When columnist Nat Hentoff recommended the little known governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as perhaps the best choice John McCain could make for his running mate, Hentoff did so on the basis of Palin's remarkable story as the mother of a Down Syndrome child. Contrary to the common practice these days, she chose to have her child, keep her child, and love her child. As a result, Hentoff argued that Palin would be "a decided asset: an independent Republican governor, a woman, a defender of life against the creeping culture of death and a fresh face in national politics."
But, more importantly, he argued, because of her own personal courage, family, and story, "Her presence could highlight Obama's extremist abortion views on whether certain lives are worth living--even a child born after a botched abortion."
Almost no one paid attention to Hentoff's Washington Times op-ed piece last spring--or to his seemingly out-of-right-field recommendation. But the pro-life movement will certainly be grateful that John McCain did pay attention and took the recommendation to heart.
