Picking Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as VP running mate was the best thing John McCain could have done for his campaign. But I think it won't be enough. McCain is 72 years old, and not in perfect health. Can someone with Palin's complete lack of national experience - two years as Governor of Alaska, one of least populated in the nation (47th) - really know how to lead and protect our country as President? Will voters be ok with someone so far from the world stage just a heartbeat away from the President?
Palin was the best possible choice for the Republicans. It puts the Republicans on the right side of history and change - along with the Democrats and Obama. Some of Hillary Clinton's supporters, loyal more to her gender than her policies and positions, may well be tempted to vote for McCain and Palin. Joe Biden will likely find it a little more difficult to be tough with Palin than with Romney. But these may well be all secondary advantages, not enough to offset the glaring disadvantage of Sarah Palin: Americans do not know her, and what we do know gives us no confidence that she can take over the highest office in the land.
Capacity to take over as President has always been the single most important qualification of Vice President. We can't get away from that, especially with someone of John McCain's age.
When Americans go to the polls in the November, I'm betting that will be the decisive factor.
6 comments:
"McCain is 72 years old, and not in perfect health. Can someone with Palin's complete lack of national experience - two years as Governor of Alaska - really protect our country as President? Will voters really be ok with someone so far from the world stage just a heartbeat away from the President?"
Why do the words... Ronald Bloody Reagan spring to mind??? :-)
Your wonderful country really does scare me at times :-/
Don't be too frightened, Steph - Reagan ran against Carter, one of the worst Presidents in American history, and then against Mondale, who had the charisma of a dead fish.
And Reagan's VP candidate, George Bush the father, had far more foreign policy experience than Reagan.
We're in a completely different ball game now (to use that good old American expression)... :)
Palin was necessary. McCain does not have the support of the hardcore Christian and right voting blocks in this country. She's bait on a hook. She's a lifer in the NRA - aimed at people like me, She has 5 children, aimed at the mom vote, she supports the death penalty and not abortion. She is, by political standards, a Pure Republican.
My guess is there is probably a lot of repubs who would rather run the risk of her inexperience being president because they feel she'll make the choice they agree most with based on her core structure of ideas.
I think Jindal would have been a good choice- but I think the GOP saved him for a future presidential run, and they don't want to put a loss on his record this early.
Paul: What do I think of McCain's VP selection, Sarah Palin? It looks like a nakedly political manuever. This will go down in presidential history as the McCain Master Gimmick of 2008. Is she a lightweight? You decide. When asked about her opinion of the Iraq War she responded that she's been too busy to think much about the Iraq conflict. I don't know about you, but if I asked any of my neighbors about Iraq -- they would all have a strong opinion on the war, one way or the other. Sarah's son is shipping out to Iraq in a few months and she's mum on Iraq. She obviously has an opinion for godsake -- but she won't share. So much for the newest member riding shotgun on the McCain not-so-Straight Talk Express. I guess they have to "vet" all her previous comments on Iraq to see where she stands and decide how to measure Sarah's public recordon Iraqwith her new bossman. I guess this is what mavericks do these days, wait for the handlers to clear your talking points. This is the GOP definition of Leadership.
Scary that an old man who gets Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan confused while on the stump chooses a foreign policy neophyte who could not find these countries on a map. Johnie Mac's first major decision as a presidential candidate shows a serious lack of judgment. This is very troubling. As a 72-year-old man with a history of cancer, it is simply irresponsible to choose someone with so little experience. And yes, Obama is vastly more experienced than she. (5 years of community activism, 7 years as a state legislator, 2 years as a US Senator not to mention two grueling years on the campaign trail far exceeds the experience of a small-town mayor and 2 years as Governor of Alaska.). All of a sudden Obama looks like the handsdown safe choice.
/jimy_max
Paul: can't wait until you comment on the lastest news on the Palin front. i'm hearing that Palin's daughter, 17, is pregnant and is not marrried. i guess not all vetting processes are created equal.
GOP family values has just be redefined to include teenage sex and single parenthood. Welcome all red staters to Cultural America 2008.
/jimy_max
I agree that Palin clearly wasn't vetted, and her daughter's pregnancy shows some hypocrisy in family values.
But much more importantly: (a) I don't think personal lives of people running for or serving in office has any relevance - we should judge them on how they have have performed their jobs in office, and (b) in the case of Sarah Palin, she is clearly unqualified to be President, based on her complete lack of national experience.
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