LA Times Positive 4 Sara Palin

Look at this! Positive reporting about Sarah Palin in THE LA TIMES! Will wonders never cease. You know, this is way past the election--no one at the Times had to write about the Palin Power that you still find breaking out all across the Country.

But, it did write about her and the legions who still are enamored by her. There must be a market for a straightforward, honest, tcb (take care of business) type politican out there--perhaps the only one who refused a $25,000 raise in recent memory.

How refreshing when Congress just voted itself another big raise--no matter that only its immediate families find Congress' performance anywhere near satisfactory. Maybe even the Times has had enough of business as usual in the obviously corrupt Capitol. Everybody must have a limit. Refreshing and hopeful!

The first article follows and here's the link for a second article in the same edition--also positive about Sarah Palin coming in runner up for Time magazine's Person of the Year. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/
la-na-ticket21-2008dec21,0,6304223.story

The Alaska governor drew a lot of women into the political conversation, and they're trying to keep it going.

By Laura Olson
December 21, 2008

Reporting from Washington -- Across Shannon McGinley's hometown of Bedford, N.H., this fall, women were talking about politics.

At school gatherings and Bible study groups, women who had never followed political affairs were talking about a woman like them -- a conservative mother trying to balance family and career.

It started when the Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate.

Now, more than a month since the political spotlight has turned away from the failed GOP ticket and the running mate who rallied so many conservatives, some of those whom Palin drew to the political arena are seeking to keep a conversation going. This includes TeamSarah.org, a social networking site launched in September.

Palin's emergence in national politics touched a group of women who hadn't connected with other female politicians, who usually were Democrats, said Barbara Burrell, a researcher at Northern Illinois University who focuses on women and politics.

One of those women is Jackie Siciliano, 45, a New Jersey mom who calls herself conservative-leaning but open-minded. She hadn't paid attention to the election until Palin's nomination.

"When I heard her speak and I realized she's my age and was a member of the PTA, I thought she's a different kind of person and brings different experiences into the political arena," Siciliano said.

Organizers stood ready to rally Palin fans.

TeamSarah.org -- boasting more than 60,000 members and hoping to top 100,000 by Inauguration Day -- was started in part by a mother of five, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an antiabortion group that promotes the involvement of women in politics. She and Jane Abraham, chairwoman of the group's board, started the site as a place for followers to network and promote Palin.

The website grew quickly, the organizers said, with membership increasing after each burst of critical news coverage of the controversial Republican running mate from Alaska. On the site, members created profiles, browsed blog postings, found volunteer activities and met other supporters.

Some identified with Palin on social issues. Some, despite differences on the issues, found life experiences in common. McGinley, a Team Sarah member who coordinated outreach in New Hampshire, said a friend of hers who supports abortion rights got involved in the campaign.

"She said to me that, of all of the things that she might disagree with Sarah Palin about, the other things outweighed" the issues in dispute, McGinley said. "She felt Sarah Palin understood those things better than other women in politics."

But with the election over, will Dannenfelser's "vast army" stay engaged?

"It's extremely difficult to sustain any movement over an extended period of time," said Karen O'Connor, director of American University's Women and Politics Institute. "And it gets really difficult to sustain momentum as a vice presidential candidate down the road."

lolson@tribune.com