Kathleen Parker: Palin should bail

It shouldn't matter if Palin quitting would make McCain a laughing stock. What should matter is if she is in fact qualified to be VP (and potentially President).

It's still possible to argue that she is qualified to lead the nation, but not qualified to speak on her own behalf because she has trouble forming her thoughts during interviews. In which case, she (and the McCain campaign have a long and arduous journey to the White House.)

If she believes what she has said during the interviews, then she IS NOT qualified to lead the country. If she simply stumbled (over and over and) over her words and doesn't believe what she said, then she needs to come out with some sort of statement explaining such.

If she isn't qualified to run the country, she needs to drop out of the race, or the McCain campaign needs to drop her from the race.

This isn't about McCain's reputation, this is about the country's safety/prosperity.

Everyone says she doesn't lack "smarts."

How would anyone know? What evidence is there that she is smart, in the sense of being able to understand complex problems?

I must agree with ed and j Dave. What evidence is there that she has intelligence and wisdom? It seems to me that she is only good at memorizing and spouting slogans, and looking pretty.

..and yet, Gallup shows the two tickets in a virtual dead heat. Why? At least part of the reason is implied by Parker's statement, viz., "If Ms. Palin were a man, we'd all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes". That is, as maladroit as Palin has been, Biden routinely delivers himself of the most astonishing verbal gaffes as well, and with far less excuse, if lack of experience is the explanation. Moreover, it's not like Obama can point to 25 years of experience in national politics either. Indeed, if the Democratic team were viewed as being clearly more experienced and competent than McCain/Palin, what with an unpopular war and the recent fiscal unpleasantness, they'd be up by 40 points now.

At the time of the Palin choice, there was a rumor circulating that McCain picked her in a fit of pique after his conservative backers denied him his right to choose his buddy Lieberman as his running mate. Rush Limbaugh had been pimping for Palin as VP for about two weeks or more and McCain may have just felt it was his only chance to assuage the super-cons.

McCain's folks defended her vigorously as a choice, but recognized their gaffe once they got to sit down with her and found out she is essentially an empty parka with designer glasses. Hence, the strategy to keep her away from the vultures of the press for as long as possible.

Now, like a lot of their strategic moves, it is unraveling in slow motion. Not being able to hold your own against Katie Couric is, well, a very bad sign.

Pass that popcorn.

No way should Sarah Palin quit! Shame on Kathleen Parker for even suggesting it.

I remember learning in school about the effect of TV on our presidential politics. I don't remember the exact examples, but the gist of it was that there have been some candidates that didn't "do" TV well, even though their stance on the issues was rock-solid. They may have looked unappealing, or stumbled around questions, or not really been comfortable with the cameras, but they still would have been a good choice for President because of their values and their platform.

Those who looked good, handled the media well, could deliver a sound bite or two, those were the ones who got elected, even with less-than solid positions on the important issues facing the country.

This TV effect is obviously still a factor today, since just about every American has a TV or access to one. If a candidate doesn't "do" TV well, they will not make it in politics. Proof of this is the judgement you all are placing on Sarah Palin.

So she stumbles a little, maybe isn't totally sure of herself, maybe inexperienced in the ways of the mainstream media. Big deal!! Her stance on the issues is outstanding, and that is what I care about. I could care less how she performs at the hands of some over zealous news reporter trying to "get her" with questions she may not be able to answer. When they ask her the same questions they ask the other VP candidate, then I may listen. Until then, I don't care.

Isn't America the place where "citizen legislators" are supposed to be the ideal? Aren't we all brought up believing that anyone can be president? I am willing to give Sarah Palin a chance based on this alone. She may need some time to hone her skills. She made need some time to learn how to function in Washington. It may take months, it may take years. I don't care. She deserves the chance. If we crucify her before she gets that chance, based only on a few sound bites and uncomfortable interviews, then shame on us.

