Interesting - Discussed the ABC Palin Interview With A Real Independent

[Median Democrat]

She leans moderate conservative, but will vote Obama/Biden this year, but her thoughts on the Gibson interview were interesting:

1. On the Bush doctrine/preemptive war - The friend thought it was a bit unfair of Gibson to ask this questions, since Palin was only newly selected as VP so she needed more time to prepare. My response was she may need to step in as President, and if she is not ready to do so with a clear foreign policy vision, then McCain should have chosen someone else. No disagreement on this point.

2. On NATO/Georgia - My friend thought this was a bit overblown, because how could we expect Palin to understand the U.S.'s obligations under NATO. I said that yes, we can't expect a person a few years removed from being a mayor of a small town to understand the U.S.'s obligations under NATO. But, McCain could have chosen someone else. I also noted that it is not exactly obscure knowledge to know that only Congress can declare a war, thus even if Georgia was a NATO member and was attacked, this does not force the U.S. into a war with Russia regardless of what the treaty says. The question always remains whether Congress will declare war, though the Congress will probably take the obligations of the NATO treaty and the interests of the US seriously under consideration before deciding to declare war. On this point, I was accused of being a geek.

In short, the disconnect appears to be that any gaffes were foregiven because there is not a real appreciation that Palin could very well end up being the President if McCain is elected and something happens to him. I would not be surprised if this perception is common.

[InternalDialogue]

1. Of course you make good points.

I think the elephant in the room is the fact that we're even considering giving a vice presidential candidate a break for any reason -- not enough prep time, lack of relevant experience, stronger focus on other issues.

The office of vice president is not an entry-level position. Any on-the-job training and experience need to have taken place in some form or another beforehand.

[knixphan]

2. A-men!

[Bread and Circus]

3. It's like a reverse "Catch 22" she can't lose no matter what...

If they say she's inexperienced and unprepared the response is "she's more prepared than anyone because she's been a governor"

If they say, well she can't answer even simple questions the response is "she will need more time to prepare and regular people don't know that stuff anyway".

So in one breath she is the most knowledgable person on "energy" and Russia and more than qualified to be one heart from the Presidency (how DARE YOU question her qualifications) but in the the next breath she's just the MILF next door who really shouldn't be expected to know anything.

Let's face it, she's good looking and gets a pass. If she were ugly or old, she'd be fucked and so would McCain.

The race for the Presidency really has become a beauty contest.

[Skwmom]

4. She is a VERY CLOSE heartbeat away from the presidency if they win.