The Female Factor
"After John McCain, Sarah Palin is the Republican best qualified to become president."
Read this sentence aloud with a straight face. How far did you get? Even if you can say it now, could you have spontaneously said it a week ago? If not, what has changed?
Substitute "Barack Obama", " Joe Biden" and "Democrat" for the proper nouns in this sentence, and the only problem would be saying that Mr O is somehow more qualified than Mr B. (Reread the last Glazerbeam on this point.) Still, the choice of Governor Palin undercuts the Republican claim that Obama is "not ready" to become president.
Of the myriads of people who have praised this choice as brilliant (or better), how many of them would have been this elated if McCain had nominated a male Republican with an equally thin resume?
It is obvious that Governor Palin got the nod because McCain wanted a female running-mate, and of the handful of Republican women holding statewide office, Sarah Palin does stand out as more attractive and feisty than the others. It helps that her political positions are even more standard Republican than McCain's. Many Republicans favor drilling in ANWR even though it could hurt the caribou herd; Sarah Palin actually hunts caribou. I can picture her warning one of the beasts, " Go ahead, antlerhead, make my day!" before pulling the trigger.
Although governor for less than two years of a sparsely-populated state, and previously the mayor of a very small (pop. 6,715) town called Wasilla, her qualifications to serve as vice-president are actually about even with some vice-presidential nominees : Franklin Roosevelt, (*) William Miller (1) and Spiro Agnew, for example. Even the boyish-looking Dan Quayle had served in both the House and Senate before being chosen for VP, although he was a very junior member of both chambers. Richard Nixon, although a senator for only two years when tapped by General Eisenhower in 1952, had won national fame in the Alger Hiss case while a congressman.
Most nominees for vice president had been experienced senators (such as Harry Truman, John Bricker (2), Alben Barkley, Estes Kefauver, Henry Cabot Lodge (3), Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Ed Muskie, Bob Dole, Lloyd Bentsen, Al Gore, Walter Mondale and Joe Lieberman) or had served in either the president's cabinet (such as Henry Wallace , Jack Kemp and Dick Cheney) or in other important positions (such as George H W Bush, former Director of Central Intelligence and Ambassador to the UN and China, and Sargent Shriver, who had organized both the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty.)
But will Sarah Palin draw lots of votes from disappointed Hillary-backers who want a woman on the ticket? The feminist base of Hillary Clinton's support will never vote for McCain, because he is strongly anti-abortion; the choice of VP will make no difference. On the other hand, millions of voters in the later primaries backed Hillary Clinton as the Great White Hope against Barack Obama, not because they wanted a female candidate. These voters, for whom race trumps gender, rejected Obama in the primaries and will reject him again in November, also regardless of the VP nominees. McCain had them at "hello." The trouble for the GOP is that for every voter who doesn't want an African-American to become president, there is another one who doesn't a woman in line for the presidency.
The more fair-minded voters will judge Sarah Palin on how she performs in the campaign, especially at the crucial debate with Joe Biden. If she can avoid any blunders or gaffes, she will be a net asset to the Republican ticket.
If the McCain-Palin ticket wins, and Vice President Palin can avoid misspelling "potato" and blowing any other grade-school questions, she will outshine Dan Quayle. Even if she does not have the big time policy-making influence of Dick Cheney, she will be adequate for the largely ceremonial duties of the vice president.
But in the unlikely event that John McCain (at 72, the oldest person to become president (4)) is unable to complete his term of office, we will all learn the hard way if Sarah Palin is really prepared to become the 45th President of the United States.
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(*) At the time Franklin D Roosevelt was nominated for vice president by the Democrats in 1920, he had been a state senator and Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The fact that he was the eponomous cousin and nephew (by marriage) of President Theodore Roosevelt may have helped secure the nomination.
(1) Rep. William E Miller of Lockport, NY, was the running-mate of Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964. After losing the election, Miller became a spokesman for a credit-card company.
(2) The Ohio senator who ran with NY Governor Thomas E Dewey in 1944, Bricker is best known for his proposal to amend the Constitution to give the states the right to vote on treaties.
(3) Lodge, who lost his Massachusetts senate seat in 1952 to John F Kennedy, served as US Ambassador to the United Nations before being picked for VP by Richard Nixon in 1960.
(4) Ronald Reagan became president at 69 and was 73 when re-elected. If McCain serves two terms, he will be 80 years old when he leaves office.
Read this sentence aloud with a straight face. How far did you get? Even if you can say it now, could you have spontaneously said it a week ago? If not, what has changed?
Substitute "Barack Obama", " Joe Biden" and "Democrat" for the proper nouns in this sentence, and the only problem would be saying that Mr O is somehow more qualified than Mr B. (Reread the last Glazerbeam on this point.) Still, the choice of Governor Palin undercuts the Republican claim that Obama is "not ready" to become president.
