Much has been spouted about Sarah Palin’s lack of experience, but do you know what? You can buy experience. You can buy brains. You can buy advice, and every President has the best that money can buy.
What you can’t buy is integrity, guts, brains, passion and chutzpah. Sarah Palin seems to have all that and more. Furthermore, her youth and lack of experience is actually likely to make her more reliant on the expert advice and experience of others. She is far more likely to be a consultative leader than some macho guy who thinks he knows it all.
Also, what does the VP actually do? Precious little. She seems to be a pretty quick learner. Provided McCain doesn’t fall dead two weeks after inauguration, she’d have plenty of time to learn the ropes, figure out who to trust, do her homework and get ready for office.
‘Lack of experience’ is far more likely to hurt the Democrats than the Republicans. The Democrats have it backwards. If you’re going to have youth and inexperience the candidate should be the VP, not on the top of the ticket. Of course, my arguments above could apply pretty well to Obama too. This being the case, I think the ‘lack of experience’ arguments are going to fade.
The real nail biter is going to be the Veep debates between Palin and Biden. I’ll bet that Palin will come out fighting, that even now she’s doing her homework, and that she’ll surprise everyone. She’s got that ole Moose in her sights. I only hope he’s underestimating her.
Yes, you can buy experience, education, and brains–to a certain extent. But, if a candidate it so very far behind, then I think reliance on consultants would be overwhelming and that slack of experience and education would still “show” on an international stage; it could potentially be a big problem. Sarah Palin is a very interesting woman, and I love most of her stance on life issues and her insistence on ethics, but I still would be nervous were McCain to drop dead in six months.
Sorry, I meant to say, “if a candidate _is_ so very far behind,” and “that _lack_ of experience and education would still ‘show’ on an international stage.”
I guarantee you, Father, that the Dems will underestimate her. Because that’s in their condescending, elitist DNA.
I think bobd is right. It is indeed a genetic predisposition of liberal superiority to underestimate their opposition. The reflex to perceive oneself as morally superior is too endemic. Sure sign: the tendency of a liberal to use the word “change” as a noun, as opposed to the conservative tendency to see it as a transitive verb.Donna: I wouldn’t worry about this lady. Any politician who chooses glasses over contacts (especially a woman?) is potent. I have no worries about Sarah standing toe-to-toe against that Iranian and his temper tantrums–moreover, her experience as governor shows she can handle a liberal Congress. If this ticket wins, Sarah Palin may make history in a way Obama could only “talkabout”.
I’d be kind of nervous if the president dropped dead sixth months into his term regardless of how experienced his VP was…
I’m comfortable with Palin…and her grandchild.
I think you have it exactly right, Estiel, when you gather that Gov. Palin will be perfectly willing to confront evil dictators. I’m not worried about that. I’m just saying the world is a very complex place; i.e., Israel, and it takes a lot of experience and reading and education to grasp all the nuances necessary to grapple with those complexities. As one of two superpowers in the world, the US cannot _not_ deal with it, and no amount of moxie, pluck, and toughness can substitute for a deep understanding of those issues. Without that understanding, I’m afraid that moxie, pluck, and toughness could take us where we don’t want to go.
Donna:I agree with you. But I don’t think that Barack Obama has any of the “deep understanding of the issues” required, and he would be president, not vice president. Sure, McCain could die in office — but so could any president, and he is not guaranteed to die in office by any means.Sarah Palin seems like a pretty neat lady, and I think she would make a fine vice president. I wouldn’t elect her president, for the same reasons I wouldn’t elect Obama president. So I plan to stick with worrying about the presidential candidates and not base my decision on the VPs.
Well here’s her blog:http://sarahpalin.typepad.com/Frankly, in my humble opinion, she sounds a bit dippy.
I will not vote for Obama–for obvious reasons. No way. Logically speaking, however, one cannot compare Obama to Palin. He graduated from Columbia, where he majored in political science with an emphasis on international relations; he then graduated from Harvard Law; he’s been on the Foreign Relations Committee,the Homeland Security Committee, and the European Affairs subcommittee in the Senate; he’s made many trips to the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere in his official capacity. While his experience isn’t as vast as McCain’s or Joe Biden’s, it certainly surpasses Palin’s, and certainly his education suggests much more depth. One must give credit where credit is due.
Marcus,I don’t think that is truly Sarah Palin’s blog. Tell me it’s a joke, please.
Marcus, wake up. The Palindrome blog is a hoax. I can’t believe you fell for it.
Think you hit the nail on the head!
The blog carries this disclaimer:This site is a work of satire and is not affiliated with Sarah Palin in any way.
As you know, Obama’s best claim to executive experience is “Neighborhood organizer”. Gee. True, Donna, he has post-graduate education via law school, while Sarah has only a bachelor’s degree. In fact, if you gave each of them an IQ test, he’d probably score higher. I’m not impressed.When all the qualifications and limitations of candidates are considered, there are many who qualify. Choosing would be even harder if we went by these criteria. So what really matters? The same thing that’s always mattered: character. And you don’t find character in good speech-making, cleverness, not even in “astuteness.” It’s only found in the choices one makes, especially when no one else is looking–like a doctor’s office or a prison camp. Decisions define us, not our degrees.
