Saturday, September 27, 2008

Palin Red Flag

McCain actually offered praise for Sarah Palin last night. I was sort of surprised and sort of not. McCain seems like the loyal type, so I wasn't surprised. He'll defend Palin because he chose her and he genuinely seems to like her, even though she wasn't his first choice. But this raises a flag, Palin has made it clear that she's in over her head but McCain will loyally stand by her. More than anything, it calls McCain's thinking into question. 
The Biden Palin debate is Oct. 2. Interestingly, this is what the Obama camp said:
“We’ve looked at tapes of Gov. Palin’s debates, and she’s a terrific debater,” Plouffe told reporters on a conference call. “She has performed very, very well. She’s obviously a skilled speaker. We expect she’ll give a great performance next Thursday. “

What's up with that? Meanwhile, republicans are getting nervous.
NYT: History has shown again and again that a vice president must be ready to assume command of the ship of state on a moment’s notice. But Ms. Palin has given no indication yet that she is capable of handling the monumental responsibilities of the presidency if she were called upon to do so.

In fact, the opposite is the case. We know that there are some parts of Alaska from which, if the day is clear and your eyesight is good, you can actually see Russia. But the infantile repetition of this bit of trivia as some kind of foreign policy bona fide for a vice presidential candidate should give us pause.

The McCain campaign has done its bizarre best to shield Ms. Palin from any sustained media examination of her readiness for the highest offices in the land, and no wonder. She has been an embarrassment in interviews.

But the idea that the voters of the United States might install someone in the vice president’s office who is too unprepared or too intellectually insecure to appear on, say, “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” is mind-boggling.

The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing. You wouldn’t put an unqualified pilot in the cockpit of a jetliner. The potential for catastrophe is far, far greater with an unqualified president.