Of the myriads of people who have praised this choice as brilliant (or better), how many of them would have been this elated if McCain had nominated a male Republican with an equally thin resume?
It is obvious that Governor Palin got the nod because McCain wanted a female running-mate, and of the handful of Republican women holding statewide office, Sarah Palin does stand out as more attractive and feisty than the others. It helps that her political positions are even more standard Republican than McCain's. Many Republicans favor drilling in ANWR even though it could hurt the caribou herd; Sarah Palin actually hunts caribou. I can picture her warning one of the beasts, " Go ahead, antlerhead, make my day!" before pulling the trigger.
Although governor for less than two years of a sparsely-populated state, and previously the mayor of a very small (pop. 6,715) town called Wasilla, her qualifications to serve as vice-president are actually about even with some vice-presidential nominees : Franklin Roosevelt, (*) William Miller (1) and Spiro Agnew, for example. Even the boyish-looking Dan Quayle had served in both the House and Senate before being chosen for VP, although he was a very junior member of both chambers. Richard Nixon, although a senator for only two years when tapped by General Eisenhower in 1952, had won national fame in the Alger Hiss case while a congressman.
Most nominees for vice president had been experienced senators (such as Harry Truman, John Bricker (2), Alben Barkley, Estes Kefauver, Henry Cabot Lodge (3), Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Ed Muskie, Bob Dole, Lloyd Bentsen, Al Gore, Walter Mondale and Joe Lieberman) or had served in either the president's cabinet (such as Henry Wallace , Jack Kemp and Dick Cheney) or in other important positions (such as George H W Bush, former Director of Central Intelligence and Ambassador to the UN and China, and Sargent Shriver, who had organized both the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty.)
But will Sarah Palin draw lots of votes from disappointed Hillary-backers who want a woman on the ticket? The feminist base of Hillary Clinton's support will never vote for McCain, because he is strongly anti-abortion; the choice of VP will make no difference. On the other hand, millions of voters in the later primaries backed Hillary Clinton as the Great White Hope against Barack Obama, not because they wanted a female candidate. These voters, for whom race trumps gender, rejected Obama in the primaries and will reject him again in November, also regardless of the VP nominees. McCain had them at "hello." The trouble for the GOP is that for every voter who doesn't want an African-American to become president, there is another one who doesn't a woman in line for the presidency.
The more fair-minded voters will judge Sarah Palin on how she performs in the campaign, especially at the crucial debate with Joe Biden. If she can avoid any blunders or gaffes, she will be a net asset to the Republican ticket.
If the McCain-Palin ticket wins, and Vice President Palin can avoid misspelling "potato" and blowing any other grade-school questions, she will outshine Dan Quayle. Even if she does not have the big time policy-making influence of Dick Cheney, she will be adequate for the largely ceremonial duties of the vice president.
But in the unlikely event that John McCain (at 72, the oldest person to become president (4)) is unable to complete his term of office, we will all learn the hard way if Sarah Palin is really prepared to become the 45th President of the United States.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*) At the time Franklin D Roosevelt was nominated for vice president by the Democrats in 1920, he had been a state senator and Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The fact that he was the eponomous cousin and nephew (by marriage) of President Theodore Roosevelt may have helped secure the nomination.
(1) Rep. William E Miller of Lockport, NY, was the running-mate of Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964. After losing the election, Miller became a spokesman for a credit-card company.
(2) The Ohio senator who ran with NY Governor Thomas E Dewey in 1944, Bricker is best known for his proposal to amend the Constitution to give the states the right to vote on treaties.
(3) Lodge, who lost his Massachusetts senate seat in 1952 to John F Kennedy, served as US Ambassador to the United Nations before being picked for VP by Richard Nixon in 1960.
(4) Ronald Reagan became president at 69 and was 73 when re-elected. If McCain serves two terms, he will be 80 years old when he leaves office.
Labels: "vice-president", McCain, Palin
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 5:41 AM
3 Comments:
The truth is that Palin has more experience, that is relative to the office of the president, than Obama, McCain and Biden combined.
The presidency is an executive position. This means that the executive makes decisions and must take responsibility for them and only the executive. On the other hand a senator has no decision making responsibilities. All they do is become members of committees that make recommendations. The decisions are all made by the group, i.e Senate, not any single senator. This is a huge difference and one that Obama, Biden and McCain have never faced.
This is not completely true in one instance and that is McCain who did have executive experience in the military as he was captain and leader in the Navy who actually did make decisions that affected others and that he had to take responsibility for.
Palin was a mayor and then a governor, therefore, she has had about 10 years of executive experience, and she executed that power in a fair way and independent manner. She proved that she is independent of special interests even if those interests are Republican. The truth is that Palin has already done exactly what Obama claims he wants to do. The truth is that Palin is the most experienced person for an executive position like the president than any other presidential or vice presidential candidate this year.
