Sunday editorial: Gov. Palin comes out
In the two weeks since Sen. John McCain of Arizona named Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, billing her as a sister “maverick,” the Alaska governor has been revealed to be something less.
Instead, she appears to be a conventional statehouse politician, a quicker study than many but less experienced than most, a politician more than willing to exploit the perks of her office, abuse its powers and fudge her record in the pursuit of her ambitions.
This is not change. This is politics as usual. This is George W. Bush in red patent-leather, peep-toe Naughty Monkey pumps.
Worse, perhaps. Mr. Bush, at least, would have known what the “Bush Doctrine” was when questioned about it by ABC’s Charlie Gibson on Thursday. Ms. Palin clearly had no clue, though to be fair, a year before Mr. Bush was elected president, he couldn’t name the then-leader of Pakistan (Pervez Musharraf). Ms. Palin easily rattled off “Saakashvili” and “Ahmadinejad” when asked about conditions in Georgia and Iran. She also pronounced “nuclear” correctly.
Alas, Ms. Palin seemed all too willing to go to war to defend Georgia if that nation is allowed to join NATO (which she supports) and to stand by Israel if it decides to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The Gibson interviews amply demonstrated why the McCain campaign kept Ms. Palin away from the press for a week. She had a lot of cramming to do. When Mr. Gibson asked her about her national security credentials, you could almost hear her coaches saying, “If he asks you about national security, governor, steer the conversation to oil. If he asks you about whether our troops are on a on a mission from God, here’s an old Abraham Lincoln quote to throw at him; it’s not relevant, but maybe it will confuse him.”
Ms. Palin survived her coming out party, but not well enough that the McCain campaign seems willing to trust her on her own. The campaign indicated Friday that the GOP ticket will campaign together for the next few weeks, the better for him to bask in her reflected glow and the better for her to avoid unscripted moments.
That decision speaks volumes about the fundamental cynicism of the Republican campaign, built around image and distortion, not the reality of the candidates’ qualifications or ideas. It screams “politics as usual.” If Sarah Palin is ready to be president of the United States, she should be willing to campaign on her own.
At some point, Ms. Palin must face questions without scripts and without chaperones. Voters must hear her talk not in vague bromides and generalities, but in specifics. She must offer details, not fuzzy denials, about why a pork-barrelling mayor and governor now pretends to be a reformer.
She must explain her role in what Alaskans call “Troopergate,” whether she tried to fire a state official who wouldn’t fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. She should explain why she thinks it is right to collect state money for staying in her own home in Wasilla and to fly her family to and from Wasilla and the state capital at state expense. She must explain the strange inconsistencies between her record and her public remarks.
Otherwise, voters will be left with no other conclusion: She’s a hothouse flower from a cold climate, not remotely ready for prime time.
As soon as Barack Obama explains his exact relationship with Tony Rezko and why he maintained a multi-year relationship with a couple of unrepentant terrorists, Governor Palin will get right on all those explanations the Way-Past-Disgust wants.
You people make me physically ill. Here is the Edwards interview:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2008/09/12/gibson-didn-t-pound-john-edwards-2004-asked-him-only-if-gop-attacks-made
Here is the Obama interview:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/rich-noyes/2008/09/12/2007-interview-abc-s-gibson-greeted-obama-softballs
I watched the MSNBC pundits Friday morning and they were all laughing because they did not know what the Bush Doctrine was. Apparently it is a 16-page piece from 2002. I didn’t know it either.
At some point, I just will assume that the PD is going to really tell us how Sen. Obama is more qualified after being a community organizer for 3 years to be president than Gov. Palin.
Just for fun, re-read your endorsement of Sen. Obama which I keep a copy of over my computer. Insert the name Gov. Palin instead of Sen. Obama and exchange the - because he is black for because she is a woman - and see what you get. You may be very surprised.
I will just assume that any day now we are going to get an editorial about Biden’s pick as VP. Isn’t it funny how the PD didn’t report what he said the other day about Hillary should have been the VP pick:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/biden-hillary-a.html
Really makes me wonder about Obama’s ability to make a decision. He can’t pick a VP, he can’t pick a pastor, he can’t pick friends. How long before he throws Biden under the bus with everyone else.
I wonder who is really pulling the strings here?
In an extensive taped interview with the entire editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune, Barack Obama answered questions about Tony Rezko and William Ayers until the panel ran out of questions to ask. This panel included John Kass, a conservative columnist who makes his living digging up and publishing dirt on local politicians. It’s perfectly fair to criticize Obama’s past decisions and actions, but to imply that he hasn’t been fully grilled and vetted by the Chicago and national media is, whether from ignorance or from malice, to completely misrepresent the facts.
Michael - not even a little true. Please tell me why Obama did not go after the Chicago-Daily corruption machine. Please tell me why the so-called press won’t discuss Obama’s association with Nadhmi Auchi who is not allowed in the U.S. In fact, people who work for the FBI have said that because of Obama’s associations with terrorists and and Nadhmi Auchi, Obama would fail the FBI’s background check and this guy is going to have all the country’s secrets. No thanks, pal.
For you Democrats, here is what Mark Penn said about the media’s treatment of Gov. Palin.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/11/politics/politicalplayers/main4442492.shtml
And funny the losers at the PD didn’t want to report Gov. Blagovich defending Gov. Palin’s work as a governor.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-blagojevich-palin,0,1253445.story
Here is a more honest assessment of the Bush Doctrine from a real newspaper of record and supporter of Obama:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091203324.html?sub=AR
Dear A CENTRIST,
A few responses and I’ll leave the field to you.
I’m not sure how much you really know about the “Chicago-Daily [sic] corruption machine” but from all you have written, I think you’d enjoy reading and quoting John Kass’s columns in the Chicago Tribune. And incidentally, corruption in Chicago probably does occur on a daily basis, but our mayor’s name is Richard Daley.
I certainly agree that the Washington Post is a first-rate newspaper, but the article you cite appears to be less a chronicle of facts and more a compilation of opinions. And I do believe the Chicago Tribune also qualifies as a major American newspaper that does some very good investigative reporting.
Barack Obama has been a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for four years, hardly a place for a terrorist sympathizer and security risk. I don’t know from which FBI sources you obtained information about Senator Obama’s security clearance. Perhaps you should name some names.
Finally, I think there are many valid issues where honorable, thoughtful people can differ with Senator Obama. Perhaps it would be a good idea to stick to these.
Maybe if ABC didnt cut the interview to cast doubts on Palin, the editorial staff of the Post Disgrace would have a different opinion. Yeah, right. The Post Disgrace is in the bag for Obamessiah, and they dont even try to hide it. They attack Palin’s moniker of “reformer”, but happily lick up without question The Chosen One’s moniker of “Change”. Maybe the Post Disgrace could do an article detailing all the change The Chosen One has brought to his former senate district where 125 murders were committed this summer, is that the type of change we can expect, gun wielding thugs against an unarmed citizenry?
According to ALL knowing financial wizard ALAN GREENSPAN:
AMERCIA CAN’T AFFORD McCAIN/PALIN
SAY NO TO McCAIN/PAIN!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080913/ap_on_el_pr/mccain