Did you see the excerpts on World News Tonight? I did, and was not impressed.
She didn't make any mistakes, but she came across as scripted and overprepared, regurgitating talking points that had been drilled, baby, drilled into her head. In an interview that focused on national security, Charlie Gibson asked her at one point what she thought of the Bush Doctrine, a very elemental foreign policy question. It's not like a "Who's the president of Azerbaijan?" gotcha. Palin plainly didn't know what Gibson was talking about.
She said that Ukraine and Georgia should be brought into NATO, and that the US should be prepared to go to war to defend them against Russia. Which only follows logically, of course, but it's startling to hear it put so bluntly. This is precisely the position of Barack Obama, so don't be thinking that the Dems have an advantage over the Repubs on this question (would that they did!).
Overall, Palin made no mistakes, but if you were like me -- someone who likes her and is predisposed to give her the benefit of the doubt, but who has significant reservations about her readiness for the job, precisely because of foreign policy -- well, nothing she said tonight put you at ease. At all. If you're an Obama voter, you sensed vulnerability, and smelled opportunity.
More later, after the Nightline portion of the interview...
UPDATE: OK, that was painful. A tense recitation of talking points. I don't expect a state governor to be able to converse about foreign affairs with the depth of a SAIS adjunct professor, or even a grad student. What I was looking for was not factual precision, but a sense of how she thinks, and where her instincts pointed. What I got was either a) distressing on its face if she really does have that unsubtle a view of the world, given what we've all lived through in the past seven years, or b) she doesn't know much, and is regurgitating the Republican platitudes in which she's been abruptly catechized.
The thing is, I'm not sure this hurts her politically. George W. Bush has been talking like this, both in terms of style and substance, for seven years.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
I searched and searched to find reaction to these interviews and was beginning to think I was in an alternate reality. It seemed that people much smarter than I am did not see what I saw. As a woman, and a Barack Obama supporter, I am sensitive to the fact that he could lose to John McCain. Particularly having experienced a second term with George Bush; and that a woman VP like Sarah Palin has obviously energized the conservative base and the interest of women. If McCain prevails, I hope and pray he is a maverick with sustainable physical and mental health. But this particular VP pick makes me cringe. We are fully on the world stage at this time. Everyone is watching very closely and unlike sleepy Americans, they will not be fooled by rehearsed scripts. This decision will be indicative of McCain's (like Bush's) hypocracy....."Country First." No, Election First! Appearances first, Perception First, Career First.... I am beginning to feel that McCain believes the presidency is owed to him for his sacrifices. And like one who was historically satisfied with bottom of the class, flying jets with inferior skill, marrying wealth, voting 90% with Georgypoo, ridiculously negative campaigning, his economic plan for the rich and now Sarah Palin....he will take the short cut to power and placate to the wealthiest Americans. Another puppet and vice puppet for the smarter, most powerful few who have found a way to take US tax payers trillions, and some from China, and continue this folly of foreign policy and domestic bankruptcy for their own amusement like a high stakes chess game. Checkmate.
A lot of you are saying that you didn't expect her to do well on foreign policy, so you weren't gravely disappointed. Low expectations doesn't qualify her for VP. She scares the hell out of me.
I only saw the ABC Evening News parts of the interview, but just with those I was totally Underwhelmed. I was a Clinton supporter, but unfortunately that didn't work out. Just because Palin is a woman doesn't mean I'll switch my votes to the Republican side. (am an Independent). As much as I'd like to see a woman as VP and perhaps eventually President, Palin isn't the one. For one thing, she is entirely TOOOOO conservative. Her opposition to Roe V Wade ie abortion rights (in particular not even an exception for rape and incest is outrageous) plus her lack of support for stem cell research, her support of guns, (even simi-automatics) and many other stances..sorry, Sarah, no vote here.
I agree pagansister.... I wonder why conservatives like Palin stop at the mother's health risk. If abortion is wrong, why not just see who the doctor saves. Why is the mother's life worth more than the baby, and wouldn't this be considered a late term abortion? If we are honoring the right to life issue, why take it upon yourself now to say that the baby no longer has a right to life?
I saw the interview, (before the interview, I was an undecided) but quickly became decided after her interview. I have decided Sarah doesn't get my vote. She was sooooo scripted. The scary thing was that at no point do I think she tried to look within herself for a true answer to questions on where she truly stood on the issues, she had no indepth true answer. Everything sounded and looked pitifully rehearsed, memorized, and scripted. This was sad to see from someone who wants my vote for a position which would put them a step away from running the major aspects of the fundamentals of the america life. At some point her fame and fortune should be set aside and she should wake up and say "what am I doing here, I need to go home, because I truly don't belong here, not because I'm a woman but because I know in my heart this stuff is way over my head". I think McCain could have found another great woman, I would have been happier with someone else.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.