Scholars question Palin credentials

[n2doc]

By FRED BARBASH & DAVID MARK |

John McCain was aiming to make history with his pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and historians say he succeeded.

Presidential scholars say she appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era.

So unconventional was McCain’s choice that it left students of the presidency literally “stunned,” in the words of Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. “Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with the normal criteria for determining who’s of presidential caliber,” said Goldstein.

“I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major-party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek.

That includes Spiro T. Agnew, Richard Nixon’s first vice president, who was governor of a medium-sized state, Maryland, for two years, and before that, executive of suburban Baltimore County, the expansive jurisdiction that borders and exceeds in population the city of Baltimore.

It also includes George H.W. Bush’s vice president, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle, who had served in the House and Senate for 12 years before taking office. And it also includes New York Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, who served three terms in the House before Walter Mondale chose her in 1984 as the first female candidate on a major-party ticket.

“It would be one thing if she had only been governor for a year and a half, but prior to that she had not had major experience in public life,” Dallek said of Palin. “The fact that he would have to go to somebody who is clearly unqualified to be president makes Obama look like an elder statesman.”

More:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/13001.html

[2Design]

1. makes Obama look like an elder statesman

I love that - he does look and talk like a statesman unlike anything republic

[stillcool]

2. Judgment and Temperament...

McCain is insane. Sending out a glossy slick image hoping no one will read the fine print. Shows how much he thinks of the American people. He must have forgot about the internet.

[vanderBeth]

3. Anyone with half a brain would question her credentials.

They need to get these actual scholars on the MSM rather than some McCain strategist whom spew whatever crap they want.