Politics: Can Democrats play the inexperience card on Palin?
Perhaps. Andrew Sullivan thinks it’s not about experience, but about skills:
So ask yourself: could Sarah Palin have run a national election campaign against, say, a machine as powerful as the Bush family, and won? Does she have the skill set to construct a campaign that would actually have brought her to the nomination herself? I find the comparison with Obama ludicrous. But it will be made. Palin looks to me like a lovely person and a good local politician, with some inevitable rough spots. I’d be delighted if she took a leadership role in the GOP in the future. But in the same league as Obama? Do Republicans really think that little of him?
John McCain chose Palin for several reasons. She’s a social conservative. She has a compelling personal story. And, oh yeah, she’s a woman in an election where there are a lot of women ready to bolt the Dems because Hillary Clinton didn’t get the nomination.
But is Palin ready to lead the country, if the need arises? She’s been a governor about half the time Obama has been a senator. There’s some truth to the contention that governing a state is better preparation for the presidency than being one of 100 Senators.
But presidents are leaders only in as much as they can convince others to follow them. That is the beauty of campaigning for the presidency. If you don’t have the skills to capture your party’s primary and then win the general election, how can you hope to guide your agenda through Congress?
But then, who would have thought that Obama could win the Democratic primary, considering the cakewalk that was his election to the Senate in 2004.
Hat tip: Eric Zorn’s blog.
August 30th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I think that she could do a darned good job of leading the country, so long as she was wearing a Catwoman suit.
August 30th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
…and the objectification begins! Trust me, Bill: there are enough pigs in the GOP to turn any woman (except Diane Vespa) away.
As for the experience, you bet your ass it’s an issue. If it were Illinois, California, New York, Texas, or any other state with large, dynamic populations and epic problems, this might not be an issue. But what’s the worst crisis facing Alaskans? Building bridges to nowhere?
Moreover, a degree in JOURNALISM? We have a Democrat who was a professor of Constitutional Law being criticized for his naivety and inexperience, but the wingnuts are cheering for someone with a journalism degree who probably spent more than half her college career taking gen-ed classes?
Experience is definitely an issue. At least Obama picked someone who is qualified.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
But Postsimian, don’t forget that she was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. Oh, she was only against it once the federal funding fell through and she couldn’t raise enough state funds to complete it.
http://mudflats.wordpress.com/
It’s great to see what the locals think of her governorship. The comments on that blog are revealing.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
A journalist as president? Some people thing it’s a good idea, apparently.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Billy,
You should stick to cut and pasting stuff from the PJS rather than commenting on national politics.
For one thing, your opinion that the supporters of HRC will fall under the spell of Palin just because she is the same gender is insulting as hell to those supporters.
Next, it’s not about the Dems being able to play the “inexperience” card against the Repubs, but instead how this effectively trumps THEIR ability to play that card.
Check out the many comments from conservatives that are now expressing the need to jettison that exact tactic now that McCain has picked Palin.
And for those of you that think it is a needed prerequisite of having “executive experience” to run the US, I type one word to blow that inane claim out of the water: Bush.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
“And for those of you that think it is a needed prerequisite of having “executive experience†to run the US, I type one word to blow that inane claim out of the water: Bush.”
That was artful.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Qualifications to be vice president: (1) native-born citizen, (2) at least 35 years old, and (3) resident of the united states for at least 14 years.
Biden: Qualified.
Palin: Qualified.
Both VP candidates are qualified.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
C.J. — Incorrect. She is eligible, not qualified.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
That’s intended with the commonly associated connotations, by the way. Hair-splitting over the linguistics of it will make me weep for humanity.
August 30th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
… said the man right after he split hairs over the linguistics of it.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:03 am
What, it’s true!
But you’re right. CJ has only so many hairs to split, so I need to be careful. ;D
August 31st, 2008 at 1:04 am
I’m just saying, there are objective requirements set forth in the Constitution. Everything else you want to add to that is subjective. You can argue which candidate has more relevant experience in your opinion, but you can’t argue that Palin is somehow not “qualified” because she doesn’t meet your extra-Constitutional requirements.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:24 am
Sorry if I am being a little crude with this comment, but who cares what you guys (postsimian, sctobrien, laura) think about Palin. None of you were going to vote for him in the first place, you just seem to be afraid that there might be enough voters who will to knock out the almighty Obama’s chances.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:28 am
By him I mean McCain.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:18 am
What research have you done on Alaska and its problems? I assume you’re asking what the worst crisis facing Alaskans is because you don’t know. Gas is three times the national average there. Violent crime is actually higher per capita in Alaska than in Illinois (688 per 100,000 in population versus 541.6, respectively, in 2006). It’s also higher than New York (434.9), Texas (516.3), and California (532.5). Alaska has a lower murder rate, but an astronomically higher rape rate. Contrary to your implication, it’s not a cakewalk to be the governor of a state — even Alaska.
