… Gov. Palin’s nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency – but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain…
Sen. Obama warned regulators and the nation 19 months ago that the subprime lending crisis was a disaster in the making. Sen. McCain backed tighter rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but didn’t do much to advance that legislation. Of the two candidates, Sen. Obama better understands the mortgage meltdown’s root causes and has the judgment and intelligence to shape a solution, as well as the leadership to rally the country behind it. It is easy to look at Sen. Obama and see a return to the smart, bipartisan economic policies of the last Democratic administration in Washington, which left the country with the momentum of growth and a budget surplus that President George Bush has squandered.
On the most important issue of the day, Sen. Obama is a clear choice…
It is Sen. Obama who truly promises fundamental change in Washington. You need look no further than the guilt-by-association lies and sound-bite distortions of the degenerating McCain campaign to see how readily he embraces the divisive, fear-mongering tactics of Karl Rove. And while Sen. McCain points to the fragile success of the troop surge in stabilizing conditions in Iraq, it is also plain that he was fundamentally wrong about the more crucial early decisions…
Gov. Palin has shown the country why she has been so successful in her young political career. Passionate, charismatic and indefatigable, she draws huge crowds and sows excitement in her wake. She has made it clear she’s a force to be reckoned with, and you can be sure politicians and political professionals across the country have taken note. Her future, in Alaska and on the national stage, seems certain to be played out in the limelight.
Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.
A well framed editorial from Sarah Palin’s Alaska. They take pride in her selection and performance while sticking to the point of the election – governing America. And they nail the essence of McCain’s curse, "You need look no further than the guilt-by-association lies and sound-bite distortions of the degenerating McCain campaign to see how readily he embraces the divisive, fear-mongering tactics of Karl Rove." They could’ve added that the recent complaints from McCain’s handlers are that Palin is given to speaking her own mind lately. They call this being a rogue, rather than being a person. I’m not big on Sarah Palin as Presidential material, to be sure. But the complaints that she speaks for herself seem ludicrous to me. They have become so Rovian, that they actually think that the persona they create should be the real thing. It only worked for George Bush because he had very little of his own going on to interfere with the shell they created.
I think we’ll get the chance to see what Sarah Palin will do — and we have only a week to wait. She’s already looking after her political future. I’ll bet we’ll hear plenty after this is over about how she was packaged and constrained. How the campaign was bungled and how they could have won if they listened to her.
Then she will burst forth on her own, claiming the mantle of leader of the Republican Party — or at least it’s right wing. They love her, and she serves up plenty of red meat for them.
If she’s smart, she’ll spend the next 4 years getting herself educated by tutors and consultants in foreign policy, economics, the Constitution, and learning how government works. And if she’s as smart as some say she is, then she will be formidable — either as a powerful leader of a minority group. Or if she’s smart enough to “evolve,” she could be a real Republican leader.
Right now, she isn’t. But, boy, I’ll bet she’s mad.
… and when Sarah’s mad, heads roll…
Jim Nuzzo, White House aide to Poppy Bush, has said there’s going to be a blood bath in the Republican party, and the litmus test will be: where did you stand on Sarah Palin. “She’s the new Ronald Reagan,” he said.
That sounds like overblown rhetoric, to me. She may be a formidable force, but she’s going to have to have something besides charisma and pluck and red meat to toss to the Joe 6packs.