In two days we’ll get to hear whether Sarah Palin can handle a major debate about the most important issues this country and the world has to face. And yet all I’m hearing is whether she can do well enough just make it through and not give Tina Fey too much more drop-dead hysterical material.
But I’m not laughing.
Are our expectations so low that just being able to get through the debate without looking completely stupid is a criteria for being a heartbeat away from the Presidency? I sure hope not.
And I’m not blaming Sarah for this. She was asked to step in at a critical time and help McCain break out of what was a fairly uninspiring campaign up to that point. She said yes and McCain got an immediate boost in ratings and momentum. So what could be bad about that? Well…maybe the fact that she’s just not qualified for the job. Even Republicans are questioning her qualifications now:
The Palin Problem
I honestly don’t think she really knew what she was getting herself into. And I also don’t think she fully understands just how much she doesn’t know that would be essential for her to be able to step into the role of President if the need ever arose. I used to have a high school teacher who always said “What you don’t know you don’t know, you don’t know.” Ain’t that the truth!
But John McCain does know. Or at least he should. He’s a seasoned politician who makes a big point of telling us how experienced he is. He loves to list all the countries he’s visited (and can pronounce flawlessly I might add) hoping we will conclude from that how capable he is. (Funny how only the countries he’s visited count, but the ones Obama has visited don’t.) McCain has been involved in government for over three decades and brings all that experience with him.
So when it comes right down to it, the fact that he thinks Sarah Palin is the very best person he could choose to represent our country and, if the unthinkable should happen, is also the one we should trust to lead this country in a time of crisis…well, it has to make you wonder how John thinks through his decisions. And how much all his experience translates into actual good judgment.
We all saw the great one-day campaign suspension trick to “save the bailout” (along with a blatant lie to Letterman and the possibility his meddling may actually have stirred up a hornet’s nest rather than providing leadership). And then, just yesterday morning before the vote, we heard his amazing claim that he was responsible for helping get the bailout passed – and then when it collapsed we heard his ooops-I-meant-Obama-was-responsible-for-it-going-down trick.
Is anyone buying any of this?
And then McCain spends today telling everyone it’s time for non-partisanship (but wait…didn’t you just blame Obama?), but then a new ad appears that does blame Obama for, I think, all the world’s problems since the beginning of time. And also today, Republicans released a McCain ad that has the nerve to say McCain, Mr. No Regulation Not Ever, wanted Fannie and Freddie to be better regulated but Obama was “notably silent”. Wait? McCain is now PRO-regulation, but only when he says it’s ok???
Now I might have some of the details a little mixed up on the two ads, but the gist of it is…Obama bad; McCain good. Always. But no blame and lots of bi-partisanship.
And this same man, John McCain, selling us any message that he think we might buy on any given day, even if on the same day he contradicts himself, that man picked Sarah Palin – not because he thought she was the brightest or most capable of being his Vice President, but because at the time it bought him great media coverage and the crucial-to-his-campaign support of conservative Republicans who are not crazy about HIM. (And who I think he’s not crazy about either.)
So who is this man? And what does it say about him that he is willing to put us in the position of possibly being led by Sarah Palin, a woman who is calling herself “Joe Sixpack” as if drinking beer and being a good guy were enough to be President. Not that it’s a bad thing to drink beer and be one of the guys…but we have one of those presidents now and, if anyone is wondering, IT DID NOT WORK OUT WELL.
In the end, this is about John McCain and his judgment. And from where I sit, he’s showing us every day that his judgment is really erratic. And when someone with erratic judgement who also likes to shoot from the hip asks me to trust him to lead this country facing some of the most critical problems we’ve ever faced, I have to look to my own judgment and say:
NO WAY. NO McCAIN.
JABG
October 1, 2008 at 12:11 am
I have struggled with this very thing (as you and probly the whole wide world are well aware…) . So I am standing on the sidelines shutting up and observing.
And while I haven’t been in the loop really- one thing that struck me was how very QUICKLY the McCain/Palin team is losing steam. At least in the public eye. Even on networks formerly more slanted toward them- are being blatant in their disenchantment. Today I saw people interviewed at the White House that remarked not only on Palin being ferretted away for a crash course in debating – but it was said so casually – as if it was unanimous opinion (which it probly should be but just saying…). That was a big change from the ecstatic support of past.