As for their population, it’s only about 180,000 less than Delaware’s (Biden’s state). I don’t know what you mean by “dynamic,” but if you mean diversity, it’s about 74.71% white, the rest being minorities. By comparison, Illinois is 80.34% white, Texas is 84.14% white, and California is 79.07% white, the rest being minorities in each of those states.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:53 am
CJ,
Why don’t you quit trying to act like you are objective when it comes to Biden and Palin.
Can you honestly state you believe that Palin would have had the spine to state to a war criminal (Milosevic) that he was a war criminal right to his face?
Now it is being reported that Palin was such a financial conservative that she left the town she was a mayor in in debt at the tune of 20 million. This is a town of like 7, 000 people.
Please, someone do the math on that one.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:29 am
It’s all so clear now. C.J. Summers is biased and spouts off without knowing all the facts or doing a lick of research.
But Scott O’Brien is the font of all wisdom and knowledge.
Thanks for clearing that up.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:42 am
CJ – Can you please try to contain your opinion please?
August 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am
Since when is being a Governor of a state a mark of non-qualifaction? Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush II were all former state leaders. She has more executive experience than Obama does. I also bet that she has done more in her current post that Obama has done in his.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:31 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_career_of_Barack_Obama
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Senate_career_of_Barack_Obama
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama
I used Wikipedia as I would not want anyone to feel the need to actually go to BarackObama.com and read his Blueprint for Change. That might be too much education for some Obamabashers.
On Sarah Palin, there is one short page that has become just a little longer since being picked as the presumptive GOP VP candidate. Before that, it was pretty short.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
Honestly, I don’t see the comparison as far as experience goes, governor of a flipping state or not. She has no connections within the Congress, which is essential for any prospective President or VP. Obama has friends on both sides of the isle there. That’s experience in my book.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:13 am
C.J. – That’s a strict, accurate interpretation (I use “interpretation” loosely–it’s rather cut and dry). But the problem is not with her eligibilty. She’s just not ready.
I was aware of the rape situation in Alaska. In a study of each state and its crime rating by category, I believe Alaska came in first for rape. The dynamics weren’t restricted to race (didn’t have it in mind at the time, actually), but if you know anything about chaos theory, change any of those percentages or populations even slightly (within a measurable effect) and you end up with an entirely different set of circumstances. Surely you would agree there’s a bit more to the 5th most populous state (IL) and the 47th (Alaska).
11Bravo – Who cares what others thing about Obama/Biden? They’re not going to vote that way anyway.
Seriously, it’s important to look at these people and evaluate them. If she can’t take a few obvious criticisms, she has no business in politics, let along the White House or Senate.
Conrad – Most reasonable voters don’t base their decisions on bets.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
On one hand, people love to spout the line “throw the bums out”.
But as soon as a fresh face is introduced, we’re blasted with “inexperience” as the main issue.
Result: the only people with the “experience” necessary to run the place are the “bums” we want to throw out.
Cake and eating it come to mind here.
So I go back to the post on this thread that addresses this situation in the proper perspective: “…it’s not about the Dems being able to play the “inexperience†card against the Repubs, but instead how this effectively trumps THEIR ability to play that card…”
Scott O’Brien nails it. The “experience” issue is now off the table for both sides, and the pundits who’ve been blasting Obama for months on this single issue need to be ignored. Plain and simple.
The conversation can now go directly to issues, thanks to Scott O’Brien’s dead-on assessment of the “experience” argument. So yes, Billy, in this case, using your own words, “…Scott O’Brien is the font of all wisdom and knowledge.”
The defense rests.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Lets see, Sarah Palin was willing to whistleblow on her GOP State Party Chair for doing campaign work on the taxpayers dime and when Gov. Murkowski ignored it and pushed it under the rug, she took out the incumbent Governor in the primary. She fought corruption in her own state and in her own party and stood up to people more powerful than her in the best interests of Alaskans.
Barack Obama has done nothing to stand up to corrupt powers in Illinois. Obama has failed to even speak out against the corruption. If Barack Obama is too much of a chicken with a weak will to stand up to the likes of Rod Blagojevich, George Ryan, Todd Stroger, Mayor Daley, Michael Madigan, Emil Jones Jr., Bill Lipinski, William Beavers, Tony Rezko, Joseph Cari Jr, Stuart Levine, etc. then Barack Obama can not be counted on the stand up to the likes of Iran, China, Venezuela, Cuba, etc.
