Most political observers were stunned when Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be the Republican vice presidential nominee yesterday.
The local press reports that another Sarah was in the crowd cheering the McCain selection. Who is this other Sarah?
Stark County's own Sarah Brown of Alliance, wife of Stark County Court of Common Pleas judge Charles Brown (who has also been chairman of the Stark County Republican Party - when the party dominated Stark County politics).
It was magnanimous for Stark's Sarah Brown to rah, rah for Sarah Palin. But the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) posits that Stark's Sarah Brown would have been a better choice.
The Report believes that Stark's Sarah (a thorough-going, if not rabid Republican) would position better than Alaska's Sarah to help McCain to carry Ohio in November.
"Our" Sarah has distinguished herself as a Stark County and Ohio Republican.
Let's take a look at Stark Sarah's storied political history.
She has served as an Alliance councilperson, been on the Alliance City Schools Board of Education and served with distinction on the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Stark's Sarah is a force to be reckoned with in Ohio politics. Only last year she was in the middle of a fight to make Stark's Curt Braden (former Stark County Republican Party chairman) the chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. And, she nearly pulled it off, even though her candidate didn't have the greatest credentials (having presided over the demise of Stark County Republican Party in terms of holding countywide offices).
Stark's Sarah has been a champion for getting more women in to active Republican Party politics.
From a Repository (Paul Kostyu - April 20, 2008) report on our Sarah: "Brown is working with former House Speaker JoAnn Davidson and Betty Montgomery, a former attorney general and former state auditor, to recruit 'qualified Republican women for legislative office.'
Who better qualified to attract those 18 million Democratic women Hillary voters to McCain - Stark's Sarah Brown or Alaska's Sarah Palin?
The Report remembers Stark's Sarah teaming up with one of Stark County's leading Democratic women (Jan Schwartz - who ran against Republican Kirk Schuring in 2002 for the 29th District state senate seat) to do a Republican/Democrat view of the issues on an Alliance radio outlet.
Undoubtedly, in the radio forum Stark's Sarah did have a well-studied opinion on Iraq whereas Alaska's Sarah hasn't given it much thought. From personal contact with the Browns (i.e. sharing a table with Sarah and her husband at a Canton Professional Educator event in 2004), The Report knows first-hand that Sarah Brown is well informed on issues ranging from the local board of education up through national and international issues.
Stark's Sarah currently serves as the elected Republican State Committee woman for the 33rd Senatorial District. Moreover, she is the treasurer of the Stark County Republican Party.
There is the age thing too. Our Sarah is 63. Alaska's Sarah is 44. With experience being the standard laid down by the McCain campaign on Obama; isn't Sarah Brown's 19 year edge on Palin a significant advantage?
For The Report's money, Stark's Sarah is the better bet for VP; what do you think?
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