Posted by
Mark Holt on Friday, October 03, 2008 12:11:22 PM
As a pretty staunch conservative, I was just as pumped as everyone else was when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. She brought an energy and a focus that was sorely lacking to the campaign. And I do believe that all of the smear tactics that have been employed against her are totally bogus.
So we know that Sarah Palin has been treated unfairly. But does it follow that she is deserving of all the praise she receives from the right? In the several public appearances she has made, the only one in which she really shone was the Republican Convention. Here are some of the mistakes she has made that it does conservatives no good to ignore:
- In front of reviewers, she is often visibly uncomfortable if not clearly intimidated.
- Her command of political facts has been, shall we say, less than perfect.
- When questioned on the Bush doctrine, she clearly had no idea what it was.
- When questioned on her favorite media sources, she said "all of them."
- When asked to name a Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed, she said she would get back to the reviewer.
- At the debate, she missed at least a dozen opportunities to pounce on Joe Biden, who, time after time, lied about his stance or Obama's (and especially McCain's), dropped hints about his true agenda, or left an opening where she could have exposed the rift between them. However, because she was almost entirely on the defensive, she capitalized only one or two of them.
- Again at the debate, she dodged question after question from Joe Biden, when it would have been the easiest thing in the world to respond. I could almost see the training sessions in which she was told "don't let HIM pick the topic, just keep guiding the attention back toward your strengths." The problem was, she was too shaken to realize that that advice didn't apply. She should have given a solid answer before attacking--and in each case, there did exist an easy, solid answer.
- When questioned on her stance about the bailout, she spouted some utterly nonsensical garbage about health care and job creation. Now, I don't expect her to be an economist, but she should know some basic finance (she could learn more than Obama knows by reading a single book on the subject).
In short, though her heart is obviously in the right place and she is undoubtedly a very capable woman, she was brought up too early from the minors. I was forced to think hard during last night's VP debate whether I would want her as President. The answer was a very clear "no." If forced to make a choice between Obama and Palin, obviously, I would choose Palin. I would rather have someone grow into the job and make mistakes than deliberately take us in the wrong direction. But that isn't the ideal choice that should have been placed before us.
Since John McCain's victory on Super Tuesday, I knew I would have to vote for him. My main reason for voting for him has gone from Hillary, to Obama, then briefly to Palin. Now I'm back to Obama. It's just unfortunate that the main reason I'm voting for the Republican candidate is not the candidate himself. And just as unfortunately, nor is it his running mate.