The Palin Effect

by Stephen Napier
10.08 V1.3

Since Barack Obama clinched the Democratic Nomination for the Presidency , I have been waiting for a signal of how he would run his administration. This would help me determine in what capacity I would support him. Would I simply cast my vote, would I send a check, or would I once again pound the pavement on behalf of a Presidential candidate, pouring my own blood sweat and tears onto his road to the White House? I chose to base my decision on the first Presidential decision of his career; the nomination of the Vice President.

A good Vice President must have three qualities in order to be effective in that role. First, the Vice Presidential nominee must be able to help the Presidential nominee get elected to the White House. Second, the Vice President must be able to serve the country well as key advisor to the President, a link between the Oval Office and the Congress and as an international spokesperson for the President. Finally, and most importantly, in the event that the President is unable to serve out his or her term in office the Vice President must be able to accomplish the most difficult maneuver in politics; leading a nation out of mourning (or anger) into brighter days while assuming all of the responsibilities of the Oval Office.

As the longest serving senator in the history of the state of Delaware, Joe Biden has a proven record of serving his constituents such that there has been no serious threat to his re-election during his twenty five year tenure in the Senate. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden has proven his skill as an international spokesperson. As a father, Joe Biden has overcome the loss of his wife at the tender age of thirty while tending to every need of their two sons and serving his first term as a United States Senator. With the selection of Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential nominee, Barack Obama demonstrated the kind of sound judgment that signals his readiness to lead the country on day one.

And then I waited for the other shoe to fall.

Three days ago I turned on CNN and saw an unknown woman standing next to John McCain and waving, with the words "Breaking News" at the bottom of the screen. John McCain had just introduced his running mate, Sarah Palin. Immediately I dove into my memory banks searching for anything I knew about this person who now stands a reasonable chance of being one heartbeat away from the most powerful office in the world. Apart from the vague recollection of a newly elected female Governor of Alaska I could come up with nothing.

So I turned to my laptop and a few clicks later I found out that Sarah Palin was less than two years into her first term as Governor of the most sparsely populated state in the country. Prior to her short and controversial reign as the Governor of Alaska Mrs. Palin was the Mayor of a town of about 7,000 people and a Beauty Queen. For the average person that would be an impressive resume but it hardly seems appropriate for the job of the Vice Presidency (let alone the Presidency). So now I must ask a question of John McCain. How could you? How could you, an American hero who has sacrificed so much for his country put us in such grave danger? As the oldest person to ever be nominated for the first time for the Presidency by a major party, how could you select such a novice to lead our country in the reasonably probable event of your incapacitation within the next four years? I have always disagreed with John McCain's policies, but with the selection of the frighteningly unprepared Sarah Palin as the Vice President to the oldest President in history I am forced to question the patriotism of this war hero. I am utterly disgusted.

Furthermore, for John McCain to stand next to a grossly unqualified woman and evoke the specter of Hillary Clinton is a slap in the face of every woman in America (with the possible exception of Sarah Palin). With a total lack of national and international experience in an election year defined by breaking race and gender barriers I have to wonder whether John McCain first considered her credentials or her gender when choosing Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential nominee. I suspect it was the latter.

Sarah Palin is dangerously unprepared. More importantly her selection as a Vice Presidential Candidate signals the complete inability of John McCain to make wise choices as Commander In Chief.

So Blood, Sweat and Tears on behalf of Barack Obama and Joe Biden it is. Thank you for making my decision easy John McCain.

Thanks to: Katie Passaretti

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