I noticed also much more scrutiny on McCain and what they described as his “flip flopping”…. This said by Republicans.
But what really amused me was when folks at the White House got on national news and remarked that George Bush is of no consequence anymore. No one want to hear him or listen to him. They were more diplomatic but the disdain was not concealed. Not even in front of a camera. A striking contrast to the support they may have given in past. Did you notice this also?
October 1, 2008 at 12:15 am
Ok I cant resist this one. Sorry.
“….McCain, Mr. No Regulation Not Ever, wanted Fannie and Freddie to be better regulated but Obama was “notably silent”. …”
I wish I was a journalist. Because I would ask him exactly after delivering that sort of propaganda if the 20% of his campaign funds that he has recieved from Fannie and Freddie since day 1 – and for which he in exchange saw to it breaks and lapses of regulation expressly for THEIR benefit to manipulate and thereby generate more profit – would those “pay outs” made to him be included in the regulation?
Laughing all the way….
October 1, 2008 at 12:36 am
Did you see the op-ed in the NY Times about Palin and how the author thinks that people identify with her because everyone can identify with someone who’s way out of their league and it’s a rooting for the underdog thing?
What I don’t understand is why being able to identify with a candidate affects someone’s vote. Nor why the candidate’s spouse or children would. Really, so little bearing on how someone does their job– unless you’re identifying with their incompetence!
Ugh.
October 1, 2008 at 2:04 am
Palin and McCain; Pinky and the Brain?
For the past week, these two adorable elephants have been up to so many of their adorable antics.
They’re Palin and McCain, Yes Palin and Mccain
October 1, 2008 at 11:03 am
Sibyllae: Great comments on so many levels. And yes…I have noticed the absolute abandonment of Bush by those who once either saw him as their leader or pretended too. As for the disenchantment all around and the blatant admission that the best the McCain/Palin team can hope for from Palin in the debate is her doing well in regurgitating crammed answers…it’s unbelievable to me that this is the standard they’re setting for a vice presidential candidate. More unbelievable is if she just comes up with answers and says them with enough conviction and that smile of hers, there will be many voters who think she did great. And I do hope you put on your reporter’s hat at some point. Good question for McCain about Fannie and Freddie. But that list could go on and on…
TEB: Hi TEB! I missed that op-ed. I think it may be some of that…we love to stand up for the underdog because we relate to being an underdog. And in this case an attractive women with gumption and conviction who also is being picked on…well, for some that’s mighty attractive. But…as we’ve been seeing, there’s also a psychological reaction that happens when we see someone like that turn out to be mostly show. The attraction fades. I’m with you 100%. I don’t care if the candidate is like me…in fact I’d prefer them not to be. I want someone who is way above me in understanding and ability to handle all the really tough stuff a President and sometiems a Vice President has to handle. This is serious stuff. We need the best leaders we can find, not just good drinking buddies.
Hi Winston: Thanks for the fun link.
JABG
October 1, 2008 at 1:51 pm
McCain appeals to those voters who either do not read or are divorced from reality in a dangerous way. From his false and fatuous ads to his grandstanding and his foolish choice of Palin as his VP, he has shown his total unfitness to occupy the White House.
I, for one, am getting tired of both his stories of his former POW status and the promotion of Palin as “everywoman” to justify their campaign. While there is nothing wrong with either, they do not take the place of prudence, thoughtfulness, and knowledge of national or international affairs in terms of importance in running a country.
The fact that after 8 years of GW Bush (who saw to it that many people who wanted to drink a beer with him can’t afford it now), people still think that simply being able to relate to a person justifies voting them into a critical office speaks poorly of a lot of American voters. Someone described insanity as doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I don’t know who it was, but they couldn’t have known how right they would be in this instance.
October 1, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Nicely said, Anne. And right on with the definition of insanity. We humans do that a lot, but I hope this time enough people have had it and see that there really is a better option.
Thanks for the visit!
JABG