Well, most likely, she'll be in training for that job for four years.Popeye_Card wrote:What happens if all-of-the-sudden McCain starts dropping like a rock in polls, specifically in swing states? Might a convenient excuse for her to drop out come up?ghostrunner wrote:The withdrawal talk seems premature. The only reason I can see her being withdrawn is her experience, and there she has no great disadvantage compared with Obama. On everything else she's a conservative. It shouldn't be that shocking that she favors teaching abstinence or wants creationism included in curriculum. I find neither of those things particularly bothersome in a vice-president or president. It's not what I'd prefer, but the important decisions in those areas are made locally and not something Presidents typically have time to bother with.
I guess the trooper thing is perhaps an issue, but even first reading about it I didn't find it that big of a deal. The trooper in question should have been fired from what I've read. And I don't see how it can be proven that she fired the guy over this incident. Either way, even the best politicians pull strings and use their influence and this one doesn't seem that egregious.
On the experience thing, it's subtle, but there's a big difference. Obama has been preparing to be President of the United States for at least a couple of years now. Probably back to 2004, and possibly even before then. Now I don't know Palin very well, but I'm not sure if it was ever in her political goals to be President. I know we aren't electing her to be President, but we are electing her to be "one heartbeat away". I don't know about you, but I feel comfortable with someone of Obama's experience if he's been carefully looking into policies, procedures, etc. preparing him to become President. I don't get the sense that Palin has been doing that. And I don't feel like "cramming for the exam" over the next couple of months is the same thing either.
If she has to take over, she does have experience with budgets (and making the tough decisions involved, balancing interests, etc...), hiring a staff and delegating authority, dealing with a legislature and exercising vetoes. She's actually vetoed spending, which is more than I can recall Bush doing. In terms of the supposed Republican philosophy of cutting spending, she seems to be the real deal.
This article details some of that:
Palin's veto ax lops $268 million from budget
http://www.adn.com/legislature/story/415749.html
I get that Alaska is small. But would we be calling the governor of Delaware or Rhode Island or Maine too inexperienced? I'm not so sure. And I imagine Alaska presents it's own unique set of challenges.
I think the "executive experience" thing is overplayed, but it's not unimportant either.
