My son asked me what I thought about Sarah Palin for Vice President? I realized that I wasn't sure what I thought about it. So I thought about it.
My first reaction was negative. Mainly, I questioned whether she really had the necessary experience to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. But that's really an issue that's being framed unfairly by a lot of false dichotomies from the liberal left who simply don't like her values or fear her popular appeal from the great-unwashed. For example, take Matt Damon's "finger on the trigger" question implying that someone that's dumb enough to have religious faith and to believe in a God's creation can't be trusted to have their finger on the trigger. When you really think about that you quickly realize that it rules out just about every President or Vice-President we've ever had. And besides that, the implication that a woman like Palin would be trigger-happy is ludicrous. The opposite is far more likely. In fact, a mother-of-a-soldier instinct and a little less testosterone on the nuclear trigger finger might very well be quite a good thing.
I'm warming up to Sarah Palin and I'd like to know more about her. Here's what I hope she will say and do that would convince me that she is the right choice:
My first reaction was negative. Mainly, I questioned whether she really had the necessary experience to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. But that's really an issue that's being framed unfairly by a lot of false dichotomies from the liberal left who simply don't like her values or fear her popular appeal from the great-unwashed. For example, take Matt Damon's "finger on the trigger" question implying that someone that's dumb enough to have religious faith and to believe in a God's creation can't be trusted to have their finger on the trigger. When you really think about that you quickly realize that it rules out just about every President or Vice-President we've ever had. And besides that, the implication that a woman like Palin would be trigger-happy is ludicrous. The opposite is far more likely. In fact, a mother-of-a-soldier instinct and a little less testosterone on the nuclear trigger finger might very well be quite a good thing.
I'm warming up to Sarah Palin and I'd like to know more about her. Here's what I hope she will say and do that would convince me that she is the right choice:
- With respect to the question of is she smart enough? If someone in government is trying to propose a policy and it's too "complicated" to explain to an ordinary soccer-mom, then it isn't the soccer-mom who has a problem. The policy is too complicated, one needs to either make it simpler or more likely forget it altogether because most likely we don't need another government policy anyway. I will take a pound of common sense any day over a ton of policy wonks.
- With respect to the question of experience. The job comes with both a political party apparatus and a government that has millions of people who's job it is basically to advise the President. So it is not so much a matter of experience (since nobody every has enough experience with every conceivable thing one might need to know to govern) as it is a matter of: (a) leadership, (b) good judgement, including good judgement about close advisers, and (c) non-partisanship. In other words, I want to see Sarah Palin stop being the political attach dog for McCain and start acting like she is going to be somebody who gets things done by always putting her country above herself and her party.
- Lastly, there is not enough representation in government of the point of view of: (a) ordinary, every-day, middle-class people who make this country great (b) women, and (c) people who are not beholding to any kind of special or self-interest. If Sarah Palin can convince me that she would tirelessly dedicate herself to the representation of these three points of view, then I would be convinced.
Comments