Ever since John McCain chose Gov. Palin as his running mate and Barack Obama chose Sen. Biden, there has been too much focus on public vilification and slander. Negative attacks are all in good fun, so long as they play into matters of tangible consequence rather than superfluous personality ticks and outlandish accusations. Once focus steers from party platform and political stances to who messed up in front of the camera and who sounds funnier than the other, arguments supporting those attacks become categorized as small-minded and naïve.

A famous quote from Matt Damon condemns Gov. Palin’s ideals. He worries that someone with strong spiritual beliefs would be a liability with possession of nuclear launch codes. Palin’s stance has nothing to do with her intelligence or her capacity to do well in office, but is rather a simple representation of her personal and spiritual beliefs. And if we’re worried about having a Vice President with strong religious beliefs, shouldn’t we have considered just about every President in our nation’s history a liability? You may disagree with her, but you should realize that she shares the same relgious beliefs with millions of other intelligent and capable people in this world.

People are sick of suggestions that Obama is a terrorist — claims that I agree are nothing less than absurd. But you can’t just pretend that this attack on Palin’s competence isn’t exactly the same thing. If you want an example of religious extremes, look up Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright. A brief example of Wright’s sermons: five days after the terrorist attacks on September 11th he came out with a speech saying it was America’s fault. I don’t think Obama agrees with his pastor on every issue, but he has said that the man is his spiritual advisor. If you’re concerned with Creationism you should be concerned with those who believe we got what we deserved on September 11th.

The bottom line is people who don’t like Palin want to believe she’s crazy and stupid. Unfortunately you don’t present a decent argument in convincing me she’s unqualified when you base your opinion solely on her religious beliefs or her lack of composure in front of the camera. It scares me that people are focused on the character assassination of a vice presidential candidate, while proceeding to ignorantly rule out any credible reasons that suggest they may have what it takes when it comes to tangible politics. You are more than entitled to your political stance and have every right to disagree with Palin’s record and policies, but when the main argument against Palin is that she’s stupid, you make it all too easy to assail your political diligence and pass off your argument like a fart in the wind.

A VP pick should be one that complements the president’s standards. McCain has battled corruption in both parties of Congress for years. Palin has battled corruption and successfully exposed misconduct in Alaska’s Republican establishment. McCain believes and supports many under-funded or ignored social issues. Palin fought to triple funding provided to children with disabilities and voted against the Republican grain to provide gay couples the same state rights as married couples. McCain supports women’s rights and issues across America (something most people associate with Democrats). Palin’s straight-forward talk and motherly values have appealed to many women who have felt left out of the national conversation. As Time magazine puts it: the only real surprise regarding McCain’s choice of a VP is the fact that it is such a surprise.