Letter to the Editor

Authors Note

Currently, this is the first draft of the paper. It is a completed work but revisions will follow. This is the first letter to the editor that I have ever done, so I am a little concerned about the structure of my letter. I would like comments on the overall flow of the letter, basically making sure that it is cohesive.


Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune is a man of incredible political knowledge, as he has covered the last five presidential elections as a journalist for the world renowned newspaper. However, his article entitled “Palin boost could backfire on McCain,” lacks several key points that make Sarah Palin nothing but a boost for the McCain campaign.

In this article, Mr. Page is trying to make the case that Sarah Palin will turn out to be someone that will only hurt the McCain campaign. He cites Palin as an “inexperienced, silver-throated celebrity orator.” Mr. Page cites no examples of inexperience, however there are examples of true experience. Sarah Palin has been elected to two different offices in Alaska, first serving as the mayor of Wasilla and then becoming Governor of the state by ousting the incumbent republican Governor. She has been a chief executive of a town, Wasilla, Alaska and also a chief executive of the largest state in the country which provides incredibly valuable resources for the country. Mr. Page may need to understand that Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Barack Obama, who seeks the highest office in the land.

Throughout the article, Mr. Page cites Palin as anything but a change agent, but once again he seems to miss several key points. When Palin was elected to the governorship in 2006, she appointed Democrats and Republicans to both serve in her administration something no Alaskan governor had ever done. She signed major ethics reforms and cut earmark spending nearly in half for her state. She has stood up to the oil companies and has even increased taxes on some of the oil companies and she is not afraid of lobbyist intervention.

The article written by Mr. Page goes further into misleading the reader by stating that Alaska, during the Palin administration, leads the country in “pork-per-person.” However Mr. Page leaves out the fact that Alaska is the largest state in the country and is supplying the most clean natural gas out of any of the fifty states. The state is also a strategic location, next to Russia, with many valuable air bases vital to the country’s security. There is no reason why Alaska should not be given the resources it needs when the state is providing an incredibly valuable service to the country.

Mr. Page, in this article, seems to be cutting away at the historic nomination of a woman to be Vice-President of this great country. She has proven to be a change- maker by working with democrats to reform Alaska and standing up to lobbyists and the big oil companies. She is a hard-nosed woman who will bring more executive experience to this race than Barack Obama who is trying to seek the highest office in the land. Although Mr. Page has worked on reporting many campaigns and does have some valid points, however he has mislead the reader in this article by leaving out several key points on the benefit of Sarah Palin on John McCain’s ticket. .