We here at Daily Plastic don’t plan on converting into a political blog anytime soon, but I couldn’t let the contrast between last night’s brilliant Obama speech and McCain’s perplexing vp choice go unmentioned. I’m a fervent Obama supporter (he’s my neighbor after all), but I understand why many Americans might choose McCain on Nov. 4. There are certain policy positions that people hold dear, and Obama doesn’t always match up with those. Fair enough.
But I am genuinely baffled by McCain’s pick of Gov. Sarah Palin. You stake your entire candidacy on your experience and measured judgment, and then you choose someone who hasn’t even been governor for two years? Two years?? And let’s be honest. It’s not like she’s the governor of California or Texas or some other big state. It’s Alaska, for crying out loud. I’m sure she’ll talk about the hard choices she’s made in being the hands-on manager of the state and having to balance a budget and so forth and so on, but let’s be frank. Alaska has less than 700,000 people in it. There are dozens and dozens of cities in the U.S. that are bigger than that.
What kind of foreign policy experience does she have? Well, let’s let McCain himself explain:
I am utterly speechless. I just don’t know how to respond. Those are her qualifications? McCain said that with a straight face??
And it’s not like this is a moot point, where the vice president doesn’t matter. McCain is an old man--if he serves out two full terms, he’ll be in his 80s. On top of that, he’s had health issues in the past. The possibility of the vice president having to take over for McCain at some point is real, and Sarah Palin is who we want in that position? Even Republicans have to be a little nervous. I know I am.
If nothing else, this should assuredly end all that crap about whether Obama is experienced enough. Palin makes Obama look like the second coming of FDR.
Yeah, you guys should stick to film. :)
As for Palin's relatively small amount of experience versus Obama's relatively small amount of experience, it seems to me that Palin served in an executive function, has a track record that she can point to, and has a record of fighting corruption and bucking her party's establishment, whereas Obama has never been more than a legislator, has been distracting us from his track record or apologizing for it or outright lying about it for some time, and has cozied up to race-baiting preachers and unrepentant terrorists and has never challenged his party's establishment on anything (his speech last night being a classic case of same-old, same-old). Obviously, more details about Palin will come to light in the weeks and months ahead. But for now, that's how the compare-and-contrast seems to work.
C'mon Robert, don't be so predictably in the tank for your guy. When Obama was asked the identical question, here's what he said, in significant part.
"Well, actually, my experience in foreign policy is probably more diverse than most others in the field. I'm somebody who has actually lived overseas, somebody who has studied overseas. I majored in international relations."
Gee ... I'm qualified to be president too. I was even born abroad, as a non-US citizen to two non-US citizens (which actually *dis*qualifies me, but you get my meaning).
Plus, if being the mother of a soldier is so ridiculous a point, why did anybody EVER pay any attention to Cindy Sheehan (and for a long time before she became a complete nutter, many liberals did do so, talking about her "absolute moral authority," in MoDo's memorable phrase, and "putting a face on the war," and all that).
Now in fairness, Obama does go on to say in that interview that in foreign policy, judgment matters more than resume-type experience (a statement with which I agree, as far as it goes). But criticizing Sarah Palin as too inexperienced with the No. 2 job when she has comparable experience to the guy you want for No. 1 is just ... odd. But don't worry, Robert ... you're in good company in that tank (and dig the link at the end of Ross's post; it would take a heart of stone to read it without laughing).
I step in here only to ask if you all could, pretty please, take Maureen Dowd (aka MoDo) into your camp for a little while? My stomach turns when I see her seated in my aisle.
That is all.
Well, would you consider Anna Quindlen or Ellen Goodman or Daily Kos sufficiently non-stomach-churning.
A large part of liberal America took Cindy Sheehan seriously for a long time based on a biographical fact about her that Sarah's Palin shares also -- that is simply a fact.
Yeah, it's a simple fact and it's not one that I dispute. I don't offer any opinions of Sheehan or the people who supported her. But I have some about Dowd and am taking the opportunity of her mention to try to trade her off. No takers?