America's Iron Lady?

I remember hearing years ago that the first female President would probably be a Republican, particularly because at the time most of the supply of female Senators and Governors were Republicans.

That's changed some in recent years but upon the failed campaign of Hillary Clinton I've come to another conclusion why it will most likely be that a Republican woman will likely beat her Democratic counterparts to the White House: that Americans are more likely to turn the Presidency over to a hard fisted Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir type than a touchy-feely give me benefits Democrat.

It was nearly 30 years ago that the United Kingdom first came to be led by a woman, the old Iron Lady herself, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was a cold warrior, virulently anti-Communist yet not afraid to shake up the old conservative order. She was most definitely the female version of her contemporary, spiritual twin and friend, Ronald Reagan.

In thinking forward as to who is going to be the American version of Thatcher I look past old guard hard nosed Republican grand dames like Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson or North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole . Both are contemporaries of John McCain (in fact Dole is a few months older than the presumptive Republican nominee) and both old enough to be Barack Obama's mother. Dole herself ran for President before Hillary Clinton was even elected to the Senate, though obviously didn't come as far in her attempt at the nomination.

No we have to move to this generation, that of Barack, Valley Doll and myself, those of us born somewhere between Apollo 1 and Apollo 11. And that of course would be none other than Republican Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.



Palin, who has one of the highest popularity rankings of any politician in the US at present, took on the old guard and shady government corruption in her own party in her state. She was one of the folks that put an end to the "bridge to nowhere" and wasn't afraid to piss off Republicans as she steamrolled through the 49th state to election as Governor.

Palin - known as "Sarah Barracuda" during her basketball days in high school, is similar to Thatcher in that she took on her party establishment, stood hard on principles, and never looked back. As Thatcher was an iron fist against Communism, Palin is on the right side of the issue when it comes to the war on terror, is a staunch supporter of the troops, supports the second amendment and fights against government waste and corruption. I bet if you look back at Thatcher when she was in her 40s, when she served as an MP from Finchley and was in charge of British housing policy, she was probably a lot like Palin.



As John McCain looks for a running mate, many of those suggested as possibilities bring as many negatives as they do pluses. Fortunately for Palin however, the math is on her side. She would bring an energy to McCain that he greatly needs, satisfy his conservative base and bring over many of the Reagan Democrats who voted for Hillary Clinton that can't bring themselves to vote for Obama.

Then, serving four to eight years as McCain's VP (depending on his health) Palin is primed to become America's Iron Lady.