You guys don't get it. Palin is not running for Vice President. Her job is to help John McCain get elected. The first item on her job description is: "Do not say anything that will hurt the Presidential candidate". If only Joe Biden had read that. If Palin had made the mistake of not even being able to answer a question off of "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" the media would have had a field day. Her job is not to make policy or try to dazzle the media, who is looking for any chance to destroy her. Her job is to rally the base and appeal to middle mainstream America, which she is doing and excellent job. Palin is smart enough to realize that on election day the only name that matters is the one on the top of the ticket.

McCain will have a very important job for her to do on January 24. Get in there and fight all of the Bush and Cheney cronies and deal with the most important issue facing the United States. Energy. No one can dispute that this is an area in which she does have a track record. Do you think he was going to ask a bunch of Halliburton and Exxon executives to clean house?????

Well, there goes the highly touted "experience" as mayor and governor that had some people putting her on a level above Obama. Experience can be over-rated. Witness the most experienced presidential candidate during the 2004 race. A lot of good that experience did for the last 4 years.

"The Cause, if it is just and right, can only be strengthened by truth-telling, and open discussion and debate."

Never compromise on your dedication to the true, the good, and the beautiful. He came to lead us in to Truth, after all.

Bless,
Doug

Jules, she stumbles a little? Are you serious? She can't utter an intelligible sentence. And how do we know what her real political views are when she hasn't (and perhaps can't) articulate them? Please folks, lay off the kool-aid before it is too late! ;)

Joe

"Biden is a gaffe machine." Very funny! Mind if I use that?

There is something different about him though (besides being a lefty I mean). The *is* evidence that Biden has smarts and analytical ability. He just let's his mouth get far ahead of him often. I even like that a little, that he isn't always measured. Biden's words are loose, but his actions are better considered - I don't think we can say that about McCain. (I wonder if that'll get flamed...)

Jules: I don't see what you do. To me, it doesn't look like Palin is merely stumbling or not used to TV yet. It looks to me like she simply is not up to the task. She is pro-life - that's great, but otherwise I don't see her doing anything except regurgitate Republican sound bites in an incoherent order. Someone who can run this country ought to be able to speak in full sentences.

And I'm with Rod that if Palin drops out, McCain is sunk.

Oh, and I'm sorry about the double post before - it took awhile for my first to show up and I thought it was lost somehow.

I think it was Churchill who said that Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

A McCain-Palin win would be the worst election result, except for all the others.

John C: Her ability to be president, and McCain's judgement in choosing her are the only things that are significant here. VPs matter much more than you say.

Reaganite: Most of us have heard Obama go toe-to-toe with Hillary in, how many primary debates were there? In spite of how loathesome she may be, Hillary is tough and very smart - far tougher than Couric or Gibson. Obama stumbled a little now and then, but nothing at all like Palin did. C'mon. It's not even close. Not even the same league.

Wow, reading the threads here the past couple of days I've developed a lot of sympathy for Rod. I've been pretty harsh on him this week for touting Palin as recently as a week ago, but another poster here put it well: the man's willing to change his mind if he comes to the conclusion that the facts warrant it, even if some of us are gnashing our teeth because those facts seemed obvious from the get go.

I've tried to honestly observe my own motivations and judgment in evaluating Palin, considering that I'd decided late last year that the Bush administration was infested with criminals and that the only solution was a complete executive branch change of guard in order to try to find where some of the bodies are buried, bombs are planted, and money is hidden. Once I finally bid a sad adieu to my affection for Rudy, I settled on Obama as the best selection on the slate (back before Iowa when it still looked like there was no way he'd pull it off).

But still, I'd been inclined to like Palin. I knew the name, and had a sense of her as one of the young Republican Western governors with potential, who had some appealing eccentricities. Like Johnson, the former gov here in NM before Richardson, who unfortunately dropped away after supporting relaxation of marijuania enforcement.

Then, I'm sorry, she opened her mouth. To say again what Rod is sick of saying: the issue isn't her lack of world travel experience, administrative skills, or even necessarily intelligence. (Not to say I think she's qualified in the latter two categories; jury's still out.)

