Last Friday, Senator McCain picked Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in the presidential election. Though I’ve never used this blog to voice political or even moderately serious thoughts of mine, I simply can’t help but react to this latest McCain blunder. About a month ago, Palin said she wasn’t ready to discuss being VP because she didn’t know what the VP did; moreover, she wanted to stay in her more “busy” and “active” job as Governor of Alaska. It’s certainly saying something that she thinks being second in line to become Commander in Chief is a smaller, less-productive role than being governor of less than 700,000 constituents.
Governor Sarah Palin’s resume includes two terms on City Council and two terms as Mayor of Wasilla, a town with a population of 8500. This means that anyone who's been president of a mid-sized university for that length of time has as much experience as she does. She's currently only two years into her first term as Governor of Alaska, which by the way has a population of 670,000, or just over half the population of that sprawling land mass, Rhode Island. But thanks to the erudite leadership of John McCain, a person who's never been voted for by more than 120,000 people and has never worked in national politics, is now a potential leader of the free world.
Governor Palin is married to her high school sweetheart, who happens to be a competitive snowmobiler. I don't know what that is, but apparently it is in line with the activities of "ordinary" Americans. She has five children, the youngest of which is named Trig, like trigger, as in gun(!!). Sarah is applauded for having had Trig even though she and her husband were well aware he had Down Syndrome a few months into the pregnancy. That is not only a sacred and personal decision, it is one that takes both courage and resilience as a parent, and I do applaud her conviction in her beliefs. You see, when you have the freedom to choose, you get to display conviction to your own beliefs, not just the ones McCain/Palin would like to legislate.
A small part of me rejoices in this, the latest in a series of misguided campaign decisions, because now, I am certain, McCain will not be elected. No one can say in seriousness that Sarah Palin is ready to lead a nation (some are saying it out of a habit of making hypocritical statements, but that’s a whole 'nother issue). Despite a strengthened belief in an Obama/Biden victory this November, however, I am still plagued by the worry of what-if.
What if McCain wins? Sure the idea of a woman in the White House is exciting on face value alone, but this particular woman will likely prove to be an incapable vice president for a number reasons, chief among which is her startling lack of experience. When she does so, which she will, she risks hurting the cause of so many other aspiring female candidates in the years to come. If Kennedy hadn't been such a salient and capable president, no one would point to him as a shining example of religious difference in the Oval Office, thus encouraging the political careers of the many well-qualified Catholic, Jewish, etc. men and women who followed his groundbreaking presidency. And if Sarah Palin flops as she surely will do, she will become an all-too-visible and simply unrepresentative example of the kind of bumbling misdirection a woman will bring to the White House. I can just hear it now: "Don't bring any more in. Remember that Sarah Palin chick? What a mistake that was."
Considering the average life expectancy of an American male is 77 years, it would simply be imprudent to ignore the possibility that 72-year-old McCain may not make it through four years in the White House. What then? One would think McCain would make an extra effort to assuage such fears and concerns related to his age and health with his VP pick. I certainly assumed he would choose a person with a resume that rivals his own; someone whose years of experience on the national and even international level could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he/she was ready to lead the second “VP” turned to “P.” Instead, he picked Sarah Palin. We want a president who is in touch with ordinary Americans, sure; but do we really want an actual, ordinary American in the White House? We seriously, seriously do not.
The greatest problem I have with McCain’s VP pick is that, once again, his decision has proven how misguided and illogical he is as a leader. Every move he has made in this campaign has been motivated by a follower’s mentality: What do the voters want to hear? How do I get them to like me? What will make them like me more? A true leader works to change minds, inspire others, and move forward with an agenda he or she believes in and remains loyal to. Instead, McCain has become almost cartoonishly desperate for approval and support, lowering his standards, which should be presidential, to the level of TMZ and perezhilton.com. This time, instead of carefully selecting a viable vice presidential candidate, he jumped a bandwagon that wasn’t and wound up with a soccer mom.
