In the wake of the Katie Couric interview, even conservatives who love Gov. Palin are wringing hands over whether or not she is fit to be President. Some are advising, in all good conscience, that Gov. Palin should immediately resign from the ticket.
My rebuttal:
Readiness for office comes down to principles and judgment. It's nice that Sen. McCain knows a lot about Russia - yet, when issues with Russia arise, Sen. McCain will still listen to advice and then decide. Gov. Palin's political principles are conservative. Her life principles are well grounded in her upbringing, her life experience, and her religion. I trust her judgment. I trust her ability to make tough decisions.
I remember Gov. George W. Bush giving some horrific interview answers during the 2000 campaign. I remember watching, with white knuckles, as Bush fielded questions. I feared the gaffes which might ensue. Going into the first debate with V.P. Gore, Gov. Bush was widely panned as a moron who would be embarrassed when onstage with Gore.
I invite conservatives to have some faith in Gov. Palin's innate political talent. I expect her to do well in Thursday's debate. Everything in her resume (except the Katie Couric interview!) says she is a fast learner who has a good political ear and adapts to changing conditions.
How DID Governors Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush ever justify themselves to national voters? Byron York has the simple answer: talk about your experiences as Governor.
Governor Palin has been badly advised by the timid former Bushies who make up her campaign staff. When challenged about her readiness, she should be saying, with a big smile:
Of COURSE I don't know everything. Neither does Barack! He thinks we have 57 states!
I joke. But, seriously, I have a record of accomplishment to point to, Senator Obama has rhetoric.
I filed ethics complaints against Alaska Republicans, and people went to jail. The only people who go to jail around Barack are his friends - like Tony Rezko, who helped Barack buy his house.
I got Alaskans a better deal for natural gas rights. Barack squandered $49M when he chaired the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge for education.
I completed a deal for a natural gas pipeline. That deal had been stalled for decades before I came into office. Barack was head of the Senate Committee on Afghanistan and never chaired a meeting.
Because he doesn't have actual accomplishment to point to, Sen. Obama uses rhetoric in a somewhat desperate effort to build credibility. Thus we saw, during his European coronation tour, Sen. Obama falsely claim to be on the Senate Banking Committee.Senator Obama's words are empty. Voters can either take Sen. Obama's empty words at face value, or they can contrast his lack of professional accomplishment with my actual accomplishment - or, more importantly, with John McCain's accomplishment.
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6 comments:
All very good and true points. Thanks for taking the time to pull this together (today's my daughter's birthday so I've been away with her today). I am a big Palin fan, but my point is as you rightly noted, the perception of her is not very good, unless she clearly defines herself with specifics and leaves the over-careful GOP handlers in the dust.
What a day this has been!
Happy Birthday to your daughter! My son's birthday was Sept. 21. He just turned 21 years old.
G, that interview was an unmitigated disaster. A failure of truly epic proportions. For God's sake, Saturday Night Live parodied it using Palin's own (completely asinine) words.
The Gibson interview was only slightly less disasterous. All Palin has been able to demonstrate so far is that she can repeat the careful, memorized talking points. And she doesn't even do that particularly well. She cannot think on her feet. Her folksy charm will NOT work on world leaders, and she will NOT be taken seriously.
Learning on the job is all well and good when you're interning at a junior level office job, but not for the Vice-President of a G8 nation in the midst of an economic crisis. The thought of McCain's untimely demise leading to the swearing in of President Palin should actually keep you awake at night. Hell, it keeps ME awake at night since so much of my country's economy is tied in with yours.
When Thursday's debate proves to be a total gong show (and it will), will you accept that she's not ready for the job?
Hi Dewey!
It's wonderful to hear from you. I checked through your blog and found you are preggers! Congrats!! Fabulous news, and I am happy for you and your husband.
Now, why should I take seriously the hormanal comment rantings of a pregnant person? hmmmm....
BTW - and this is serious, b/c I don't know the answer: why, if you live in Canada and have national health insurance, do you need company insurance? Or, did you leave Canada and I missed it?
Okay, to your comment:
disaster epic yada yada Palin sucks can't think on her feet learning on job inappropriate yada yada kept awake at night. Will you - post gong show - accept that she's not ready for the job?
I plan to be tranquil and let things play out. If Palin is worthy, she will show that. If she's unworthy, she will show that. Whatever result will be the perfect result. If I judge her unworthy, I will say so publicly.
Judging worthiness is both personal and tricky. For me, there is no measure by which Barack is more worthy than McCain - and it's not even close.
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The southern boys at Red State Update agree with you (maybe you should move to Tennessee):
"Sarah Palin reminds people of their sister. Joe Biden reminds em of the loudmouth yankee at the bar last week they beat with a pool cue."
"This debate is going to be a trainwreck of astonishing magnitude."
"People will wish Planet of the Apes was real and was happening now, b/c human monkeys could not do worse than this."
Thanks for the congrats. My husband is thrilled, and now that I am emerging from the misery that is the first trimester, I'm pretty damn happy about it too.
Our national health care will cover all of the strictly medical expenses for the baby & I, including prenatal care, the hospital and staff for birth, and all the aftercare for us both. But prescription drugs and fringe benefits like massage therapy and the private room (rather than a ward) I'll have at the hospital are not covered by the national plan. For that, we have private insurance that is usually a job perk. I work for an insurance company, so you can imagine the coverage is pretty good.
Now on to your points.
Now, why should I take seriously the hormanal comment rantings of a pregnant person? Um, because you're seemingly prepared to take an incoherently babbling hormonal post-partum person seriously as your country's VP? Awwww, ZING! :)
Judging worthiness is both personal and tricky. Fair enough. But qualified is a less wishy-washy distinction. McCain has railed on that Obama's lack of experience makes him unqualified for the job, and it's a fair point. So to give the VP nod to someone who has been the Governor of the 3rd smallest state in the country for 10 minutes, and before that the Mayor Without a Council Vote of Dicksmack, Alaska (Pop. 873, if you include a herd of moose in the count) was just plain dumb.
To have her then go out and publicly embarrass the Party - TWICE (and that's because she's only given two interviews so far!) - with her inability to find a logical point or a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight proves that. The world is watching, G. And we're laughing.
For me, there is no measure by which Barack is more worthy than McCain - and it's not even close. I don't recall saying anything about Barack... It's like I asked about the bailout package and you replied that it's all about the people who are concerned about the health care reform. Oh, and job creation. *ahem*
For the record, and for once, we are in agreement. Obama sets off my bullshit detector something awful. But I wasn't talking about him, I was talking about Palin, who is vacant. Let's get her to talk one more time about being able to see Russia from some Alaskan Island. On a clear day, I can see Buffalo from my office building. Does that mean I can officiate the next round of Canada/US trade talks?
While I've been to Tennessee, and it's very pretty, I think I'll stay put, rather than move to a country that might be turning over the nuke codes to a moron some day. Seriously, G. She's scary.
Thanks for the healthcare info. I'm in insurance also, and am always curious about nitty gritty successes/failures of Canada's system.
Can Gov. Palin use that post partum stuff as an excuse for poor interview answers?
I think qualified is part of personal and tricky judgment. I don't think there's an objective standard for qualified.
I was shocked, after his selection of Palin, to see McCain continue to speak of Obama as unqualified. Cynical. Illogical. Ineffective.
It must be a pretty good accomplishment to become mayor of DICK-SMACK, Alaska. The girl can smack (smack back? talk smack?).
I note the world is laughing at Palin. The world has been wrong before.
I note your perfectly fair point that you didn't mention Barack, and that you fear Palin's principles and judgment.
I send cyber love in your direction.
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