I'm sorry, Palin is NOT qualified

[liberalpragmatist]

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I have to get a few things off my chest.

When this pick was first announced everyone except right-wing bloggers and activists agreed that Palin was an absurd pick. Even the media agreed!

Yet now, people are only mentioning her political impact. It's like all the concerns about her fitness to be vice-president or president are suddenly gone.

Personally, I would wait to see how the campaign develops -- Palin might very well be a drag on the Republican ticket come November. But even if she is a political asset, that still does not change the fact that she is extremely unqualified for a national ticket.

Republicans (and some swing-voters, unfortunately) have compared her experience with Obama's. The comparison is ridiculous.

Let me break down the reasons why Palin is unqualified:

(1) She is the governor of a very small state -- a state of little over 600,000 people.
(2) She has been governor for under two years.
(3) She has NEVER expressed an opinion on major domestic issues and has never said anything about foreign policy aside from a couple contradictory statements on Iraq (calling it first "a mission from God" but later calling for an exit strategy).

Of the three, any one of these things is surmountable if the other two criteria are satisfied. For example, Bill Clinton in '92 was governor of a small state (still 5 times bigger than Alaska), but had governed for 12 years and had spoken and campaigned extensively on national issues.

And Barack Obama, though a senator for only four years, was elected in a large state and also has spoken about and campaigned extensively on major national issues.

Palin, however, falls flat on all three. And number three is really what's striking. Yes, she's inexperienced, but someone like Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, is at least credible as vice-president, because even though he's been a governor for only a year, he also served in Congress for a few years, was an assistant cabinet secretary and has spoken extensively on national issues. (He's also a right-wing nutjob on social issues, but that's beside the point.)

Palin has never expressed opinions on these issues. Obama, for all his inexperience, has campaigned for president for two years, has put forth a coherent national platform and has spoken extensively about foreign affairs and security. Palin never has.

[slackmaster]

1. I agree completely

:hi:

[monmouth]

2. John Dean has said the same thing, and legally, she is not qualified

from what he said. Should be interesting.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Obama is running for President -

Palin is a VP candidate.

To equate them is to attempt to diminish Obama.

Why not compare her to the obvious other - Joe Biden?

Yeah, right. Because that's too scary and it might show voters how vastly unqualified she is to be on that idiotic ticket.

Ignore this crap about Palin's experience v. Obama's. She is not on the same level that he is.

Let's compare McCain and Obama, Palin and Biden.

And then, let's stand back and watch the massacre.