I've hired enough staff over my career to know that sometimes an otherwise qualified candidate brings a fatal flaw. It's always frustrating when the person making the hire realizes it, usually in the interview. It's an obvious problem - a baby they're expecting to bring to work, the need to take a month off a month after starting, painful shyness even though it's a sales position. And it's frustrating because this otherwise qualified person should have had enough forethought to realize they shouldn't even bother applying and wasting everyone's time.

Palin's fatal flaw is her lack of intellectual curiosity. She exhibits no interest in exposing herself to, and learning from, the perspectives and experiences of those who have led different lives than she has. We're looking for typical evidence of this - books read, travel, lessons learned - anything. But it all comes back to the same thing. Palin has shown no sign of really being interested in the people in which she is applying to govern who differ from her, or in the people around the world with whom she will be called on to mediate the intersections of our lives and theirs.

In my book, that's a deal breaker. If Palin had a genuinely active mind, we would have seen a sign of it. An offhand reference to a book she'd read, a homily that had moved her, a story of a letter from a penpal abroad, an appearance at an issue-focued panel of some kind where she was recorded making incisive observations.

Anything.

God bless Sarah, but this, from the reputable Editor and Publisher, really sums her up, I'd say:

"But our favorite revelation concerned that day in 1996 she told her husband she was going to Anchorage to shop at Costco-- and instead ended up at J.C. Penney's to meet Ivana Trump, who was doing a perfume appearance there. I went to the Anchorage Daily News archives for the full article. Here is how the story, by Tom Bell, opened: "Sarah Palin, a commercial fisherman from Wasilla, told her husband on Tuesday she was driving to Anchorage to shop at Costco. Instead, she headed straight for Ivana. And there, at J.C. Penney's cosmetic department, was Ivana, the former Mrs. Donald Trump, sitting at a table next to a photograph of herself. She wore a light-colored pantsuit and pink fingernail polish. Her blonde hair was coiffed in a bouffant French twist. 'We want to see Ivana,'' said Palin, who admittedly smells like salmon for a large part of the summer, ''because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture.'""

Anyone who 10 years ago identified Ivana Trump with culture simply doesn't clear the bar, I'd say, from either a traditionalist or a progressive stance within the grand story of our civilization. If there's one thing I hope we can all agree on here, the glamour and culture represented by Ivana is something that needs to be de-emphasized in our society, not enshrined at its heart.

Bless,
Doug

J Dave G

Did you vote for John Kerry? So apparently John Edwards was fit to be President. Give me a break. You probably agree with Bill Clinton's definition of "is". At least Hillary knew about all of Bill's womanizing before and during their marriage. She did not care one bit. I think John Edward's wife cared a bit. While he was parading his cancer survivor wife around to garner sympathy votes, he was in the back of the campaign bus gettin it on with one of his staffers. One who was on the payroll to film his campaign, but she had so A/V experience. Which is immoral at best and criminal at worst. Is that the type of candidates you support? I have had enough of all of you people with BDS. On November the 4th, when middle America votes, Palin will be a positive for McCain. All of us could just as well stay home.

"Palin's fatal flaw is her lack of intellectual curiosity. She exhibits no interest in exposing herself to, and learning from, the perspectives and experiences of those who have led different lives than she has."

Maybe because she's been too busy raising 5 kids while working full time at demanding, high-profile jobs? As an intellectually curious working mother who can barely find time to a read a book, I bristle a little at the suggestion that, on top of the legendary multitasking she was already doing, she really should have found time to travel the world, explore other cultures, etc., etc. And because she didn't, she's obviously a closed-minded, self-satisfied yokel.

There are only so many hours in the day, folks. Give the woman a break.

She's still gonna have her five kids. She's still going to have the high profile job.

If she couldn't squeeze in any reading before, how will she if she got elected, when it becomes part of the job description?

As you said, only so many hours in the day.

Thanks for the sexist comment, maisie.

Note that the current occupant of the White House is also distinguished by a shortage of intellectual curiosity. I don't think that sort of deficit is easy to get over. And intellectual curiosity isn't some useless, elitist criterion; it's a job requirement for good performance in a high level job.

The funniest line I've heard today: "Moose lips sink ships."

We should demand competence, not makes excuses for lack of it.