No one doubts this was a political decision; this is, after all, politics. But if McCain is after the women's vote, or more particularly, the vote of hardheaded Clinton supporters, he would have done better to align himself with someone who is not her ideological opposite. Women are not going to go after anything with boobs that moves like a drunk in a dive bar, and it is frankly both disturbing and insulting that McCain thinks otherwise.
7 comments:
You tell em sista!
"We want a president who is in touch with ordinary Americans, sure; but do we really want an actual, ordinary American in the White House? We seriously, seriously do not."
That is exactly what I've been trying to say. Thank you for putting it so clearly!
Yes! I passed that women against Palin petition on, sort of assuming everyone I thought to send it to would agree and got one surprising semi-angry email back not agreeing in the slightest. This made me afraid...semi-terrified...of what is going on in peoples' heads who aren't obvious republicans...
Anyway, couldn't be more with you, friend.
"Governor Sarah Palin’s resume includes two terms on City Council and two terms as Mayor of Wasilla, a town with a population of 8500. This means that anyone who's been president of a mid-sized university for that length of time has as much experience as she does."
Are you sure that you want to bring experience into your critic of Sarah Palin. You should remember that Obama can’t even claim a full term in the Senate- and And he is running for the Presidency!
You may also want to look at your own parties VP choice:
Biden’s statement from the debate on the role of the vice president:
“Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history. The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.”
Wrong! Article 2 of the Constitution define the role of the VP
“And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.
The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive, and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.”
Wrong! The Constitution states that the “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.”
Thanks for your comments. However, I'm perfectly comfortable with my criticism of Palin. This blog entry was written immediately after she was chosen as VP and she's only continued to prove me right (that she's grossly unqualified) every time she opens her mouth. And I measure that not simply by how long she's served in office, or how many constituents she has, but how capable she is to lead the American people -- all of them. Sarah Palin likes to divide our country into "Pro-American" and "Anti-American" sections. She repudiates people from the East and West Coast, she admonishes those of us with a higher education (which is just ridiculous), she unrepentantly calls people on the Left "angry." I may have doubted how qualified she is, but she's personally attacked my education (because I have one), my place of birth (which is Connecticut), my rights as a woman, and my political views simply because they're different from hers. It's okay to disagree with me; it's not okay to label me "anti-American" simply because of those disagreements. Obviously, she wants to lead a portion of the country, but she has nothing but animosity for the other half. That makes her qualified to run a very conservative state or to guest spot on Bill O'Reilly. But an American President or Vice President can't have out-and-out disdain for half the country. She or he can't be out of touch with the coasts and only care about the middle (and Alaska). That, my friend, is anti-American.
Contrarily, Obama might not be the most qualified person on paper, but he's proven himself time and again in debates, in speeches, in sheer motivational power, in his ability to fundraise, etc. He brings people together; he galvanizes the ungalvanized; he cares about the middle class and small businesses, but he also cares about artists and teachers and students and everyone in between; he cares about men and women; he cares about the North, the South, the East, West, and middle of the country; and he would never call a hard-working, well-intentioned individual who just happens to disagree with him "anti-American."
As for your concerns about Biden, I honestly think you could have found better examples of Joe the Senator sticking his foot in his mouth (not to feed your dislike of the man, but they're out there). So Biden said Article 1 when he meant 2. Wow. Let's behead him!!! And the part you quoted from the Constitution only backs up what he was saying. You should take a second look at the Biden quote you included. The job of the VP is to break a tie vote in the Senate - that's what Biden said, that's what the Constitution says, that's what you said when you quoted the Constitution. We all agree (except for Cheney). Wheeeee! On the flip side, Biden has been known to make a verbal gaff or two. Nobody's perfect, but he's at least imperfect in ways that don't dangerously hinder his ability to be Vice President.
Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day...
haha... well look who won! America wisened up!
Yes, she did. President-Elect Obama. Doesn't that just roll of your tongue?
I've never been so proud of my country (minus the rampant homophobia...).
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