As a political nominee, Sarah Palin is another Harriet Miers — but worse
22 comments August 29th, 2008
When President Bush chose White House attorney Harriet Miers for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court a few years ago, the nomination was quickly laughed into withdrawal.
Miers, who by all accounts is a fine person, was rightly seen as a mediocrity who lacked any serious qualifications for so important a job.
John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his party’s nominee for the vice-presidency of the United States is even more laughable.
Republicans like to characterize Barack Obama as too inexperienced to serve as the nation’s chief executive. But the Democratic nominee has a veritable wealth of experience compared with Palin.
Never mind Palin’s extreme right-wing views. Let’s just consider her lack of readiness for the post McCain wants her to fill, no matter her ideology.
Here’s a woman who took office only 635 days ago as governor of a state with a population roughly equal to that of Austin, Tex. Before that, she was mayor of a town with a populace less than one-third as large as that of the Rockford suburb of Loves Park. Before that, she was on the City Council.
That’s it. That’s the whole of Sarah Palin’s political resume.
This is the person who would serve as vice president to a man who would be 76 years old at the end of his first term, if he lasted that long. (God forbid that he wouldn’t last, especially with Palin waiting in the wings.)
Until recent days and weeks, Palin was unknown to virtually every major political player in this country, not to mention other countries. If she’s ever even traveled abroad, I can find no record of it. If she’s ever traveled much in America, I’ve yet to read any mention of it. She has no record suggesting that she has anything approaching a sophisticated grasp of the sometimes arcane issues of federal governance.
In short, despite her decidedly conservative opinions on certain matters, Sarah Palin is an empty pantsuit.
She might be a fine mother, a wonderful wife, a woman of great energy and determination and a popular governor.  The news that she likes mooseburgers and is an outdoorswoman, a former beauty queen and the wife of a blue-collar worker might enhance her appeal to some voters. The fact that she’s a woman might make her an important symbol in some people’s minds. But where’s the evidence that she’s even remotely qualified to be vice president?
I think this choice is a desperate gimmick that will blow up in John McCain’s face and doom whatever chance he had to be elected president.
If I’m proven wrong, I’m sure some of you will be more than glad to point it out in highly disparaging terms. That’s OK.
POSTSCRIPT: I wonder what Karl Rove thinks of McCain’s veep choice.
A couple of weeks ago, Rove had a few pointed remarks about the possibility that Obama would pick Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as his running mate. Kaine also is the former mayor of Richmond, Va.
Here’s what Rove said:
“With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he’s been a governor for three years, he’s been able but undistinguished. I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that he’s done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America. And again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it’s smaller than Chula Vista, California; Aurora, Colorado; Mesa or Gilbert, Arizona; north Las Vegas or Henderson, Nevada. It’s not a big town. So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I’m really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States?’”
Hmmm. How does Sarah Palin stack up against Tim Kaine in terms of qualifications?
UPDATE: Palin has, in fact, traveled abroad. Last summer, she visited Alaska National Guard troops in Kuwait. The passport she obtained for the trip apparently was her first.Â