Barack Obama will look the other way while powerful people get away with looting us blind because it is not in the best interests of his political career. Sarah Palin stands up to people more powerful than her. Look at the experience and judgment they have actually shown while serving the public and its not even close. Barack Obama fails to look after our best interests. Sarah Palin does not.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Aww, how cute. Republicans pretending to care about corruption.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Sarah Palin was willing to take the federal taxpayer’s money, taxmemore, until the heat got too hot by the other 49 states’ taxpayers. Then she decided to try and get the money for the Bridge to Nowhere from the state taxpayers of Alaska. That didn’t work either. That is when she decided to be against the Bridge to Nowhere. Do some research. It’s all over the web. Please do not defend a woman you know nothing about. Once you know the facts of her, we may pay more attention. How does a woman that small conceal a preganancy until she is 7 month’s pregnant? Oh, and then just a few short weeks after her public ‘revelation’, the baby is born premature, all the while her 16 yo daughter is stashed away with ‘mono’. She ran for governor on a ‘clean up’ platform only after she lost her bid for Lt. Governor. The only way she could stay in office as Gov. was to try and clean up the corrupt GOP in Alaska. Now, she has used her power to fire people. She is under investigation by the Alaska legislature. Ooops…guess you pro-McCain/Obamabashers don’t want anyone bringing these things up. I use to wear blinders too, when I was a Republican.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
postsimian, I’m not a Republican, and yes it is refreshing to see a Republican that has actually done something about corruption in her own political party and her own state, unlike Barack “look the other way” Obama (D-Emil Jones Jr. and Emil Jones III back pocket).
Aww, how cute, yet another Illinois Democrat willing to sell out the people of her/his state and her/his country to corrupt politicians while exhibiting a double standards so they can be on the “winning” side and get what they are entitled to.
“If you don’t have the skills to capture your party’s primary and then win the general election, how can you hope to guide your agenda through Congress?”
Um, how many Presidential primaries did Biden lose?
August 31st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Linda, I’m not pro-McCain. I’m anti-liars, thugs, corruption, theft, rights abusers, war starters, blind partisan sycophants, and people that do more harm to America than good. Just like Barack Obama has done in Illinois, more harm than good.
And you don’t know your Alaskan politics if you were unaware that Sarah Palin whistleblew on her GOP State Chair BEFORE she ran for Lt. Gov and Gov. Not after.
Ok I’ll match your bridge to nowhere and raise you state and federal grant money to the Muntu Dance Theater in Chicago sponsored by Barack Obama and Emil Jones Jr. WHILE Michelle Obama was a sitting board members and while the Muntu Dance Theater was paying over $50,000 to a federal lobbyist (you know the ones Obama supposedly hates unless they benefit his wife) in order to secure those grants.
I’ll go back and forth with you all day on this and point out your double standard and blind loyalty to a party and people that have shown nothing but corruption, obfuscation, and a lust for power without regard for anyone else.
And you really believe the Governor of a state can get away with faking a pregnancy and covering up for her daughter that you think actually is the mother? Well, you are beyond rational logic and off into smearing and conspiracy land there, so that illustrates you are also more interested in blind loyalty than truth and the common good. Please keep supporting Obama so more people will see exactly what he inspires from people.
Its clear Obama inspires hate against those that disagree and Obama inspires his supporters to smear 16 year old girls and could care less about ruining a young girl’s life if it is in their political interests. That is just plain horrible but indicative of what we can expect with an Obama Presidency. If people don’t agree and drink the kool aid, make stuff up to smear them with without regard for anything else.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Sorry, I got off the Kool Aid when I was 22. My eyes are wide open!
August 31st, 2008 at 3:43 pm
TaxMeMore — wow, way to jump off the deep end. What version of reality are you tuned into? Man, I’ve got to FIND that station.
August 31st, 2008 at 4:27 pm
“I’ll go back and forth with you all day on this and point out your double standard and blind loyalty to a party and people that have shown nothing but corruption, obfuscation, and a lust for power without regard for anyone else…Well, you are beyond rational logic and off into smearing and conspiracy land there, so that illustrates you are also more interested in blind loyalty than truth and the common good.”
Wow, you conservatives sure hate that we’ve all learned to play your game back at you, eh? Guess your lies, rumors, and BS is not working so well this time around!
