1. Palin has more experience than Obama because she has "Executive" experience.
The first problem with this logic is that if we use executive experience as the metric, then she is the most qualified person on the field, as neither Obama or Biden have executive experience. Then again, neither does McCain. So, why isn't she on top of the ticket?
Let's talk about executive experience. Let's talk about a black guy who has gone from some random senator the first black man in the US to secure a major party's nomination. Along the way, he beat one of the biggest names in US politics. In order to do that, he had to build an organization which in two years raised a record amount of money and made Barack Obama into a household name. You can't do that if you don't hire the right people. That's a big function of being an executive.
The executive position is a position of leadership. Obama convinced 2 million people to donate to his cause. On his way to the nomination, he secured 18 million votes. Palin got 114,697 votes in her gubernatorial bid. Who's the better leader? Who's the better executive? Even better, who would you want to run your campaign?
2. Palin has more foreign policy experience because Alaska is close to Russia.
I don't know much about the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug region of Russia, but I doubt that it's a major Russian military staging platform. I do know that in case of a national emergency, the POTUS is the CIC of the National Guard. I don't know if Gov. Palin has ever dealt directly with any leader from any other nation, but I'm quite confident that she's never had a conversation with Vladimir Putin.
It's real simple, people. The Alaska-Russia foreign policy shtick only works for the intellectually dishonest, low information, and/or low interest voters. It doesn't hold water. Obama went to the Middle East and Europe, and he had almost twice as many people come to a speech in Berlin than she had people come out to vote for her in Alaska.
If the metric of Palin's foreign policy experience is the distance between Alaska and Russia, let's step it up. The capital of Alaska is Juneau. Juneau is 2,578 miles away from Ottawa, the capital of Canada, and 4,550 miles away from Moscow, the capital of Russia. On the other hand, Moscow is 4,998 miles from Chicago, but Ottawa is 645 miles away from Chicago, leaving us with a difference of 1,485 in the distances between the capitals. Advantage, Obama.
I live in Philadelphia, PA, only 340 miles from Toronto. Thus, I must have foreign policy experience.
The metric is ridiculous on it's face, as is anyone who would use distance as a metric for who has more foreign policy experience.
3. I like that person, so it's OK.
I'm no moral absolutist, and I have no interest in beating up on a teenaged girl in a tough spot. Who I do want to beat up on are the hypocrites who say that teenaged girls having out of wedlock children is OK, but only for the people they like. The same people who went nuts over whether or not People magazine was glorifying Jamie Lynn Spears' "immoral behavior" and then blamed People magazine for the 17 girl high school pregnancy pact are the same people willing to give the Palin family a pass. I'm not just talking about the conservatives, either.
Similarly, Bill Clinton getting a blowjob is bad. John Edwards having and affair is bad. But John McCain? He was a POW! How DARE you! There were extenuating circumstances. Hey Sean Hannity, what's more important: country or family?
4. Playing the Cards
"Woe is me, woe is me," cried the Republican mouthpieces, "Obama played the race card." How about "He's an affirmative action candidate!" What Obama said:
"We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black? He’s got a feisty wife.”Did Obama play the dreaded race card? Or was he telling the truth? I guess it depends on your position. When I see this, this, this, and this, I think we can all lean towards truth. It's not all conservatives, and certainly not everybody who won't vote for Obama, but there is enough outright racism for him to make that assertion. And that doesn't even account for all of the "subtle" stuff.
Yet, when Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's VP selection, it was obvious that the selection had more to do with gender than anything else. Today, we had Laura Bush talking about the sexism that the Democrats need to avoid. We've got all of the Republican Stepford Pundits talking about misogyny in every criticism of Palin. The same Palin, who not so long ago, called Hillary a whiner. It's difficult to say as to whether or not Palin will be a whiner, as her first major interview is a softball from People magazine. There's no word on when they'll allow her out of her undisclosed location.
I can't help but wonder though: If she's so ready, and so experienced, why not let the media size her up? Why wasn't she on Meet the Press, or any of the other Sunday talk shows? We all know why, but if anyone says it, then they're sexists.
These people fuck me up. Twisting themselves into every position possible to make their case for how unfit Obama is to be president. Then twisting themselves into every other position to make the case for how prepared Palin is, even as both possibilites can't both be true at the same time.
Let's be honest, compared to McCain's resume, Obama's is razor thin. But that's why he's getting my vote. It's not Palin's lack of experience that worries me. Everybody has to start somewhere. As recently as December 2007, I thought Obama was joking. By February 5, I was a believer. Sarah Palin won't get the chance to really prove herself in that way. Not just to me, or Progressives in general, but to a lot of Americans, regardless of political ideology. And in the end, isn't America what it's really all about?
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