August 29th: Sarah Palin Day; Updated: Joshua Livestro makes a suggestion.

Brianus Berkleianus, friend of and commenter at C4P, had an idea which he left in the comments for this June 8, 2009 post. At 5:29 PM, Brianus wrote:

I am one of many people, I think, who had never contributed a RED (nor a blue, for that matter) cent to a political campaign before the never-to-be-forgotten 29th of August, in the Year of Grace 2008. I would suggest that we have an on-line celebration here at C4P on that day...it is the birthday of true Hope and Optimism for our country...it is SARAH PALIN DAY, in my opinion.

This prompted some back and forth between Brianus, myself, and a few other commenters and, ultimately, one of Brianus’ comments ended up in Rich Crowther’s now legendary “El Rabanos” post, making it official in my estimation:

Campaign Brianus: "I still like the idea of August 29 as THE DAY. Something was born that morning in Dayton, a phenomenon unlike anything we have witnessed in our nation's history. Sarah strode out, to the strains of the "Rudy" theme; she strode onto the stage, and into our hopes, into our dreams, into our lives...forever. We should all give $29 to SarahPac on the 29th of August this year (this was Doug's idea, I believe!!) January 20, 2013 can be PRESIDENT PALIN DAY. 29 August each year should, IMHO, be SARAH PALIN DAY!!"

Eventually, the proper protocol for recognition of Sarah Palin Day evolved to include, in addition to the $29 SarahPac donation, a vintage bottle of wine (or other beverage) of the celebrator’s choice. Brianus will opt for a fine merlot as I recall.

I had heard of Sarah Palin before August 29th. I first became aware of Governor Palin when she won the Alaska gubernatorial election in 2006 which made her practically the only bright spot for the GOP in a dismal election year.

Later, although I can’t recall the exact circumstances or even when, I became aware of Adam Brickley and his efforts to promote Governor Palin as a potential vice presidential candidate for the GOP in 2008. Adam is probably the person most responsible for John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate and for that we all owe Adam a debt of gratitude. Adam continues his efforts through his blog, The Brickyard, and as an esteemed C4P contributor.

For these reasons and others, I hereby nominate Adam Brickley as the recipient of the first annual C4P Sarah Palin Day award. Thank you, Adam. The plaque and check are in the mail.

Two cruises occurred during the summer of 2007 which further lead to August 29th. Two influential conservative magazines, Weekly Standard and National Review had their annual summer cruises, attended by their respective editors, writers, and friends. Both cruises, coincidentally, went to Alaska that year. Many of the attendees met Governor Palin in Juneau and, by all accounts, were quite impressed with her.

Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard, shortly after returning from the cruise, wrote an article, “The Most Popular Governor”, which was probably the first widely circulated article about Governor Palin in the mainstream media. The National Review people were also impressed. In an article for The New Yorker, Jane Mayer wrote that Jack Fowler, National Review’s publisher, noted:

This lady is something special. She connects. She’s genuine. She doesn’t look like what you’d expect. My thought was, too bad she’s way up there in Alaska, because she has potential, but to make things happen you have to know people.

Despite the efforts of Adam Brickley and the positive media she received from the two aforementioned magazines, I personally never thought McCain (who I never liked) would choose Governor Palin. During August, most of the speculation regarding McCain’s choice centered on Mitt Romney, Joseph Lieberman, and Tim Pawlenty. None of those three, or any other names being seriously mentioned, did anything for me.

The only two names I could get excited about were Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. As far as I knew, Bobby Jindal had explicitly taken his name off the list a few weeks earlier and Sarah Palin wasn’t even under serious consideration. So, I assumed McCain would pick one of the three mentioned above and lose by at least 10 points in November.

Disgusted at what had become of the party of Ronald Reagan since he left office in January 1989, I tuned out politics completely that last week in August when the Democrat Party had their convention.

On the morning of August 29th, I woke up a little later than normal. I had no Friday classes and this was, after all, the beginning of Labor Day weekend. It was probably somewhere between 8:00 and 9:00 AM. My two kids were home from school and my wife, a pharmacist, was also off work that day. She was in the kitchen making something to eat. I remember grabbing the remote from the nightstand and flicking on the television.

I went to FOX News, as is my custom. They were saying something about Pawlenty and Romney being out as VP candidates. I therefore assumed it would be Lieberman so I turned the TV off, got up, made the bed, and took a shower.

A little later, I turned the TV back on and saw Governor Palin’s name at the bottom of the screen as a potential VP pick. I immediately switched to MSNBC, then CNN. All cable channels were buzzing with rumors that it would be her. To say I was excited would be the understatement of the year. I ran into the kitchen to tell my wife that McCain might pick Palin. Not being a political junkie, she said “Who’s Palin”? I mumbled something I can’t recall and went back to the TV.

My heart sank when an anchor on one of the channels said it couldn’t be Palin about to be announced in Dayton (Ohio) since she was at the Alaska state fair in Palmer. I flicked through the other channels and they still seemed to think Palin would be announced, although they left plenty of wiggle room that it could be someone else.

Then, there was some rumor of a plane landing the night before at an airport near Dayton with someone which fit her description on board. My optimism returned.

One by one, the cable channels began falling into line, becoming steadily more convincing in their assertions that McCain would in fact select Governor Palin. I literally could not stray from the TV that morning. The excitement was building that finally, something positive was about to happen for the Republican Party and my country.

Still, I did not allow myself to believe that McCain would do something so brilliant until…



This move by McCain invigorated the Republican Party and renewed my optimism that, as our Founding Fathers envisioned, one did not need to be a lifetime politician to be a political leader. I had never given to a political candidate or party before. That changed moments after her speech in Dayton. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, this coming Saturday, August 29, we will all celebrate Sarah Palin Day. How you choose to commemorate this event is up to you. Personally, I will be celebrating as indicated above…a $29 donation to SarahPAC and a bottle of fine vintage…2004 Saint Francis chardonnay for me. Cheers!

Update: Joshua suggests the following vintage for the occasion:

... [A] true believer would have gone for a Syrah called Palin: It's from Chile, not Alaska, which is probably a good thing - no offense to Alaskan winemakers (if there are any. Pinot Noir would do well up there, I suppose?).

I have had syrah in the past, although not Palin syrah. As I recall, syrah is a moderately dry red wine which tasted, to my untrained palate, like a cross between pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. It was delicious. Joshua is quite correct; it would make an appropriate accompaniment to the festivities on Sarah Palin Day. Yogi41 has also provided a picture of the aforementioned fine wine: