CPJ member Dan O'Rourke writes a regular column in the Dunkirk Observer.   The following, "Sarah Palin: Who? Why? When?" was published on September 11, 2008.

As the whole world knows by now Sarah Palin, the former mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage, and Governor of Alaska is the candidate of the Republican Party for Vice President of the United States.  An attractive, plainspoken self-defined hockey mom, her speech at the Republican convention energized her audience of true believers.  It had them leaping to their feet cheering wildly.  She brought excitement and passion to John McCain’s dull and listless campaign.

But what do we really know about her?  Her talk carefully crafted by the McCain campaign staff and skillfully delivered from a teleprompter told us little.  We learned about her appealing family, of course, but her lists of accomplishment, such as her on-again, off-again opposition to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, her implication that she sold the former governor’s jet on eBay, the nature of her opposition to the oil companies in Alaska, her hiring of Washington lobbyists to bring home pork to Wasilla has raised many eyebrows and questions.  Up to now, however, she has been shielded from the public and press like a contagious patient in an intensive care unit.

Republican strategists are quick to accuse anyone in the media who raises disturbing questions of gender bias. There is, however, a lot to investigate. Palin’s allegedly vindictive termination of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, because he would not fire state trooper Michael Wooten, ex- husband of Palin’s sister, is currently under bipartisan investigation by the Alaska Legislature. The Associate Press has reported that Palin attended five different colleges in six years before graduating in 1987 from the University of Idaho.  Why did she change colleges so often?  When Mayor of Wasilla, she attempted to ban books in the local library.  The town librarian Mary Ellen Emmons now Baker resisted; Palin tried unsuccessfully to remove her. What were the titles of those books? Rumors are bouncing all over the Internet. I hope the threats and bluster of the McCain campaign will not intimidate the media from investigating all this – and more.

Let me say clearly, though, what Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton and every woman know: there is a double standard for men and women especially when they run for high office. No one would ever question a male candidate like Barack Obama on how he would be able to perform the duties of his office and at the same time take care of his young children. The criticisms of Palin that she would be neglecting her Down Syndrome baby or her pregnant teenaged daughter clearly reflect this bias.

To his credit Obama has stated that the children of candidates should be a campaign no-no.  I thought his comments were pitch perfect. “Let me be as clear as possible. I think people’s families are off-limits, and people’s children especially off-limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics.  It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president.”

But why did McCain choose her as his running mate?  Many suspect it was a desperation move to galvanize the dispirited Republican base. (It has clearly worked.)  But did McCain actually think she was qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America?  (I doubt it. Don’t you?)

Two high ranking Republicans, speechwriter Peggy Noonan and McCain strategist Mike Murphy were caught criticizing Palin as they kept talking after an NBC interview when they thought the mike was dead. Murphy said the choice of Palin was cynical. Noonan who had previously praised Palin in print said, “It’s over,” and added “Most qualified?  No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bull****.” After her comments surfaced, Noonan apologized for her barnyard language and said her “it’s over” comment was taken out of context.

Political candor is rare.  I guess it takes an unsuspected open mike to tell us what politicians really think.  Whenever I hear political professionals twist and spin the facts, I think of Lyndon Johnson who said, “A good politician can make chicken salad out of chicken****.” Johnson like Noonan spoke the same barnyard vernacular -- and they both were right.

We’ve heard a lot of that vernacular about Governor Palin and her thorough vetting by John McCain.  The McCain campaign has adamantly refused to answer any more questions about her vetting. Apparently, McCain only had met her twice, was charmed by her personality and maverick nature and impulsively picked her as his running mate. No one at Palin’s many colleges, for example, remembers being contacted in any vetting process.  Neither do any officials in the Alaska State legislature.  What does this say about McCain’s character? NY Times columnist Frank Rich has answered that, “His [McCain’s] decision making process is impetuous and, in its Bush-like preferences for gut instinct over facts, potentially reckless.”

Instead of gushing over Sarah Palin and hailing her like the messiah coming to Washington, we should withhold final judgment and let the press do its work.  I personally think her choice has been a disaster for an election based on the issues but when the McCain campaign discharges her from her isolation ward and allows her to answer questions from ABC ‘s Charles Gibson later this week, we should know more.  That is if Gibson has not agreed in advance to limit his questioning and to avoid hot-button topics.

We will see. I’d like Palin to appear on Face the Nation and Meet the Press as Obama, McCain and Biden often have. Then the press could do the vetting which the McCain campaign has failed to do. Until then her good looks, her folksy demeanor, or her appealing family should not seduce us.

Daniel O'Rourke is a married Catholic priest. Retired from the administration at SUNY Fredonia, he lives in Cassadaga, NY.  His column appears in the Observer, Dunkirk, NY on the second and fourth Thursday each month. He has published "The Spirit at Your Back," a book of previous columns. You may purchased it or send comments to orourke@netsync.net.