As a Republican I have been honored through the years to have outstanding friends and mentors in political life. Congressman and former Vice Presidential candidate Jack Kemp (deceased), House Republican Leader Robert Michel, Congressman and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, and a Democratic Governor Reubin Askew, have all been excellent role models of integrity and resolve for me. Unlike our former Vice President Quayle they all knew how to spell, speak and write quite effectively in the public arena.

Currently, the media buzz seems all about the former Governor of Alaska who also has some difficulty with some of the aforementioned basic skills. We are a scant two years away from a Republican nominee for our nation’s highest office. I have waited months for one of the GOP rising celebrities to hold Sarah Palin accountable for her past and present off handed remarks. I have chosen personally to break this silence by stating openly that I have yet to read Sarah’s Plan for leading and governing this great nation. “By gosh and golly” maybe fine as acceptable clichés but we as a nation are need of rhetoric birthed of substance and serious deliberation.

The American dream must be restored and this will only occur as a result of careful planning and consultation by the President with the American people. I am a theory Y person and like Douglas Macgregor I believe that talent, intelligence and incredible creative skills are broadly distributed within the American public. American ingenuity, individualism and free enterprise are akin to the eternal flame, they will never be extinguished, and Freedom’s gift to each of us remains the liberty to speak, think, serve, and achieve the very best since we are Americans. I believe that we citizens must lead the world by our firm resolve and transparency.

Recently, a member of the press made me aware of the fact that Sarah Palin would not grant an interview to most journalists. The Presidency requires ongoing discussion and negotiation with many of our fellow Americans and international neighbors. Frankly, I realize that not everyone is qualified to be President of the United States. In the end only the American voters can make the decision about the occupant of our highest office. I do agree with former President Harry Truman however that the highest honor that can come to anyone is to be called an American citizen.

Our challenges as a nation can be met and overcome with the determination of the American people. Unemployment, huge deficits, excessive government regulation-taxation, crime in our cities-towns, terrorism at home and abroad, loss of earning power, international rogue states, are serious problems that require highly intelligent public servants.
Sarah Palin seems quite comfortable with media and her daily involvement. Yet, as a conservative I await her cogent plan for this nation. I will not take her candidacy seriously without such a document. Until I read and have a chance to react to her roadmap for governance, I simply do not recognize her ability to serve in our nation’s highest office.

I would welcome a debate with her as to her qualifications for Presidential service at anytime.

Dr. Alan G. Phillips
Bloomington, Illinois