Daniel's exactly right. It's this kind of temporizing that saddled the conservative movement with boobies like Dubya. Enough. Sarah may be a nice enough person in private, and she might turn out to be a fantastic governor, but she's nowhere near being ready to take over the White House. Denying this obvious fact is like trying maintain geocentricity as a plausible cosmology.

Kathleen Parker is a Romneybot and this isn't the first column in which she criticized Palin.

I am a Liberal dissenter here. I actually see very little difference between Palin and a lot of politicians who spew empty platitudes 95% of the time. Think of George Bush during his first debate with John Kerry (It's hard work; it's hard work); or any number of Reagan-esque moments. Now, her insistence on the credentials she got to deal with Russia by seeing it from Alaska is a classic, for sure. But I think she is actually being held to a higher standard. People expected a lot more from her, and are pretty shocked to discover how bad she really is. But she is hardly alone. Democracies (at least this one) have a nasty habit of electing unqualified people to high office. I wonder if she can spell "potato(e)!

My God! It just occurred to me that John McCain picked Shelly Tambo to be his running mate! Why not Maggie O'Connell???

Give Sarah another 6 or 8 months and she'll be more polished and precise, too.

She doesn't have 6 or 8 months to hopefully improve. You do realize the election is in 6 weeks or so? Voters can't wait to see if Our Sarah picks up her game for 6 or 8 months because there's a good chance she will never be better on substance.

Is it unfair that she doesn't get a little more time? Sure. But that's McCain's fault for picking someone utterly unprepared for the national stage. Joe Lieberman wouldn't have needed 6 or 8 months. Mitt Romney wouldn't have needed that time. Tom Ridge wouldn't have needed that time. Joe Biden doesn't need that time. But McCain made a deal with the devil and the social conservative movement and now we have Our Sarah bumbling and confused, creating a spectacle.

A year from now, Vice-President Sarah Palin will be holding her own, and even more, on TV, with heads of state, at the Senate, and even in your eyes.

We don't have a year to hope and pray she gets better. We need someone who is ready now, or at least by the time they are sworn in. She's shown no aptitude for grasping the big issues and appears not able to master more than one complicated issue at one time.

She's trained to be on-air. It's not that the basic of her nonsubstantive performance is bad, it's that she can't think on her feet on substantive issues.

Why are you so tolerant of incompetence?

I am a conservative Christian from California (gasp!) who wrote on this blog a month ago that I was pushed to vote for Obama/Biden due to the selection of Sarah Palin who I feel is remarkably unqualified.

She isn't going to improve, like Obama improved. Obama was never as bad as Sarah anyway. Sarah's past gives you those clues except most of the right refuses to acknowledge the facts. Sarah Palin went to 5 yes 5 various colleges before she finally graduated with a BA in Journalism. She worked here and there for a little while, retired to have children, emerged as a mayor of a 2000 person town, and finally became governor for all of 18 mos. That means her exposure to world events, debating, Wall Street derivative markets, global economics, historic diplomacy matters (required for the middle east), various economic scenarios from the past such as stagflation, etc. has been all of 18 mos.

Obama, with his Ivy League education and work in the Chicago congress with more constituents than Wasilla, has been exposed to these matters all his adult life. Big difference. Even while teaching law Obama was forced to acquire knowledge on various thorny legal matters of the day. Not so Sarah Palin, with her kids and mayor of Wasilla.

Sorry but we all KNEW people like Sarah Palin in college- the underachievers, not a lot of concrete plans etc. I'm tired of the right confusing lack of exposure/intellect for "folksy political chops". I never read Kathleen Parker before but I will start reading her now. Obama and Biden are both Christians, I am fine with that.

There's a lot of speculation here about Palin's future performance. She can do a good interview / she can't do a good interview. The NYT had an interesting article last week about her actual executive style and track record as gov. Palin's mode of governing appears to be highly partisan, personal, vindictive and secretive. She demands unwavering loyalty from her staff and rewards old friends in a manner much akin to old school cronyism.

One excerpt:
"Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials."