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Nice disclaimer on the Sarah Palin blog. The phrase “needle in a haystack” comes to mind. Or is this standard disclaimer protocol for blogs? (Right side, faded font, half way down the page.)Michael Moore would be proud.
Donna, Obama is actually head of the European Affairs subcommittee, but has not called for a single meeting during his tenure…at a time when European Union affairs should be a pretty important priority for us, particularly in the present atmosphere of distrust (aka: who exactly ARE our allies these days?)If you heard Fred Thompson’s speech tonight, you would have to agree that he is right: Palin’s gutsy maverick reform experience as Chief Executive of her huge state (taking on corrupt politicos within her own party) trumps any of the Washington cocktail circuit or Sunday morning media gabfests. Action trumps blather every time. And ALL whilst raising a beautiful large family–she fired the Governor’s mansion chef cuz she wanted true family-cooked meals, for heaven’s sake!! God bless her. Somehow, I’m not too worried about her running the show should McCain drop dead… Blessings, all
I am not concerned about Palin’s executive experience. Yes, she has plenty. Yes she has proved herself as a reformer. It is not a question of one having a BA and another having a law degree. That is a quantifiable issue. I am concerned with a qualitative issue–tne nature of her knowledge of international affairs, given that such matters are so deeply nuanced and complex. It takes time to get that kind of knowledge, and I suspect, given the nature, not the quantity, of Obama’s background, that he trumps her–even though I would not care for Obama’s _conclusions_ on foreign affairs. So, he certainly is not an ideal choice. Yes, Sarah Palin has proved herself a great multi-tasker, a great manager, a great reformer, an intelligent woman, a woman of character, but I don’t see evidence of interest in or mastery of international stage, which takes much, much time and deliberation. I still believe that Palin and Obama cannot be compared. What I am saying is that Obama, because of his conclusions, is a problem; Palin, because of her lack of background in international affairs, is a problem–if John McCain were to drop dead in a short period of time. I just hope he lives out his term. If he does, and if Palin does her homework, she may potentially be a good president. McCain’s mother is 95 years old, I believe, so hopefully he takes after her.
It should be pointed out that virtually no US Governor comes to the office of the Presidency with foreign affairs experience or know how. Carter, Clinton, Bush–all were state Governors who made it to the White House. The President relies on experts to advise him or her on all these matters.
The Alaska governor has foreign relations experience with Russia and Canada. Alaska is set up as a strong defense against Russia and the governor is the commander in chief of the state forces. That’s more real world international experience than Obama ever even tried.I admire Obama’s taking on the corrupt Illinois political machine. coff coffRe McCain dying in office, the actuarial tables show that a 72 year old has a 10% chance of dying over the next 4-8 years. This talk of him dying in office makes it sound like you think he’s on his deathbed.I think Obama has a greater risk of dying in office…Hillary and Huckabee talked about him being assassinated, and some wannabe assassins were rounded up near the DNC convention.Get your risks right.
Actuarial tables notwithstanding, McCain was operated on for a melanoma, which places him at a higher risk for other cancers. Yet, he does seem to be in good health–at least I hope so. Good point about Alaska and its relationship with Russia, though I’m still not sold on her international experience/knowledge. I’m very concerned about a world that has grown increasingly more complex and volatile–even since Carter, Clinton, and Reagan–the other Governor/Presidents.But, I do say that Palin is an impressive person; I intend to vote for McCain and pray that God will bless us with the President who can best lead us over the next four years.
More on Obama vs Palin. Obama is part of the Chicago Daly “machine” and has never taken a reformers stand. He’s a Hawai’in posing as a Chicagoan. His pick of Biden made clear how he’ really business as usual. Meanwhile Palin was instrumental in ousting corrupt members of her own party. He’s a privileged elitist and she’s middle America and to use Fathers term “folksy”. No contest. Experience of the type Obama has actually plays against him not for him. It’s easy to paint him as a Europhile It’s an awesome inspiring pick.
Foreign policy experience from the Neville Chamberlain/Jimmy Carter School of Diplomacy is not a plus. I’d trust Sarah’s instincts over Obama’s “experience”.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, this one is pretty good!http://www.jibjab.com/originals/time_for_some_campaignin
Hi Marcus, I took your suggestion and went to jibjab – very funny nice even handed touch. Loved Obama riding the unicorn.I saw the speech – she was great. She may be president in 4 years no matter who wins this one.
I suspect that in four years, the campaign will be between two women. Obama’s history. (Flashes in pans tend that way.)
I thought it was funny that all of the leftleaning media people this morning all said the same things about her and her speech.FunInterestingHmmmm, looks like buzz words/talking points to me.Anytime someone says the words “yeah, she’s interesting, but…” I’ll know where their sentiments lie.