Here’s a question that is going to have to be answered by the McCain/Palin ticket, quickly, if this choice is going to work.
Is Sarah Palin ready to be President ?
Because of McCain’s age, it’s an inevitable question. When Ronald Reagan faced it back in 1980, he handled it deftly by picking George H.W. Bush, a man with an incredibly impressive resume whom nobody could tag with the “not ready on day one” criticism. For whatever reason, Bush himself forgot that lesson from the Gipper when he picked Dan Quayle, a move that could have cost him the election if he had been running against a competent opponent.
Has John McCain made Bush’s mistake, or did he learn Regan’s lesson ?
Andrew Sullivan raises some doubt:
The first criterion for a veep – and I’m simply repeating a truism here – is that they are ready to take over at a moment’s notice. That’s especially true when you have a candidate as old as McCain. That’s more than especially true when we are at war, in an era of astonishingly difficult challenges, when the next president could be grappling with war in the Middle East or a catastrophic terror attack at home. Under those circumstances, we could have a former Miss Alaska with two terms under her belt as governor. Now compare McCain’s pick with Obama’s: a man with solid foreign policy experience, six terms in Washington and real relationships with leaders across the globe.
One pick is by a man of judgment; the other is by a man of vanity.
She may be a fine person, but she’s my age, she has zero Washington experience, and no foreign policy expertise whatsoever.
McCain has just told us how seriously he takes the war we are in. Not seriously at all.
Granted, Sully is hardly an unbiased observer in this race. He’s cast his lot with Obama/Biden despite the fact that he readily admits that he pretty much disagrees with every domestic policy position that Obama takes. But that doesn’t mean that the criticism isn’t valid.
Eldrod at The Moderate Voice makes a similar point:
Think about the VP’s job. It’s to step into office on a moment’s notice in case the President pulls a William Henry Harrison and days a month after taking office. This is always a real possibility, but with McCain’s advanced age and prior health issues, the succession issue is even more important this year. It was especially incumbent upon McCain to pick somebody who would be ready to serve in a moment’s notice.
Is that Sarah Palin? She was elected Governor 18 months ago. Before that, she was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. She is 43 years old and has served a fraction of even Barack Obama’s time in non-local political office. Despite her longtime support for ethics reform, she is under state investigation right now for abuse of power in the dismissal of the Commissioner of Public Safety.
The centerpiece to John McCain’s argument against Barack Obama is that he is too inexperienced to lead right now. That he is unprepared for the Presidency of the United States. Agree or disagree, that’s McCain argument.
This VP completely undercuts that argument. If McCain is unable to serve in his first term, a woman with 18 months of experience beyond the Mayoral level (and this ain’t NYC) will have to step in and serve as leader of the free world. She has virtually no public profile outside the state of Alaska and carries no major message or agenda that makes up for her lack of experience.
Just as Obama needed to pick a candidate to help with gaps in his experience, McCain needed to pick someone who he could credibly point to and say “this person is qualified to become President of the United States if something happens to me.”
Has he done that with the Palin pick, or has he picked someone that, like Dan Quayle, the public will come to perceive as a lightweight ?
And what wouldd Biden’s “experience” and “relationships” bring us? A guy who wanted to hand Iran a check for $200 million right after 9/11 and steals speeches from a British politician.
Meanwhile, the GOP VP nominee is the only person on either ticket with any executive branch experience, and is best known up there for taking on corruption in her own party (she was leading the effort to can Ron Paul’s best friend – Don Young).
And the investigation? A cabinet official claims he was fired because he wouldn’t fire the Governor’s brother-in-law – a fellow who according to some reports threatened to kill her dad. Hardly a crippling blow.
You have to admit that Sarah Palin is pretty hot (remember she was in the Ms. Alaska Pageant) and MUCH BETTER on the eyes than Joe Biden. Oh and wait until you see the bikini pics!!! NOT BAD for a mother of 5.
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5055328
DJ,
If voters look at Palin and doubt that she’d be able to take over from McCain if it became necessary, then the Republicans have a problem. It’s that simple.
I’m not saying it will happen, just that they’ve taken a hell of a risk with this pick.
“She may be a fine person, but she’s my age, she has zero Washington experience, and no foreign policy expertise whatsoever.”
You could also make this argument about Obama. Except instead of zero experience, it’s four years, but still, that’s four years of experience in the branch of government that has lower ratings than Bush. Palin, despite her inexperience, has ratings in the 90s in Alaska, and I realize that probably won’t mean much in the election, but it won’t hurt.
I just think it’s kinda funny to say that Palin who is running for frikkin’ Vice-President may not be ready to go on day one when Obama doesn’t have much more experience and he’s trying to be President.
Doug,
I’m saying it won’t happen; I’m responding to your concern, not belittling (or at least I’m not trying to do that).
Besides (and this is more to Sully), when did “zero Washington experience” become a liability)? In the 36 years that I have been on this little ball, the candidate with “zero Washington experience” has won every time but once (1976, 1980, 1992, 2000; lost in 1988).
DJ,
You do realize that your example suggests that Barack Obama, the Presidential candidate with the least Washington experience would win, right ?
Sarah Palin’s experience is only relevant to the extent voters care about whether or not she would be ready to take over for McCain.
[...] noted yesterday, here and here, the clear and apparent risks that the McCain campaign has taken in picking an unknown, [...]
BREAK THE GLASS CEILING !!!
WOW … What a great pick!!! America should elect
McCain & Palin for the Whitehouse in November,
for a return to wholesome American values.
An experienced Governor for V.P. vs. a
community organizer for President … I pick Palin.
No Wright, no Farrakahn, no Ayers, no Rezko,
no mean Michelle, NOBAMA
[...] be the case. Almost as soon as John McCain introduced Sarah Palin in Dayton, Ohio on Friday, the questions began to be raised about her experience and fitness to assume the office of the Presidency (which [...]