image of Ghengis Khan wearing the cutest sweater while leading an army out of West Hollywood.
Anyway, the larger question posed by this paragraph is what, in fact, does America deserve if it elects Obama.
The answer, apparently, is to be destroyed.
I recall that God was willing to spare Sodom if he could just find 10 righteous people, and for some reason Abraham seemed confident that there should be at least that many. What does this say about America?
The rest of the sermon goes on in a similar vein.
In reading these two editorials, it did not take long to let me understand how a self-professed hockey mom could rise so quickly to national prominence. A small town politician in a politically apathetic town needs only to organize a small percentage of the population behind her to win the mayor’s office.
From there, it does require some political skill to become governor. And Palin’s instincts were fantastic in challenging the corrupt Republican leadership in her state. But the timing was better than the instincts as it is hard to imagine a year better suited for such a campaign than 2006.
And that leads us to today.
Don’t ever think that small town papers are unimportant.They reveal more by what they don’t say than by what they do.