It makes me so very, very happy to know that the jig is up on the GOP! The statements above are what you guys have been pulling on the rest of us for far too long. The common good was NOT invading Iraq. The common good was NOT subverting Americans civil rights. The common good is Obama. The truth shall set you free! It did me about 24 years ago. Thank goodness.
August 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I’m off the deep end while Linda claims Sarah Palin faked a pregnancy for her 16 year old daughter and was able to cover it up while the Governor of a state only slightly smaller than Delaware? Someone is off the deep end, but it aint me.
I’m not a conservative either, Linda, but thanks for trying to play the smear game even more.
“The common good was NOT invading Iraq.”
Then why did Barack Obama pick Joe Biden for the VP slot when Joe Biden voted FOR the Iraq War and cheered Bush on while advocating we split Iraq into three countries that would take even longer for our troops to accomplish and result in more deaths than the current wrong path? Then why does Barack Obama continue to endorse candidates that supported the Iraq War and voted for it? By his own actions Barack Obama doesn’t care about the common good or he wouldn’t still be letting the people responsible for it advance their agendas in our government.
“The common good was NOT subverting Americans civil rights.”
Then why did Barack Obama pick Joe Biden for VP when Joe Biden agreed with Bush and voted FOR the Patriot Act. Twice. Why did Obama pick Biden who wrote the put Tommy Chong and his bong in a cage laws, increased funding for military automatic weapon drug raids that leave innocent 90 year old women dead, 3 month old children without fingers and their mother, and small town Mayor’s dogs slaughtered, championed mandatory minimum sentences, and brags about creating more new federal criminal laws than anyone else? Why did Barack Obama AND Joe Biden vote to give immunity to telephone companies when they subverted our privacy rights and let the government spy on us without probable cause? Why did Barack Obama endorse Lisa Madigan who told the US Supreme Court that police should be able to use thermal imaging devices and watch us inside our homes without a warrant or probable cause and argued police dogs should be able to sniff us whenever they feel like without warrant or probable cause?
The common good has nothing to do with Barack Obama. If you believed in the common good and could get past blind loyalty, the truth is clear that Barack Obama doesn’t care about Iraq or American civil rights or the common good as much as he says he does or he wouldn’t have picked Joe Biden as his VP and wouldn’t still be supporting other Democrats that bent over and let Bush do whatever he wanted.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I’m not claiming anything. Just doing what the conservatives/Repubs have been doing for years now….repeating garbage, which is what the rest of your comment here does as well. I love that you guys can dish, dish, dish but you claim foul when the same is done back. It’s getting good. You guys have lost and it’s not even November. Wait, what is that I hear? Oh, a sinking ship.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:03 pm
“The only people with the “experience†necessary to run the place are the “bums†we want to throw out.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself, BJ.
This might be a good time to ask the question: what, exactly, makes a person “qualified” to be president beyond the constitutional requirements of age and citizenship? A master’s or Ph.D. degree in economics or foreign policy? A military service record? A certain number of years in Congress, or in another president’s cabinet, or serving as an ambassador or diplomat? A certain number of years as governor of a state above a certain population threshold?
Many people tend to assume that serving in Congress or in a presidential cabinet places one close enough to the inner workings of federal government to have a pretty good idea of what the job of president involves. But is that really true?
Some Republicans argue that Palin’s executive experience as a mayor and governor are more comparable to the presidency (an executive office) than Obama’s legislative experience. However, some Democrats argue that Obama’s state legislative experience taught him more about deal-making and compromise than the rarefied experience of the typical U.S. Senator, and therefore make him just as or more “qualified” to be president as someone who’s been in Congress longer — a contention sometimes referred to as Obama’s “Springfield card.” (I suppose in Palin’s case it could be called the Wassilia or Juneau card)
The expectations people have of a president are vague and contradictory to some extent. We want the president to be an omnipotent, super-smart, infallible father (or mother) figure, but we also want them to be just like us ordinary stiffs. We want people with “experience” but we don’t want “Beltway insiders” who are entrenched in a “broken system.”
What experience, if any, prepares a person for the modern presidency? And have our expectations of the president become unrealistic?
August 31st, 2008 at 10:07 pm
“The common good is Obama”.
I hope it isn’t too late to take ICC North and turn it back into a mental institution. We’re gonna need it after all these quacks have a mental breakdown following Obama’s upset.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I’d also like to know how many of the people screaming about Obama or Palin’s lack of experience favor term limits for Senators, Congressmen or governors. If experience is a good thing, why would you want to limit it? Although I suppose an argument could be made that term limits might force career politicans who would otherwise stay indefinitely in a “safe” legislative, Congressional or executive seat to seek other offices and broaden their experience.