Falwells: Palin to help McCain in key areas

John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket raised the excitement level for Lynchburg-area leaders including the Rev. Jonathan Falwell and Mathew Staver, dean of the Liberty University School of law.

“Not only is she pro-life, pro-family and pro-marriage, but she has a great record of exposing government corruption and government waste,” said Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church.

“I’m excited to see this,” Falwell said Friday. Palin’s selection surprised some observers, he said, but “I think it’s a good surprise.”

Staver said Palin represented “an absolutely brilliant choice” and “a master genius stroke.”

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, said he learned about Palin from an airport TV monitor while traveling through Florida. “I think it’s a brilliant choice.”

“I think it will help him with women and conservatives, and I think that’s where he needed help,” Falwell Jr. said.

Jonathan Falwell said he was happy to see McCain set a course that he had indicated during an Aug. 16 forum held by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in California. Democratic candidate Barack Obama and McCain both talked about faith during separate interviews with Warren, who wrote the best seller, “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

“John McCain made it very clear that his administration was going to be a pro-life administration, and he proved that’s his belief and his passion today with the choice of Sarah Palin,” Jonathan Falwell said.

Falwell credited Palin with a role in stopping Alaska’s often-ridiculed “bridge to nowhere” that was proposed as a Congressional earmark of $398 million to connect the city of Ketchikan to its airport on a nearby island.

Congress removed the earmark status from the funds and sent them to Alaska as general-use road money, after which Palin cut the bridge completely out of the state budget. At the time, she said it was too expensive.

“We need someone to step into leadership in Washington who believes higher taxes are not the answer, but less spending is the answer. We need a Congress with a leadership that tells them that’s what you need to do,” Jonathan Falwell said.

Falwell said he had never met Palin, but “I’m familiar with her record, her beliefs and her values.”

Staver spoke by phone from Minneapolis during a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a group of religious and government officials.

“The excitement in the room is absolutely palpable,” Staver said.

Attendees included evangelical leader James Dobson, “who said he has not been this excited since Ronald Reagan,” Staver said.

“Senator McCain could not have chosen a better vice president than Sarah Palin,” Staver said. “She is intelligent, effective, articulate and has substance. She has shown she has the ability to clean up government corruption and balance the budget.

“She can reach women, and I think she’s trans-generational,” said Staver, who also is founder of Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit legal group that defends religious freedom, traditional family, and pro-life issues.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th District, issued his own endorsement of Palin.

“She has a reputation for being a fiscal conservative who has made tough decisions and cut spending, and has worked to pass landmark ethics reforms in her state,” Goodlatte said.

“The voters of the Sixth District will find her a well-qualified candidate who shares their values of energy independence, personal responsibility, and a strong national defense,” Goodlatte said.