The other important issue here is that this is the first actual decision either candidate has had to make that is relevent to the job as president.
Obama chose an attack-dog Washington insider. Biden has been a senator for over 30 years, what could be more business as usual politics and less of a change than that? Obama's choice belies his stated claim of "change". Why? He did this because Biden is a known attack dog who he thought would attack and challenge the experience of McCain. A political move that contradicted his own stated goal of "change".
On the other hand McCain chose a Washington outsider, fiercely independent conservative, who defied her own party. Palin is as much or more of a maverick and independent than McCain. So McCain chosed someone who he has supported for a long time and who has his own beliefs regarding government. McCain chose someone who he can ally with to truly change how government works.
So which candidate is truly about change? The one who chose an older Washington insider or the one who chose a young independent woman from Alaska?
Which candidate chose someone who had similar policies and methods of government or someone who was chosen simply to help in the election or to symbolically fulfill acklnowledged holes in his own experience? Palin is very similar to McCain in polices and methoids of government, but Biden and Obama have nothing in common. Biden is simply there to deflect accusations of inexperience and because he is an attack-dog who will say nasty things about McCain in the race.
So which one made the better choice for VP? Which one made the choice for political reasons and which one made the choice based on policies?
I think that McCain made the far better choice for changing how this country works and for fostering his own policies and programs. I think McCain's choice was less poltically motivated and chosen more honestly and in a more straight forward manner.
McCain's choice was in fact brilliant.
One more thing.
It is highly unlikely Palin was chosen to pick up women Hillary supporters because Palin is opposite of Hillary on basic liberal/conservative issues like abortion. No Hillary supporter would vote for someone who is against abortion, that is a core issue for liberal women.
Palin was chosen in part for just the opposite reason to solidify the base because McCain's conservative credentials are lacking or suspect. Palin removes all doubts and ensures full conservative support. Just listen to Rush if you doubt this.
Compare this below with Obama's 20 years sitting in the pews of a church and pastor that were and are anti-Israel.
Ivan
Alaska's Jewish Community on Palin Selection
Sarah Pelin has established a great relationship with the Jewish community over recent years, and has attended several of our Jewish cultural gala events,” said Rabbi Yossel Greenberg, Chabad emissary in Alaska.
Shturem.net
The Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Alaska, Rabbi Yossi Greenberg, said that Alaka's Governor Sarah Pelin has "established a great relationship with the Jewish community over recent years, and has attended several of our Jewish cultural gala events,” he told Lubavitch.com
Palin has shown solidarity with Israel by signing a State of Alaska Resolution recognizing Israel's 60th Anniversary and its relationship with Alaska. In the resolution, Governor Palin pointed to Alaska’s special connection to Israel dating back to Alaska Airlines’ participation in the rescue of 40,000 Yemenite Jews when it airlifted them from Yemen to Tel Aviv during 1948 and 1949.
Drafted by members of the Alaska Legislation and heavily supported by Speaker of the House, Representative John Harris, Governor Palin signed the resolution in the presence of Alaska’s Jewish community leaders this June.
According to Greenberg, Governor Palin had plans to visit Israel with members of the Jewish community, which did not happen yet because of scheduling conflicts.
On a personal level, Greenberg was “impressed by Governor Palin’s remarks of hope and faith when she gave birth to a child with special needs.” Her words, he observed, were completely aligned with Judaism’s traditional views on embracing the birth of child with special needs as a gift of G-d, no less than is the birth of any baby.
Though Greenberg was unequivocal in stating that Chabad representatives do not endorse political candidates, and as spiritual leaders reach out to anyone regardless of political affiliation, he did say, "We all feel that the Governor is a remarkable, energetic, and good person."
In a special interview with Shturem.net Greenberg was asked about the rumors that she had supported Pat Buchanan in the past, Greenberg said, "I heard about it now for the first time. It happened many years ago when she was mayor, she was very young and a newcomer to politics, people change, and knowing her, if it is true, she did it not because she was attracted to his anti-Semitc or anti-Israel views but to the positive elements in Buchanan's outlook. "I can tell you this, from the time she became governor she has always supported the Jewish community and Israel and even sponsored a bill on behalf of Israel. She always comes to our events and she is really a very amazing woman.
"She may lack a lot of knowledge on matters pertaining to foreign policy but she is a quick learner, and besides, every president has advisers around him. She is a very good person, she is very honest, a very dedicated and wonderful mother.
Asked if being elected will force her to neglect her children, Greenberg said "absolutely not, she is a remarkable woman. She takes her baby that was born with Downs Syndrome to all of her meetings. She is a mother first."
(After the interview with Rabbi Greenberg, Shturem.net was informed that Governor Palin had actually supported Buchanan's competitor Steve Forbes at the time).
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