The full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?pagewanted=print

I've been a life-long Republican. Eight years of Bush has made it patently clear what happens when you combine political power with incurious dogmatism born of the religious notion that because you are in a personal relationship with God, and God is Absolute Truth, therefore whatever you believe must be absolutely true.

I was also involved in the Assemblies of God (AOG) church for many years -- the same church Palin was raised in. Bush prayed before invading Iraq. Maybe he should have thought about it a bit more instead. The AOG has decidedly anti-intellectual roots. Far more so than Bush's Methodist background. Now we have the prospect of someone w/ little experience and and even less intellectual curiousity potentially becoming the next commander-in-chief. And how will she decide to invade the next country that threatens her siege mentality? Will she consult all her favorite fellow ideologues and then confirm it in her "spirit" by praying "Shandala, shandala, shandala" in tongues for a few hours? The prospect terrifies me.

Typo... Jon Stewart (not Steward) of The Daily Show.

For her hatchet job on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Kathleen Parker will be stripped of her conservative credentials and be given a new title that more properly aligns with her talents and demeanor: The Aging Shrew.

The Aging Shrew has reached her peak and is now on the decline. She feels that she is not being given the proper deference by her chosen social/political circle. She takes out her frustration on the nearest woman who is younger, prettier, smarter, and far more successful than she can ever hope to be.

This particular Aging Shrew found that Sarah Palin was the perfect candidate. Palin had all the qualifications -younger, prettier, smarter, and more successful- plus she was a nationally known conservative figure. The Aging Shrew held Palin to a higher standard than has ever been expected of any potential VP in United States history, then crabbed about it.

As a somewhat well known conservative, this was sure to be shouted from the rooftops by every moonbat in the country. Perfect! The target of jealousy was brought low and revenge was wreaked upon conservatives for imagined slights.

Kathleen Parker, age 58, will hereafter be known as The Aging Shrew when she comes up in conversation or print, which will not be much as we will not read or refer to any of her writings in future.

Signed: The League of Conservative Readers.

Mc\Palin'08

Rob, thank you for that thoughtful defense of Parker. Too often does political discourse get dragged down by irrational, emotional and fanatic reaction . ..as evidenced by some of these comments here. "The Aging Shrew"? Really? Grow up.

I am not in agreement with the "aging shrew" comment but I am somewhat disappointed by Parker's "profile?" of Palin as an unqualified VP candidate. Therehas been enough aired regarding the background of both Palin and Obama so one has to ask, Who has the more riunded background from a political standpoint? Anyone who has done research on Obama knows thathe has been tied into the "corrupt Chicago political machine "since the beginning of his political career. HE HAS NO EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE!!!! Has he ever has "a job"? Everyone is asking the question as to "whould Palin be able to step in as President if something happened to McCaic?" If Obama has the credentials???? to run for President how can we question her ability to assume that same position especially when you have to accept that the presidential position is that of a "figurehead". Does this position really have any power? NOOOOOOOO. Don't believeit; Farm Bill voted, over-ruled by Congress. Doesn't like rulings by Supreme Court; too bad. Want to go to war? Can't. Congress has to declare war. The new Spending Bill, Bush didn't like it but he new if he voted it that CONGRESS would override it. New Bail Out Plan? CONGRESS will decide not the President. His advisors, committees, and "close friends" tell what "is best". With this scenario of our dismally run legislature can anyone "not be electes to be Presidentcy?" I know what you're thinking; in this case why not Obama?? Because his association with radical, leftwing organizations, and his 200+ millions in earmarks make me question his true motives for what is best for this country.

PS. for Ms. Parker - I have always supported your opinions but this latest slant has me questioning your perspective of fairness toward an ndividual of Sarah Palin's caliber. In the history of VP candidates there has never been a more bitter attack than the one on Palin. Only a Governor? Huckabee, Rominey, and other choices were Governors. Would they have beenattacked lie this? Nobecause they would have been males. Shame on you and the rest of the left-wing media for these attacks. She will eat Biden's lunch.

Bk in Jacksonville

Sounds like Kathleen Parker is just jealous........could she secretly be a Democrat? LOL Her assertions are completely laced with bias based on taste not fact.